When I, AuburnChick, scream at the TV, you know something big is happening.

Especially while watching sporting events.

I’m fairly laid-back when watching a game, race, or soccer match on TV.

But…

That changed last night as I watched the Auburn-Georgia game.

As you might infer from my name, I am an Auburn fan.

No, I do not have auburn-colored hair, as some have asked.

I grew up in a small town in Alabama where the choice to be an Alabama or Auburn fan is decided for each person while that person is still in the womb.  Long-standing family traditions are the deciding factor.

I moved to Alabama when I was nine years old and had to make a choice.  I liked the way orange and blue looked together, and I also liked the way Auburn played, for I was watching football in my room, by myself, while most girls were playing with Barbies.

Anyoo, I am digressing.

That was all a setup to explain how deep my affection runs for my team.

But still, it is usually a quiet affection.

Last night was different.

I’d begun removing my Auburn-themed jewelry as I sat and watched the game.

Heck, we were up by twenty points.

I’d even thought of a good friend of mine…a Georgia fan…and considered posting something on his Facebook wall.

Ha.

The football gods laughed at me as Georgia began making a comeback.

The score got closer and closer, and finally, to my dismay, Georgia was ahead.

Auburn was not looking good.  Our quarterback had lost the mojo he’d been finely displaying earlier in the game.

I looked at my jewelry sitting on the table and wondered if I’d jinxed the game.

I quickly put it back on as Auburn got the ball back.

We were sucking, let me tell you.

It came down to the 4th down with eighteen freaking (yes, I said that) yards to go for a first down.

I frantically ate my way through a bowl of Cajun boiled peanuts, my fingernails digging into each shell…taking out my nerves on those poor, innocent peanuts that were refusing to come out of their shells, just as Auburn was refusing to put up good plays.  (I’m still digging peanut guts out from under my fingernails.)

And then the following happened…

This is when calm and collected AuburnChick began screaming at the television.

My next-door neighbors might have thought someone had died.

My dogs started barking.

And still I screamed, at the top of my lungs.

I’m sure the volume was similar to that of the stadium.

But there were still 25 seconds to play.

I dug into more peanuts and watched, horrified, as Georgia’s quarterback led his team down the field making one good pass after another.

Dang those amazing college athletes.

It all came down to three seconds…one last play.

It was do or die.

We sacked the QB, and once again…

I started screaming at the TV…

And the dogs started barking.

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

My Twitter and Facebook feeds blew up.

I got up to get something to drink.

As I tried to pour Chick-fil-A sweet tea (this is the South) from the gallon I’d purchased earlier, my hands shook.

It was all I could do to prevent a huge spill.

I sat back down on the couch, and I promise you that my legs were still shaking.

It was an amazing game that could have gone either way.

Georgia certainly deserved a win given how the team had come back from a large deficit.

As a mom of a college athlete, my heart went out to those boys on the field.

For a second anyway.

At my core, I’m all about Auburn…one of the only teams that will turn THIS mild-mannered Southern girl into a raving lunatic who screams at the TV during college football season.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: Auburn, auburn university, football, War Eagle | Leave a comment »