Iron Bowl: "Bammers" vs. "Barners" Has Got to Go

How did we get here?

When I was a kid I never heard the terms "Bammer" or "Barner." Alabama vs. Auburn was the game every year, but it wasn't accompanied by the amount of disrespect that both sets of fans seem to give each other nowadays.

And don't confuse the terms "hatred" and "disrespect," either. The two teams are each other's most hated rivals, and it should be that way. Along with the hatred, though, there should be a healthy dose of respect.

If you're Alabama, and you look across the field at an Auburn team, you should realize that it's not Tuscaloosa County over there, and they came to play. If you're Auburn, you should realize that Alabama's not Auburn High School, and they came to play.

If you're the fans of Bama or Auburn, then you should not only look at each other as the toughest opponent that the other will play each year, you should crave it.

There should be no "Mullets from Tuscaloosa" or "Cow College" jokes.

Both teams' fans should root for the other to be unequaled on the field come November.

11-0 vs. 11-0. No. 1 vs. No. 2.

Why would you pull for any other outcome? If Bama beats Auburn, you want everyone to say, "Look at how good Alabama must be to have beaten such a great Auburn squad," or vice-versa.

You don't want people to say "Well, Alabama beat Auburn, of course it's no surprise, since Auburn lost every game again."

If either team gets way down, then the game loses not only its in-state significance, but also its national significance.

In this BCS-era of football, your final games of the season mean more now than they ever have. If Bama or Auburn is undefeated coming into the final game, but there are other undefeated teams, the opponent's strength will come into play without a doubt.

Last year when Alabama lost to Florida in the SEC championship game, and in the Sugar Bowl to Utah, Internet message boards were flooded with Auburn fans saying, "see Alabama was terrible, they finally showed what kind of a team they REALLY were."

Well, Auburn fan, what does that say about your team? The one that got blown out, 36-0, by that "terrible" team Alabama was in 2008.

Likewise for Bama fans, wouldn't you have much rather beaten an 11-0 Auburn squad, 36-0, instead of a 5-6 Auburn squad that resembled more of a C-USA team than an SEC team?

The best thing for both schools are for both teams to be on top of their game all year, and for the SEC to be the best conference in the nation because "rising tides lift all ships."