Bits O Honey: 2011

Kate and Liz loved cheering for the Tigers

The Gang before we left for Auburn

Kate has her tattoo in place

Well, the title of the post kind of gives you an insight into the 2011 season

especially if compared to the 2010 season....But, hey, we did have a winning season,

and it could have been a lot worse. At times it didn't seem like it but it actually could have been.

One of the highlights of the season for us was having Donovan, Kate and Liz join us for a game.

They were able to experience most of the exciting parts of the day...Toomer's Corner with the very sick trees, the crowds of orange and blue, the great pre-game experience including the eagle flying,

the Waaarrrr Eagle during kickoffs, etc.

I asked them during 4th quarter if they wanted to leave early because they had to drive to Destin after the game which is about a four hour drive and they answered in unison, "NO!"

It was a perfect day and Auburn won the game versus Ole Miss!

Now, THE IRON BOWL, the Alabama game.......


DeLena and Marlin take the long trek across the Intramural Field

We have certain Game Day traditions in our own little family

group of 4 who attend the game together.

#1...We park on New Fraternity Row and walk to the stadium

New fraternity Row is probably 20 years old but there is also

an Old Fraternity row that is at least 40 or more years old.

Also, New Row is kind of far from the stadium.

You can see by the picture that there is no stadium in sight. This gives us

an advantage when the game is over because by the time we walk from the upper deck to the car

much of the traffic has subsided.

#2...This should probably go before #1, but we stop in Prattville and pick up Marlin and

DeLena (used to be Marlin IV, used to be Katelyn) and load up to drive to Auburn

#3...We (Marlin) sneak peanuts in to the game sandwiched between his stadium seats

#4...We stay until the game is OVER. No leaving early for us.

#5...I roam around the stadium during the games and view the game from different places

#6...Emily, my great friend since 5th grade, has season tickets across the aisle from us.

This is unbelievable since there are 87,000 + seats in the stadium!

#7...We stop and eat on the way home. If it's a late game we stop at IHOP


A little Fun before Tiger Walk

We hardly ever make it to Tiger Walk because it is 2 hours before the game and we're hardly ever there that early. Plus, it is crazy trying to get close enough to see anything with the crowds.

Well, we saw these people who were just randomly lined up in the middle of the road about 4 blocks from the rest of the crowd. I asked them if they knew something that we didn't know and they said that the bus (with players) unloaded there and walked down the yellow line in the middle of the road.

So, we parked ourselves there and sure enough in about 30 minutes here they came!!

Cheerleaders get ready for Tiger Walk

The Alabama Game aka The Iron Bowl....how did we get so lucky?

My favorite player, Philip Lutzenkirken

I yelled out, "Hey Philip. You're my favorite player." and touched him...

In fact, touched all of the players!

Gus Malzahn, up close and personal

I yelled out, "Gus, you gave my grandson a picture of you."


Chizzy!!!

It was definitely the highlight of the day. The game was about what I thought it would be.

Humiliating, disgusting, loud, dirty, etc.

To make matters worse, we had REALLY loud Bama fans all around us..... and

THIS IS THE FUNNIEST THING........my usually

unbelievably serene and "CHILL" husband. (That is DeLena's term)

absolutely went postal after the game.

The Bama fans have a cheer that the do after they win "Hey Auburn, Hey Auburn,

we just beat the hell outa' you......Rammer Jammer, Yellow Hammer."....etc...

A really obnoxious cheer......

So, Donovan started screaming at the top of his lungs, "It is great to be an Auburn Tiger"

which is an Auburn cheer. Seriously, I thought he was going to have a heart attack. His face was red and he was screaming louder than I have ever heard him.

Marlin and I were trying to stop him but he just kept going and going. Then DeLena and I started laughing and the lady who sits next to Donovan started laughing, too. It was soooo uncharacteristicof him. His explanation was, " I'm NOT going to let them cheer that cheer in MY STADIUM. They are SO OBNOXIOUS, etc.

It ALMOST made losing the game worth it to see him go nuts like that. What was ironic about it was that I was just telling DeLena before the game that Donovan hardly ever "loses it" but when he does, I usually laugh because it is so unlike him. Well, she definitely got to see what I meant first hand!