The last shred of dignity for Bama fans has been violently removed from memory thanks to the surprising AU Men’s Basketball team. Let’s face the facts; in the past few years Auburn has been a massive, massive football school. Basketball, baseball, swimming, and other sports have been just a fun thing to do on a spring afternoon for a $2 fee. That being said, we at Auburn take great pride in our football team and especially the fact that we have beaten Bama five in a row. People have already proclaimed next year to be “Pick a finger,” referring to their other hand. I’m going to go ahead and say it should be the index finger, I mean come on that makes sense. However, if you were Frank Tolbert it would be your 6th finger because he has 12 fingers and 12 toes.

But football is over and you can clamor all you want over recruit news but that is honestly not as exciting as watching live basketball… especially when we’re actually winning. I went to the Tennessee game last week for no reason and it turned out to be a lot of fun – not just because I ate the entire container of popcorn by myself – but because our team dug out of a hole and “did the thang.”

And then there was Bama. In case you didn’t know, they have won the last 7 meetings. 7-0. That’s like a whole hand and some spare fingers. I can’t even physically comprehend what would happen if Tolbert were a Bama fan.

The first half against Bama opened OK. Lead changes went back and forth until the end of the half and the refs decided that they were getting paid too much by the SEC to not blow the whistle once in a while, so Auburn got some bad calls thrown in. At the half, the score was nearly even. (Smooth way of saying I don’t remember who had the lead but it was very close and I don’t want to be wrong and lose credibility.)

And then, the halftime show. James Foy, in all of his 80 something years of glory belted out a War Eagle that registered about 3.5 on the Richter scale. This, clearly, was the turning point in the game. Tommy T came out with most of the football team to accept some awards and immediately the five fingers came up. Somebody in the crowd started chanting, “We want Saban.” It spread. I tried to wonder what its like to be a Bama fan right now, but it sent a chill down my spine and I almost cried. The second half blasted to a start as Auburn began getting awesome steals, easy 2-footers and ridiculous dunks. The crowd loved it. Before we knew it, Bama was down by 25 with 3 minutes left to go and they seemed shocked. Game over. As we left the stadium we heard a random Auburn fan say, “I just can’t lose to Alabama!” Friend, whether it’s football or basketball, I share your sentiments.

Anyways, congrats to Tolbert, Barber, Prowell, Barret, and Dollard and the Auburn basketball team on a very entertaining victory. Let’s hope that lasts through Saturday’s game against the No. 1 ranked Florida Gaytors.

P.S. I don’t know who did the Saban picture, but it’s great.

e-mail wilson at wilson@theauburner.com