An Iron Bowl Thanksgiving
Ah, Thanksgiving. That time when bourbon, beer, guns, and a couple of family members just coming off the sauce all during one of the most hotly contested Southern football games happens. What could go wrong? Besides everything?
The Alabama-Auburn game has been dividing families for years, mine is no exception. I know y’all are aware I’m a Georgia fan, but on my father’s side of the family I come straight from Alabama. Mobile, to be exact. Family legend has it that my ancestor, William Bullock Inge, was the first graduate of the University of Alabama.
So it should come as no surprise that my family has their share of Alabama fans. ( I should note now that the following family names have been changed to protect the innocent.) But somewhere along the line, my grandfather’s brother William became an Auburn fan. And so his kids were Auburn fans. These would be my father’s cousins: Billy, Jenny, Mark, and Katie. And they also were Auburn fans. This would continue until Billy got married for the second time.
And so like when Sherman swept the South, Laney came in the picture- not only did she steal Billy’s heart- she stole his football alliances. He was converted into an Alabama fan. While this might not have been an issue in other parts of the country, it was here. And it was especially a sore point with Mark. Even more so when Laney would wear her Alabama gear into their Auburn house.
The first Thanksgiving that I can remember was in 1992, when I was ten years old. And whoever was in charge of football schedules for that season thought it was a fantastic idea to schedule the Alabama-Auburn game, also known as The Iron Bowl, on Thanksgiving Day itself.
This was my first real initiation into what the Iron Bowl meant to my family. This little wide eyed innocent Georgia fan came into the family room amidst heavy family tension.
Seeing as the game started at noon, there wasn’t much Thanksgiving eating happening around the table: my family was circled around the tv. Alabama had won every match so far that year, and had entered their third season under Gene Stallings pre-season ranked number one. Pat Dye’s Auburn Tigers had not fared as well, having just come off of a close at home loss to Georgia in the 100th anniversary of their first meeting. But we all know when it comes to rivalry games, all statistics go out the window.
Of course, we all know Alabama would go on to beat Auburn in that game prior to winning the inaugural SEC Championship game and then beating the Miami Hurricanes in the Sugar Bowl.
Somewhere along the lines, Laney had had a little too much of whatever it was she was sipping on- no one would tell me at the time. And she’s what we might say, bless her, a rather vocal Alabama fan. And Mark was a little too sober to have to handle the drunk ramblings of an Alabama fan on any normal day. Throw in that it was the Iron Bowl and his dear Tigers were losing… it was almost more than he could take.
I remember a slamming of the door and storming out to the truck. Given that the annual tradition of deer hunting was to take place later I could only guess what was about to happen.
Thankfully, the potential explosive qualities of a little liquor, guns, and an intense football rivalry didn’t come to it’s full fruition. How was Thanksgiving saved? Aunt Bessie is a strong steel magnolia of the finest sort, and she wasn’t having any of it. And so it was that this petite Southern Belle saved Thanksgiving, and perhaps the head of a rival team cheering family member.
The most intense fans in the family kept to their opposite ends of the house and the dinner would continue for most of us. As for me? Well, I’m left with the lingering memory of what has to be one of the most intense rivalries in college football. And I’m left wondering how many other families experience the same?
Love to all y’all,
Molly
Image courtesy of watiporn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
