Author Archive for Stephen

Auburn University Modifies Game Day Plan For The Auburn-Alabama WeekSwitch to Thanksgiving week requires adjustment to plan.

Nov. 13, 2007

With the Iron Bowl moving to the Thanksgiving week, Auburn University has modified its game day plan in the interest of campus security and safety. The university will close the core of campus-the area bound by Samford Ave., Wire Rd., Magnolia Ave., and College St.-from 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 20, through 6 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 23.

Auburn and Alabama will kick off at Jordan-Hare Stadium at 7 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, Nov. 24.

Other changes for Iron Bowl week include:

-No tailgate sites may be reserved in any manner until 6 a.m. Friday, Nov. 23. Individuals and groups will not be permitted to loiter or sit on campus to reserve a preferred site until this time. Tape, rope, chairs, small tents and any other site markings placed prior to Friday will be removed.

-RV early arrival time on campus will remain Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m. Arrival will be regulated, and RV parking will be limited exclusively to the hayfields along South Donahue Dr. and Woodfield Dr.

-The City of Auburn is offering free, paved parking for RVs arriving Monday, Nov. 19, and Tuesday, Nov. 20. The parking lot, which will open at 8 a.m. and stay open through the week, is located at Duck Samford Park. The lot is accessed off Airport Rd., just north of Glenn Ave. There are no hook ups or public restroom facilities available.

More information about game day at Auburn, including a campus map, can be found at www.auburn.edu/gameday or www.auburntigers.com

Ignorance is bliss, and bliss my friends is Talladega.

Following the big win over Vandy, I took a trip to Talladega to “see the boys go a’ racin’”.  What I found there was not much different than what I had seen in past years: Mullets, skullets, and port-a-thrones filled to the brim with Busch beer induced watery shits. Some may take such features as reasons not to attend an event at the super speedway.  But I find the atmosphere and the clientele to be the key motivation for showing up. 

In addition to the excitement of the race itself, I find it interesting to engage in a silent exegesis while walking around the seemingly impromptu flea markets sprinkled throughout the campgrounds. What is it about this event, this place, and these people that makes certain behaviors not just acceptable, but celebrated?  Sitting in front of one trailer was a table full of t-shirts emblazoned with some of the most racist, and hysterical by virtue of its unabashed display, rhetoric I have ever seen. 

Mind you, they were not in the back room under a stack of newspapers in a locked chest. The man at the counter still supports slavery, it seemed.  We have all seen the ‘heritage, not hate’ bumper stickers.  Those are not what I’m talking about.  But it wasn’t just the blatant racism that gave me a sour stomach, it was the fried oreos.  Oreos can’t possibly benefit from a good grease soaking.  Despite this obvious kernel of truth, the fried oreo line was out the proverbial door.

I suppose a simpler place is home to a simpler people, unable to grasp concepts of improvement and progression. Or maybe they think things are just so good the way they are, change would be an unsavory suggestion.  We know this to be true by the uproar over Toyota joining the NASCAR line-up. Observations aside, I had a blast, as any white person would at Dega.