Roll Tide Y’all!

I was born in Springfield, Illinois almost 45 years ago now. Football was not something that everyone talked about all of the time, they just didn’t. In fact, I don’t know what in the hell they talked about now that I’m in the South cuz football is the shit here!

My father attended the University of Illinois so if anything we were some fighting Illini fans I suppose, though again, I don’t really remember a shit ton of food being prepared to sit in front of the tv for 4 hours to watch football. The only time food was made was for my mom and dad’s Pinochle night or Yahtzee night, food we were not allowed to touch or else.

So imagine my surprise when one of the first questions I was asked at 13 years old starting at a new school in the South in the middle of my 7th-grade year, “Who ya for?” I can only imagine what my confused face looked like as I tried to figure out what this dude was talking about so I muttered, “I’m for Jesus, man! What about you?!” He laughed so hard he farted and then said to me, “You are awesome! Would you go with me?” To which I asked, “Go with you where? I just met you really and class is about to start.” He laughed some more, walked away to take his seat, and this kind girl sitting next to me in class explained football and dating all in one single breath.

So there it was, “Who ya for?” This is some serious shit down here in the South y’all and if you don’t know who ya for, you better damn well figure it out.

After learning about Alabama and Auburn and what a HUGE rivalry they had going, I had no idea who I was for. I had no ties to either school at this point but when I met my first best friend after our move, her sister went to Auburn, she was for Auburn, and so was her whole family so I thought, “Okay, I’m for Auburn.” My heart really wasn’t in it but I chose, so there.

However, a weird thing happened to me while being an ‘Auburn fan.’ I began to have a heightened interest in the Alabama team. I would sneak peeks at some of their games and damn if they weren’t absolutely an amazing team. Sure they have had their ups and downs over the years but overall, I noticed a well-orchestrated machine on the field.

My first serious boyfriend my Junior year of high school was an Alabama fan but for some bratty reason on my part, I stayed an Auburn fan just to piss him off, not telling him I was secretly being swayed each season of football. If I recall correctly, Auburn beat Alabama the first Iron Bowl I watched with my boyfriend. He was pissed, I was happy, but torn.

I attended UAH and UAB for college and I was going to the damn sister schools of Alabama so it became a no-brainer really. The switch was made.

When I married my ex-husband, I had secretly changed sides but didn’t tell him. He was one of those enormously irritating Auburn fans, hell, we had a damn Auburn room in our house and I hated it. He made football season miserable with his cussing, swearing, throwing things, slamming doors, locking himself in his room so he could have his tantrums, and boy did that suck. During those 16 years, my love of football became torture for me because of my ex’s horrific and embarrassing behavior. Our Auburn friends stopped inviting him over for games because of his behavior. Yay me. I never did reveal to my ex that I was actually an Alabama fan. He was such a fanatic that he wouldn’t even let me get a red car.

Well, after the divorce, I went out and bought the loudest red car I could find and loved every minute of driving it plus I had my ‘A’ on the back letting folks know who I was for, finally coming out of the closet.

Now, while dating my new husband of 3 years now, I was leery of football season. I was worried that he’d be as monstrous as my ex and I’d resent football again and the lovely football season. Luckily, he was an Alabama fan too, he went there, it made sense. I remember being terrified that I’d be let down by bad behavior coming from him if Alabama played bad or lost but . . .

My sweet husband gets worked up, yes, but not even close to what I witnessed for 16 years. He will go so far as to say, “Oh, I hate that that poor kicker missed that field goal for the winning point for his team. I really do.” He’s talking about the team playing against Alabama, he’s just kind that way and really thinks of others and its not even fake.

We watched our first game Saturday night as Alabama played USC and I’m here to tell ya, we had a bit of a rough start but holy cow did we come back! Me and my husband high-fived, kissed after every touchdown and field goal, and really whooped it up. I have the best time watching Alabama football with my husband and never thought that would be possible with anyone.

Good luck to all the football players out there. May you have no concussions or serious injuries and thank you for the wonderful entertainment and hard work that you give. And oh, by the way . . . ROLL TIDE!

Love y’all!! ♥