Alabama just too good for Auburn to halt neverending streak

By Andrew Gribble
Auburn University Beat Reporter
Published: February 27, 2009

TUSCALOOSA—We learned one big thing here tonight.

Alabama is still for real when it comes to gymnastics.

Yes, Auburn wasn’t as sharp as it has been throughout one of the best seasons in team history, but the Gym Tiders were basically flawless. The 197.350-196.175 final score is what the gymnastically-inclined call a blowout. We’re finally getting this sport down and we can definitely concur. The Gym Tiders were much, much better tonight.

“They just were better,” senior all-rounder A.J. Mills (pictured above) said. “Overall, we maybe came in too hyped.”

The added hype to finally beat Alabama, as TV cameras swirled around the floor and 15,075 largely pink-clad fans (in support of a breast cancer fundraiser) screamed with every stuck landing from the Gym Tiders, was too much to keep the Tigers focused on themselves, coach Jeff Thompson said.

“The kids probably won’t admit it, but they were trying to win,” he said. “We’re not mentally tough enough yet to do that.

“We need to just put everything out of our minds and go out there and just make it simple: Do my job. But we were trying to do our jobs better than we ever did them, and it just made us a little shaky.”

Alabama coach Sarah Patterson, of course, loved what she saw. She also loves this “rivalry.“ Alabama is now 97-9, winners of 97 straight.

“I’d like to think that we bring out the best in them and they bring out the best in us,” Patterson said. “Regardless of what people say, it’s good for college gymnastics, it’s good for our state of Alabama to have that kind of heated rivalry.”

(Photo credit: Todd Van Emst)