Aubie & Tommy Tuberville

Wow is all I can say about this session of Orientation. It was quite exhausting...we went back to back for sessions Wed-Fri then Sun-Tues. Despite being tired, this session included some major highlights. My first thrill came late Monday morning...Star and I were running the Tiger Cubs program...which is a mini camp for the younger brothers and sisters (age 5-12) of the students going through orientation while their parents are in sessions all day. We had lots of activities for the kids including a mini pep rally with some cheerleaders and AUBIE the tiger mascot. I must say I was QUITE excited to meet Aubie...so much so I was tempted to push some of the kids out of the way (just kidding...okay not really). Aubie had performed at the other sessions but at the big pep rally and did a skit, people weren't able to meet him them. It was one of my goals to get a picture with Aubie, who had quite the reputation for being a "tough guy" and a "ladies man." Aubie has also won a few national titles as far as being a collegiate mascot. Meeting Aubie was quite exciting...he was a really good mascot, very nice to the little kids and has fun. Aubie took pictures with each of the little kids...but I also got a chance to get a picture with Aubie...just you wait I plan to have it online tomorrow...if not sooner.

Well after all the Aubie excitement...and for the record and saw AWWWW-BEE and everyone thinks it's hilarious...Kendall does a great impression of me...I may have her talk on my voicemail because it's ra-diculious. Anyway that afternoon Star booked us an exclusive tour of the sports museum and athletic center for the little kids. I didn't know what to expect...just some pictures and awards...but no it was SO MUCH MORE. First the athletic compound (it's not called that, but it should be) was huge and beautiful. We waiting for our tour to begin by hanging out in the front of the sports museum where there were early Aubie costumes, a tiger skin, a stuffed eagle, a Heisman Trophy or two, tons of pictures, etc.

We are then greeted by 3 tour guides who take us into the sports complex...I wish I had my camera and a notebook to take notes (but I am going again in a few weeks for our 2nd session of Tiger Cubs and I promise to take pictures and notes). We learned that much of the athletic facility is in proportion to athletes...for example the doors are wider and taller, the ceilings are higher, and the furniture is bigger. We also learned that many of the walls in the center are symbolic...that one side of most hallways is like square stoke blocks and the other side is a smooth finished wall. The walls are symbolic that the athletes should be rough and hard on the field, but smooth, gentleman off the field. (and yes the sports center is for all athletes, but most of the commentary is in regards to football, because let's be real...this is the south...college football is life). We also got to see the academic section of the building where athletes have to have study hours...these rooms was BEAUTIFUL...amazing furniture and equipment. Also in the study area was a lounge with plush couches and chairs that had a wall of solid glass that looked out onto the 3 practice football fields. The tour guide took up through an overpass and looking out we could see the practice fields, but look down was a wall at about a 45 degree angle covered in astroturf...this wall was used a punishment for the athletes. Instead of regular suicides or sprints...Auburn athletes have to do their suicides or sprints running up and down this 45 degree angle monster.

We also got to see some of the rooms used to view the games so the coaches and athletes can learn and watch the game. One of the huge auditoriums was getting redone...but it used to be green and white to look like a football field...but the back wall was pink. Yes pink. The tour guide told us that after the room had been painted a few years back...the wall was originally white, but someone broke into the auditorium and painted "ROLL TIDE" in red. For those of you who don't know...roll tide is Univ of Alabama's cheer and red is their school color, so it was a big deal. Anyway their tried to paint the wall white again, but the red kept seeping through so they ended up painting it pink. The pink actually served as a reminder for the athletes that their biggest rivals had invaded their territory and kept the athletes motivated. Auburn has actually won the annual Auburn-Alabama game 4 years in a row, but back in the 80s Alabama had won for 10 years straight, so Auburn is trying to break that record...one at a time. The big saying this year is that Auburn Football is "going for the thumb" aka 5 wins...a whole hand.

Anyway next we got to walk down a long...long...long hallway for coaches offices. I swear like EVERYONE position on in every sport has a coach, but we just walked down the football hall (which clearly...is the only hall that matters to Auburn...well that's a lie...Auburn swimming both men's and women's has won national titles like 5 times each in the past 7 years). Anyway as we a walking down the hall we see coaches in their BEAUTIFUL OFFICES and the last office at the end belongs to the head football coach Tommy Tuberville. Well until yesterday that meant very little to me, but as we were walking down the hall suddenly I hear one fo the other staff members I'm with squeal. Tommy Tuberville is walking down the hall and says hi to all the kids and then talks with us since we were at the back of the line and says hello and asked how Camp War Eagle was going etc. I got to give him a "War Eagle" and he said "War Eagle" back it was quite exciting. So that was a HUGE DEAL...the rest of the staff and orientation leaders are jealous because most of them have never met him or seen him that close. He seemed very nice, as did everyone in there. As we walked throughout the complex there was tons of HUGE athlete’s walking around and saying hello to us.

The tour guides even took us right past the locker room and we got to peek in. Yes, plenty of half dressed huge athletes with amazing muscles and all sweaty from working out...sorry ladies that you missed it. We also got to walk back their weight room which was first class all the way...it was very impressive. I hope to have a son play Division I football at a big school like Auburn. Speaking of hoping to have a son...I think I met my future husband...okay maybe not, but we kept running into this beautiful strength and conditioning coach named Mark and I would totally marry him. (It's funny because I was telling one of the counselors about him and they were like did he have a ring? and I was like a ring? and they were like a wedding ring? I said I didn't even look, but I thought probably not, he was only like 25. But then the counselor laughed because she was like exactly. I forgot I was it the south and people get married down here at 20...that' s a whole different blog post about how everyone who graduates suddenly gets engaged...I can't even handle it). Moving on. We also got to go down to the practice fields...2 of which were grass and one was made of like shredded tires and was like top quality fake football grass. The main quarterback...and their new quarterback who is going to be freshmen were out practicing. The new quarterback was like 3rd pick in the nation and have offers from virtually everywhere...but he is a Birmingham boy and he parents didn't want him to go anywhere, but Auburn. So seeing them was a big deal. I'll find out what their names were.

We also got to go into a few other rooms with tons of old trophies and football that go back from the 1930s it was insane. Also there were Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson shrines all over the place. For those of you who don't know, while Bo Jackson was at Auburn he played 3 sports...football, baseball and track. He was insane at all of them, he went on to play pro football and pro baseball. Oh another fun fact, Charles Barkley went to Auburn, but I didn't notice any shrines to him. In another shrine to Bo Jackson it played footage of his "over the top" touchdown and then the footage stopped while Jackson is mid air to reveal like mannequins arranged to replace that play...it was intense. We also go to go through a virtual Tiger Walk...which is when the Auburn Fans line the streets like a parade for the athletes to come running through. And we also go to "Roll Toomer's corner." Rolling Toomer's corner is a tradition in which when Auburn wins ANY SPORTS GAME the fans go to the corner across from Toomer's Drug Store (famous for their lemonade) and they toilet paper the trees. Auburn is the only town in Alabama if not the country to allocate funding for toilet paper clean up. Any where in the museum was a fake tree and a replica of Toomer's corner and we got to throw toilet paper into the tree...quite exciting. On display was a roll of toilet paper "recovered" (that is exact wording) from then Auburn finally beat Alabama in the late 80s (I believe it was 1987, but this is a lot of Auburn knowledge i have acquired in a short time). That roll of toilet paper on display was donated by a family who for years have the toilet paper on their Christmas tree as a decoration before donating it to the museum. Many of the fascinating things were donated to the museum. There was also a painting that WALT DISNEY did and signed of an Auburn Tiger. Apparently some Auburn guy helped design the drug store for the little town in Disneyworld...so Walt painted a tiger and wrote "Auburn Tiger." Whoever Walt (you like how I call him Walt like I know him) designed it for later donated it to the museum. I was very impressed by EVERYONE in the museum and the whole sports complex. We were probably there for about an hour and a half. I loved every minute of it.

I've gone on and on about Auburn sports for so long that I am exhausted. I am actually going to take a nap, but I will write more about the session soon.

War Eagle!
Jenn

P.S. I already am planning a trip to come down in the fall for a Football game, but the whole sports complex/museum experience and meeting Tommy Tuberville is making me even more excited. Speaking of coaches, last session Dan Reeves was at the parent orientation. Dan Reeves was the former Atlanta Falcons coach (that's a NFL team...I didn't know any of this til people told me) but I also got to meet Dan Reeves, his granddaughter is coming to Auburn so he came to orientation with her parents and his wife. He was very nice, but we were all disappointed he wasn't wearing any superbowl rings. He was quite that talk of the town that session. Oh Auburn.