The rise in Aubie paraphernalia in 2010 pales in comparison to the uprising of Gump gear in 2008. Come on man. Twenty-five years in the state and not one Barner you were friends with, don't make me think of you as a close minded Gump. Well it all depends upon which team happens to be dominating at the time. All my Auburn friends are actual graduates and are capable of holding an intelligent conversation. Bama fans for the most part only have a football allegiance and couldn't spell Tuscaloosa and locate it on the map if their life depended upon it. The three Bama alumni I know are pretty good people and though they are proud of their school and its sports program aren't dickheads about it (towards me anyway). The rest of the Gumps are just complete dumbasses when it comes to football and they aren't hard to put in their place.
Not closed minded at all. Understand, I grew up in Huntsville. There's not a lot of pro-Auburn people around that area. It's an interesting city due to the different areas of the country the residents there have moved from for work purposes. Growing up in N. Alabama effects my perception of which school is my biggest rival. It's UT, not AU. Now, my adult years were spent in Tuscaloosa. And no, you aren't going to find a lot of Auburn fans in that area. In terms of the increase in sales you're citing for 2008, merchandise sales have always been in the top 10 for Alabama. The school has been as perennial as your other schools like Florida, Texas, Notre Dame, etc. Now, the sales weren't as high as Texas in 2008, but they were top five for sure. I recall looking at the numbers from Shula to Saban. The biggest difference has been in overall revenue. But, not a dramatic jump in merchandise sales. I'm certainly not saying you didn't see more. No matter which school happens to be winning, fan allegiance doesn't change as leisurely as you're assuming/suggesting. Auburn fans have never represented more than 25-30% of the states population. Some reports have those figures lower.
I didn't mean to suggest that fan allegiance changes that much (<5%), rather the support or visibility of the fans seems to fluctuate. Merchandise sales might be consistently high for Bama, but within the state it seemed that the amount displayed and the vocal support was way down until it was obvious to everyone that Saban was for real (about halfway through the 2008 season). Auburn would be lucky to claim 20% of the population since 70-80% have actual ties to the university, as opposed to Bama where 10% may have ties to the university beyond liking the football team.
If you recall, the fan base knew he was for real in the spring of 2007 when they (University officials/Fire department) had the close the gates at Bryant Denny during the spring game. Were the 125K that were in T-town that afternoon just those who show their allegiance come hell or high water? I'm sure a decent percentage of them were. It's an interesting behavior to watch. I recall seeing UofSC fill their stadium every weekend despite losing every game they played. When Holtz was hired, there was a brief resurrection of those vocal fans following their bowl win in his tenure. The hiring of Spurrier led to seeing Gamecock memorabilia as much, or more, than Clemson. What I've noticed through the years (as in Curry to Stallings, DuBose to fRan, and then Shula to Saban) is a matter of when you see and hear support, not if it's there. In simpler terms, finding vocal supporters in the fall is a given. The difference is found in seeing those supporters in the summer months as well as the fall. It's a 12 month display versus one that runs from August through December.
