Alabama-Auburn: Pilgrims in Unholy Land

This article is the first of an eight-part series about the Iron Bowl.  For the next week, there will be a new article covering one of the best rivalries in all of college football.

When the Iron Bowl is in Tuscaloosa, I make haste to my parent's house for Thanksgiving week.  It is there my dad, my brother, and I watch the Iron Bowl the following Saturday.

But this time around, things will change. 

Stop, you're going the wrong way.  You need to get to Tuscaloosa.

In the middle of a typical Atlanta traffic jam, I received a phone call.  I answered of course, only to have my jaw drop to the floor.  I was blessed (or possibly cursed) to be informed that there were three Iron Bowl tickets being sent my way. 

Now this will be a first, dear readers.  I have not yet experienced an Alabama game, much less an Iron Bowl, in Bryant-Denny Stadium. I am aware of what I will be getting into once I step foot upon campus. 

Half of the Bama Nation is going to be there, and you want to go to Tuscaloosa? Into the lion's den?

It will be very strange seeing the streets lined with crimson and white, instead of the familiar orange and blue.  Shouts of "Roll Tide!" will echo from most parts of the land.

There will be no flying of Nova or Spirit, Tiger Walk will not reside at that familiar corner of Samford and Donahue, and Toomer's Corner will be much further away. 

One can be sure it could be somewhat intimidating from this standpoint.  Alabama is undefeated, is hell-bent on revenge, and wants to re-emerge as the top program in the state.  Auburn has had a roller-coaster season comparable to a teenage girl's emotions. It could set up to be ugly.

The only thing that matters is the Iron Bowl.

You can count on one thing.  Both teams will be ready for this game.  For Auburn, it is a matter of continuing a streak set forth by their former brothers in the orange and blue back in 2002.  It also means bowl eligibility, but nothing would be sweeter than to upset Alabama.

For Alabama, beating Auburn will be the closing of one chapter, and the opening of another.  The SEC Championship awaits, and a possible berth in the BCS Championship game is within reach. 

This game means everything to both parties.

So to all the Alabama fans here on the B/R who will be able to attend the rivalry to end all rivalries, I look forward to attending this 73rd edition of the Iron Bowl.

Those wearing crimson and white may see us Auburn fans as invaders to your holy sanctum of football.

Make no mistake, we will feel quite the opposite. 

As my father put it bluntly:  "We will be pilgrims in unholy land."