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One week away from the 2011 season, we look back at 2010 …

To celebrate the kickoff of the 2011 football season, here’s a picture from every week of Auburn’s championship 2010 season.

Kodi Burns, quarterback turned receiver, scores the first touchdown of the season against Arkansas State, beating the visiting Indian-Red Wolves 52-26. The obscuring shaker just adds to the atmosphere:

Auburn was on the road for their second game, a 17-14 win over conference foe Mississippi State:

The legend of Cam Newton begins in the 27-24 overtime win over visiting Clemson. After only three games he’d amassed 315 yards rushing, 525 yards passing and nine touchdowns. Even still, Clemson had to miss a field goal to allow Auburn to escape from their biggest scare of the early season.

Auburn rallied past South Carolina. Linebacker Josh Bynes forced this fumble and secured an interception, each helping to turn the tide in a 35-27 victory. Cam Newton would be responsible for all five of Auburn’s scores, on the ground or through the air. Freshman tailback Michael Dyer gained 100 yards, proving to college football onlookers that the Tigers suddenly had too many weapons to defend.

Auburn, now in top 10, improved to 5-0 with a tuneup win over Louisiana Monroe 52-3.

Auburn traveled to Kentucky and escaped the Bluegrass State on a Wes Byrum field goal as time expired. The Tigers orchestrated a 19-play, 86-yard drive in the final 7:22 to set up the game-winner. The 37-34 victory has been somewhat forgotten. All of these big scores, though, were only foreshadowing.

The game the scoreboard broke. Arkansas and Auburn set an SEC record for points scored in a regulation game. When everyone recovered from heart palpitations they discovered the guys in blue had emerged with a 65-43 victory that was a lot closer than the score suggested. Arkansas lost their starting quarterback early. No matter, the backup tossed it around for 332 yards and four scores. But in the end the stir he created was the man who would begin to show his Heisman bona fides. Cam Newton rushed for 188 yards and three scores and threw for 140 more yards and another score.

And finally doubters would be satisfied. LSU brought one of the best defenses in the country into Jordan-Hare Stadium, and they were torched for 526 total yards, 440 of which Auburn gathered on the ground. Mike Dyer collected 100 yards rushing, but the man of the hour was the man wearing the number two.

That’s the end of this famous run:

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

After gunning down Arkansas and running over LSU, the season definitely took on a special feel. Up next was Ole Miss, who were just a mascot-less speed bump in the way of a juggernaut. Ole Miss was looking for a Halloween surprise, dressing up as a football team (albeit in new, gray unis) but Auburn took the win in Oxford 51-31. Cam Newton caught a touchdown pass from Kodi Burns. The Tigers were showing themselves to be:

Up next was Homecoming. Auburn hosted Tennessee-Chattanooga 62-24, improving to 10-0 on the season, ranked third in the nation and put up statistical superlatives across the board. Cam Newton, in just 30 minutes of play, set a personal best for passing yards. The Tigers put up 484 of offense in the first half, and eclipsed 600 yards offense for the second time of the season. It was the fifth time they’d scored more than 50 points on the season. Terrell Zachery found a career high for receiving yards, including this 80-yard touchdown reception.

Auburn clinched their appearance in the SEC Championship game in a 49-31 victory over Georgia in a controversial reunion of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. And by controversial I mean that Auburn’s Nick Fairley had one late hit, was flagged for it, and Georgia whined and whimpered about it for the rest of the game. Then they tried to take him out late in the contest, which prompted a fight. Most of Georgia’s sideline stormed the field. Two of Auburn’s players were ejected in garbage time (and suspended for the first half of the upcoming Iron Bowl) and despite all of that, Auburn still won and Georgia looked like poor losers.

But on the day when Auburn earned the right to go to Atlanta, the Tigers’ offensive line deserved special recognition. Guys like Cameron Newton, well on his way to the Heisman Trophy, wouldn’t have accomplished all he did on the field without these guys:

Same story for Mike Dyer, who would in the Georgia game break Bo Jackson’s freshman rushing record:

And the same shot, as told by AUHD:

It was simultaneously the biggest choke ever by Alabama and the largest comeback by Auburn, as the Tigers finished their regular season a perfect 12-0 after the 28-27 victory.

In a year full of tremendous efforts, Antoine Carter may have saved the season on this play, shifting the momentum of the game inexorably into Auburn’s favor:

Some time after this a deranged individual would prove his poor decision making and self-worth by poisoning the trees at Toomer’s Corner.

But before we knew that, it felt like this:

Half of Auburn was in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game against South Carolina. More of us were in the new Auburn Arena to watch a simulcast. The Tigers played their most complete game of the season, proving themselves a force while winning their first SEC Championship since 2004. Auburn thumped Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks 52-17. More than a few of us grew misty-eyed when the score became 49-14 and we realized these Tigers would have a shot at football glory.

That night I wrote “For 1983, 1993 and 2004. For 270,000 alumni. For every coach and player from Shug to Gene. For Auburn and for ol’ API.”

The state’s newspapers the next day:

A month later Auburn faced Oregon in Arizona and brought home the national championship after Mike Dyer’s run:

… which was exhausting, and Wes Byrum lined up behind senior backup quarterback Neil Caudle to cinch the win:

Kodi Burns, the quarterback who so famously and selflessly said he’d move to wide receiver, unifying the team behind eventual Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton, scored the first touchdown in the season and the first touchdown in this game. From September through January, this team was a joy to watch.

And then there was the final celebration of the year at Toomer’s Corner:

War Eagle, and let’s kick off 2011.

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16
Aug 11

The conflicting nature of the maple leaf

Maples turn early, the most skittish of the green leaves. But they don’t have to go this fast. Mid-August? This far south?

I enjoy the fall, but I also enjoy my summer, and so the transition is sometimes more welcome than others. This year, I’d be fine with more summer, really. In another six or seven weeks the rest of that leaf’s pals will start to yellow just a tinge. And then they’ll start to fall somewhere late in October. By November I’ll be raking and waiting for spring, which comes in for an early, sporadic start in February. And that’s not so bad; summer will be around again shortly thereafter. But that’s next summer. And I’d be happy for this summer to last a while. There’s more swimming to do, more sleeping to enjoy, more summer sunsets to appreciate. All those long summer evenings will fade away faster than I’d like.

But this is nothing to be melancholy about. Except for the raking. I hate the raking. If I typed about it more the inside of my thumb would develop a blister just out of habit.

I have delicate thumbs.

Fine day today. Twenty miles on the bike, painful as ever. I’ve developed this unwelcome system of getting my legs back and then skipping town for several days or being otherwise occupied for a week and thus whatever tiny gains I’ve made have all disappeared. So the 20 miles today, which felt barely like a ride in June, can sap me today. It’ll probably get worse before it gets better.

And by better I mean the temperature. We had two days a while back that were unseasonably cool and it felt like you could ride forever. August temperature has something to do with the rest of this, and while I’ll miss the summer, I won’t miss the constant 115-degree heat index days.

Changed a lot about my dissertation today. A lot. We’ve been mulling this over for a while and today I finally shifted directions, which I’d been dreading, but after the fact it feels like the right choice. So, while I’m trying to not be tedious about it here, this move feels very positive.

And if you are actually interested in that, don’t worry, there’s plenty of time to be tedious about it later.

Wrote an open letter today:

(W)e’re going to need to see that video a few dozen more times.

Despite everything else that swirled around the season, the narrative of those guys in blue is one of our best tales. It would have been compelling if it were just another team, but the entire story was so gratifying to think of Kodi Burns becoming the archetype of an Auburn man in a jersey, Cameron Newton discovering his redemption and an unsung defense living up to their potential. An undefeated season is always a great story, but the chilling story behind Zac Etheridge’s comeback, Wes Byrum being his implacable self and Mike Dyer taking Bo’s torch to threaten the entire conference lives on.

We could discuss each player and how their contributions and subplots filled such a tremendous narrative. But to put it simply, this team is a joy to watch.

Nothing earth-shattering about it. That’s just a great production and it is worth seeing again. Got a lot of nice comments at the bottom of the piece. It also earned a reply from the people that run the thing. Now we’ll have to see if they take my advice. (I give them unsolicited advice. I am batting .500 with them.)

So, if you’re in Auburn during the fall, I have a new Sunday tradition. “Several students, fans, and alumni have volunteered to help with the clean up.”

I’ve rolled the corner plenty of times, and haven’t done it in several years, though I always take guests who come to town for the games. For a long time it has felt more like a family and college kid event, but given the strain the trees have faced — the stupid fires, the intelligence-challenged drunk driver and, now, the guy who’s going to jail — I’ve been content to have had my share. I threw a roll after the SEC championship last year, when it just seemed so unbelievable that no one noticed the cold. And I threw a roll after the BCS win last January, when it seemed so cold that it was unbelievable those guys above had won a championship in the desert:

That’s enough. That’s more than I could ask for.

The city and the university have contracted out the cleaning to a firm from Montgomery. And the university, in questioning if the trees will last the year, has taken what is being interpreted as a “roll ’em if you got ’em” approach. The experts’ belief is that the toilet paper isn’t the problem, but the trees are more susceptible to the cleanup. That used to be done by a high water pressure system, but now it will be done by hand.

And this needs to be the next great tradition. So several of the locals have been plotting this out. We figure a Sunday-after-church cleanup could be as good as a pre-game tailgate. So we’ll see you at Toomer’s on Saturdays and Sundays.

Two more weeks until the opening game of the season. That’s not a bad part of fall, either. So maybe I don’t mind that maple leaf so much after all.

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5
Aug 11

Young at heart, old of ear

Little Jimmy’s grandmother took him to the park after a long day of kindergarten. “Doesn’t it look like an artist painted the scenery? God painted this just for you,” she said.

“Yes” Jimmy said, “God did it and he did it left handed.”

“What makes you think God is left handed?”

“Well” Jimmy said, “we learned in Sunday School that Jesus sits on God’s right hand!”

Silly, but I love that joke. Always made me wonder if a heavenly hand could fall asleep. Someone could blame a lot of problems on that. Others would probably shake their head and agree. Burning needles in an appendage takes it out of a guy, they’d think, I can relate to that.

Dear parents that owe child support, pay your bills. Not only are you depriving your child, you’re embarrassing yourselves:

The best part is the deputy sheriff in his Auburn shirt. They went all out on this sting, except for the location. I mean, “You’ve won tickets to the game of the year! Come down to this abandoned granary to collect!”

You can tell football season is upon us. The team is practicing, students are starting to move back to town, and the summer term has wound down. We’re shopping for shirts. The Yankee wants a jersey for her birthday, and she has numbers in mind. The university seems to be marketing just three jersey numbers this season, and one of them is the one she wants. So that works out well. We hit a few stores yesterday, as I mentioned, looking for the right size and number combination. There were a few more stores today.

But first, the university library, where there is a documentary of some heft that must be obtained. We found it and, then, on the way out, walked by part of the Toomer’s Corner displays. These are the things people left after their poisoning was announced. How weird that still sounds:

They’re going to allow fans to roll the trees again this fall, which has a “roll ’em while you got ’em” feel. I’m not interested. Having had my share, and stood under the old trees during two conference championships, two undefeated seasons and a national championship I’ve more than had my fill. But here’s my feeling:

Yeah, they’re trees, and there are worse crimes against humanity than a crime against a local icon, but if you deprive children of their part of a long legacy we should find a small space under a heavy, cramped jail for you. But that’s just me.

Here’s another neat one from the display:

Here’s more on the collection, including a few other artifacts. The archivists say no one has ever had to preserve something like toilet paper before. The things we celebrate are temporary, the hard part is making the memories last forever.

They are getting the stadium ready. In a month more than 87,000 people will be inside there. It is silly and spectacular and true:

Came home to do productive things. Planned out a presentation for next week, tinkered with the video chat feature of Google Plus. We are living in the future. Somehow the economy didn’t seem so bad in our imaginations, but still, video chat across two states. This is a step up from last week’s test of the platform, where four of us chatted in one room. And by room I mean our living room. It was delightfully geeky.

Jeremy, the host of The War Eagle Reader stopped by for a chat. Did you know he edited the Maple Street Press? Did you know I’m in that magazine? It isn’t bad, though all agree the photo selections and the cutlines could be better. The content, though, is insightful.

He loaned me a book, which I am interested to read. First I must put it on top of the To Read stack and finish the other two in progress. Once upon a time I’d read three at a time. Now I do well to get in two. Seems I’m reading lots of other things, too. Makes me wonder what this does to one’s reading comprehension. Is it really useful if I can later only say “This one book I read … ” or “I recall in … some study or another … ”

Now, I wrote last month about my joy of books, but the one thing that could replace that would be the convenience and joy of search. If I could put everything in a reader and then refer back to the term or author or time I was reading the thing … now that would be something.

And according to the Booth Theory of Commercial development, Google or Apple has that in R&D right now. And when it comes out in six months I’ll only need a way to transfer everything I’ve ever read, ever, into the reader for cross tab indexing.

Well, maybe I could leave out the Black Stallion series and various old Robin Hood tales. Who needs those now? I’ve always questioned the fingers wrapped in the horse’s mane. And the only part of the Robin story I recall better than a movie or BBC episode is that he feebly loosed an arrow from the Kirklees Priory and where the arrow landed was where he is buried. Great tale. Of the many great Robin Hood tales over the last millenium that one, I’ve just learned, is from the 18th Century. I read that as a child at my grandparent’s one summer. Why? It was there.

I may have a reading problem, and it started early.

Barbecue for dinner tonight, risking crowds from a dual graduation/move in weekend. Do not visit a grocery store, Walmart or Home Depot on weekends like this. You take your life into your own hands.

So we stand in line at Moe’s, order our barbecue and then stand around for a table. This is a bit difficult. As reasonable as the food is, they’ve taken great pains to push you out of the door — awkward decor, lighting that is off just so, poorly placed televisions, uncomfortable chairs — but people just sit around. And sit around. And sit ar —

“Ticket number THIRTY-FIIIIIVE!”

We’d only just found a table, having identified a group that put two together, sat with friends and then left. The table for eight stayed joined when only three were there. And so we made our own, grabbed the food, ate and hustled out of there before the loud, live music started.

Some days you feel older than others, I guess.

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2
Aug 11

Football season

Practice starts tomorrow. Here’s a look at last year, a fine photo gallery put together by Oregon Live before their Ducks faced Auburn in the BCS Championship game.

Thirty-something days and counting …

In professional camps, Cam Newton is getting positive early reviews with the Panthers. As always on a sports post, read the comments at your own risk.

There’s other stuff, too, National Night Out, where our neighborhood said “Dude. This is August,” and just recalled that they met people last year. Even the police didn’t bother to cruise through the neighborhood handing out the campaign literature. Now, if someone had been out offering ‘Smores and lemonade …

Speaking of lemonade, there’s the intent of the law and then there’s the intent of the law, and you can add this to your list of communities to avoid — or flock to, as you like — when reading this story:

Police closed down a lemonade stand in Coralville last week, telling its 4-year-old operator and her dad that she didn’t have a permit.

An officer told Abigail Krutsinger’s father Friday that she couldn’t run the stand as RAGBRAI bicyclers poured into Coralville.

And here’s another one, same town:

A mother of six also said her kids had their lemonade stand on 18th Avenue shut down after just 20 minutes.

Bobbie Nelson said she laughed when a police officer told her that a permit to sell lemonade would cost $400.

“The kids were devastated,” Nelson said. “They just cried and didn’t understand why.”

[…]

Mitch Gross, a member of the Coralville City Council, said he believes the city will learn a lesson from this. Gross said he expects future ordinances to apply only for vendors who set out to “make a profit.”

“It was never our intent to shut down kid’s lemonade stands,” Gross said. “We never really thought about it.”

That’s refreshing of the councilman, who admitted openly that he and his colleagues did not think through the two-day ordinance they passed in order to capitalize on a visiting bike tour’s tourist influx. Err. I mean looking out for people. So which is it? Money-hungry or nanny statism? So hard to choose sides somedays, isn’t it?

Do read those comments, where the people are throwing lemons back at the city.

And, finally, what space shuttles and horses have in common:

When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on the launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at a factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site.

The railroad from the factory runs through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than a railroad track …

That’s as fun a tongue-in-cheek mini-essay as you can read today.

That’s enough for one sitting. Try to stay cool out there. The heat index here today was 102.

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30
Jul 11

Breakfast, and lunch and dinner, with guests

Our friends Brian and Elizabeth came down last night to spend the evening. They are picking up their daughter from her grandparents and decided to make a trip of it. We grilled steaks last night, had a big breakfast this morning and then they retrieved their eight-year-old who, apparently, was the star of the show over the last week. Seems a bunch of older kids fawned over her and you know how that can be.

She doesn’t let it go to her head, though.

Also, she’s getting very tall. And I’m resisting the urge to do that “LOOK HOW BIG YOUR GETTING!” thing that annoys every kid. “We should put a cinderblock on your head!” Cranium pressure, blunt trauma, concussions. Charming. “You’re growing like a weed!” You’re an undesirable and I want to spray you and pull you out by your roots. Would you really!?

So we took Taylor to the pool, Brian and Elizabeth thought that would give her a good reason for falling asleep on the car ride home.

Only two boys there had a football and Brian and I found ourselves in a pool-wide football game. Tackling was dunking the ball carrier. Sometimes there was rushing, sometimes there wasn’t. Other kids were in the way and the pool has a brick-lined side wall, but surprisingly no one was hurt.

Brian’s team won, but only by one score. I played great, thank you for asking. One bystander was actually a football coach, who told me later that if I weren’t too old, out of shape, slow and if there was such a thing as water football he might think of cutting me from his team. And we were far more tired than Taylor was. So we had dinner and sent them home. And after they left I was pretty much done.

Nice to see them, though. I have lunch with Brian regularly, still, but it has been months since we’ve had the chance to visit with the whole family. We’ve got to talk them into driving past all of their other options and meeting us in Montgomery for barbecue.