What if Auburn Brought Back Orange Facemasks?
In the early 1980's, with Pat Dye at the helm, the Auburn Tigers football team, along with Bo Jackson, wore orange facemasks on their helmets. I don't know for sure, because it was around the birth of 'Blogle, but I believe this only occurred for one year. I want to say 1983. Don't believe me? Look at Bo below.
So since we've got a little time until next football season, I feel like riling up the old fogies who think that everything they remember from the last 15 years is how Auburn has always done it. I don't absolutely love the look of an orange facemask on Auburn's current helmet, but I don't hate it. And if it's good enough for Bo, then it's good enough for me, and you, and you, and yes you sir over there screaming about Auburn's "traditional" look.
Auburn and Notre Dame’s History Means “Go Irish”
You may or may not be aware by now that the other team in the state has a football game tonight. The importance of the game is, well, not important, but you should also know they are playing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The sports world is generally torn over the Irish. On one side, you have Catholics that pull for the team based on their religious faith alone, as well as those that worship them as the Yankees or Lakers of college football.
On the other side, you have those that hate them just for their "royalty," but for the most part, those that don't like them have just grown tired of the Irish getting credit and publicity in the last two decades -- when they've done nothing -- just for their history.
I'm generally in that last group, but the difference is that I don't really mind Notre Dame when they are actually good. I don't like that they are in the BCS basically as their own conference, again, just based on their history, but if they are holding their own, I have no issue with them. I mean, who doesn't love Rudy? Shutup, you all love Rudy. Rudy makes us all try harder.
When Auburn played Oregon in the 2010 National Championship Game, a good many Alabama fans spent their hard-earned money to buy shirts, buttons, and stickers that said things like "Roll Ducks Roll." The sentiment of wanting Oregon to win was fine because Auburn is Alabama's rival (even though they said Auburn fans should have pulled for the Tide against Texas the year before), but most Auburn fans ridiculed the fans that wasted money on a shirt that would only be relevant for a week, and then just plain pointless after Auburn won the game.
Top 10 WarBlogle.com Posts of 2012
As the year 2012 comes to a close today, it's time to take a look back at 366 days worth of blogles and view the ten that piqued your interest the most. Given that this year was not kind in any way to the Auburn Tigers, I'm as ready to get to the new year as anybody. When the big three sports combine for a 45-57 record, it's hard not to look ahead, but you don't know where you're going unless you know where you've been... or something like that.
As it was last year, my uniform obsession seems to have seeped into your brains and taken a stronghold. Of the top ten most read blogles, four were uniform-related. Apparently it's not as pointless as some may suggest. It's fun, isn't it?
As far as the 'Blogle and all things 'Blogle are concerned, there was a slight drop in overall page views, but we all know that has to do with the fact that nobody wanted to read anything about Auburn after around October. Twitter followership did jump up around 9,000 sheep, uh, followers to over 25,000 in the year 2012, so there's that. As a guy that just does this as a hobby, I'm pretty proud of that. And as last year, I beg you, just give me a dollar a month. How hard would that be? I'm only slightly kidding.
Another year has passed and the 'Blogle is still here, so we can call it a success. I have many things planned for the new year, but I'll lay those out in my Resolutions post in the next day or so. For now, take a look back and feel free re-read the top 10 blogles of 2012.
Auburn’s New Basketball Uniforms Have A Football Feel
No, I am not sports-ist when it comes to uniform love. I don't just keep it in the football realm. Truth be told, though, the other two major sports at Auburn change their uniforms enough that there is no real tradition to them, leaving little occasion to fall in love with them. Did I just say that about uniforms? Yes, I did.
Multiple members of the Auburn basketball team tweeted out pictures of this season's new white home uniforms yesterday, while they were recording their pregame video. Normally I'd say a basketball uniform is just a uniform. You can't get too crazy with them. However, I do love one thing about this year's version.
Update (10/17): @Read_and_React tweeted a picture of Auburn's new orange jersey earlier today. Under Armour has released three more shots on their Facebook page as well. All have been added below.
Bigger Jersey Names/Numbers and Other Fan Day Notes
If you follow me on Twitter, you've been probably seen/read all that follows in this post, but since a lot of you don't, here are a few notes from yesterday's Fan Day at Auburn Arena.
Let me start off by saying that like last year, I only go to Fan Day so that @BabyBlogle can get the experience. I have no desire whatsoever to go talk to the players, check out jersey tweaks, spend time around Auburn, etc. I just hate it. It's terrible. But I do it for the kid, and for you. Be happy. o_O
The first thing I looked for when heading up to the concourse (where the defensive non-starters are placed) was of course number and letter size on the jerseys. That sounds so stupid, but you all know that everyone hated the tiny letters and numbers last year, and I had been told that the original sizes were returning, so I had to make sure.
Monday Mailbag: Retired Numbers, Short Shorts, QB-1
Mr. Mailbag is back from his summer vacation and is looking to answer any and all questions you may have. This week, the questions ranged from retired number chatter, an inevitable question about practice shorts, the "quarterback race," and some squirrel chat.
Brice J. has an idea that would call for the un-retiring of Auburn's retired numbers...
Would you be in favor of un-retiring all the retired numbers Auburn has and using a policy like Michigan? The coaches at Michigan choose players to wear the formerly retired numbers and there's a patch on the jersey commemorating the former player. It seems like a better way to commemorate the former player AND it makes it an honor to wear the jersey for the current player. I think it's a good idea.
I'm not exactly sure what Michigan's protocol for retiring numbers is, but I'd say it's probably a little less strict than Auburn's. Officially, only three numbers have been retired at Auburn (#7 - Pat Sullivan, #88 - Terry Beasley, #34 -Bo Jackson), and we know Cam's #2 is coming next given that nobody has worn the number since he left. Michigan was most likely in the spot that they had so many numbers retired that they would run out of real numbers to wear, so they had to get back to letting current players wear them.
I do like the idea of handing out a formerly retired or honored number to certain players that should be capable of continuing the legacy, but I just don't see Auburn needing to do that. I know some hot shot coming out of high school thinks he could come in and be the next Bo Jackson or Cam Newton, but we know the chances of that are almost zero, so why chance defaming the number?
Analyzing the Fall Roster, Shorty Shorts, & Other Notes
The start of fall practice brings all sorts of exciting news, but none is more exciting to me than the updated 2012 Fall football roster (I'm only sort of kidding). We find out what numbers the freshmen were given, who isn't on the team anymore, and who's been added. We think we know everything about every player, but the roster finally lays it all out there. Let's start off with a look at the numbers given out to the new guys.
| #1 - Josh Holsey - DB #5 - Jovon Robinson - RB #6 - Ricardo Louis - WR #12 - Jonathan Wallace - QB #18 - Javiere Mitchell - LB #21 - Jonathan Jones - DB #28 - T.J. Davis - DB #30 - Cassanova McKinzy - LB #42 - Gimel President - DE #46 - Ricky Parks - TE #51 - Patrick Miller - OL |
#53 - Michael Sulka - DS #56 - Avery Young - OL #57 - Gage Batten - LB #63 - Alex Kozan - OL #70 - Robert Leff - OL #74 - Will Adams - OL #76 - Jordan Diamond - OL #77 - Shane Callahan - OL #84 - Darrion Hutcherson - TE #87 - JaQuay Williams - WR #91 - Tyler Nero - DL |
Right at the top you'll notice one of my least favorite things in all of college football. Josh Holsey will be wearing a duplicate #1, sharing with Trovon Reed. Since they play on different sides of the ball, the NCAA allows it. I don't care. I hate it.
But #1 isn't the only duplicate. The next on the list, #5 Jovon Robinson, will share the number with Jake Holland. Duplicates aside, I've seen a lot of #5 jerseys on the clearance rack in various sporting goods stores recently. I guess Robinson will have his chance to get those out of the "jerseys you want to burn" category.
It’s Time for Auburn to Wear a Real Throwback Uniform
Whether it's about blue helmets, blue pants, mock Nike Pro Combat uniforms, completely off-the-wall uniform concepts, or orange jerseys, uniform talk is always a big pull on the 'Blogle. I don't know why, but I have always loved talking about Auburn uniforms, and apparently you love reading about them.
I remember being in my early years of college (the Tuberville era) and hearing a rumor about Auburn possibly wearing orange jerseys for a game. At the time, I thought it was awesome. As I have grown older, I realized that for the most part, I am a traditionalist. It wouldn't kill me, but the idea of Auburn wearing an orange version of their current uniform doesn't really excite me. Yes, all of the rumors from the past few years have intrigued me, but in general I'd like to see Auburn keep what they have in the uniform department.
It has almost become the norm these days for smaller or less elite schools to wear a crazy alternate uniform at some point in the season to draw attention to their programs - and in the case of Georgia, to make our eyes melt from our skulls. It's all about creating excitement and selling their brand. To some, it can look a little desperate since it appears that they've abandoned the idea of winning football games to build a program, and are focusing on marketing. But if the uniform looks cool enough, the idea works in the school's favor, at least in terms of adding a little excitement.
That being said, I've decided that it's time for Auburn to make a little change, for just one game a year, to what they wear on the football field. But wait, before you leave or tear me up in the comments, hear me out. I'm thinking of something a little bit different than what most everybody else is doing today.
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