This "little" article was in the Crimson White today…hilarious…
"The littlest dynasty"
Eight months.
That's exactly how long the "Auburn dynasty" lasted. After three straight years of beating Alabama and building a program worthy of being declared "The People's National Champions," the Auburn .Tigers are right back where they started: playing second fiddle to the Crimson Tide.
How is it possible to lose such an enormous amount of national respect and clout in such a short period of time? If anyone knows how to do it, it's Auburn.
In 1957, Auburn won its first (and only) national title. The Tigers were on top of the football world in a time when the sport was becoming America's new national pastime.
So did Auburn capitalize on this opportunity and turn into the next big thing in Southern football? Not exactly. It would be 26 years before Auburn would even win its conference again.
Let's check out the next banner in the Auburn hall of fame: the 1993 season. Terry Bowden led the Tigers in his first year as head coach to a perfect 11-0 record and was triumphantly carried off the field after beating Alabama for the first time ever at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Auburn's time had finally come. Except for one thing: The Tigers were on probation and had no chance to compete for a conference or national title.
And of course, we all know about 2004, Cadillac "The School That I Had Chose" Williams and the last-second touchdown by Spencer Pennington that might have kept the Tigers out of the national championship game.
So how do these three instances, the three greatest moments in Auburn football history, explain how far the Tigers have fallen in just one summer?
In Terry Bowden's words, it's all about "Attitude." There are programs that know how to act when they're on top — places like Notre Dame, Michigan, USC and, not so long ago, Alabama.
Auburn is not one of those schools. Whenever the Tigers have been given a chance at success, an opportunity to finally eclipse the mighty Tide in national prominence and respect, the results are always the same: They, inevitably, blow it.
Alabama has been down and out for half a decade. The Tide has been forced to deal with an embarrassing 2000 season, devastating NCAA sanctions, a gutless betrayal by a head coach, a trashy scandal by his replacement and, finally, the utter humiliation of losing for three straight years to Auburn.
Auburn had the crown of Dixie handed to it on a silver platter coming into the 2005 season.
Three games in, it appears that Auburn has missed the chance for coronation once again.
The Tide outranks Auburn in both major polls and is two weeks away from what is being hyped as one of the biggest games of the year against Florida.
Meanwhile, Auburn's name won't be uttered again until the middle of October when the team plays its next real opponent (sorry Tigers, Western Kentucky High School for the Blind probably won't attract the ESPN GameDay crew).
Such is life in the Loveliest Village on the Plains, where fans chant, "We're No. 2," where it's tough to be seen in the shadow of Alabama and where losing is just a way of life.
Matt Scalici is a senior sports reporter for The Crimson White.
Good Providence and Roll Tide
Friday, September 23, 2005
So Much For Conversational Pieces
Well, you try to educate people give em a really cool text that you were lucky to find that pertains greatly to this site and what do they do? Nothing.
It's okay. Socrates can be long winded.
You don't think I'm long winded, do you?
Poem soon hopefully.
We're looking at a length like Epitome of a Constant State of Condusion or Internal Bleeding so hopefully the wait will be worth it...
Hopefully...
Oh yeah.
Just in case you wondered.
College life is great. It's not so scary as much as it is awesome. I'm enjoying my classes and have absolutely no free time. But free time is set aside for laundry rooms and Bryant Denny Stadium.
ROLL TIDE ROLL!
Good Providence
P.S. I got pictures I wanna put up...later though.
It's okay. Socrates can be long winded.
You don't think I'm long winded, do you?
Poem soon hopefully.
We're looking at a length like Epitome of a Constant State of Condusion or Internal Bleeding so hopefully the wait will be worth it...
Hopefully...
Oh yeah.
Just in case you wondered.
College life is great. It's not so scary as much as it is awesome. I'm enjoying my classes and have absolutely no free time. But free time is set aside for laundry rooms and Bryant Denny Stadium.
ROLL TIDE ROLL!
Good Providence
P.S. I got pictures I wanna put up...later though.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Pens Down
Discussed this passage in Western Civ. Today. It’s very interesting…
From Plato’s The Apology contained in The Last Days of Socrates.
What’s going on: Socrates has been summoned to the judicial courts in Athens on the charge of heresy and corrupting the youth of the city. He claims that his teaching is only his assisting the oracle of Delphi in proving that he is the wisest of all Athenians. This isn’t as prideful or arrogant as it sounds. Upon hearing what the oracle said about him, Socrates disagrees and begins to search for those that have to be wiser than he. But, he finds that the oracle is correct. There is no one wiser that he can find. But, he begins to think, maybe he is wiser because he will admit that he does not know everything and the others pretend to. So now it has become an experiment for him. The poets are his second group for his experiment…
“I want you to think of my adventures as a cycle of labours undertaken to establish the truth of the oracle once for all. After I had finished with the politicians I turned to the poets, dramatic, lyric, and all the rest, in the belief that here I should expose myself as a comparative ignoramus. I used to pick up what I thought were some of their most polished works and questioned them closely about the meaning of what they had written, in the hope of incidentally enlarging my own knowledge. Well, gentlemen, I hesitate to tell you the truth, but it must be told. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that any of the bystanders could have explained those poems better than their actual authors. So I soon made up my mind about poets too: I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled them to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean. It seemed clear to me that the poets were in much the same case; and I also observed that the very fact that they were poets made them think that they had a perfect understanding of all other subjects, of which they were totally ignorant. …”
See? Interesting huh? All you fellow poets out there think about this and gimmie some feedback…
…………………Good Providence
From Plato’s The Apology contained in The Last Days of Socrates.
What’s going on: Socrates has been summoned to the judicial courts in Athens on the charge of heresy and corrupting the youth of the city. He claims that his teaching is only his assisting the oracle of Delphi in proving that he is the wisest of all Athenians. This isn’t as prideful or arrogant as it sounds. Upon hearing what the oracle said about him, Socrates disagrees and begins to search for those that have to be wiser than he. But, he finds that the oracle is correct. There is no one wiser that he can find. But, he begins to think, maybe he is wiser because he will admit that he does not know everything and the others pretend to. So now it has become an experiment for him. The poets are his second group for his experiment…
“I want you to think of my adventures as a cycle of labours undertaken to establish the truth of the oracle once for all. After I had finished with the politicians I turned to the poets, dramatic, lyric, and all the rest, in the belief that here I should expose myself as a comparative ignoramus. I used to pick up what I thought were some of their most polished works and questioned them closely about the meaning of what they had written, in the hope of incidentally enlarging my own knowledge. Well, gentlemen, I hesitate to tell you the truth, but it must be told. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that any of the bystanders could have explained those poems better than their actual authors. So I soon made up my mind about poets too: I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled them to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean. It seemed clear to me that the poets were in much the same case; and I also observed that the very fact that they were poets made them think that they had a perfect understanding of all other subjects, of which they were totally ignorant. …”
See? Interesting huh? All you fellow poets out there think about this and gimmie some feedback…
…………………Good Providence
Sunday, September 11, 2005
College is Phun pt. 1
In response to the question of: “It is ten years from now. You are on trial for murder and the judge asks you why you did it. Why did you?” for an application for the Mallet Honors Society at UA I responded:
Stenographer's Report: 12/15/04
"Mr. Grayson, you are about to be sentenced for the murder of Kenneth Friar. We've seen and heard testimony from your family and friends as well as those belonging to the victim. Quite frankly we all know you offed him. So stop trying to hide it. The only thing that actually is on everyone that is present's mind is, "Why?" . Why did you kill this innocent man Mr. Grayson? Why in the quiet of night on October 31, did you take a sledgehammer and brutally hit Mr. Friar's brand new 2005 Lexus and proceed to tickle him until he ceased to breathe from the exhaustion of laughing so hard that his sides literally burst? Why did you, in cold blood, take life from another human being?"
"First off, were you there? No. You weren't. So basically you don't even know what you're talking about, you self-righteous chess piece of this so called 'blind' justice system that the President and all of his cronies hide behind... Anyway, so you all really want to know why I did it? By the way, I DID DO IT. I'd do it again. HE MADE ME SO MAD... none of you understand how, how angry. He just, he shouldn't have done what he did you know? It was one of those few times in history where someone actually crossed a line that was deep in the sand...that he knew was there, one of those times that you know you have to do something about the piece of [expletive] standing in front of you people actually call a human being and wipe it off the face of the planet so that no one else has to deal with what you just dealt with. I felt very much like Mel Gibson did in that movie The Patriot when he killed that British guy at the end of the movie. Anyway, he had no right to insult me like that. Did he understand how much I had prepared for this? How long I had worked and saved and how all of that finally added up to what was supposed to be the most glorious night of my life? I never get any attention! NEVER! No one ever talks to me around the office. Sure I'm quiet, but that's no excuse for the way they all look at me every day. Like, like I'm something different from them, like I'm not made from the same hate, the same, black that they are. Like I said before no one understands what's going on here. No one. But at the party that night, the party that I had worked so hard to make a good impression at, to gain a little positive attention, a rebirth, if you will, of myself in the eyes of my associates,...he ruined it. How dare him to be the final vote on the costume contest! I was one vote away! ONE VOTE!!! I was one vote away from the glory of eternally having my name written on the annual company Halloween Costume Contest plaque. I MEAN COME ON! How is a flawless recreation of the Gettysburg Address "not a very original costume."? I wasn't someONE. I was a (expletive) event in history. I was a lot of people...at the same (expletive) time. BUT NO. Instead he picks that whore across from his desk that he can't take his eyes off of. She didn't need this! I did! And...
"That is quite enough Mr. Grayson. That is quite enough. Not only has your story completely and utterly ruined your case, and found you out to be a very sad and angry man, with many, many, problems to work out,...
it has also tugged at the strings of my heart in a way that I have never felt. You're right, that harlot didn't need that plaque. You did. And I'm not going to put you in jail for the want of love. The last time I checked wanting to be loved and appreciated wasn't against the law. I..."
(Stupid face lawyer interjects:)
"But your honor, he also killed someone and that is..."
"Shut up stupid. I'll be the judge of what is and isn't murder here. Mr. Grayson simply tickled Mr. Friar. And people tickle other people all the time. How was he to know that this would kill Mr. Friar?"
(Again, Stupid Face Lawyer:)
"But your honor he...wait, why do you keep saying he tickled him? Mr. Friar was found with stab wounds in his forehead and abdomen...what are you...."
"Do you have pictures of this?"
"Well yes, they're..."
"Then you don't have a case. No pictures no case."
"But I just said that I do..."
"Mr. Grayson, as I was saying, you make me proud to be a part of this justice system. It takes a lot of guts, moxy even, to admit that you have maliciously killed someone, especially in the high pressure situation that a court room can create. The only experience I have with that is that one time I got really drunk and stripped naked and ran into the middle of Sleepless in Seattle when it was in theaters and my friends, who followed me in wanted me to give a speech. Needless to say, it wasn't the most eloquent or prestigious of rhetorical exercises, but instead of throwing me out, the theater employees gave me a free popcorn and coke because they thought it was so freakin ballsy. But that's beside the point. I like you and I like your moxy. So I'm gonna give you your free popcorn and coke and let you off the hook. You know, I think you are the first person I think that I have actually helped since I got this job? Ha. Kids. Why are we prolonging this? You're free to go Mr. Grayson. Go be loved. Case dismissed!"
[gavel slam...loud...reasonably anyway]
[SFL(Stupid Face Lawyer)]
"This is ridiculous! This is an outrage! This is...really dumb! Have you lost your mind your honor? You're letting him go free?!! Because his psychological issues remind you of your tale of drunken stupidness? You don't have any grounds. You don't..."
"And you don't have a job any more. You're fired."
[SFL]
"What? I'm pretty sure you can't make that decision. I have my own practice. Plus, I have other people that I answer..."
"Well I bet your daddy can..."
[SFL]
"Wh...that..."
"What's that loser? What are you trying to say? You gonna cry? You gonna cry like a little baby?"
[SFL]
"You...popcorn...it's...I'm... leaving."
(singing)
"Who's the man? I da man! Who's the man? I da man! Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh! TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT TO THE RIGHT TO THE...."
Report suspended due to lack of necessity.
But trust me, what happened after that was pretty pathetic.
Stenographer's Report: 12/15/04
"Mr. Grayson, you are about to be sentenced for the murder of Kenneth Friar. We've seen and heard testimony from your family and friends as well as those belonging to the victim. Quite frankly we all know you offed him. So stop trying to hide it. The only thing that actually is on everyone that is present's mind is, "Why?" . Why did you kill this innocent man Mr. Grayson? Why in the quiet of night on October 31, did you take a sledgehammer and brutally hit Mr. Friar's brand new 2005 Lexus and proceed to tickle him until he ceased to breathe from the exhaustion of laughing so hard that his sides literally burst? Why did you, in cold blood, take life from another human being?"
"First off, were you there? No. You weren't. So basically you don't even know what you're talking about, you self-righteous chess piece of this so called 'blind' justice system that the President and all of his cronies hide behind... Anyway, so you all really want to know why I did it? By the way, I DID DO IT. I'd do it again. HE MADE ME SO MAD... none of you understand how, how angry. He just, he shouldn't have done what he did you know? It was one of those few times in history where someone actually crossed a line that was deep in the sand...that he knew was there, one of those times that you know you have to do something about the piece of [expletive] standing in front of you people actually call a human being and wipe it off the face of the planet so that no one else has to deal with what you just dealt with. I felt very much like Mel Gibson did in that movie The Patriot when he killed that British guy at the end of the movie. Anyway, he had no right to insult me like that. Did he understand how much I had prepared for this? How long I had worked and saved and how all of that finally added up to what was supposed to be the most glorious night of my life? I never get any attention! NEVER! No one ever talks to me around the office. Sure I'm quiet, but that's no excuse for the way they all look at me every day. Like, like I'm something different from them, like I'm not made from the same hate, the same, black that they are. Like I said before no one understands what's going on here. No one. But at the party that night, the party that I had worked so hard to make a good impression at, to gain a little positive attention, a rebirth, if you will, of myself in the eyes of my associates,...he ruined it. How dare him to be the final vote on the costume contest! I was one vote away! ONE VOTE!!! I was one vote away from the glory of eternally having my name written on the annual company Halloween Costume Contest plaque. I MEAN COME ON! How is a flawless recreation of the Gettysburg Address "not a very original costume."? I wasn't someONE. I was a (expletive) event in history. I was a lot of people...at the same (expletive) time. BUT NO. Instead he picks that whore across from his desk that he can't take his eyes off of. She didn't need this! I did! And...
"That is quite enough Mr. Grayson. That is quite enough. Not only has your story completely and utterly ruined your case, and found you out to be a very sad and angry man, with many, many, problems to work out,...
it has also tugged at the strings of my heart in a way that I have never felt. You're right, that harlot didn't need that plaque. You did. And I'm not going to put you in jail for the want of love. The last time I checked wanting to be loved and appreciated wasn't against the law. I..."
(Stupid face lawyer interjects:)
"But your honor, he also killed someone and that is..."
"Shut up stupid. I'll be the judge of what is and isn't murder here. Mr. Grayson simply tickled Mr. Friar. And people tickle other people all the time. How was he to know that this would kill Mr. Friar?"
(Again, Stupid Face Lawyer:)
"But your honor he...wait, why do you keep saying he tickled him? Mr. Friar was found with stab wounds in his forehead and abdomen...what are you...."
"Do you have pictures of this?"
"Well yes, they're..."
"Then you don't have a case. No pictures no case."
"But I just said that I do..."
"Mr. Grayson, as I was saying, you make me proud to be a part of this justice system. It takes a lot of guts, moxy even, to admit that you have maliciously killed someone, especially in the high pressure situation that a court room can create. The only experience I have with that is that one time I got really drunk and stripped naked and ran into the middle of Sleepless in Seattle when it was in theaters and my friends, who followed me in wanted me to give a speech. Needless to say, it wasn't the most eloquent or prestigious of rhetorical exercises, but instead of throwing me out, the theater employees gave me a free popcorn and coke because they thought it was so freakin ballsy. But that's beside the point. I like you and I like your moxy. So I'm gonna give you your free popcorn and coke and let you off the hook. You know, I think you are the first person I think that I have actually helped since I got this job? Ha. Kids. Why are we prolonging this? You're free to go Mr. Grayson. Go be loved. Case dismissed!"
[gavel slam...loud...reasonably anyway]
[SFL(Stupid Face Lawyer)]
"This is ridiculous! This is an outrage! This is...really dumb! Have you lost your mind your honor? You're letting him go free?!! Because his psychological issues remind you of your tale of drunken stupidness? You don't have any grounds. You don't..."
"And you don't have a job any more. You're fired."
[SFL]
"What? I'm pretty sure you can't make that decision. I have my own practice. Plus, I have other people that I answer..."
"Well I bet your daddy can..."
[SFL]
"Wh...that..."
"What's that loser? What are you trying to say? You gonna cry? You gonna cry like a little baby?"
[SFL]
"You...popcorn...it's...I'm... leaving."
(singing)
"Who's the man? I da man! Who's the man? I da man! Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh! TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT TO THE RIGHT TO THE...."
Report suspended due to lack of necessity.
But trust me, what happened after that was pretty pathetic.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Four Months Ago Today I Stopped Listening to A Broken Heart
Hey everyone.
So it's been four months huh baby?
I promise I remembered.
See?
"Overjoyed"
I see frustration upon your face
Tired eyes
Won't you just rest with me
I'll make you complete again
I saw the beauty in your soul
The way you are
Cant you just see the moon
smiling at you tonight?
And what will define you?
I'm overjoyed
yeah
Overjoyed to be with you
Overcame doubts
Overcame and fell for you
I see two roads ahead of you
One is wide,
the other is narrow and long
Which is the one you'll choose?
Together we're walking side by side
I will fall
and you will rescue me
Through all my darkest times
And what will define you?
Cause I want to know you
I want to give you all I can
I want to know you
I want to someday understand
And its all for you
Yeah, who you going to be, who you going to be?
Always there
through the rough times
And you're always there when no one else cares,
No one else cares
Always there
Four Months and we're still trying hard. I love you and am very proud of you Brianna. Couldn't have moved to T-Town without you beside me. See you tomorrow.
Mwah.
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