The YouTube trilogy of WBRC’s 1986 Iron Bowl preview is finally complete.
In the first installment (which we found and posted back in March), we had the wonderful introduction to Auburn’s season recap by the demon Gorgar (1:14), Layer Tillman’s incredible touchdown snag against Georgia Tech (3:34), a topless Tracy Rocker (3:57), and the general revelation that no one in Birmingham talked the 80s talk (with their hands) or walked the 80s walk like Bruce Cunningham, THE Bruce Cunningham.
Part 3 confirms that nothing will ever soothe the pain of Van Tiffin’s kick in the crotch. But at least the gut-wrenchability of Auburn’s last-second loss contributed to a slow motion art film recap of an Iron Bowl sound-tracked by Phil Collin’s “In The Air Tonight” (in which the station “took a great deal of pride.”)
But the best thing about WBRC’s Iron Bowl preview is undoubtedly Michael Jones’ stone-faced (but just as leathered) featurette in the second video on the “insult merchandise” available at the new Riverchase Galleria, such as:
Bama’s version of the “My Two Favorite Teams” bumper sticker…
Wrong way “AUBRUN” key chains…
Wrong way Auburn and Alabama coffee mugs…
And Got Two? Hesiman caps…
But Jones saves the best for last: “a calendar that no Auburn fan should be without.”
There’s obviously no way this would fly in the state’s current post-poisoning, politically correct culture. But it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what year —’95? ’97?—this sort of thing became inappropriate, even for the Iron Bowl insult merchandise market (Harvey would probably know). There’s part of me that would almost like to think there are dudes still making and hawking this particular brand of boo-yah somewhere outside ol’ Legion Field. Speaking of, the second video also gives us former Birmingham mayor Richard Arrington and former University of Alabama president Joab Thomas bemoaning the Iron Bowl’s potential (and eventual) transition to a home and home series. And oh yes — Jones’ stoic analysis of Auburn-Alabama jokes (7:57), delivered as if he’s looking for a little after-game pain reliever of his own: “The good thing about those jokes is while they aren’t always funny, they are interchangeable.”
I was always more of a Channel 13 man, but WBRC owned the ’86 Iron Bowl, which is the first Auburn-Alabama game I remember watching as intently as I watch Iron Bowls today, and with equal emotional investment.
I may have even had that calendar.
Related: Bama students vandalize own campus, blame Auburn fans.
Originally posted June 1, 2011.
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Keep Reading:
* Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Bragg discusses the Bama’s dismay at Auburn’s championship
* Tim McGraw defends Auburn’s honor on ‘Late Night’
* The Auburn Eyefuls of 1952
* I Survived the Kopper Kettle Explosion and all I got was this t-shirt
* The Secret History of an Underground Iron Bowl
* Against Me! bassist pulls for the Tigers
* Player on 1972 ‘Amazin’s’ squad battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease
* Montgomery Business that de-toilet papers Toomer’s busier than ever
* Auburn’s Miss Universe contestant, Audrey Moore
* Auburn amputee has tiger-striped prosthetic legs
* Model Molly Sims spotted at the Iron Bowl in an Auburn jersey
Can we get more pictures of Ben Tamburello’s hair?
Wow Ben Tamburello is Kenny Powers
Someone needs to create a website to sell this type of stuff.
I had the 1983 or 1984 version of that calendar–since I keep everything, it is probably in a box somewhere! (My favorite memory of my calendar, a caracature of Mike Shula with “Future Dolphins Water Boy” as the caption!)