When a baby is born in the state of Alabama, after all the necessary information is taken, the next question asked is this:  Is he/she an Alabama fan or an Auburn fan? There might even be a place on the birth certificate for the answer to that question. (There isn’t.) The fact is that college football is taken seriously in the state of Alabama.

Growing up, it was quickly made known to me that I was an Auburn fan. My dad had graduated from Auburn and I was constantly dressed in orange and blue. Things were almost different though. My dad’s dad was an Alabama graduate and my dad was a Bama fan growing up. He wanted to attend Alabama, but decided on a whim to visit Auburn with a friend one weekend while deciding where to go to college.

He said he would never forget the man’s name that came walking up as soon as he opened the car door in Auburn. “Hi, my name is Cal Friddle. Welcome to Auburn, can I help you?” Cal wasn’t a representative of Auburn. He wasn’t the tour guide. He was just a student who loved Auburn. And my dad quickly loved it as well. Changing the course of his life and most likely mine as well.

Tonight, the Auburn Tigers play in the BCS National Championship game. It’s a day that most Auburn fans weren’t sure would come.  Something always seems to happen when Auburn goes undefeated. Whether it’s probation or being the odd man out when 3 teams go undefeated – something has always kept this day from happening.  This season was no different, but Auburn is in the game.

Fans can aruge (and will) all day long about who is better and it can get ugly, but in the end it doesn’t really matter. I think it’s important that we keep that in mind, but there is something special about a father and son connecting over a sport. Some of my favorite memories are from watching Auburn games with my dad. We would jump up and down and scream at the TV.

I remember that I got mad at my dad one day during a game and declared my loyalty to Alabama. Auburn scored a touchdown on the next play.  My first Alabama/Auburn game was with my dad and Auburn won in the closings seconds. When I was in college I got the opportunity to work for Auburn football and got the chance to share more Auburn games with my family.  I rang in the New Year in 2008 with my dad in the car driving back from surprising him with tickets to an Auburn bowl game.  Great memories.

I will never forget those times.

So tonight, I am asking Auburn to win it for my dad.  He’s loved Auburn for a long time and I want nothing more than for him to see Auburn win it all.  It would be one more memory that I would cherish.

War Eagle.

This past weekend I traveled to Auburn, AL for my bachelor party.  It wasn’t your typical bachelor party as it didn’t include some of the more common shenanigans, but it worked just fine for me.  It was great to be with friends and play some golf and go to a football game.  The game was unbelievable.  Auburn fell behind 17 points and then furiously rallied to win 27-24 in overtime.

The crowd was going crazy when the game ended, but the mood was quite different at halftime.  At halftime there as anger.  I can’t quote a single thing I heard on here as that would probably set off the accountability software on my computer, but let’s just say it wasn’t nice.  If what I heard actually happened, coaches would have been fired on the spot and their moms and families would have suffered some terrible terrible things.

There as such an intense passion from these fans.  It felt like their life was at stake. Like a need wasn’t being met. I knew exactly what they were feeling.  I’ve been there many many times.  I remember one year after a loss, I found myself depressed and laying in bed the next day.  I didn’t know why then, but I remember asking myself why I was letting a football game effect my life so much?

My good friend and mentor, Pete Wilson, said this one time when talking about idols:

My fear for you isn’t that you will chase after the ridiculously evil, but what is deceptively good.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with following a football team, especially an institution that you spent a lot of money getting an education from.  But a lot of times we fall into the trap of letting that experience define who we are.  The outcomes of games that we have no part in preparing for or playing in sets our mood, attitude and also the way we treat other people.  That’s why I found myself depressed.  I was letting the result of an idol in my life define who I was.

I’ve written about this before, but I can’t help but revisit it after this weekend and especially after reading the book, Radical. (which I do NOT recommend unless you are absolutely serious about following Christ.)

What are we chasing after?  What happens when what you are chasing after actually happens?  You get the girl, you get the job, your team wins it all.  What then? When an idol in your life is realized it will always result in emptiness.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon writes that everything in life that we chase after is meaningless.  This is coming from a king.  The richest man in the world.  He had it all.  And it was all meaningless apart from a relationship with God.

Once again, it is an everyday decision.  One check that I do is continually ask myself, “Would I be willing to sin in order to get it?”

Would I sin so Auburn could win?  Would I sin to get that job?  Would I sin to make that girl like me?  If so, it’s an idol and it will always end in emptiness.

2 outs.  Bottom of the 9th. Armando Galarraga steps to the mound.  His heart is beating faster than it ever has before.  He only needs 1 more out to be perfect.  Before tonight he has been anything but perfect.  Armando has lost almost as many times as he has won.  He’s anything but perfect.  He’s never made the All-Star team and was even sent to the minor leagues earlier in the season.

2 outs.  Bottom of the 9th.  Jim Joyce resumes his position behind 1st base.  Jim has spent the last 23 years of his life saying “Safe” or “Out”.  He’s the umpire.  And he’s the best.  Jim has umpired in All-Star games, Playoff series and several World Series.  He was even named the best umpire by the players.  He was as close to perfect as an umpire can get, until June 2, 2010. [..]

There is a moment at the end of every Masters golf tournament just after the winning putt is made, where the shell shocked winner walks off the 18th green and into the arms of his family. There are tears, hugs and joyful celebration. It’s one of my favorite moments in sports. You see, the Masters isn’t just any golf tournament. It is the Super Bowl of golf. The tournament everyone wants to win and no one wants to miss. This, apparently, includes Tiger Woods. [..]

I remember random things from my childhood.  I’m sure we all do, but I am really glad I have this memory.  I was about 6 or 7 and I was in my brothers bedroom and Monday Night Football was on.  My mother was making me go to bed and I told her I wanted to stay up and watch more of the game.  The team that was playing had this cool logo on their helmet.  I decided right then and there they would be my favorite football team. (She made me go to bed) [..]