Steve Flowers: Alabama vs. Auburn game

The only sport that Alabamians enjoy more than Alabama politics is college football. We particularly like the Alabama vs. Auburn football game – one of the fiercest rivalries in college football. It’s the game of the year. It is a national civil war that divides friends and families. It is boastful all year round. The loser has to live with their boastful neighbor for 364 days. You have to choose a side, even if you despise college football and don’t care who wins. Newcomers to our state are confused on this fall day every year. They cannot comprehend the madness surrounding this epic war.

Young boys across Alabama are growing up with football in their front yards and dreaming of playing in this big game. It is often said that you can throw out the record books when these two rivals meet. However, this is not true. The favorite won in 90% of the matches. Many SEC championships and bowl games have been decided in this game. It has made many Alabamians’ Thanksgiving holiday either joyful or sad.

The game was not played for 40 years between 1908 and 1948. The myth goes that the game was suspended because of the intense rivalry. However, this is not the case. The story goes that after the 1907 game, the schools could not agree on the terms of the contract. The dispute revolved around money for food, accommodation, officials and how many players each side could bring. Football wasn’t the passion it is today, so the two schools let it slide and the fans didn’t seem to care. That began to change when college football became a major sport in the 1940s.

When the series resumed, there was a rumor that the Alabama legislature had called a special session and forced the teams to play. That never happened, but the House of Representatives passed a resolution in 1947 to encourage, rather than force, schools to meet for football, and Alabama and Auburn officials agreed. The presidents of Auburn and Alabama simply decided it would be in the best interest of the schools to resume play.

A treaty was drawn up, the papers were signed and the rivals literally buried the hatchet. On the morning of December 4, 1948, the student body presidents of each school dug a hole in Woodrow Wilson Park in Birmingham, threw a hatchet into it and buried it. The series continued with a 55-0 Alabama win in 1948 and the teams have competed every season since.

Many of you have seen signs and car plates that simply say “A House Divided,” with half of the sign symbolizing Auburn and the other half representing the Alabama Crimson Tide. There are many families in our state where one spouse went to Auburn and the other spouse went to Alabama. The family that embodies this “house divided” adage of my generation is Joe and Katie Espy of Montgomery.

Joe is an Alabama man through and through. Espy is one of our state’s most talented and successful attorneys. He grew up in Abbeville and attended the University of Alabama, where he began his meteoric legal/political career. He served as president of the SGA at the Capstone and then received his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law. Many expected Joe to enter politics and probably become governor. However, he lived a better life as one of the best lawyers in the state.

Katie Espy was born and raised in Eufaula. She was Miss Everything at Eufaula High School, including head cheerleader. She went straight to Auburn where she became a cheerleader for the Auburn Tigers. Joe and Katie have been married for 54 years. At every game between Auburn and Alabama, Katie wears her orange and blue uniform and Joe wears purple and white.

As mentioned, Joe Espy is from Abbeville. Guess who grew up around the corner from him? None other than Jimmy Rane, the Yella Fella. Espy and Rane are both 78 years old, were born just three months apart and grew up as best friends and neighbors.

Joe was probably the most passionate Alabama alumnus and fan in history. He served as a trustee of the University of Alabama for over a decade. Jimmy Rane is the most dedicated Auburn man in Auburn history. He has been one of Auburn’s greatest benefactors for 50 years and has been a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees for 25 years. These two outstanding gentlemen embody loyalty to their alma maters and grew up together in Abbeville – a town of 2,000 that is likely evenly split on Iron Bowl Day.

As I’ve said many times, Alabama is one big porch.

WAR EAGLE and ROLL TIDE!

Until next week.

Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in more than 60 Alabama newspapers. Steve served in the state legislature for 16 years. Steve can be reached at (email protected).