September, 2011
5
Sep 11
Labor Day? Lazy day
Slept in. Watched television. Also, I think I might have taken a brief nap.
In the afternoon and evening I put together two lectures for class. I did laundry. Took a few Catember pictures. We enjoyed the rain, read about the wind damage to the north and tried to be productive. I fought the urge to indulge in that nap.
Labor Day.
It was dreary and raining. There were no big outdoor events and they would have been canceled anyway. We had four tornado warnings — just another day in the south — in our county. Two of them nearby. It would seem we were bracketed on either side, but we heard of no damage and saw none in our brief foray out.
Watched a bit of the Miami at Maryland game. That is one ugly uniform. Sports producer Dennis Pillion said it best:
These Maryland uniforms are just as terrible as everyone says. It’s like a crash test dummy mated with a crusader.
They call it Maryland Pride, but they should call it a corporate billboard. As this is all a design to merely get people talking about Under Armour (Look! It worked! Your unis are as dreadful as Nike’s! Have a nice day.) this is a shameless aspect of college football, the most direct and obvious exploitation of college football players in an industry built on a series of even and uneven exchanges of services.
Now, Auburn is an Under Armour school. And the schools have seemed to flex some muscle in whether they are willing to have these random designs put upon them. Auburn, full of staid and conservative people when you get right down to such decisions, have resisted the urge to make major changes to the uniform insomuch as it is a brand. I would encourage them to retrench.
It is an interesting discussion, though. For whom are these designs made? High school kids? Football recruits? It probably works for them. Television’s talking heads? Uniform changes for the studio fashionistas are a hit-or-miss thing beyond the purely “They’re talking about us” The older alumni? That’s where any given program’s money comes from, and I doubt they like it insofar as tradition is a big component of what they appreciate.
And after seeing the fashionable offerings by the big two uniform makers this weekend I’m inclined to welcome a return to Russell (which has the Samford apparel account) or Adidas. Because Maryland Pride is a technicolor folly.
Dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger tonight. And now I have that much more to work off this week. Totally worth it, though.
He said, with the memory of an Oreo milkshake still fresh on his mind.
4
Sep 11
A funny thing happened on the way to Harvey Updyke’s trial
Let’s be honest. This hasn’t been about the individual who allegedly poisoned the historic oaks at Toomer’s Corner since he discovered a talk radio host would put him on the air. This hasn’t been about the oaks themselves since the day he first appeared in court.
This is about Auburn’s people.
Auburn University has gone to great lengths and expense to save the oaks. The campus experts have consulted with some of their best peers in the country. The community grieved a bit, accepted the support and condolences of friends near and far and is moving on in a wait-and-see environment.
The university decided in mid-summer that they would allow for Toomer’s Corner to be rolled again this fall. The cleanup was the concern, they said, and the firm that does the cleaning would no longer use a pressure wash system, but would clean the trees by hand.
And so football is here. There’s new signage everywhere. Many things in town and on campus are unchanged, as they often are. Many things in town and on campus are new, as they often are. The Tigers won their home opener; fans rolled Toomer’s Corner.
But it all feels different now.
Opinions varied when the roll on announcement was made. Some were ready to continue the tradition. Others counseled restrain. More than a few groups volunteered to help with the cleaning. It was time, they said to themselves, to demonstrate a new kind of contribution to a place they appreciate. After the season’s first game, some of them followed through and helped with the cleanup. Volunteers came and went, working alongside the professional cleaning company for a brief time. It rained and the mushy paper turned even more fragile.
But the health of the trees and the soaked cellulose are the only things around Toomer’s Corner that are fragile. The spirit is strong.
What makes history?
I thought a lot about that while we helped clean up the celebration today. We decided, for our part, that we’d clean a little farther down College Street.
That tree above grows near Langdon Hall and, while it is a bit younger than the Toomer’s Oaks, it has a history of its own. Inside Langdon Hall they debated secession. Near this spot is where students of another generation heard President Roosevelt ask for a declaration of war over a loudspeaker after Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. Near here is the lathe that commemorates Auburn’s role in the Civil War as a hospital and who’s young men served. Recovered from Selma and presented to Auburn in 1952, it has been the site of endless ghost tales these last 60 years. Near this spot many young couples have been engaged, another was recently married and, during my time in school, I asked a nice girl out on a date and she agreed. That’s a lot of history, too.
None of those things belong to a tree, but to the people of Auburn.
The greatest generation would help clean up after a Toomer’s Corner celebration.
They’re calling it Unrolling Toomer’s. It is going to grow slowly, but there’s enthusiasm there. It requires garbage bags, a few yard tools, gloves and work, hard work.
As all good traditions, it has started informally, organically and by word of mouth. Unrolling Toomer’s is late Sunday mornings, or after church lets out, and you simply clean until you’ve had your share. Some picked a little, others cleaned up pounds of the stuff.
No one ran anyone off, and the cleaning company doesn’t mind the help. Unrolling Toomer’s started small, but there will be a few more volunteers on College Street next week. There will be more the time after that. One day there might be great crowds, hopefully including you, and perhaps big cheers. This should be as much of a celebration as rolling the corner.
After all, this is about the people. These particular good-natured people think it is great to be an Auburn Tiger.
