IRON BOWL: Alabama vs. Auburn
For any of you readers who don't know what the Iron Bowl is ... it is the annual football game between in-state rivals Alabama and Auburn. Anyone who knows anything about college football will tell you it is one of the fiercest rivalries in history. Auburn has won the last six years, so Alabama was hungry for a victory. Despite the fact that Alabama was undefeated and Auburn was having one of the worst seasons in the last decade, anything can happen in the Iron Bowl. Alabama came away with a BIG 36-0 win. What a great way to end an undefeated regular season! Of course, we were sad to make our last trip of the year to Tuscaloosa, and more sad to be out in a yucky drizzle most of the day, but the seeing the Tide stomp all over Auburn was well worth it!
This is our regular tailgate site ... what yucky conditions. Will and our friend Nikki's uncle try to help David get a satellite signal so we can watch some pre-game football.
David and Hartley over at the dish trying to get a signal (not an easy task this year).
My friend Nikki and me after the game.
Will and I before the game started. (I know this because we are still dry!)
Yeah, Alabama is #1. This guy was sitting in front of me during the game. I saw this a lot.
Look at that score. 36-0.
Post-game celebration on the field.
Will and our friend Scotty after the game. Thanks to Scotty, we have season tickets every year. He let's us buy 2 of his 6 tickets.
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Alabama vs. Florida
Will and his dad have been buying SEC championship game tickets since 2001. Will gets 2 tickets every year from his parents for his birthday because the game is always the weekend of his birthday. This is the first year Alabama has gone since we started buying the tickets. We were stoked. (Do people still say that?) Anyway, don't feel too bad for them. Every year they have sold the tickets and made a huge profit. (Will was actually a little disappointed that he was not going to get to make a big birthday purchase this year.) So, we were finally headed to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game and to celebrate Will's birthday. A special thanks to Meme and Poppy and Aunt Ashley and Uncle Jon for keeping the kids while we were gone.
Will and I had his birthday dinner on Friday night at a place called
Wildfire. It is modeled after a 1940's supper club. The food was great and we had a fun time dining alone.
Saturday morning, we met up with Will's parents and did a little shopping in the area. Then we hopped on the Marta and headed downtown to the Georgia Dome for the game.
Will and his parents waiting on the Marta train.
Will and me all decked out in our Alabama gear.
Look at the sea of red and blue/orange at the Congress Center before the game. It was so crowded.
We ran into Dan Patrick of ESPN fame at the SEC fanfare area. All of Will's sports-radio-listening days finally paid off and we got to meet a sports celebrity. He was very nice and signed the special edition Sports Illustrated magazines that we had (all 3 of them) and posed for a photo.
Will and me before the game. No scoreboard pic of this game! Unfortunately, Bama was unable to pick up a win against a very tough Florida Gators team. The team played a great game and hung in there until the very end and we were very proud.
We ran into Will's best friend from high school/college at the game. After goofing around for a little while, they finally posed for a serious photo. Cory was one of my closest guy friends in high school and he was Will's roomie all 4 years at UofA and for one year of grad school at Auburn.
The National Anthem.
Will's parent's at the game.
Rita and me on the way home from the game (on a very crowded Marta train).
Joe and Will riding home from the game. Happy Birthday Will! No perfect season, no national championship, but Alabama football is back!
