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RIP Rod Bramblett

Started by SirAndrewD, May 26, 2019, 01:30:05 AM

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SirAndrewD

I know Airboy is an Auburn guy, but yeah, might be lost on a few. 

The voice of Auburn radio, Rod Bramblett died along with his wife after a horrific car accident. 

I sadly only learned tonight after seeing my social media explode in celebration, with posts of "Roll Tide" and "RTR" with smileys and fireworks.

Came as a shock.  Auburn has had a bad and sad run with it's announcers.  We lost Jim Fyffe in '03, and Bramblett did a fantastic job of filling his huge shoes. 

I hate this for the Auburn family, and it's a great loss for sports broadcasting. 

He cared about Auburn, he was a good man. 

I will always remember Rod on this day..



"These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."  - Sgt. Pinback

MetalDog

You could have picked something a bit different if you were looking for 'Bama sympathy.  Just a quick tease. ;)  I would say I was surprised that Tide fans were crass and boorish over something as tragic as Rod and his wife losing their lives, but, I've lived here long enough to know that the two fan bases are dicks to each other.  One of my local guys used to have Rod on occasionally and he was always a gentleman who bled orange and blue.  My condolences to the Auburn faithful and especially to the Bramblett family and those who loved them.
And the One Song to Rule Them All is Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones


"If its a Balrog, I don't think you get an option to not consent......." - bob

Gusington

 Bama fans were actually celebrating his death?


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We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

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airboy

Quote from: Gusington on May 27, 2019, 09:06:42 AM
Bama fans were actually celebrating his death?

Doubtful that any of these " Bama fans" ever took a class there.  I'm out of state for a couple of days but I'm sure the reaction happened.

It is not limited to "bammers"
As a UNC grad the worst "fans" never took a class.  People love to jump on the bandwagon of a big winning program.

Look up the guy who was sent to jail for poisoning the Toomer's Oaks if you don't believe the level of asshattery that Bama attracts on the fringes.  (As Metaldog knows, this is not directed at him or anyone here).  A couple of College programs and lots of pro sports teams (especially soccer in Europe) attract these jerks.

airboy

#4
RIP Jim and his wife.  One of the great, weird sports stories of all time.  Downtown Auburn has a piece of sidewalk memorializing him for his performance in only one game.  Almost unbelievable if you don't understand the madness surrounding this one football game in this State.

Rod (I think) only broadcast for Auburn Football.  Andy Birtcham does basketball and baseball.

Auburn making it to the Final 4 is the first time in 31 years that the sports headlines in the entire State did not focus only on what happened every day during spring football practice.  The college football obsession in Alabama must be personally experienced to be comprehended.

Sorry - I'm mixing the "kick 6" game and the "punt Bama punt" games.  Punt, Bama, punt is the stranger of the two to me.  But my football knowledge is minimal for someone from Alabama.

MetalDog

Quote from: airboy on May 27, 2019, 09:41:06 AM
RIP Jim and his wife.  One of the great, weird sports stories of all time.  Downtown Auburn has a piece of sidewalk memorializing him for his performance in only one game.  Almost unbelievable if you don't understand the madness surrounding this one football game in this State.

Rod (I think) only broadcast for Auburn Football.  Andy Birtcham does basketball and baseball.

Auburn making it to the Final 4 is the first time in 31 years that the sports headlines in the entire State did not focus only on what happened every day during spring football practice.  The college football obsession in Alabama must be personally experienced to be comprehended.

Sorry - I'm mixing the "kick 6" game and the "punt Bama punt" games.  Punt, Bama, punt is the stranger of the two to me.  But my football knowledge is minimal for someone from Alabama.

QFT  I've experienced Yankees/Red Sox and it's similar, but not the same.  Any of the big metropolitan rivalries have other sports, pro or college, to root for and distract them.  Not so Alabama.  Football, and any other competition branded 'Bama/Auburn, is the number one time occupier of the vast majority of the state's inhabitants.  I liken it to growing up.  In your formative fandom, your guys are the best and the other guys can do no right.  Even if they win, there are years of misdeeds that can be drawn from to diminish the other team's accomplishment.  Then you grow up and graduate.  Now you have the ability to wish the other team good luck.  And almost believe you mean it.  There's still a lot of douchebaggery, but, it's mostly verbal.  The exception being a-holes like the guy who took out the trees at Toomer's Corners.  That jerk knew how to destroy the trees beyond repair and then got on Paul Feinbaum's show and proudly proclaimed his deed and his 'Roll Tide.'  Disgusting and abhorrent.  But par for the course in some of the bs I've heard one fanbase does to another.  That there were people laughing and giving a "Roll Tide' at Rod Bramblett's death is not really a surprise.  Juvenille, douchey, and crass, but not unexpected.
And the One Song to Rule Them All is Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones


"If its a Balrog, I don't think you get an option to not consent......." - bob

SirAndrewD

Quote from: Gusington on May 27, 2019, 09:06:42 AM
Bama fans were actually celebrating his death?

The vast majority were not, but I saw a bit of it on social media. 

I guess MetalDog is right that I could've picked a bit of a better video if not inciting Alabama fans, but I honestly picked it because it showed his real and genuine excitement that he brought to the broadcast booth. 

Airboy is also correct.  I have many fans that are Bama grads and they're very sad and sympathetic.  I'm sadly sure even a few Auburn fans will give a "War Eagle" should when Eli Gold finally passes on.  The rivalry has a lot of bad blood in it.  Sad to see it go this far sometimes, but it does.

This is a real blow to the sports program.  It's going to cast even more of a pall over the season than Fyffe's loss did.
"These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."  - Sgt. Pinback

Gusington

Tell me more about the Toomers Corners trees.


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We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

airboy

Quote from: Gusington on May 28, 2019, 09:20:50 AM
Tell me more about the Toomers Corners trees.

Probably on Wikipedia.  I lack the internet access to track down something better.

SirAndrewD

#9
Quote from: Gusington on May 28, 2019, 09:20:50 AM
Tell me more about the Toomers Corners trees.

In 2010 Auburn went on and undefeated run and won the National Championship, its first recognized one since 1957.

Part of that run involved an epic comeback win over an equally good and National Championship caliber Alabama team in the Iron Bowl at Alabama.

Some overzealous Auburn fans hung a jersey of Auburn QB Cam Newton on Bear Bryant's statue after the game in celebration. 

In retaliation an Alabama Superfan named Harvey Updyke, a former Texas State Trooper, obtained a quantity of Spike80DF an extremely powerful and dangerous industrial herbicide.   He applied that herbicide to the iconic trees at Toomer's Corner in Auburn.

Toomers Corner is an intersection at the heart of Auburn near Toomer's Drug Store where students and fans celebrate after a win.  The oaks that stood there had been one of the symbols of Auburn for more than 100 years, and one of our most deeply held traditions is to go out and roll the trees with TP after a win.  Sounds weird to the uninitiated, but it means a lot to us.  Being a student there in the 90's and participating in that tradition is a very very fond memory of mine. 

The Oaks did not survive the poisoning despite the best efforts of the city and university ag department.

So, yeah, Updyke poisoned the trees.  He then called into Paul Finebaum's Radio show to brag, and ended his call with the now infamous call "Roll Damn Tide", a play on our cheer of "War Damn Eagle".

After a quick investigation they tracked him down, and he got jail time over the event.  He actually became one of the more hated men in Alabama by both fan bases.  For Auburn fans the phrase "Updyke" became a nickname for the worst of Alabama fans.  For Alabama fans, he became the embarrassing symbol that reinforces the stereotype of the Camo wearing, beer swilling Alabama fan that has never been on a college campus for any other reason than to see a football game, and defines their self worth by the success of the Crimson Tide.

I do honestly remember that 2010 was one of the best and worst years to be an Auburn fan.  Bama fans were seriously more invested in Auburn NOT winning a National Championship than they were in Alabama possibly making a run at one themselves.  When Cam Newton was cleared by the NCAA, the portion of the fan base that felt that way had little outlet but outright violence and hostility directed at Auburn fans.   

I actually lost a couple of friends that year, who weren't really friends, because I was an Auburn fan.  My late Dad's wife started a almost decade long feud with me that ended in me being banned from my Dad's funeral, and part of that was because I was an Auburn grad.   She outright told me that it was "disgusting" that I went to that school. 

All over football. 
"These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."  - Sgt. Pinback

MetalDog

That's awful about your late father's wife.  It makes me sad for you.  I just wish stories like that were rare.  Unfortunately, who you root for gives too many people a sense of self esteem and identity.  And with Alabama and Auburn the only game in town here makes it doubly bad.
And the One Song to Rule Them All is Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones


"If its a Balrog, I don't think you get an option to not consent......." - bob

SirAndrewD

#11
Quote from: MetalDog on May 28, 2019, 10:50:49 PM
That's awful about your late father's wife.  It makes me sad for you.  I just wish stories like that were rare.  Unfortunately, who you root for gives too many people a sense of self esteem and identity.  And with Alabama and Auburn the only game in town here makes it doubly bad.

There was more to it than that, but it was part of her first impression of me and it ended up coloring a lot of how she interacted with me for years.   We first met during the Tuberville years and it was frought because of the disparity between the programs then.   The Tuberville streak didn't do a lot to keeping things civil in the state.

She never went to college but made a life for herself in spite of it.  She was insanely unhappy that my Dad had saved and paid for my tuition, and I'd made the "immoral" decision to go to Auburn when I had the choice to go anywhere I wanted, ie Alabama.   Her decision was entirely focused on football, not academics.  She believed that Auburn fully was corrupt and paid for recruiting classes and the corruption bled down to the entire university.   In essence, the entire town was a cesspool of bad money, bad management, bought players and bought students.  She felt I did myself and my Dad a disservice on that.   In essence, there was no way Auburn could EVER compete with Alabama unless it cheated, stole and committed fraud. 

This from someone who never went to Alabama OR Auburn. 

Honestly, I never even really knew the depth of the rivalry till I came here.  I'm from Dallas Texas, and before I was a teen I never cared for the College game.   I was and am a die hard pro-Cowboys fan.  When I came here in the early 90's I was asked, nay, demanded to declare.   The hostility I felt from Alabama fans made me just pick Auburn out of the blue, and that happened to be the epic '89 First Iron Bowl in Jordan-Hare year.  I was smitten after that, and sold after my four years on the Plains as a student. 

So, I feel a lot for the Auburn family, it means a lot to me.  Sports wise I'm still really first and foremost a Cowboys fan, hated as that is.  But I do love Auburn sports, don't really get riled when they lose, but love it when they win.

And for my part four of my five closest friends on earth are Alabama fans.  One of them watches the Iron Bowl with me almost yearly, and he brings test tube shots half Bama Slammers and Buttery Nipples for the Red and White, half Blue Hawaiians and Screwdrivers for the Orange and Blue.   So yeah, I have no problem with the other side for the most part.
"These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."  - Sgt. Pinback

MetalDog

My grandfather went to UA in the 40's before he enlisted.  He never finished.  Many years later, when I was a tyke, I caught the last few Bear years and the epic '79 Sugar Bowl against No. 1 Penn State.  That was Bear's last National Championship.  So, I have 'pulled' for 'Bama the last four decades.  But I never had any idea what the Alabama/Auburn rivalry was like until I moved here.  It was good to have Roll Tide to present when I was getting a lot of 'Youre a Yankee,' flak.  But my Pop was always a 'Bama fan first and a SEC fan next.  So Bowl season was spent pulling for SEC teams.  Unless, of course, 'Bama was playing someone in the SEC.  Then it was on!  He also told me that Alabama's enemy isn't Auburn, it's Tennessee.  That may change with an Alabama alum as the Vols HC.
And the One Song to Rule Them All is Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones


"If its a Balrog, I don't think you get an option to not consent......." - bob

SirAndrewD

#13
Quote from: MetalDog on May 28, 2019, 11:51:08 PM
My grandfather went to UA in the 40's before he enlisted.  He never finished.  Many years later, when I was a tyke, I caught the last few Bear years and the epic '79 Sugar Bowl against No. 1 Penn State.  That was Bear's last National Championship.  So, I have 'pulled' for 'Bama the last four decades.  But I never had any idea what the Alabama/Auburn rivalry was like until I moved here.  It was good to have Roll Tide to present when I was getting a lot of 'Youre a Yankee,' flak.  But my Pop was always a 'Bama fan first and a SEC fan next.  So Bowl season was spent pulling for SEC teams.  Unless, of course, 'Bama was playing someone in the SEC.  Then it was on!  He also told me that Alabama's enemy isn't Auburn, it's Tennessee.  That may change with an Alabama alum as the Vols HC.

The "Tennessee is the ultimate enemy" is still the cry of many Alabama fans.  That is partly truth, and I can say, I lived in Nashville and they feel the same.  But it's partly to belittle Auburn and say they're not significant enough to be in Alabama's notice.   That's partly why 2004, 2010 and almost 2013 were so damaging to the state Auburn/Alabama relations.  Prior to those years there were a lot of chants and shots of "irrelevant" issued at Auburn by Bama.  Losing that disparity was tough for some of their fan base, but they've regained it since.

Honestly, to me as an Auburn grad, I MUCH more have animosity towards LSU and especially Georgia.   I have never been the guy that hates Alabama as an institution or program.  On the contrary, I respect them.  I get it.   I'm a Cowboys fan, I know what it's like to be the team everyone loves to hate.   I actually genuinely root for Bama when they're not playing Auburn or the Longhorns, even though I kid and throw shade occasionally out of light kidding. 
"These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."  - Sgt. Pinback

Gusington

This makes Boston/NY or Army/Navy seem tame in comparison.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd