Heartbreak and the nonexistence of moral victories

So this is a crappy picture, but it's the only one I remembered to take because Eric didn't remind me like I told him to :)

This post is going to be scattered and disjointed because I'm about to crash. I worked last night, went to the Iron Bowl, screamed my voice away, jumped until my legs turned to jelly, watched Auburn give it their all, left with a heavy heart, and now I'm working again. I'm exhausted, but I'll never be sorry that I went to that game.

The Iron Bowl was a heatbreaker this year. But I think Auburn was in it more than anyone (except the team itself) expected them to be.

Justin sold me a student ticket at the last minute, so I got to experience the amazing atmosphere of the Auburn student section during an Iron Bowl. I'm so grateful to George, Eric, and company for saving me a seat in their section. I got to sit with Pokey and Stephen who both make me look like a tame fan (I know, right?). They were intense, but that was an intense game. When Auburn jumped out to an early lead, I've never screamed so loud or jumped so high in my life, and I definitely wasn't the only one. And yeah, our voices were almost gone after the first quarter. Jorge had to join Pokey during the 2nd half to fix the voodoo when things started to go south. Those two have to sit together or things end up badly. And it was so great to see Rachel and Madison. I love sitting with this group. There's genuine love for the Auburn Tigers and you can feel it on every play.

We had the nicest Alabama fan in front of us. He was extremely polite and gracious and told us he refused to sing "Rammer Jammer" after such a great game where no one beat the hell out of anyone else (you know my feelings about "Rammer Jammer," so I'll leave it at that). He was an all-around nice guy and a great reminder that there are great fans everywhere, even some that wear crimson.

I rode with Jason and his parents to the game on the shuttle. It was tough being with Alabama fans before the game, but after the game, even they admitted that Auburn played one hell of a game (if you knew Jason's parents you'd know what a big deal that was). As we were waiting in line to catch the shuttle back to Tiger Town, Jason noticed someone he said looked "like she could be Stacey Heath's sister." I looked over in that direction, saw her, and realized after I saw Will that it really was Stacey. We exchanged "Good games" and everyone seemed to enjoy the random encounter. I don't know why Jason seeing Stacey and thinking it was just a girl who looked like her cracked me up so much, but it was really neat to see them after we had been waiting in that line for what seemed like hours. It very well could have been half an hour, but my legs were tired and I was ready to get on a bus. But striking up conversations with random fans wearing both colors (as well as long lost friends across the line) kept us entertained while the line moved. The shuttle system at Auburn is amazingly efficient considering how many buses they coordinate and move through gameday traffic.

As far as the game goes, I couldn't have really asked any more of Auburn. The defense, the undermanned, young, injury-ridden defense played with heart, and through most of the game, whenever we asked them to come up with the big stop, they obliged until they just ran out of gas. Pokey put it best: "We just didn't have enough bullets in the gun." The 4th quarter went the way the 4th quarter has been going for Alabama all year, strong. And our 4th quarter game seemed to fall off somewhere after the Tennessee game. Bama beat us when it mattered: when the game was on the line.

There are no moral victories in football. I will not budge on that point. Auburn lost that game. In the record books, it will show an L, not an "Auburn won most of the time 1/2 L." We made crucial mistakes that ultimately cost us the game, and yeah, I'm disappointed in the outcome, but that team has nothing to hang its head about. The 2009 Iron Bowl was one of my favorites, and that's saying something considering we didn't win. I don't feel completely sick to my stomach about it, and that's a testament to the fight our boys put up.

I'm not gonna lie, though. I got a little emotional. I don't think we've ever lost and Iron Bowl when I didn't tear up just a little. Right after our last ditch effort hit the ground and their players ran on the field, our band struck up "War Eagle," and I lost it. The love that we felt for that team couldn't be tainted by "Rammer Jammer."

Yeah, I just teared up a little writing that [and proofreading it]. I'm a loser, but I love Auburn.

Last time, I said that at the end of the day, regardless of the outcome, one thing would separate us from them: We believe in Auburn and love it. They believe in Alabama, and Alabama is truly a force to be reckoned with. But I wouldn't trade one minute of being an Auburn fan for all of Alabama's glory. There's just something different about sitting in Jordan-Hare and watching Nova fly over the sea of orange and its perfect color wheel complement and tailgating with people you've known forever or even just met and witnessing Tiger Walk and rolling Toomer's Corner and having "War Eagle" moments and singing our fight song to show love for our beloved Tigers, even after a heartbreaking loss. I am a part of Auburn, and Auburn is a part of me. Auburn is my home, and Auburn is my family.

It's great to be an Auburn Tiger and it always will be. Always.

War. Damn. Eagle.

Update: We lost the Iron Bowl and the sun did come up again in Auburn this morning.  In fact, the sun came up in such a way to remind us all that no matter what the outcome of a football game, God is still on our side. WDE. By the way, this picture doesn't nearly do the sunrise justice. The orange was brilliant.