All eight of us ran out of the door of the trailer, scarcely paying attention to closing the door as we ran to the cars.
“Did someone grab the toilet paper,” someone called out in the mad dash.
We had to go. We had to hurry. We had to get to the Corner.
As I sat in the back of the car watching Seth expertly maneuver the insane, honking traffic, I had time to pause and reflect on this year, this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime Auburn season.
“Who is this Cliff,” I asked myself. Good question, indeed.
I’ve never been a person to care about sports. Most of you are not surprised to hear this.
I was a passive Auburn fan. I wore the orange and blue not out of diehard fandom and loyalty, but of a passive “It’s what my friends and family do” sort of mentality.
I didn’t even want to attend Auburn. I fought like hell to get out of this place and that fate, applying to NYU, Washington and Lee and Centre College, a tiny liberal arts school in Kentucky.
Auburn paid, and here I stayed.
My first semester of freshman year was the undefeated 2004 season, largely hailed by Auburn fans as one of our best years, the year we should have been in the National Championship.
I went to one game, the first one, and only stayed for the first quarter. I’m certain I brought a book.
Football wasn’t something I generally cared about. I enjoyed the tailgates and the food, but when the game would come on, I’d easily lose interest.
But not this year.
Aided by a genuine desire for change and an attempt at social normalcy, I set about to make myself enjoy football.
I thought it would be an arduous task.
I thought having to stand through a game might put me into a coma.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I ended up skipping being a judge at the Trumbauer District Drama Festival to see the LSU game. Old Cliff would never have done that.
Football is interesting not because of the game itself, the runs and the passes.
It’s interesting because of the people you surround yourself with whilst watching it, the interactive social nature of the game.
It’s having Adam Cooner there to explain plays using Star Wars and Star Trek references, fields in which I find myself comfortable. It’s also having Cooner there for our trek to Bryant-Denny Stadium, that “wretched hive of scum and villainy” to all true Auburn fans, for an Iron Bowl experience I’ll remember until the day I die.
It’s having Stephanie Koehler (a Centre undergraduate) there to scream and yell at the team when they do something stupid. Rabid fandom is a beauty to behold.
It’s hearing Seth Oster bellow players’ names when they do something great. I didn’t think we’d ever replace the raw power of his “Tate!” scream, but “Cam!” was even more powerful.
It’s having Hillary Jarrett, Ashley Jones and Joanna “The Greek” Lianos there for non-football commentary, for those moments of weakness where the game wasn’t enough to hold my attention and I needed stimulating outside conversation to keep me from falling asleep. For example, Lilith from “Frasier” and smallpox blankets were among the topics of discussion during the title bout.
It’s Kate Latham showing up to the BCS title game a bit late, but getting there. I need someone to lock eyes with occasionally to say “I don’t enjoy this as much as the rest of them do, either.” That’s Kate, and I thank God she was there.
It’s texting Amber Harris Kimbrell up in Rhode Island to make sure she’s asleep. We play better when she’s unconscious.
And, for the away games, it’s Jordan Gentry and his trailer with stadium seating and three TVs playing the different games, our own personal sports bar minus the high tabs and insane crowds. It’s watching Jordan’s brother Scott and former Plainsman colleague Jill “Ace” Clair cuddle, sometimes oblivious to the game.
This season was a great season, and the team was a pleasure to watch.
But, to me, this season will be the season of “The Vet School Crew,” and the joy and light they collectively bring to my life, that I’ll really remember.
Football is nice, but it’s only as good as the people you’re watching it with.
Find your crew, your group of people that bring you joy, dear readers, and I promise you, too, will have a wonderful and amazing season.
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