Winter Words Vol. 7/ Jesus Loves Me

The first thing that struck me this morning (3/3/15), when I walked out the front door and down the driveway to get the paper, was the large number of birds that were doing some serious singing. Now it was forty something degrees, cold and a bit raw, but the birds were really going after it, noticeably so more than any day in recent memory. It made me wonder why today with old man winter still refusing to release his cold and craggy grip. Why?

There could be any number of reasons, I suppose. My first thought was that this is the time of year, early March, when these particular groups of birds arrive for their next stay.

It is now six and a half hours later. I just walked out again to stand on the porch and take a few deep breaths of cool fresh winter air. The birds are still going at it. Whatever the reason, it does my heart good.

Now, that takes me back to when I was a very, very young boy growing up down in Camden, Alabama. When my mama was felled with a stroke back in late December of 2002, I felt compelled to call Mamie Blackmon. Mamie did a great deal of my raising. Mama and daddy both worked and Mamie was the person who kept me the most. She was like a mother to me. I loved her dearly.

So, I called Mamie and we went through requisite pleasantries. Then somewhere, in the middle of our conversation Mamie asked me a question, she queried, “Tweetie (my nickname given me at birth by my brother Jerry), do you still sing? You used to LOVE to sing!” I told her that I, indeed, had retained my love for singing. There is ALWAYS a song running through my head as I’m sure is the case with many of you.

I love singing. I sing as I walk around the house. I sing in the shower. I sing with the radio or the music I have cranking from any source at most any time. The singing is often accompanied by prancing, posturing or air guitar. I have always fancied myself as fronting a rock band, one night my freshman year in Auburn I did, but I’m so glad my life did not go in that direction. I don’t have that kind of talent and God only knows what would have become of me if that had been the case.

You’ve heard it said that the Lord looks out for fools and drunks and I dabbled heavily in both areas back then. Back THEN? Nahhhhhhhh…I won’t go there…

Back to the singing. My daddy was a talented vocalist. He was part of a quartet that had a program on the radio when he was a student at Auburn. When he and mama moved to Camden, back in 1948, he was known to do some solo singing around town in the various churches. He sang in the choir at the Camden Baptist Church for many, many years. Cigarette smoking took a toll on his voice, over the years, but he could still harmonize well in a lower register.

I loved singing in Sunday School when I was very young. Songs like “Do Lord”, “Deep and Wide” and “Jesus Loves Me” were my favorites. I also sang these songs around our house a great deal. One day daddy was leading the music at church, and he invited me up front to sing “Jesus Loves Me.” Once I, very shyly, made my way to the front of the sanctuary I froze. I could not sing a lick in front of all those people. And I was mostly ashamed because I thought I had embarrassed my father in front of the congregation.

When I grew up I, hopefully, erased the perception I had that I embarrassed my father in our church. It was at the Camden Baptist Church that I was ordained to the ministry. This event took place on July of 1980. Toward the end of the service all of the ordained deacons in the church were called forward to ‘lay hands’ on the ministerial candidate.

I was on my knees in front of the congregation, some of whom were present the day that I lost my nerve to sing. The deacons came forward, one by one, placed their hands on me and said a blessing of their own choosing. I didn’t look up at any of these men but I saw their shoes. Shortly into the ceremony I noticed a pair of black, wing-tip shoes moving toward me. I recognized them as daddy’s.

When he reached me he placed his hands on my head and, initially, he couldn’t speak. I waited for what seemed like a lifetime as I watched his tears pattering on those shoes. He eventually managed to utter one word, “Bud.”

This is for you daddy.

Y’all sing along with me.

“Jesus loves me this I know,
For the bible tells me so;
little ones to him belong;
They are weak, but he is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes! Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.”

Selah

Winter Words Vol. 6 / Spring’s a Comin’!

I walked, today (3/2/15), for the first time in two weeks. In years past I would walk in rain or shine, hot or cold. Back when, whether I was walking or jogging, I didn’t care what the temperature was, I exercised. I have jogged, in Upstate New York, when it was 5 degrees and my mustache would freeze. Heck, my face would freeze! No matter, I would “just do it.” My Nike years.

As I have aged, and gracefully I would remind you ;), I have lost my ‘hell bent for leather’ attitude in my cardio pursuits. I have slowed down. Did I just say that? Ugh!

No, the last two weeks, here in Upstate Georgia, it has been brutally cold, precipitating, very windy, or all three of these at once. Therefore, no exercise for this old boy.

My dear mate, Miss LeCroy, Paul, Melodye with an e, or whatever you might call her, goes to the gym. I have tried this in years past, but it is boring and just… I don’t know, I don’t like this method of exercising. All the sweating, grunting, posing, strutting and the little outfits… it’s just not my thing.

I LOVE being in the outdoors… ALONE (Twenty years on the road so you’d better enjoy you)! I love soaking up the sunshine, listening to the birds and being at one with nature. I mentioned, in a ‘Winter Words’ blog last week, listening and enjoying the silence. It’s meditative, peaceful and somehow ‘right’ for me.

To each his/her own.

So today, it is now 58 degrees and so very pleasant. GREAT day for a walk! And I think we’re thawing out. I know there will be some cold days, and particularly nights, ahead but we are thawing. We’re moving steadily through Lent as we continue our journey toward Easter. There are only eighteen more days until the vernal equinox, the first day of SPRING.

The Braves first spring training game is Wednesday! The game will be played against my old adopted team, the New York Mets. It seems fitting.

Now back to the vernal equinox. From Wikipedia… “An equinox occurs twice a year, around 20 March and 22 September… An equinox occurs when the plane of Earth’s Equator passes the center of the Sun. At that instant, the tilt of the Earth’s axis neither inclines away from nor towards the Sun. The two annual equinoxes are the ONLY times when the subsolar point, the place on Earth’s surface where the center of the Sun is overhead, is on the Equator, and, consequently, the Sun is at zenith over the Equator. The subsolar point crosses the equator, moving northward at the March equinox and southward at the September equinox… The equinoxes are the only times when the solar terminator is perpendicular to the Equator, As a result, the northern and southern Hemispheres are illuminated equally.”

Amazing!

The Coming of Spring
by: Mary Dow Brine (1816-1913)

The ice-king trembles on his throne,
And holds his rod with loosened hand;
For there are murmurs in the air
Of one who cometh, sweet and fair,
To break with smiles the monarch’s band.

The skies are dawning a new blue,
To welcome her whose dancing feet
Thro’ cloudland hasten from afar,
Guided by sun, and moon, and star,
Her waiting friends once more to greet

The timid violets lift their heads,
And heavenward turn their gentle eyes,
And catch the fragrance newly born
Which cometh with the Spring’s glad dawn,
And steal their color from the skies.

The merry birds on twig and branch
Trill out the news with fluttering wings,
While Robin seeks the early fruit,
Impatient watching the green shoot,
And the glad tidings gaily sings.

The brook, grown weary of restraint,
Has burst its weakened bonds at last,
And rushing down the mountain-side,
Lends its fresh influence far and wide,
And Winter’s icy reign is past!

Selah

Winter Words Vol.5/ “Grateful” for Sunshine

The sun has shone brightly all day. The car wash was packed. People seemed a little happier and peppier today. It’s only 40 degrees now and it ‘feels like’ 35 but you would think it’s 60 degrees judging by people’s attitudes. It’s actually a little bit unseasonably cold. The average high in the ATL area for February is 57 with an average low of 38. Perception vs. reality huh? Amazing what a little sunshine can do.

One of my all-time favorite song is George Harrison’s ‘Here Comes the Sun’. “…Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces, little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here…”

And the music itself in the song. It just makes you smile. It moves you to want to dance.

Me and Paul were at a Further concert at SPAC (Saratoga Performing Arts Center) in Saratoga Springs, NY back in the summer of 2011. I was working that area, along with Lake George, NY, and the opportunity availed itself. The band Further includes two core members of the Grateful Dead, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir.

If you’ve never been to a Dead show, or one of the many incarnations that the surviving members formed, Weir’s Ratdog and Phil Lesh and Friends would be the most recognizable, then you’ve missed something special. The band members casually stroll out on stage when they’re good and ready to little or no fanfare. The they will tune their instruments for what seems like an eternity.

During the tuning process the various notes being tinkered with will eventually form what sounds to be fragments of a song. Eventually the sounds WILL develop into a song and the crowd will, usually and simultaneously, recognize the song. There will be a huge roar and then everyone will begin to dance like mad, spinning, twirling, swaying, bouncing and hopping in a free form manner.

Well, on that night back in June, four years ago, the tuning and jamming turned into ‘Here Comes The Sun’. I think the entire crowd was quite surprised, I know me and my Grateful Dead Granny were. The smiles on the faces of all in the crowd were worth the whole concert experience, and it was a very good show.

Here is an excerpt from a fitting article in Americana – The Journal Of American Popular Culture.

“The Answer To The Atom Bomb: Rhetoric, Identification, and the Grateful Dead”

“In The Hero’s Journey , mythologist Joseph Campbell claims that ‘the Grateful Dead are the best answer today to the atom bomb’ because ‘The atom bomb is separating us and this music is calling up the common humanity’. Campbell first articulated this belief about the psychedelic rock band from San Francisco after attending one of their concerts in 1986 in Oakland, CA. where he witnessed what he refers to as ‘one incredible Dionysian ritual,’ ‘a dance revelation,’ and ‘magic for the future’. As Campbell explains, ‘They hit a level of humanity that makes everybody at one with each other. It doesn’t matter about this race thing, this age thing, I mean, everything else dropped out… It was just the experience of the identity of everybody with everybody else. I was carried away in rapture. And so I am a Deadhead now.”

Amen brother Campbell. You NAILED it! There is NOTHING like a Grateful Dead show! It is a transcendent experience. Everyone is one with their fellow human beings. It is tangible. It is church. And the sacraments aren’t bad either. 😉

Music was the only church me and Paul had for many years. The joy and fellowship we have experienced is immeasurable and the friends we have made, at concerts and festivals, are priceless.

The SPIRIT is the SPIRIT wherever it manifests itself. God/Goddess is everywhere, in everything, in everyone. Where love exists, God exists. God is love.

I’ll close with a line form the Dead song, Scarlett Begonias. “Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.”

Amen?

So tonight, why not cue up Scarlett Begonias and dance like nobody’s looking.

Peace and love.

Winter Words Vol. 4 / Elvis, Simon and Garfunkel and the Like

“One more day, just one more day…” is a song form the Jailhouse Rock soundtrack. It’s the one that an old inmate, soon to be released from prison, sings at the talent contest that Elvis wins. Duh! That Jailhouse Rock song production that The King wins with was something for a group of prisoners to pull off.

The old dude was Elvis’ cellmate and had been in the music business as a free man. He was ready to get back out there and give music one more try, in one more day.

I really liked the song and it sticks with me to this day.

One more day. Yep! One more day that Miss LeCroy is out of school. One more day until she goes back to teaching the little darlings. One more day here at 116 Sundown Way, just one more day.

The snow here HAS been beautiful and I’ve truly relished the unexpected time me and Paul have spent together this week in Sundown West. But that is enough. Let’s move on toward spring, Palm Sunday, the end of Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter.

I see it’s going to get up to a high of 69 one day next week. I look with eager anticipation to that day. It will be warm and, hopefully, sunny. Ahhhh, to be able to get my walking shoes back on again and pound the pavement!

I love my walks, and man how I’ve missed them these past two weeks. I enjoy walking without my iPod. I love the silence, which is often broken by the cackle of a crow, the bark of a dog or a rushing wind. And I, quite often, stop to chat with one of the neighbors who might be out in their yard doing something.

But ‘the sound of silence’ ($1 to Simon and Garfunkel) is what I most enjoy.

Me and Paul went to see ‘Whiplash’ today. I had already seen it by myself many weeks ago. And I picked J.K. Simmons to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He did win. He deserved it. His performance was masterful. But the kid who played Andrew, the aspiring and very talented jazz drummer, was also masterful. After all, Simmons SUPPORTED his lead. They played off each other beautifully. That was not an easy task for young Miles Teller to pull off. It has to be very demanding to hold your own in those gripping scenes with the force that Simmons was in that movie.

But I digress. ‘The sound of silence’. The movie moved me to ponder about jazz greats such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. Monk was such a genius on the piano. But it wasn’t just how technically proficient he was. It wasn’t just his tone. It wasn’t just his songwriting. It was often what he DID NOT PLAY as much as what he did play. It was the silences between notes that really set him apart as a brilliant pianist.

Yes, it’s the silence that makes my walk. It’s the spaces in between that you really hear. Where mother nature gets your attention. Where the universe summons you. Where God speaks.

“Eckhart Tolle says that silence can be seen as either the absence of noise, or as the space in which sound exists, just as inner stillness can be seen as the absence of thought, or the space in which thoughts are perceived.” Wikipedia

“In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.”

Selah

Winter Words Vol. 3/New York

It’s snowing! REALLY snowing! (2/25/15 3:50 PM). Me and Paul at home again. School was out today and will be again tomorrow. Unfortunately, they also had to cancel the first gathering of our Lenten Luncheons. I hate that as I really enjoyed them last year. It is a series of six with a different church hosting each week. The first was to be held at Heritage Baptist Cartersville, which is our home church. One of the Methodist pastors was to speak tomorrow as the host church’s pastor does not do the honors. Oh well, we’ll just hope that the remaining ones hold up.

So, back to Winter Words. This is our third in an open-ended series. We’ll see how it goes from here.

Forgive me if I got a little preachy yesterday, but hey, preacher gonna preach. It’s what we were born to do.

All this weather, snow, etc. got me thinking about our three years in Albany, NY. It was a novelty for us Southerners to spend three winters up there, but I don’t see how those folks spend a lifetime doing it.

Oh, we got our car ‘Ziebart(ed)'(rust-proofed) and purchased the requisite down jackets, moon boots, snow shovels and the like. It was fun when it snowed and it snowed quite a bit, but it was nothing like they got in that snow belt that included Buffalo, Syracuse and points north. But we had around 70 days of snow cover each winter, give or take a little.

All neighborhoods had a snow plow too and it was rare, if ever, that school was out.

I loved driving on a snowy day in Upstate New York. Obviously Luke and Leah loved the days it snowed, as did Mel. They would go out and play in it for quite awhile. You’d have to force them to come in or they’d freeze to death.

We would have hot chocolate and fluff ‘n nutter sandwiches (peanut butter and marshmallow cream on white bread). The grocery stores we shopped at were Grand Union and Price Chopper.That was a whole new deal to people who were accustomed to the Red and White, the Yellow Front, Greer’s and Piggly Wiggly. Oh yeah, Winn-Dixie as well.

Luke was five and Leah was 7 months old when we moved up there to the beautiful Hudson Valley. Melodye taught at Pineview Christian Academy and I was a campus minister/chaplain at three colleges (the State University of New York at Albany or SUNY, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute or RPI, and Union College). RPI was located in Troy, NY and Union was in Schenectady. I finally figured out I was stretched too thin and focused entirely SUNYA.

My SUNY ‘kids’ and colleagues remain very near and dear to my heart as does our church family, Trinity Baptist Church in Schenectady.

You can read a previous blog of mine (New York, New York) right here on birdlecroy.com if you would like to know a little more about this time in our lives. It was magical and we were blessed beyond our wildest imaginations.

We became Mets fans when we were there also. I said I would pick a team and we were going to go with them. I didn’t choose the Yankees, I grew up a Yankee fan as Mickey Mantle was my hero in a BIG way, as they were winning and that would be too easy and predictable. We settled on the Mets.

This was late summer 1983 and the Mets struggled to a 68-94 record that season. They finished LAST in the NL East. But, they did have a promising rookie on that team who had all-star potential. His name was Darryl Strawberry.

In 1984 the Mets had a teenage rookie pitcher, by the name of Dwight Gooden, join the big league club. You know the rest of the story if you follow baseball at all.

We made many trips down to Shea Stadium, and one to Yankee Stadium, during those three years. A baseball game in the Big Apple is a special thing. We also got over to Fenway Park for a game in 1986 before we left New York. Roger Clemens was a rookie and having a great season. The Red Sox beat the Orioles that day. Me and Luke and Gus Riberio sat in the center field bleachers at the venerable old gal. Now THAT is truly a special experience. Let’s just say the Red Sox fans are VERY passionate about their team.

The snow continues to fall, heavily, here in Acworth, GA. My eyes are misty as my thoughts waft through my mind, like the frozen flakes in the cold Georgia air.

Number 7, Mickey Mantle, Straw, Doc, life long friends, the Bronx, Queens and 24 Windmill Drive in Glenmont, NY, where me and my most treasured memories lived during the mid 80’s.
Melodye, Luke and Leah. Our chocolate poodle, Fudge, and the great neighbors that loved that family of wide-eyed country folks from Lower Alabama.

I love New York and I miss her deeply, especially on days like this.

Let it snow!

Winter Words Vol. 2 / Lenten Love

Just when we thought it was safe to venture back outside…Yep! You guessed it! More ‘wintry mix’ today. The upside? It kept my beloved home with me. That is ALWAYS good. So, we’ve been vegging out and watching some TV. Productive aren’t we?

Also on the upside, it provides some more valuable time to immerse oneself in Lent. If you read yesterday’s blog, Winter Words, you’ll remember that this is only my second foray into the liturgical calendar and the practice of Lent.

People often think of Lent as a time of giving up something. It should also be a time of introspection and reflection, a time to look, first within oneself, and then to take that time of self-examination and turn it into using our unique gifts to love our neighbor as ourself.

Lent should also be a time to look outward and see the world as it is. It is a place where millions of our brothers and sisters are mourning and suffering.

Buddhist scripture puts it this way, “Now this bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering…”

It’s easy for me, today, to sit on my couch, stuff my face and insulate myself to the pain that exists all around me. And it’s not just the nameless and faceless that are suffering. My next door neighbors are suffering as are the people in my subdivision, my community, my church and all throughout my world, our world.

We are all interconnected. When one person suffers, we all do. And it makes no difference what race, creed, color or religion a person is identified with. We categorize, classify and stereotype everyone. And then we use those categories, classifications and stereotypes to to accentuate our differences, whereas we should be looking to highlight our similarities.

The great majority of us consider ourselves Christian, therefore we should see the world through the eyes of Christ and his teachings. The world should be viewed through that lens. He taught us how to live and, most importantly, he SHOWED us how to live. He talked the talk but, primarily, HE WALKED THE WALK. He was a living example of how to respond to any given situation in a redemptive manner.

Christian scripture says this, “… For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me…I tell you the truth, when you did it to ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”

We are all familiar with these admonitions and we take them to heart, but giving them legs is the issue. The opportunities to do so are abundant. It is up to us, collectively and individually, to open our spiritual eyes and identify who our suffering neighbors are and make every effort to assist in alleviating their suffering.

So, as ‘Old Man Winter’ keeps pounding away, stay warm, look within, and try to help make sure that others do also.

We can’t save the world but we can make a difference.

Hey folks! I didn’t mean to go completely in that direction today but that is what happened when the fingers hit the keys. God bless!!!

“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, moves on…” Omar Khayyam

Winter Words Vol. 1 / Lent, Football, etc.

Winter continues to firmly grip north Georgia. Last week was tough with low temperatures and strong winds. This week we won’t get any higher than 45 and lows will be in the 20’s for the most part. I didn’t even get to walk at ALL last week for I’m not as determined as the days continue to roll by like movie credits at a pace too swift to follow. Like it or not, I’m getting old and I feel it in my bones, joints and muscles.

Lent began with Ash Wednesday last week. I love Lent. This is only my second year of participation in following the liturgical calendar and I find it inspiring and educational. Growing up Southern Baptist, we had absolutely no idea what any of this was, and, quite frankly, we were a little suspicious of such matters. Catholics observed these traditions and we were also a bit suspicious of them. Heck, even Methodists made us a somewhat nervous. Sprinkling babies? Hmmmm…

Even in this day and time not everybody is overly familiar with Lent and such. I went to get a soup and salad at a wonderful little spot in downtown Cartersville, GA last Wednesday, after being “crossed” at the local Starbucks by the associate pastor of the Presbyterian church in that county seat of Bartow. I was asked, by the owner, if I had been working on cars. If you know me at all then you understand that such a notion is preposterous. Then I remembered the ashes that had been smeared on my forehead by the gracious Calvinist. We all laughed, there was also a Methodist present behind the counter, as the significance of the day after Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, occurred to the three of us simultaneously.

Football Spring Practice, yes I’m capitalizing the first letter of all three words because it’s quite important to we SEC fans, will begin in Auburn on March 10th. This is another day we highly anticipate. It’s been oft stated that there are three distinct seasons in the Deep South…Football Season, Recruiting and Spring Practice. National Signing Day was the culmination of Recruiting on February 4th. NSD was covered, all day, on ESPNU and pored over, ad nauseum, for weeks prior to that hallowed day.

According to scout.com, the SEC had five teams in the top ten recruiting classes in the country, and ten teams in the top 25. There you go!!!

After the SEC West took such a whupping in bowl games, many “experts” were declaring the SEC was on its way down. No sir! That ain’t happening! The Big 10, PAC 12, Big 12 and ACC might be catching up, to a degree, but the SEC remains as strong as ever. You can bank that!

And guess what? The end of Lent will be on Maundy Thursday, April 2nd. This week also marks the beginning of Major League Baseball season!

The wheel keeps turning and the cycle of life continues.

The temperature is now 43 degrees and it “feels like” 37. It appears that I will probably miss my walk, yet again. I am feeling it in my old bones and these weary muscles are aching a bit. And Lent reminds us that “it is from dust that we have come and it is to dust that we will return”. But that’s okay. Life is good. It won’t be long before we, once again, hear the thud of leather and the crack of the bat.

Life, death and resurrection. I am in the middle of my 63rd round. In some ways I can truly feel it, but in other ways I feel like a fresh-scrubbed, bright-eyed kid.

“Put me in coach! I’m ready to play…”

 

 

AUBURN: BOOM!!! LAKA-LAKA-LAKA!!!

Coach Will “Boom” Muschamp is now back in the loving arms of the Auburn Family. That is no longer breaking news but it is sweet music to the ears of the Tiger faithful.

“Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka…” goes the Sly and the Family Stone tune, “I Want To Take You Higher,” and Muschamp will do just that with the Auburn D.+

Take a gander at the numbers “Boom” has put up as both a defensive coordinator and as a head coach. These are national stats:+

LSU – DC
2002 – 8th Total Defense 15th Scoring Defense
2003 – 1st Total Defense 1st Scoring Defense
2004 – 3rd Total Defense 14th Scoring Defense+

Miami Dolphins – DC
2005 – 15th Total Defense 18th Scoring Defense+

Auburn – DC
2006 – 19th Total Defense 7th Scoring Defense
2007 – 6th Total Defense 6th Scoring Defense+

Texas – DC
2008 – 51st Total Defense 18th Scoring Defense
2009 – 3rd Total Defense 12th Scoring Defense
2010 – 6th Total Defense 49th Scoring Defense+

Florida – HC
2011 – 8th Total Defense 29th Scoring Defense
2012 – 8th Total Defense 20th Scoring Defense
2013 – 5th Total Defense 5th Scoring Defense
2014 – 20th Total defense 34th Scoring Defense+

Now check this out (from ITAT-Inside The Auburn Tigers):defenseWhat do you think?

Notable: Led Auburn to a No. 7 national ranking in scoring defense in 2006 … Auburn’s defense allowed just 21 touchdowns in 2006, which was tied for eighth nationally … Coached Miami Dolphins to top-10 rankings in the NFL in yards per play (4.7, 7th), yards per rush (3.7, 7th) and yards per pass (6.0, 9th) in 2005, and the Dolphins were second in the NFL in sacks with 49 … Helped LB Zach Thomas and DE Jason Taylor earn Pro Bowl selections in 2005 … Was the defensive coordinator at LSU during its national championship season in 2003 … LSU led the nation in both scoring defense (11.0 ppg) and total defense (252.0 ypg) in 2003 … Coached four All-Americans at LSU, including LB Bradie James (2002), DT Chad Lavalais (2003), CB Corey Webster (2003-04) and DE Marcus Spears (2004) … Four-year letterman at Georgia (1991-94) as a safety and defensive co-captain as a senior.+

It is the humble opinion of this hack, and proud Auburn Fan, that my Tigers just went from this, ?, to this, !+

The Boom Brothers (Gus & Will) should make a mighty, MIGHTY formidable duo.+

And now a trip down memory lane.+

2006
3rd ranked Auburn hosts 6th ranked LSU in a defensive slugfest. The hometown Tigers win 7-3 with Jamarcus Russell throwing deep to end the game. Patrick Lee intercepts the last throw to seal the victory for Auburn. THREE POINTS for the mighty Bayou Bengals! BOOM!!!+

The eventual national champions, Florida, make the trek to The Plains ranked second in the country. They return home with their only loss of the season by a score of 27-17. Chris Leak, Percy Harvin, Tim Tebow and their stalwart offense put up a paltry 279 total yards. BOOM!!!+

The AU D also picked shutouts in Starkville, 34-0, and at home against Arkansas State, 27-0. BOOM!!!+

2007imgresWhat do you think?
Unranked Auburn travels to Gainesville, oddly enough, to do battle with the undefeated and 4th ranked Gators. Tim Tebow and company are held to 312 total yards and 14 first downs. Freshman Wes Byrum TWICE hits a field goal with no time remaining on the clock to secure the victory. Urban Meyer called a time out as Byrum hit the first attempt. He cooly drilled the second try as well, and ran off Florida field doing the Gator Chomp. Auburn 20, Florida 17. BOOM!!!

On October 13th in Fayetteville, the Muschamp led D bottled up an Arkansas squad which featured running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.THE RAZORBACKS CAME AWAY WITH 67 NET RUSHING YARDS. Auburn 9, Arkansas 7. BOOM!!!+

So there you have it sports fans.

And welcome back to The Plains Coach Will “BOOM” Muschamp!!!

War Eagle!!!

The College Quickie: Getting Sober, Rehab, One Day At A Time

GETTING SOBER+

That’s the harsh reality for many fan bases as this incredulous 2014 college football season moves into the home stretch. Didn’t it seem like just yesterday that we were drunk with enthusiasm, passion and hope? Visions of a place in the new College Football Playoff danced in our heads. Now reality, like a stern judge banging his gavel, has set in and it’s time to look to bowl games and 2015 to find that, sometimes elusive and flirtatious, silver lining.+

Stay with me Georgia, UCLA, South Carolina, Oklahoma and yes, my fellow Auburnites. SIGH, we were once highly ranked and oh so pretty on paper. You can now wad up that piece of paper, throw it in the trash and tear off a new sheet from your legal pads. It’s time to start drawing up plans for next year.+

Hope doth spring eternal.+

National Signing Day is just around the corner.+

Spring practice will follow shortly.+

Hoorah!!!+

REHAB
Screen Shot 2014-11-06 at 10.09.47 PMWhat do you think?

Now, as they shake the hangover from drinking the highly spiked Kool-Aid, where do the teams’ fans listed above go for some reflection? Where does the arduous rehabilitation process begin? How can they get better?+

First you have to admit you have a problem.+

Let’s take it one team at a time, beginning with the team with the highest preseason ranking and moving down. We will use the AP poll.+

Oklahoma+

The Sooners came into the season ranked #4. They now find themselves at #16. I had them picked as a playoff team as did MANY others. Problem? Is it Big Game Bob? Do they need a breath of fresh air? Could Stoops revitalize TWO programs by stepping down in Norman and relocating to Gainesville? Lincoln? +

AuburnScreen Shot 2014-11-06 at 10.00.25 PMWhat do you think?

Oh mercy. Down from #6 to #21. OUCH!!! Just a mere three weeks ago my Tigers had just returned from Oxford with a scintillating 35-31 victory over the Ole Miss Rebels. They were #3 in the College Football Playoff Poll. The next game was against struggling Texas A&M. Piece of cake, right? WRONG! The Tigers proceeded to lose their remaining SEC games. Problem? Well, they admitted they had one and fired DC Ellis Johnson. Now the recovery process continues by hiring a strong replacement. Muschamp? Pelini?+

South Carolina+

Preseason #9. Today, unranked with a 6-6 record and bowl prospects in Birmingham or Shreveport. OUCH #2!!! Did they really beat Georgia? Oh well, we now know that the Head Ball Coach will return to the sidelines in Columbia. What will the ole rascal do to invigorate the Gamecocks? Problem? Defense? D was a huge reason for their shortcomings. Do I hear an echoooooo… Muschamp? Pelini?+

UCLA+

From #7 to #17. Not as big a drop as those mentioned before them. But it was a large disappointment to lose to Stanford and miss out on the PAC-12 Championship Game. Problem? Well, maybe they only lose a few games every year much like someone in denial only has a few drinks with dinner. Wink. Could Jim Mora Jr. confront them? It remains that he was/is one of the hottest names in FBS coaching circles. “Should he stay or should he go..” to (fire up the echo machine again) Gainesville? Lincoln?+

Georgia+

Okay, so the Bulldogs only fell from #12 to #15 but the hand wringing, whining and howling continues in Athens; especially after the defeat at the hands of hated rival, Georgia Tech. Between the Hedges no less. They are the perennial bridesmaids. “Mark Richt is a great guy. He’s such a good Christian man. I really like Mark Richt. He’s a class act.” We hear these mantras over and over, year after year. Problem? And I quote Bill Shanks of the Macon Telegraph, “I don’t care what Richt does on Sunday. Saturday is the concern.” And so, who organizes the intervention here?+

Game DayWhat do you think? ONE DAY AT A TIME

That is how one gets sober and stays sober. That is also how one builds a football program. One day at a time. One day at a time on the practice field. One day at a time repeating the fundamentals. One day at a time in the weight room. One day at a time on the recruiting trail.+

You get up. You show up. You practice, plan and, yes, pray.+

You do all of these things over and over and over until you think you can’t do them any more and you… practice, plan and pray… again and again and again.+

That is football.+

That, my friends, is also life.+

So, as we continue to move forward into this holiday season, let’s look back and give thanks for a wonderful, magical and amazing college football season. (No, I am not channeling my inner Drew Barrymore) +

And then look forward to Advent.Notre Dame football is here to stay…whether you like it or notWhat do you think?

Advent is defined as, “The arrival of a notable person, thing or event.”+

Could that be the shiny, new College Football Playoff?+

Rivalry Week: The Auburn-Alabama Game

The Auburn-Alabama Game. Or, if you sport the crimson and white, The Alabama-Auburn game.

I grew up, in the 60′s in LA (Lower Alabama), referring to college football’s greatest rivalry as The Auburn-Alabama game. I took exception to someone reversing the order of the game’s title. Even today that rankles me a little bit.+

Later, the Iron Bowl came in vogue as the accepted term for sport’s greatest contest. Every time I use that term to reference THE GAME, it makes me a tad uneasy. The name Iron Bowl gives it a Birmingham flavor. For forty-one consecutive years the game WAS played in Birmingham’s Legion Field. And Legion Field was where the majority the University of Alabama’s home games were played. If it were Alabama-Tennessee, Alabama-LSU or Alabama playing a huge intersectional opponent, the game took place in “The Football Capital of the South”. +

The term Iron Bowl was derived from Birmingham’s prominent role in the steel industry. Thus, when I hear Iron Bowl, I generally think of the largest city in the great state of Alabama. I think of the statue of Bear Bryant that stands outside of the south end zone of the venerable old stadium. I think of the ‘Tide and Tiger’ bar that once was a gathering place for rowdy fans of both persuasions before the big game.+

The whole atmosphere just had an “Alabama-ish” feel to it. And it was passed off as a neutral site. PLEASE!+

Thank god for Coach Patrick Fain Dye. Dye was named Auburn’s head football after the 1980 season and built a football program that put Auburn on equal footing with Alabama.+

Check the numbers. Since Dye took over as the head man at Auburn, the series stands at 18 wins for the Tigers and 15 wins for the Tide. It’s 6-4 Auburn the last decade. Auburn has 11 wins and Alabama has 9 wins over the past twenty years.+

Dye also demanded that the Auburn be allowed to play its home game in the series AT HOME. In Jordan-Hare Stadium. That happened in 1989 and it has been a great move for BOTH sides. Auburn and Tuscaloosa have benefited greatly, and the respective fan bases have been treated to an INFINITELY improved game day experience.+

Now don’t get me wrong. I have some great memories of games played in Legion Field.+

I mentioned, in last week’s column, that the first time I witnessed Auburn win an Auburn-Alabama game in Birmingham was 1970 when Pat Sullivan and Terry Beasley led the Tigers to a great come-from-behind victory, 33-28.+

I was in the student section, in the curve of that south end zone, for the ‘Punt Bama Punt’ game in 1972. Bill Newton blocked two Bama punts VERY late in the game and David Langner took both of those to the house. Everybody knows the story. Auburn came out on top, 17-16.+

I was sitting on the fifty yard line, in the east stands, when Bo Jackson went ‘over-the-top’ to give Auburn their first win in ten years, 23-22.+

I also witnessed Auburn clinch two SEC Championships, in 1987 & 1988, in Birmingham.+

So yes, we Auburn fans have experienced some great moments at Legion Field, but we are also rightly justified and hugely satisfied that this grand event now takes place on the campuses of these two great institutions.+

If you are a passionate fan on EITHER side of this GREATEST rivalry you understand this. You know the feeling. There is an extra spring in your step. Your heart beats a little faster. Your emotions are on your sleeve. You get a tear in your eye at the recollection of your favorite memories of this game.+

‘Game’ seems to be an understatement. This moment in time may not have any bearing on real life or any impact on eternity, but it is as BIG as it gets in the state of Alabama. Its reverberations and repercussions will ripple throughout the south, the nation and the world for decades to come.+

So here we are again. Thanksgiving week. The Auburn-Alabama game. It just don’t get no better than this!+

The talking heads, pundits and prognosticators will yammer on endlessly about this event. And what an EVENT it is. Experts will break this thing down to the nth degree. You will see it examined from every angle and hear every possible human interest story related to the ‘event’.+

One thing you will likely hear, ad nauseum, will be “Throw out the record books for this one folks.” NO! Don’t do that. The Auburn-Alabama game usually plays close to form and the favorite wins, much more often than not.Yes, you have your ‘Punt Bama Punt’ games and your games when a decided underdog wins but that is the exception.+

The rule is… whoever blocks and tackles with greater precision will probably win. That is what wins football games. That is why fundamentals and repetition matter so very much.+

Passion and emotion will always be key elements in college football. People will also talk about revenge for last year’s ‘Kick Six’ game in Jordan-Hare. I’m sure that’s been locker room material in Tuscaloosa for 365 days. That’s all part of it. But all of that will go out the window after these two great teams have played a few series of downs. It will then become a heavyweight fight. Whoever is better prepared and executes better will win the Iron Bowl.+

NOW… which team will do these things BETTER than the other. I don’t know the answer to that but I do know that Alabama looks better on paper. Alabama has the home field advantage. Alabama has the better record. Alabama is a 9.5 favorite. All of this factors in to give the Crimson Tide the edge.+

That being said… THAT BEING SAID… I am an Auburn fan. But I am not just an Auburn fan; I am an ultra-passionate, wide-eyed, emotional, rabid and extremely proud Auburn fan.Therefore…+

I HAVE to think the Tigers will win the ‘Auburn-Alabama’ game. I MUST think that way. I SHALL point every ounce of support, superstition and positivity to the men clad in burnt orange and navy blue.+

Auburn 30, Alabama 27.+

War Eagle!!!+