All the recent football frenzy started me thinking about Babylonian temples. That’s right — Babylonian temples.
Take the Temple of Inanna. This temple built to honor Inanna, the goddess of love, started out the size of a small home. It was rebuilt seven times, each time becoming bigger and more elaborate.
The final structure, completed about 2030 BC, was the size of a football field.
The evolution of the temple reminds me of the metamorphosis of Jordan-Hare Stadium.
It was a game played by students for students.
Coach George Petrie held practice on the drill field, and the Tigers played their games at Drake Field located behind the present day Haley Center. There were a couple of bleachers for the fans.
In 1939, Auburn’s stadium was built with 7,500 seats. Ten years later the seating capacity increased to 21,500 and the facility was renamed Cliff Hare Stadium in honor of the retired dean of the School of Chemistry. There were two more additions in the 1950s and another in the 1960s. In 1970, the stadium became a complete bowl, seating 61,261 fans. It was renamed Jordan-Hare Stadium in 1973 to recognize Coach Jordan.
With other additions in the 1980s and 1990s, Jordan-Hare Stadium became one of the largest arenas in the nation seating more than 85,000 rabid, screaming bodies.
As the stadium has been transformed, the game has changed too. It’s become a sport played by athletes who also go to school, not by students who also play football.
These days, university students are a small minority in the stands. Fact is, football has become big business catering to wealthy non-students. And fans’ hostile hatred of opposing teams is rampant.
I saw a 365-day “I Hate Alabama” calendar in a bookstore. Yep. For every day of the year there’s a different reason to hate the University of Alabama. OK, so I smiled when I saw it. There was also a 365-day “I Hate Auburn” calendar.
That wasn’t funny.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not some wimp who doesn’t like football. I was the little girl who put Shug Jordan on a pedestal high above Santa Claus. I was the teenager who hit an Alabama fan with an umbrella at Legion Field. And I’m the retired instructor who taught more than 60 AU players from Jason Campbell and Carnell Williams to Ben Tate and Antonio Coleman.
But I hope I’ve changed more than my clothes over the years.
Terry Bowden was once quoted as saying, “Every single person in the state of Alabama lives and dies with the Auburn-Alabama game.” And Bear Bryant put it this way: “Anyone who lives in the state of Alabama and doesn’t like football oughta get out.”
Wait a minute. I’m a little confused. Are we talking about the state of Alabama or the state of madness?
Mary Belk lives in Auburn and writes a column for the Opelika-Auburn News.
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