i was trying to find great stories about rivalries in the sec. anyone know where i can find info (on the web) with good stories and anecdotes. kinda like the bert jones game against ole miss with the clock, and the earthquake game against auburn, bluegrass miracle, . stuff like that but non LSU. would love the bama and auburn posters help. and anyone else in the know. thanks!!!!
Do a search on google for Chris Warner. He wrote a couple books on traditions around the south on both tailgating and actual games in the SEC..
And oldie from my childhood that introduced me to SEC football. it's silly, but it's from 1964 or 65... Ol' Shug Jordan was really down this particular February in 1964, which was surprising because his War Eagle team finally popped Coach Bryant and Alabama the previous season. Maybe it was all the sad news of the day, who knows. Anyway, Shug walking outside. It was snowing pretty hard and agriculture was taking a hit, bad news for Auburn backers. "Lord", asked Shug, "if it is you will, please end this horrid cold and warm the fertile earth". "No problem, my faithful follower" replied the Heavens. Coach Jordan was stunned; and don'tcha know it, the sky's lightened up and the temperatures miraculously rose to 75. That season's crops were bountiful. Few weeks later, Coach Shug was again pondering the areas problems and petitioned the Lord. The Good Lord answered "My will, be done" and the situation straighten right up. Well, this went on through the summer of '64 right into football season. Coach Jordan would pray and the Good Work would happen, but never did the coach ask for help on the gridiron. Well...until November, 1964. As was the custom in those days, Auburn played Bama in Birmingham, a neutral site for all involved. The teams would bus in for the game from their respective campuses. As the Auburn bus rolled along US 281, Coach Jordan pondered the past year, his gift to converse with the Lord, the beauty of the farms along the way. And he got mad, real mad. How dare Coach Bryant call Auburn a "cow college'! Look at the glory of the farms and bounty of the harvest. Coach Jordan decided to talk with God about this situation: "Lord, are you there?" "Yes, Coach, you know I am always here. What canst thou doest for thee?" "Well, errr...", stuttered the Auburn head man. "Ralph", the Lord using Coaches Christian name, "what can I help you with?" "Well, I know that you are impartial on the football field, but I was hoping you might, just this once, give my team a little help 'gainst Alabama? They look down us somethin' awful". The Lord rumbled the sky's and spoke, "Ralph", using his given name again, "why do you ask? You know I can not help your team! The team that wins will be the one that I shall NAMATH..."
There was a post on the UGA and Auburn boards a long time ago that went into detail about the rivalries in the SEC, they were a little heavy on the eastern side of the conference, but still some good reading. This guy had evidentally did a lot of research and talked about the very early goames up to the 70's, early 80's. I think he ended with the UGA/AU water cannon game, when the Auburn admin hit the UGA fans with water cannons to get them off the field, where they were celebrating a big upset. They have several stories about the fights in the very early games and included Tulane and LSU. There was a large section devoted to Ole Miss/LSU. I tried to google and find it but it did not work.
Bert Sugar wrote a terrific book about SEC football about 25 years ago. I think it is simply called "The SEC." Good anecdotes about every team and about the rivalries. Maybe the one that stands out the most in my mind is the Alabama vs. Auburn game in the early 70s where Auburn (a big underdog) blocked two Alabama punts late in the game, in nearly identical circumstances, and recovered them both in the end zone for touchdowns to win the game. "Punt Bama Punt" became the war cry at Auburn for it seemed like ten years afterwards. There was even a bar there for many years called "The Blocked Punt." In the early 90s I met the former Auburn defensive back who recovered both blocked punts in the end zone, David Langer. He was an assistant coach with then Div. III UAB. I said "Coach, I remember you when you were the most famous man in Alabama." He said that he still had people come up to him almost evey day in Alabama and say "You're the 'blocked punt' guy!" He said he never got tired of it.
