Finebaum: Alabama, Auburn could play a historic Iron Bowl

[djsimp]

Let me just start by saying I will be watching the Iron Bowl from the house. We all know what implications could be hanging on this years rivalry game. Nobody really seen this type of game or the possibilities at stake when the season began. Now with a month out till showtime, this seems to be the biggest IB played in 30 years. All I have to say is AUsome! Lets just hope that both our teams win out to make this thing happen. As for those going to the game, good luck on purchasing tickets.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/10/finebaum_alabama_auburn_could.html

Finebaum: Alabama, Auburn could play a historic Iron Bowl
Published: Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 6:00 AM
Paul Finebaum

 It is a month from today and if you don't have a ticket, forget about it. Or you could pay through the nose, ears, eyes or perhaps get some government bailout money to be able to afford a ticket.

Right now, at the ticket brokerage site AAATIX.com in Birmingham, 40-yard line seats are going for $825 a piece (a mere $3,300 for a family of four).

Steve Susce, who is co-owner of AAATIX, said only the 1993 Iron Bowl comes close in terms of demand. That year, Auburn was unbeaten and ranked No. 6 and Alabama was No. 11 and coming off a national title. However, the game was not on television because of Auburn's NCAA probation.

"This will likely be the toughest ever," said Susce, who believes tickets will eventually rise to $1,000 for the top seats.

The last two years, the game of the year in the SEC was in Atlanta. Alabama vs. Florida. This year, in Tuscaloosa, it appears the Iron Bowl returns to national prominence.

Don't be confused by last year's game. It was dramatic and meaningful. However, the build up was so dull Nick Saban forgot to prepare his team and the Tide went through the motions (after a short week) and -- with Florida a week later -- nearly saw its national championship hopes derailed.

Some pundit wrote prior to last year's game: "You've heard the old cliché about this game, "Throw out the record books." My advice this year: "Throw out the clichés. So get ready for the hype. Get ready for the cliché machine to be put into overdrive. However, this Iron Bowl, at least a week out, does not have the look of a classic confrontation. In spite of a lot of manufactured hyperbole, it's just the final tune-up on the road to Atlanta for the epic showdown with the Florida Gators. The Iron Bowl as a warm-up game for one team: Did you think you would live long enough to hear those words?"

That pundit was me. Let me pause for a moment while I finish wiping the egg off my face.

You think this year might be a little different? With Auburn flying high at No. 1 in the BCS and Alabama no longer looking at a laundry list of teams it needs to pass on the road to Glendale, the hype for Nov. 26 is building and may reach a record level in the coming weeks -- if everything goes according to plan.

Of course, in college football, does anything ever go according to plan? Just ask Alabama. Or Ohio State, Nebraska or Oklahoma. However, at least on paper, Auburn and Alabama should enter the game looking formidable.

Last year, Alabama was ranked No. 2 and was a 10-point favorite, but had to come from 14 down to win, 26-21. In 2008, the Tide, ranked No. 2, was the favorite by 16 and won 36-0.

The last time both teams were even ranked in this game was 2005 when Auburn was No. 11 and the Tide No. 8. In 2003, neither team was ranked. You must go back to 1994 to find the last epic matchup in this series. Alabama was undefeated and No. 4 while Auburn was No. 6 coming off a tie the week before against Georgia. You must go back to 1974 for a matchup of top 10 teams -- No. 7 Auburn vs. No. 2 Alabama. In 1972, Auburn was No. 9 against No. 2 Alabama.

In 1971, you had perhaps the greatest matchup of undefeated teams in series history, when Auburn was No. 5 and Alabama was No. 3. This was a modern-day play-in game with the winner going to the Orange Bowl to meet top-ranked Nebraska (the consolation for the loser was to play Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl).

Obviously, Alabama must negotiate LSU on the road and Mississippi State at home. Auburn travels to Ole Miss and has Georgia in three weeks at home. If the game were played today, sports analyst Danny Sheridan said the Tide would be a 5 1/2-point favorite.

"Because of the stark contrast of Auburn's play at home vs. on the road so far this year," Sheridan said. "This is not a prediction (of who is going to win), just a projected early betting line."

Before the season, Las Vegas listed the Tide as an 11-point favorite.

But as we all know, the game is a month from today. So let the hype begin.

[AUChizad]

I really want to go. I'll definitely be in Tuscaloosa, but don't see any way I luck into tickets for a reasonable, price (to me, anything greater than face value is not reasonable).

I'm going to pull a Prowler and call you a pussy if you have the chance and/or the means to go to this game and choose not to because you're afraid of some bammers hurting your feelings.

We're right down the road. Home field advantage/crowd noise has obviously been huge for us this year. I'd love to see 50% of that stadium wearing orange.

[War Eagle!!!]

I really want to go. I'll definitely be in Tuscaloosa, but don't see any way I luck into tickets for a reasonable, price (to me, anything greater than face value is not reasonable).

I'm going to pull a Prowler and call you a pussy if you have the chance and/or the means to go to this game and choose not to because you're afraid of some bammers hurting your feelings.

We're right down the road. Home field advantage/crowd noise has obviously been huge for us this year. I'd love to see 50% of that stadium wearing orange.

Damn. This is a  fucking post and deserves a 

No way that 10% of the stadium is wearing orange no matter how many Auburn fans show up. Also, I don't go to Tuscaloosa because I get my feelings hurt, I don't go because I hate those fuckers and I will try to fight my way out of that god forsaken city because those inbred fuckers can't keep their mouth shut. And when people say shit to me, I say it right back...which usually leads to confrontation.

There is just really no point to subject myself to it. Fuck those mother fuckers.

[djsimp]

I really want to go. I'll definitely be in Tuscaloosa, but don't see any way I luck into tickets for a reasonable, price (to me, anything greater than face value is not reasonable).

I'm going to pull a Prowler and call you a pussy if you have the chance and/or the means to go to this game and choose not to because you're afraid of some bammers hurting your feelings.

We're right down the road. Home field advantage/crowd noise has obviously been huge for us this year. I'd love to see 50% of that stadium wearing orange.

Hell, I can't go to the game because I can't afford it. My wife would make me pay for that shit for a whole year. Would rather have peace in the hacienda. This game is gonna be off the chains, the way I get worked up watching a game, I'm gonna need as much beer as possible as close as I can get it. I can't even imagine what the atmosphere in the stadium is going to be like.

[AUChizad]

Damn. This is a  fucking post and deserves a 

No way that 10% of the stadium is wearing orange no matter how many Auburn fans show up. Also, I don't go to Tuscaloosa because I get my feelings hurt, I don't go because I hate those fuckers and I will try to fight my way out of that god forsaken city because those inbred fuckers can't keep their mouth shut. And when people say shit to me, I say it right back...which usually leads to confrontation.

There is just really no point to subject myself to it. Fuck those mother fuckers.

So you're not going because you're afraid of some bammers hurting your feelings. Got it.

[War Eagle!!!]

So you're not going because you're afraid of some bammers hurting your feelings. Got it.

Good. Just wanted to be clear.

[Snaggletiger]

Hell, I can't go to the game because I can't afford it. My wife would make me pay for that shit for a whole year. Would rather have peace in the hacienda. This game is gonna be off the chains, the way I get worked up watching a game, I'm gonna need as much beer as possible as close as I can get it. I can't even imagine what the atmosphere in the stadium is going to be like.

I had one of the most staunch bammers in town offer me his tix this weekend because he was "sick of it".  Meaning they had lost a game and he wasn't putting up with it anymore.  I have a deal with the wife that whatever I pay for the tix, I have to give her in cash so she can shop.  She ain't goin' to Tuscaloosa.

[AUChizad]

I had one of the most staunch bammers in town offer me his tix this weekend because he was "sick of it".  Meaning they had lost a game and he wasn't putting up with it anymore.  I have a deal with the wife that whatever I pay for the tix, I have to give her in cash so she can shop.  She ain't goin' to Tuscaloosa.

Dude, if you need someone to go with you "for a reasonable price" as established earlier in this thread, let me know...

[djsimp]

Dude, if you need someone to go with you "for a reasonable price" as established earlier in this thread, let me know...

I would be curious to know how much Mr. Staunch was asking.

[Snaggletiger]

Dude, if you need someone to go with you "for a reasonable price" as established earlier in this thread, let me know...

I don't have em' yet and I'm not 100% sure how serious he was.  Other than being a bammer, he's pretty much a straight up guy.  Tried to call him yesterday but haven't heard back.  He also has 2 SECCG tix.

Now, to be honest, I might have a better weekend with Taylor.

[AUChizad]

Now, to be honest, I might have a better weekend with Taylor.

I'm not going to offer you oral sex for the ticket, sorry.

[djsimp]

He also has 2 SECCG tix.

Hell, four tix to ATL might be cheaper than one to the IB. That would be pretty fun to go to.

[Saniflush]

I'm not going to offer you oral sex for the ticket, sorry.

Now you go makin' stipulations.

[djsimp]

Now you go makin' stipulations.

Its no fault of Chizad that Snaggle wants more bang for his buck.

[Ranger12]

I have two tickets available to the game every other year when it is in Tuscaloosa if I want them. I have taken advantage of that once. I am not afraid of getting my feelings hurt, but I really don't care much for getting thrown into a Tuscaloosa jail since I got very close that one time I did go, which was the year I lived in Northport for a few months with my buddy whose dad has the tickets.

...and before any of you ask, I can't sell those tickets to anybody else. They belong to a very long time season ticket holder who has been a big supporter of the UAT program as long as I have been alive. If I don't use the tickets, they then go to a client of their company. Sorry.

I hate to even talk about it for fear of jinxing it, but I had to at least bring it up to the wife the other day to be prepared. I asked her if we should make some plans to get to Glendale, AZ if need be. She didn't shoot it down.

[Snaggletiger]

I'm not going to offer you oral sex for the ticket, sorry.

I'm open to negotiations.

[No Huddle]

Before the IB can be epic my beloved Tide will have to win a few games. We have a some tough ones (LSU and Miss. State) before we can meet the Cam Train.

[JR4AU]

Damn. This is a  fucking post and deserves a 

No way that 10% of the stadium is wearing orange no matter how many Auburn fans show up. Also, I don't go to Tuscaloosa because I get my feelings hurt, I don't go because I hate those fuckers and I will try to fight my way out of that god forsaken city because those inbred fuckers can't keep their mouth shut. And when people say shit to me, I say it right back...which usually leads to confrontation.

There is just really no point to subject myself to it. Fuck those mother fuckers.

Awwwwwwe HAY-ELLLLLLLLL YEAH!

[auburnredwing]

I'm going to the iron bowl, I'm excited

[AUChizad]

I'm going to the iron bowl, I'm excited

Damn you, Auburn redwing. I saw you were the last one to post in this thread and started grinning already anticipating a comment like "Well we all know who WON'T be there!"

Damn you for disappointing me.