The annual game between the University of Alabama and Auburn University, known as the Iron Bowl, is one of, if not the most intense, feuds in all of sports. For one, college football is professional football in Alabama. As the two major universities in the state, the yearly matchup at season's end sets the stage to potentially claim conference dominance and derail title shots, but more than anything, a win secures bragging rights for the fanbase to stunt on their opposition until they line up again. Great games make for great moments, but this rivalry goes beyond the field. It’s entrenched in a state identity that’s led to government intervention, poisoning of trees, and a whole lot of beef.
00:00The annual game between the University of Alabama and Auburn University, known as the Iron Bowl, is one of, if not the, most intense feuds in all of sports.
00:11For one, college football is professional football in Alabama.
00:17As the two major universities in the state, the yearly matchup at season's end sets the stage to potentially claim conference dominance and derail title shots.
00:26But more than anything, a win secures bragging rights for the fanbase to stun on their opposition until they line up again.
00:34Great games make for great moments, but this rivalry goes beyond the field.
00:40It's entrenched in a state identity that's led to government intervention, poisoning of trees, and a whole lot of beef.
00:52Environmental damage is no laughing matter.
00:54We should all show love to Mother Earth and Father Sky.
00:59However, openly admitting to the crime of intentionally poisoning trees in the name of fandom is so outrageously absurd that you really can't help but chuckle.
01:10I'll get into the nitty gritty later, but in 2011, a self-proclaimed University of Alabama fan, in response to a stunning loss, committed the heinous act to retaliate against Auburn.
01:21It may all sound incredibly silly, but this is a feud rooted in centuries of hatred that somehow normalized that behavior.
01:29Let's take a stroll down memory lane.
01:32During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln passed the Muriel Land Grant Act, allowing each state to acquire acres of land with the explicit purpose of funding higher education.
01:42Confederate states weren't immediately granted access, but when Alabama's time came, several cities battled over the land, namely Tuscaloosa and Auburn.
01:53The state could allocate the land to the University of Alabama, which had shuttered its doors for years post-war, following Union soldiers burning down the majority of the campus.
02:03Or to the smaller East Alabama College, which, after several name changes, would ultimately become known as Auburn University, each school had to stake its claim.
02:16As the less-established uni, Auburn contended they were broke and desperately needed the grant to stay afloat.
02:23Bama sought the acres to extend the campus into other regions, aiming to become the state's preeminent university, effectively finishing Auburn's existence.
02:32Despite University of Alabama alums in high positions and claims of corruption to swing the vote in favor of the Tide, Auburn was ultimately granted the land and what became the first true upset over his big brother.
02:47When it came to football, the schools didn't see eye-to-eye from the jump.
02:52Auburn got the win in the series' inaugural game and labeled it as their first W of the 1893 season.
02:58Bama, on the other hand, recorded it as the final match-up of the 1992 season since the game took place in February.
03:08To this day, both schools record the game differently on their official athletic department websites.
03:13From 1892 to 1907, the two faced off in 12 match-ups, with Auburn in control in the series, but the 1907 showdown resulted in the rival's only tie and marked the end of their yearly game for four decades.
03:30So why would two schools in a football-obsessed state just up and end their match-up?
03:36There were a few claims, but it ultimately came down to pure spite.
03:41Initially, reports claimed the 1907 battle became too violent between players and disgruntled fans, unable to claim a victory, turned to throwing hands.
03:52While fans scrapping in the crowd is for sure a cause for concern, it was nothing out of the ordinary for the series as tensions had always run high.
04:02On-field issues were thought to be a concern as well.
04:05Before the 07 match-up, Bama head coach J.W.H. Pollard had implemented an offensive shift into the team's scheme where every player but the center moved pre-snap.
04:16It was a nifty technique, but Auburn head coach William Kienholz thought otherwise.
04:23He viewed the tactic as an illegal motion and got so fed up with Bama constantly utilizing it that he threatened to cancel the series and lobbied for officials from the North to ref the games to avoid bias in favor of the bigger program in the state.
04:37Being so upset that you're willing to quit over a concept that was deemed legal is objectively hilarious, but the final reasoning which had the most validity really showed the trivial differences between both sides.
04:51In negotiating terms for the 1908 match-up, the schools couldn't agree on a per diem for their players.
04:57Auburn had a figure that they thought was fair, and Alabama countered with a lower amount.
05:02They ultimately never reached a compromise on the right price, and after an opportunity for the 1908 match-up came and went, both sides agreed to end things there.
05:14They say money is the root of all evil, but in this case, it just allowed both schools to stand strong in their pettiness and end their match-up over what turned out to be a total of $34.
05:26Besides the numerous attempts by powerful Alabama alumni to again cut Auburn's funding during the period without football, it seemed that both schools were totally fine with the series being over.
05:39In 1923, Auburn's school president lobbied for the game to never come back in fear that football would overpower everything else for both universities.
05:50Years later, Bama's board of trustees agreed.
05:53A century later, the dudes were pretty spot-on.
05:58It seemed that the universities had finally come to terms on something, but school officials didn't speak for the people.
06:05In 1948, under pressure from fans wanting the game to resume and both schools unwilling to budge, the state government had to intervene and threaten to pull funding from both universities.
06:16Alabama and Auburn hashed out certain details, like agreeing to play at a neutral site in Birmingham, but the game had to literally be brought back through state legislation.
06:28In its return, the series birthed legendary coaches of the game and iconic showdowns that are simply remembered by monikers like Punt, Bama, Punt, or the Kick Six.
06:38But the series has always been, and will always be, driven by the rabid fanbases of both universities.
06:45No matter how good or bad the teams are in a season, it's a matchup that fans circle on their calendars and count down the days for the next battle as soon as the clock expires.
06:55In 1964, Auburn head coach Ralph Shug Jordan summed up the feeling perfectly.
07:03When Jordan's Tigers entered the 64 matchup as severe underdogs and out of bowl contention, journalists questioned Jordan about his team's eligibility, and Shug stamped the importance of the game, saying the yearly battle was Auburn's bowl game.
07:17That quote helped propel the annual showdown to be known officially as the Iron Bowl, but the 1964 contest was also the first time the nation as a whole was exposed to the game.
07:29With the matchup being broadcast across the country, journalists from different states had the opportunity to cover the game and saw the droves of fans inside and outside the stadium displaying an immense amount of passion in a scene they described as nothing short of war.
07:45Even in the face of real conflict on the world stage, the fanbases still couldn't unite.
07:52Let's take things off the field and hit the basketball court for a second.
07:56In the 70s, while opening a new coliseum in downtown Birmingham, the new arena showcased an exhibition doubleheader featuring Auburn vs. Czechoslovakia and Alabama vs. Russia.
08:09When Bama took the court first, Tigers fans in the crowd pulled for none other than the Soviets.
08:16That meant during the literal Cold War, Auburn diehards had more smoke toward Bama than the team that represented an entire power that the country was actively beefing with.
08:29Seriously, you can cop an original ticket stub to the game over on eBay if you're interested.
08:35Anyway, as crazy as that may sound, none of it is that surprising.
08:40This is a heated feud that's featured opposing fans going to the far extreme after a loss and fans of the same team reacting horrifically because they weren't upset enough in the face of defeat.
08:52The decision of which school to support is a birthright for all Alabamians.
08:58But no one has captured the pulse of both fanbases quite like Paul Feinbaum.
09:03As a radio broadcaster based in Birmingham, Feinbaum rose the national prominence with an excellent formula of sitting back and letting eccentric callers representing both schools duke it out over the airwaves.
09:17The recipe works because with each caller, you can hear the raw emotion in their voices.
09:24You can't fake it.
09:25It's such a unique look into the psyches of these fanbases and I implore you to tune into an episode if you haven't already.
09:33The show has produced a plethora of classic lighthearted moments of trash talk from regular callers like Bama supporter Phyllis from Mulga.
09:40And not so friendly banter, but no other moment rivals the Harvey Updike and Toomer's Corner Incident.
09:50In 2010, Auburn, led by a Heisman winning QB Cam Newton, rallied from a 24 point deficit in yet another one of those historic Iron Bowl showdowns that's now known as the Cam Back.
10:03The win was the largest comeback in series history, which surely stung Bama fans, but both programs had their fair share of remarkable moments they could hang over each other's heads.
10:15What followed after the game is arguably more memorable for both fanbases than the matchup itself.
10:21Typically, after every major Tigers victory, Auburn's faithful head to an area of town named Toomer's Corners to celebrate.
10:28They join in together and throw rolls of toilet paper over every object, namely the oak trees.
10:36Some may think it's odd, but it's a tradition that's lasted for years and I'm not here to yuck any yums.
10:43So when Auburn completed his miraculous comeback in 2010, as tradition, Toomer's Corner was painted with teepee.
10:51You may see where I'm going with this.
10:53A scorned Bama fan who witnessed his beloved Crimson Tide lose heartbrickingly decided to take matters into his own hands.
11:02Al from Dadeville, Alabama, hit Paul Feinbaum's hotline and detailed to Paul a joyride he had post-game.
11:10The weekend after the Iron Bowl, I went to Auburn, Alabama because I lived 30 miles away and I poisoned the two Toomer's trees.
11:19Okay, well that's fair.
11:20Okay, that absolutely sounds like an illegal act and you can hear Paul kind of shrugged it off, but then the caller proceeded.
11:32I put spike 80 DL in them.
11:34Did they die?
11:36Do what?
11:36Did they die?
11:38They're not dead yet, but they definitely will die.
11:41Is that against the law to poison a tree?
11:45Well, do you think I care?
11:47No.
11:48Okay, I really don't.
11:49Okay.
11:50Roll Tide.
11:52Yep.
11:53Not only did he admit where he was from, the exact poison he used, the lack of remorse, and the potential timeline of death for the trees,
12:03but he dismounted so eloquently with Alabama's signature fan call, Roll Tide.
12:10It was a masterpiece display of the hatred between the fans that played out live on the radio.
12:16What sounded like a crazed bluff turned out to be true.
12:21Shortly after being made aware of the call, Auburn's officials tested the soil and indeed found a poisonous herbicide.
12:29What may sound simply like trees dying was the slow deterioration of an iconic Auburn landmark where fans went to pay their respects through vigils.
12:40Not long after, Al from Dadeville, whose real name was Harvey Updike, was identified and charged with criminal mischief.
12:48Later in 2013, the same year Auburn uprooted the trees, Updike officially pled guilty.
12:55Throughout the process, the University of Alabama tried to distance itself from the situation.
13:01School officials obviously weren't proud of his actions and didn't claim Updike as one of their own, but Updike for sure repped them.
13:08This was a dude who named his son after Coach Bear Bryant and his daughter after the team's namesake.
13:15What may sound like a rogue fan seeking retaliation in a deranged way was actually just another moment that helped define this beef.
13:24University officials distanced themselves because, duh, but they really have no real sway in this feud.
13:33While both schools obviously support and feel the teams, they act more as an overarching power, giving room to the fans to put their hatred on display.
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