Bill Curry, College Football 19y

Bama-Auburn a year-round affair

Remember those little black specks in the physics lab, the iron filings? They were filed off pieces of scrap iron -- hence the name -- and in the days before computers professors scattered them on magnetic boards to demonstrate the effect of various electrical impulses, thereby giving students a chance to understand magnetism and its power to attract and repel.

The iron filings that scatter across the state of Alabama 365 days a year are particles of the biggest event on the state calendar, the Iron Bowl between Auburn and Alabama. Bits and pieces of the huge event trickle into every day and every mind, regardless of locale or loyalty. This time of year they are drawn like their scientific counterparts into competing masses that begin to fight for space, weight and airtime, each hoping to dominate the other, at least for the next 12 months.

Iron Bowl week in the state of Alabama is the annual eruption of the permanent grudge that exists between the two magnet institutions in the state. Its expression comes to life in the form of the most important activity in that state, football. No honest observer argues the point. Nothing in Alabama rivals football in importance. Not education, not medicine, not even politics.

When I first arrived in Tuscaloosa as the head football coach in 1987 there were death threats -- some folks really did not want a Georgia Tech man as their coach. Our minister in Atlanta, Bill Floyd, called our home, concerned about our well being. My wife answered and he asked, "Carolyn, are you and Bill OK?"

My brave girl answered, "Oh we are fine. We have learned that football is a religion over here."

"Oh no, Carolyn," exclaimed Rev. Floyd, "It's a lot more important than that!"

Perspectives
On the rare occasions the rivalry is kept in perspective it can be great fun. I know of at least one "mixed marriage" in which the jibes were good natured, the respect mutual, and the game enjoyed.

Robert and Dixie Fraley were among our best friends. Robert had been a quarterback under Bear Bryant at Alabama and Dixie the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Johnston, owners of Johnston & Malone, the famous Auburn bookstore. Dixie's brother Skip played football for Auburn and now helps run the store, which sits near Auburn landmark Toomer's Corner.

Robert died tragically in 1999, in a plane crash with Payne Stewart, and Dixie has remarried. But part of their legacy remains unconditional love and a wonderful blending of the two opposing cultures in this white-hot rivalry. I am certain there are other similar situations, but they are not highly publicized.

Usually the loyalties are established by kindergarten and literally extend into the grave. I was asked to speak to a third-grade class in Birmingham in 1988, and sat the children in a semicircle so I could see everyone. I noticed one little fellow sitting in the corner sobbing. I asked who he was and the children brightly responded, "Oh, that's just Jason. He is an Auburn guy, so we took care of him." I had to go get Jason, sit him in my lap, and tell everyone it was okay for him to pull for his team, even if the Alabama coach were visiting.

Clyde Bolton, the longtime sports editor for the Birmingham News, is a good friend. He has a rapier-sharp sense of humor which he delights in using on me. A couple of years after my departure from Alabama he sent a classified ad from his newspaper. It read as follows, and on my honor I am not making this up:

"Funeral plots available near Coach Bryant. Be buried near the Coach! Caskets available with football lettermen's block 'A' in crimson or white. Call soon, supply limited."

Bolton had written in pencil in the margin, "No Georgia Tech @!#&s allowed!"

Condition of employment
The story of the irrational importance of this event in this culture is too complicated for a brief explanation. Suffice it to say it approaches some of the most bitter political and religious rivalries. Every head coach comes to understand the stark reality, but current Alabama coach Mike Shula does better than most.

He is an Alabama alumnus and had success against the Tigers as a player, quarterbacking the Tide to last-second victories in 1984 and 1985. That is priceless in terms of perception and the time he will be given to succeed, and he will need every bit of it.

My sidekick analyst in the booth this year is David Norrie, a gifted former quarterback from UCLA. As we prepared to broadcast the Alabama-Mississippi State game two weeks ago he said, "If Alabama had not lost Brodie Croyle, Ray Hudson, and Tim Castille to injuries we would be talking about them in terms of a BCS berth."

At the time Alabama led the country in total defense in spite of an offense that seldom generates long drives or big point totals. He might have added that injuries have afflicted quarterbacks Marc Guillon and Spencer Pennington as well. Shula has done a masterful job of holding the team together to become bowl eligible. He is maturing into the job of head coach.

Down on the Plains, Tommy Tuberville is having the time of his life, for all right reasons. He survived the aborted coup by his president, athletics director, and Louisville coach Bobby Petrino. He predicted last December that his team would win the national championship. He brought Al Borges in to be the fourth offensive coordinator in as many years and talked running backs "Cadillac" Williams and Ronnie Brown into staying for their senior year.

Tuberville continued to trust Jason Campbell at quarterback. The coach developed a defense that plays like his three national championship defenses at Miami, where he was an assistant coach. Most importantly, he earned the undying loyalty of his players.

Tuberville is cagey enough to know that this is an extremely dangerous game for his team. While he has insisted that he will not talk BCS to his players everyone else certainly will. Let some of those young heads get turned, go to Tuscaloosa and turn the ball over a few times, and this wounded Crimson Tide team can spoil the entire season. Tuberville knows it, but can the youngsters absorb that reality?

Therein lies the key to which team brings the strongest magnet to Iron Bowl circa 2004.

ESPN college football analyst Bill Curry was an NFL center for 10 seasons and coached for 17 years on the college stage. His Center Stage examinations appear each week during the college football season.

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