Third Saturday in October
For me, there are 3 great Saturdays that I look forward to as much as Christmas every year. One of those is the First Saturday in May. The Kentucky Derby. Next year will be my 40th straight year in Louisville for the running for the roses. The race only lasts 2 minutes but the buildup goes on for weeks. I wouldn’t miss it for all the mint julips in the state of Alabama. Destin Or Kentucky.
The same is true about the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the Iron Bowl. The Alabama-Auburn football game brings together families who leave the hospitals as infants with an Auburn or Alabama pacifier in their mouth. Very few change schools as they get older. Their first words are either “War Eagle” or “Roll Tide.” Yes, throw the books out the window.
In Alabama and in the state of Tennessee, the third Saturday in October means the annual Tennessee-Alabama football game. Tomorrow, it will be in Knoxville and since both are ranked, the price of tickets is about the same as the rent for a 6- bedroom condo in Blue Mountain Beach on 30-A. Until recently, the Vols have been so overmatched that Tennessee fans who noticed a pair of tickets on the seat of a car, would break the window and leave 4 more tickets while they went back to Dollywood.
This year is different. The Tide is favored by a touchdown, and the greatest question has to do with Bama’s heartbreaking loss to Georgia last week. How will they respond?
Since I graduated from Alabama and was part of the annual battle, let me give you a brief history of the rivalry that has lost some of its luster even though Bama has lost the last 2 times in Knoxville.
When Coach Paul Bryant was at Kentucky, they could never beat General Neyland and the Tennessee Volunteers. He admired Neyland and the type of team that he put on the field every year. Bryant left Kentucky and moved on to Texas A&M until “Mama called” him back to Alabama in 1958. Back then, Tennessee was much more of a rival than Auburn. One year when the Bear played for the Tide, he played against the Vols with a broken leg.
Coach Bryant had a defensive coordinator from Tennessee named Ken Donahue and his athletic trainer was also from Tennessee. His name was Jim Goosetree or “Goose.” He was the only person on the staff who could tell Coach Bryant if a player had to be held out.
Here is where the tradition of the celebratory cigars came about. Goose told the team that if they beat Tennessee that he and Ken Donahue would get on the trainer’s table and dance a “Tennessee Jig” while everybody smoked a winning stogie.
When I joined the Bama staff, I witnessed this celebration and it is still etched in my mind. I am not a smoker but I do enjoy puffing on a Tampa Nugget after we beat the Vols. Fortunately, I have advanced to a Cohiba cigar. My niece, Jennifer Bologna, owns Spirits Wine Store in Tuscaloosa. Jen carries a wide range of cigars for tomorrow. Tell them that her Uncle B sent you.
When I was in school at Alabama, all the big games were played in Birmingham at Legion Field instead of Tuscaloosa. Tennessee, LSU, Georgia and Auburn were played there. The students would usually go up on Friday for the big games.
Since the statute of limitations has run out, I can confess about one of the Tennessee games at Legion Field. This one involved my late friend Dennis Cameron.
The year was 1973. The game was tight at halftime as we all went to the bathrooms. Dennis convinced an idiot with him to get up on the sink and lead the bathroom crowd in a rowdy rendition of “Roll Tide.” The idiot was helped onto the sink and started the cheer. As he got the “Roll” part out, the sink broke from the wall, and it looked like Niagara Falls coming from the men’s room. Everybody scrambled out including Dennis and his former teammate from Leighton. After more than 50 years, it’s time for that idiot to pay for the sink. IF a Legion Field employee contacts me, I can get them in touch with the culprit.
Bama ended up winning the game 42-21 and moved to #1 in the nation. Coach Bryant stated that “this is the finest group I have ever been around.” He never knew about the clowns in the men’s room near the student section that day. You can take the boys out of Leighton. You can’t take Leighton out of the boys.
When I was on the staff as the director of Bryant Hall, Coach Perkins had me decorate the dorm in orange to the point that it became obnoxious. Even the water in the fountain out front, had orange food coloring in it. The scout team at practice wore orange jerseys.
In 1984 when our Greyhound got to Neyland Stadium from the airport, some of the overserved Tennessee students tried to pull the greyhound sign off the side of the bus. When the Vols came from behind and beat us that year, the fans rushed the field. Our locker room was behind one of the goal posts that was being torn down. For many, including me, the posts came down near us as we hurried to the locker room.
The crowd on Rocky Top will be a major factor. Will quarterback Keelon Russell respond the same way he did in Starkville with the cowbells? I was in Knoxville when you couldn’t hear yourself think. I have also been there when the crowd left early to join their tailgating friends on the Tennessee River after the Tide put it out of reach early.
There must be a reason that Vegas had Bama as a touchdown favorite and it has grown to almost 9 points. Hopefully, the Tide defense will come back from last week’s poor showing and tee off on either of their untested quarterbacks.
Prediction: Bama 31-Putrid Orange 17.
Anybody got a light for my Cohiba?