Racial? Maybe. Embarrassing? No Doubt!

Let's get one thing straight, Tommy Tuberville is a jackass. He is an arrogant, chicken necked SOB. He has gotten under my skin multiple times in the past decade by strolling out of the tunnel each week with his arms locked to players, holding up some number of fingers in the air every time he beat my beloved Crimson Tide, or by simply showing up and talking into a camera. I absolutely loved every second this year as Auburn plummeted from a preseason #8 ranking to a miserable 5-7 record. I loved watching Tommy pout on the sidelines, make excuses in the media, and fight for his job at season's end. I loved to watch Tommy Tuberville fail.

There is a reason I hated Tommy Tuberville so much. The reason was he succeeded. He took an Auburn program that was in turmoil coached by Buster Brown (Terry Bowden, no he was not well endowed that was his tie) and turned them into an SEC front-runner. He took the Tigers to New Year's Bowls and SEC Championship Games, beat Alabama 7 out of 10 times, and came within a computer formula of playing for Auburn's first National Championship since 1957. He had Auburn in a place it had never been before.

Then came 2008. Auburn was warped back to 1998. They were awful on offense, coaches were fired mid-season, and they lost to Vanderbilt. I was in heaven, Alabama was back among the nations elite, Auburn was spending Christmas at home and Tommy Tuberville was finally going to get what he deserved and either be dominated for another year or two or be fired. I actually thought it would be nice for him to stay at Auburn a couple more years so Saban could eat him up and spit him out before Auburn wizened up and found a new coach to be man handled. I honestly thought Tuberville's success at Auburn was over. I expected him to hang on to his job for another mediocre season and then be replaced by an up and coming coach that would lead Auburn back to Top 25 rankings, 7-9 wins a year and a win over Alabama every 3 or 4 years. This is right where I thought Auburn belonged. A decent program that knew they were not a s good as Alabama but was good enough to beat the Tide every few years to keep the rivalry interesting.

Boy was I proven miserably wrong over the past two weeks. I had forgotten one thing: Bobby Lowder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Lowder). The perfect storm was about to occur for Auburn Football and it could be seen from a mile away that this ship was going down quick. The Cliff Notes of this story goes like this. Bobby Lowder runs Auburn's Athletic Department. Bobby Lowder never liked Tommy Tubberville. Lowder all but had Tuberville fired in 2003 and was set to secretly hire Bobby Petrino until the national media blew the story up and temporarily ended Lowder's plan. Then Tuberville went undefeated, beat Alabama 6 years in a row and postponed the inevitable firing. During this time Lowder continued to work behind the scenes and as one incompetent puppet AD retired he made sure he put in his place a reasonable replacement that knew he only had his job because 'ol Bobby gave it to him. He then waited for Tuberville to have a sub par season and he axed him. Lowder's new toy the current AD, Jay Jacobs, begins a hiring search that is a three ring circus. They interview a few qualified candidates like Mike Leach and Turner Gill but realize they will not be able to control them the way they want to. They then dig a little deeper into the bag and interview some guys whose credentials are suspect but at least have coached winning programs. These guys also want this crazy thing, they want to run their program. So then last Saturday, Lowder, excuse me, Jacbos decides Gene Chizik is their man. The same Gene Chizik that went 5-19 in two years at Iowa St. This hire was far from the respectable guy I thought Auburn could find. This hire was a embarrassment. This was the type of hire I see ruining a program and a great rivalry. This hire will eventually make the Alabama-Auburn rivalry the equivalent of USC-UCLA. Alabama might as well replace the Tigers on the schedule with Troy for the next 10 years if they want a competitive game against an instate team.

The Black Coaches Association, national media and even famous alum Charles Barkley cried racism because an unqualified Chizik was hired over Turner Gill, a black candidate who had tremendous credentials. I don't know about this claim. Sure I don't doubt Lowder is a racist and would not let Auburn hire a black coach let alone a black coach with a white wife but I am more inclined to say Chizik was the only hire Lowder felt like he could control.

So the bottom line is why do I care? I care because Batman needs a Joker, the Yankees need the Red Sox and The Miracle on Ice needed Russia. I loved hating Tommy Tuberville. I could not wait to see Alabama holding up fingers for the next few years to remind Tuberville what a loser he now was. Part of the joy of Alabama being a powerhouse again was paying back Tuberville. I won't get as much enjoyment beating up on a Gene Chizik led squad. I foresee my attitude towards Gene Chizik being similar to George Steinbrenner's attitude toward the Kansas City Royals, one of irrelevance. Don't get me wrong, I will enjoy the next few years of watching this Iowa St. retread run Auburn's football program into the ground but it will eventually ruin a great rivalry. Alabama-Auburn is about hate. Hate is about fear and jealousy. There will not be anything to be scared of or to loathe in Jordan Hare Stadium for a long time. I think watching Gene Chizik fail will be boring.

To see how other Alabama fans feel watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgGA_lazugg

To see if how Auburn fans feel watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7TxIMAwc1k