Perhaps, but it was only as recently as ’07 that LSU was outgained 3 times. Same with UF of ’06.

It’s funny to me when I see the Bammer t-shirts that actually show 12 championship rings — because those first four or so never existed and were never given to the actual players.

(As far as the 8 “real” ones you saw; seven are from the AP and one is from the UPI. Back in the day the AP declared national champions before the bowl seasons. Twice, Bama was named champs, and then went on to LOSE their bowl game, so you can throw both of those out. Both of those happened within like a six year span, I think, and it caused such an outrage that Bama got gifted a title twice like that that the AP changed it to declaring AFTER the bowl season, from then on. A few years later, the UPI gave them the title, once again, before a bowl loss. The AP went on to name someone else champs that year. This is most ridiculous of all of them for real. How can you accept the ruling for the AP seven times when they think you’re champs, and then ignore their ruling and accept the UPI when they don’t?… So, anyway, there’s only 8 real ones, only 7 of those are from the AP, and a few of those are debatable. It’s a far cry from the 12 or 13 on their t-shirts.)

Today I googled the NCAA. I count 8 Alabama NC’s in the modern era to tie them with Notre Dame. What about the Wade & Thomas days? Do they count like the championships GT & Notre Dame claim from the teens, twenties & thirties?

As for the UGA/AU rivalry, yes I want to beat you, but I can’t hate Auburn for more than 60 minutes like I do GT & Florida. I’ve known too many good Auburn people & you gotta admit we are a bit like kissing cousins.

You admit that you don’t understand the rivalry, yet you still assume that it is somehow envy-driven on our end.

Having grown up right in the heart of neutral Alabama, I can honestly say that there is no great shadow cast over the state. People (like you) feel that it is one of the great programs in the country (as far as tradition goes), but when you get close enough, the image starts to fall apart.

They claim 12 (now 13) national championships, while in reality there is only six or seven credible ones. They claim this long stable of amazing players — Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler — yet until a few weeks ago they had no Heisman trophy winners. They build up Paul Bryant as the Bear, the mighty football God, but when you talk to older fans in the state they can recall when he would show up on the coach’s show drunk, and when he would accept well over a hundred of the south’s best players, before there was a limit, and steal their collegiate careers just to keep them off opposing teams.

This is one of the main reasons we hate Alabama. Because they are an absolute sham. It’s not envy. It’s the exact opposite.

I’m not saying you don’t understand the rivalry because it’s above you or anything, because it’s not. I’m saying you don’t understand the rivalry because you’re too far away from it.

I can admit to other rivalries being “bigger” — both the Red Sox and Yankees have fans scattered across the globe. I can admit to other rivalries being “grander” — the Iron Bowl has hardly ever come down to the end, and hardly ever been a battle of two top 5 teams like Michigan and Ohio State has been. But no rivalry is more bitter — because nobody has more passion for a team in sports than college football fans in the south, and Auburn/Alabama is the nastiest rivalry in the south. And worst yet, we have to live amongst eachother.

(As far as the name calling, I used the A-H word just as somewhat of a grammar trick; it built up the AU/UGA rivalry to being pretty nasty, which it is, only to then call it nice and fluffy by comparison. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be offended by it though — it is what it is. But no hard feelings obviously.)

I would venture to say that the name calling comes from you entering an AUBURN message board and then attacking the character of AUBURN fans. You worry about Georgia, let us worry about Auburn (and any rivals that we may loathe).

You’re right…..I don’t understand the Iron Bowl from an emotional point of view, but I appreciate it as an SEC fan.

I guess I’ve only had to put up with GT (they beat us once or twice a decade) & Florida (post 1990). I’m sure it has been hard growing up in the shadow of the greatest tradition outside of Notre Dame.

Why the name calling, man?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke711OW9fAE&feature=related

Sullivan013