ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit turned around from his broadcast seat, looked and pondered, “Where is everybody?”
It was ESPN’s Saturday morning college football spectacle, GameDay. The show most football enthusiasts watch.
The show that travels week to week from one college town to another and draws raucous crowds and rowdy fans climbing all over one another just to get their homemade sign on television.
GameDay was in Auburn that 2006 Saturday morning, and the usual crowd that becomes part of the show failed to show up.
It sent an erroneous message to the college football world that Auburn fans don’t share the same spirit that fans of other schools have. It sent an erroneous message that said Auburn fans simply don’t care.
That’s not true.
Not by a longshot.
Anyone who has experienced a football game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, or even attended a game when Auburn was the visiting school, knows otherwise. Auburn fans are as passionate about their football team as they come.
But you wouldn’t know that by watching GameDay that Saturday morning.
Hours later, Jordan-Hare Stadium was full of electricity as the Tigers upset the second-ranked Florida Gators.
There could be a variety of reasons why fans didn’t flock behind the ESPN set to share a few words with Lee Corso that day.
GameDay starts at 9 a.m. The Florida game was at night and many fans live out of town and won’t arrive that early for a night game. Maybe the location of the broadcast that morning, between Plainsman Park and Sewell Hall, wasn’t advertised over and over again to Auburn fans.
Whatever the reasons, let’s make sure it doesn’t happen again when GameDay broadcasts live from 9 to 11 a.m. near the intersection of Roosevelt and Duncan Drive.
Sure, Saturday’s showdown with LSU doesn’t start until 6:45 p.m., but we’ve got enough football enthusiasts right here in town to mob the set and show the world we have passion for this sport and can pass on sleep just this one time.
Whether you’re actually going to the game or not, come to GameDay, bring a sign (please use proper grammar), and get loud. Don’t let Herbstreit turn around and ask where folks are. Just give the former Buckeye a bowl of grits and say, “Welcome to Auburn.”
Fans should show America that Auburn spirit people hold so dearly. Indeed, Auburn is a football town. Let’s prove it. We can sleep later.
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