AUBURN | Finally.
Finally a home win over a ranked opponent. Finally a no-holds-barred field storming. And finally a full-on, complete rolling of Toomer’s Corner.
Saturday night’s thrilling 43-41 win over No. 15 Texas A&M in four overtimes was Auburn’s first over a ranked opponent at Jordan-Hare Stadium since beating No. 10 Ole Miss 31-20 in 2021.
That’s more than three years ago. It’s awesome it finally happened. It’s frankly embarrassing it took so long.
And it you’re one of those fuddy duddy’s complaining about Auburn or another school's field storming, I’d kindly request that you STFU.
The same goes for Greg Sankey and his merry men, who were somehow able to hop off their My Little Ponies and take a break from the constant bleating to the college football playoff committee about strength of schedule and bullying other conferences to fine both Auburn and Oklahoma.
I’d like to see a spreadsheet with two columns. One can list all the harm that field storming has caused the poor burly football men in their pads and helmets — you know, the lost appendages, trips to the ER and unnatural deaths.
In the other column, list the number of times video of a field storming or goalpost relocation has made ESPN, the SEC Network or some other media overlord’s properties and social media.
I wonder which column doesn’t exist and which one is infinite?
I was actually on Pat Dye Field Saturday night, was knocked around and had my phone knocked out of my hand. Somehow, I survived and so did my phone.
I’m so proud of myself for not crying or not needing Sankey to put a band-aid on my boo boo. Please give me a $100,000 for my bravery.
The idea that schools should be fined or punished in some way because their fans storm the field is wrong to begin with, and wholly and completely ineffective.
It’s not going to change the behavior, and there’s no real evidence the behavior needs to be changed.
It’s like Sankey and other conference commissioners and athletic officials are engaging in crisis acting — but for real and not the fake kind that the moron you follow on the internet has convinced you is true.
Stop following that guy and stop listening to Sankey or any of the college football officials that try to convince you field storming is bad or this isn’t one of the best college football seasons of all time.
It is and the CFP, NIL and transfer portal have all contributed to make it the most competitive, most drama-filled and most unpredictable in years.
If that means more field stormings, it’s definitely for the better. Keep ‘em coming.
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In today’s musical journey, we go back 28 years to the farewell concert of a rock group from down under that would reunite 11 years later. On Nov. 24, 1996, Crowded House held its Farewell to the World charity concert on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in front of more than 100,000 fans. Some estimates had the crowd closer to 250,000. It was aired in Australia on Network Ten and the group released a VHS tape of the event a month later. The group had announced they were breaking up a couple of months earlier. For the final concert, they brought back previous members, Tim Finn and Peter Jones, to play on some of the songs. The concert, which was originally planned for Nov. 23 but delayed a day due to rain, raised $387,825 for the Sydney Children’s Hospital and Australian Cord Blood Foundation. Crowded House played 25 songs and closed with their signature hit, “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” which was followed by a fireworks show. The band reunited for four years beginning in 2007, played together in 2016 on the 20th anniversary of the Farewell to the World concert and reformed in 2019, remaining active today.
Crowded House formed in 1985 when vocalist/guitarist Neil Finn and drummer Paul Hester decided to form a new band during the farewell tour of their current group, the New Zealand rock group Split Enz. They added bassist Nick Seymour and formed the group, The Mullanes, which was quickly changed to Crowded House at the request of Capitol Records. The new name referred to the small Hollywood Hills house the band lived in during the recording of their self-titled debut album. That fourth single from that first album, “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” became an international hit, reaching No. 1 in three countries and peaking at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard 100. It was written by Finn about holding onto hope during life’s challenges. The song has been covered a number of times including a 2015 duet by Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande. Crowded House has produced eight albums and had several other hit songs, but just one other that performed well in the U.S. in 1987’s “Something So Strong,” which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 100. Hester passed away in 2005 and the band dedicated their 2007 album, Time on Earth, in his memory. Crowded House has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide and was inducted in the Australian Recording Industry Hall of Fame in 2016.
