TWTW: OSG Is Glendale Sunday

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought that someone was so ill-prepared for something, and you were just stuck in the middle of it and couldn't do anything but wait it out...???

As part of this whole celebration-leading-toward-the-last-college-football-game-that-means-something this season, there are corporate sponsored events where you're encouraged to party, tailgate, and otherwise consume mass quantities of whatever the main sponsors are trying to pass off as an experience and/or souvenirs...

Sunday was that day... and I don't honestly think the city of Scottsdale knew what hit it. There was a party situation planned for both sets of fans in a central location- a cordoned-off section of mall near the riverfront. And, yes, I know what you're thinking...

Scottsdale has a river, much less a riverfront...???

Remember what we were talking about with the whole "Auburn fans buying out 70-percent of the seats in Glendale...?" That 50,000 or so fans are just the ones who have tickets. There are countless others that TBH and myself have seen looking for tickets, or just in town for the experience of saying they were there should the team win today.

And they all seem to travel in a pack- a mega-pack, or an amoeba that just happens to multiply over and over again to a suffocating level. 20,000 showed for the controlled-environment party within the confines of the fences the party-hosters put up. 2,000 showed up in a hyper-confined space to experience the Auburn Radio Network's live-from-Arizona version of "Tiger Talk."

The bar across the street from this place called "Upper Deck" proclaimed itself to be the official Oregon bar. It was overrun by Auburn fans who were told that, to stay, they had to pay a $25 cover.

They didn't care- it was part of their experience. Especially, when the few Ducks fans that actually were there to be part of the Oregon experience started flipping off the Auburn fans who were yelling at each other across the street back and forth like it was a home game. It got to the point where Auburn play-by-play guy Rod Bramblett actually took a picture for himself as proof.

Which the HQ found as funny...

Upper Deckers were confused over what to charge for beer, which was sold by the case and caused an artificial shortage of any domestic they ((and three other establishments nearby)) could get their hands on...

If the joint you're in is out of beer, you're out of luck...

And the day ends with the Alumni Association renting out the largest ballroom in a hotel near the football stadium. 3,000 tickets were sold for the event which gave any fan a chance to hob-nob with a 1957 football player, Bramblett, Stan White, Quentin Riggins, a member of the 1972 "Amazins" squad, and hear Pat Dye talk about kicking the other guy's ass tomorrow night...

Think of it as a big fantasy camp for football fans- and a chance to wander in to a high-falutin' ballroom if you waited long enough not to drop the $35 for a ticket before the door.

And Scottsdale, Glendale, and any other dale has no idea what they've gotten themselves in to for a week...

Because, people will come Ray...
People will come...
They have... and, weather permitting, they're still coming for kickoff...
((HT: Youtube/Universal Pictures))

War Eagle ABC's: Auburn, Barbee, Chizik...

All in one place...

The HQ was pleased to tag along with TBH's alumni club for the first post A-Day meeting of the faithful. The Auburn Club has a lot of these alumni groups. The Atlanta metropolitan area has 30,000 alums just waiting to hear just how much every other alum in the area hates Alabama.

But you gotta give the Atlanta Auburn Club special extra credit for bringing in one of those freeway banners as a backdrop. It's an excuse to meet fellow Auburners, bid on some really cool auction items, and get your picture taken ((and get autographs with)) anyone who shows up...

This time it happens to be new basketball coach Tony Barbee and not-so-new head football coach Gene Chizik... ((pictured, thanks to me))

Each one of you who is a big football fan for your Alma mater/school closest to where you live knows the idiosyncrasies of the program. FSU has the war chant, the flaming spear, and the appaloosa. Arkansas has their pig-based chants. Florida has that stupid chomp. But with Auburn, it's a greeting of varying degrees...

It's either "War Eagle" or "War Damn Eagle." It depends on whether or not there's a normal conversation or some emphasis that's needed within the conversation as to which applies.

The first version is something that can substitute for a "hello." And when your football coach greets you that way, you return the favor louder. There's a receiving line ((where yours truly left the Chiz hanging a little bit before greeting him)) and a lot of picture-taking.

But Coach Barbee ((pronounced like the blond doll, and the HQ is waiting for the first actual "Barbee Doll"- which better be a bobblehead)) got in the first dig for the evening- relaying a story from a recruiting visit.

He was visiting a high school in the Atlanta area with his new job title chasing after a rising senior. Barbee said that when the principal of the high school realized Anthony Grant wanted to talk to this particular kid and that Barbee wanted to as well- guess who was asked to leave. The principal is an Auburn grad...

The HQ does have some constructive criticism for Barbee, though...
It's "AW-burn," first syllable, not "Aw-BURN..."

TBH held her own introducing the emcee for the evening- a local sports-talk radio alum. She even threw her other-half under a few buses, which was pretty funny.

The emcee introduced the caretaker of Nova, the eagle of record on campus, every athletic letterman in attendance, and opened the runway for Chizik.

The coach went for fifteen minutes rallying the troops...
His first two acts were to make sure the crowd knew his better half was the one in charge and that he had an issue with Barbee already. Someone got his press conference in a new arena while someone else got a press conference in a really small building. But there were plenty of things that impressed Chizik.

"A-Day was a phenomenal day," Chizik admitted. "We had 63-thousand people there, and 23 of the 26 players from the All-Decade Team." He said that quite impressed with what the school was able to do for that Saturday.

"Our goal," he continued, "is championships and graduating players. That, and to bring the Auburn family together." He knew he was facing a tall order when he took the job on the Plains.

"We've got to get them to a Game Day," he said. "When they leave, we want them to have a whole different view of the Auburn family."

Chizik concluded with the same points he'll make all across the southeast over the Spring: "Our future is really, really bright. We'll keep recruiting hard in Alabama and Georgia and ask, 'Who is the best athlete?' "

He did knock out a nice stat before he left: Of the 119 D1 schools, only 7 kept their staffs in tact. Auburn was one of those seven. Chizik has the foundation now, but what he does as he builds the house will be the most important acts he has over the next few seasons...

And since the HQ is done talking about our ABC's, time for another version of the alphabet and its importance to other folks...at the 3:00 mark or so...

Which kinda applies to college football all year long until National Signing Day...
((HT: Columbia/Tri-Star Pictures))
((and, yes, it's always NSFW))