Hey everyone,

 

Fellow AU design grad and avid Track Em follower. Just wanted to share a piece of artwork I created yesterday after being inspired by the Toomer's Oaks tragedy. I originally posted it on my Facebook, but then uploaded it to my Flickr page. Since then this thing has hit the social media cicruit and been spread around like wildfire. Since I did it for the Auburn Family and not for a profit, you all are more than welcome to get a copy and share it. My actual hope right now is to get this in front of someone at the University who may be willing to get this put into cycle as a promotional piece for the trees. I'd love nothing more than to have memebers of the AU family walking around Auburn, Toomer's Corner or anywhere else with this printed on t-shirts. And to also know that all the proceeds were going towards preserving the trees or the reconstruction of Toomer's Corner.

 

UPDATED: I've included the 2nd version I completed late last night. WDE!

 

WAR EAGLE!!!

Matt B. (AU IND c/o '02)

 

Toomer's Oaks Artwork @ Crashmattb's Flickr

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Hey guys, I came across this today and thought I’d share it in case anyone hasn’t seen these numbers or this post before. Very interesting to say the least…

Original posts:

Leather Helmet Blog

Silver Britches Blog

This year, Auburn joined the 700+ win club. We are the 13th program to win 700 or more games.

After looking over the post Seraph posted earlier this week, I decided to go back over all the numbers and gather the info again.

I took the 13 members of the 700-win club and looked at their performance against the Top 30 programs on the All-Time Wins list, as well as their performance against each other.

I'll post a lot of different looks at the information over the next couple weeks. One of my favorite things to do with this info is to see what the all-time numbers would look like if the competition had been more even. For example, Auburn has played 597 games against Top 30 programs. Ohio State has played 304. USC has played 361. Tennessee has played 417. See, when you're Auburn, and you've played hundreds of more games against top programs, it obviously affects your winning % and your overall win total.

For today, I thought I'd show the 13 members of the 700-win club and what their numbers look like against the Top 30 programs on the All-Time Wins List.

* I also added 4 teams this time around. There are four teams that have played fewer than 1000 games, but have a winning % of .620 or greater. That would be top 20 all-time on the winning % list, but they haven't played enough games to be in the Top 30 All-Time Wins list. They are: Miami, Florida St, S. Florida, and Boise St. So I included them in these numbers.

MOST GAMES VS TOP 30 PROGRAMS

1. 598 - Georgia
2. 597 - Auburn
3. 528 - Alabama
4. 445 - LSU
5. 437 - Texas
6. 417 - Tennessee
7. 392 - Notre Dame
8. 382 - Penn State
9. 381 - Oklahoma
10. 366 - Nebraska
11. 361 - USC
12. 326 - Michigan
13. 304 - Ohio State

MOST WINS VS TOP 30 PROGRAMS

1. 305 - Auburn
2. 304 - Alabama
2. 304 - Georgia
4. 266 - Texas
5. 243 - Notre Dame
6. 223 - Penn State
7. 213 - Tennessee
8. 211 - USC
9. 207 - LSU
10. 206 - Oklahoma
11. 204 - Michigan
12. 180 - Nebraska
13. 173 - Ohio State

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Hey Tiger fans, I hope all is well with everyone as we're less than 3 days now from the Outback Bowl kickoff here in Tampa. Some of you may recognize my callsign as I used to post & comment often here on Track 'Em, but unfortunately I spent more time during the 2009 season on the sidelines thanks to an incredibly hectic work schedule and also having a young baby girl at home. However, it didn't mean I wasn't any less of a rabid Tiger fan with my Saturdays fully dedicated to watching our football team (mostly on TV, of course).

My Daughter during '09 A-Day - via farm4.static.flickr.com

This 2009 Tiger football season and the anticipation me and the rest of us all had for it began early with the A-Day Spring game. After moving back to Atlanta in late '08 and knowing that Auburn was no longer several hours away, me and the family (including our 4 month old daughter) made the short drive down to watch the newly assembled coaching staff show their stuff. No doubt, the spring game gave us all hope for a more promising 2009 season, especially that innovative fast-paced offense (that actually worked). It didn't have to be spectacular. We just wanted to see some assimilation of order and promise, and I think it delivered.

As for this season...what a ride it's been. Our team had it's ups and downs, but I think more importantly than anything they have showed fight...well, except for the drubbing @ LSU. I think that WVU game will go down as a classic for our program, and not for necessarily beating the Mountaineers, but more because it became a defining moment for our 2009 team. Despite the rain, despite the lopsided score early on, our Tigers kept clawing away and eventually pulled away with a big home win. And although I may have not been there in the rain cheering and dancing like several of our fans were, I really felt connected to those hooligans because of my own experiences when I was a student on campus. As we crept further into the season, though, injuries and a lack of depth really hampered the team's efforts resulting in the 5 out of 7 slide we went on. However, you know what's still surprising about the end of this year versus last? Beyond the obvious, it would mainly have to be that huge sense of continued hope. Much like my feeling during the Spring, I still sense a better future around the corner for our beloved program. And what better way to start the 2010 year off than a New Year's Day bowl in Florida.

As for this game, well, personally I was incredibly excited about both the day we would play, but also the location. You see, I married a Tampa girl (we met at Auburn), and this year's holiday rotation placed us here in Tampa for Christmas/New Year's. Now the last AU bowl game I attended was the 2001 Citrus (Capital One) bowl, which was with my wife who at that time I had just begun dating less than a month before (first date was 2000 SEC Champ Game). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pick up tickets for the upcoming game and had just been glad to be in the same city as our beloved Tigers. Afterall, I have a lot of pride in this city, which I consider my 2nd home. What's not to love? The Tampa Bay area has plenty of culture and things to do. From the beaches just west, to the classy city of St. Pete to the south, as well as the fun that can be had in Channelside or Ybor City. Sure there are more places and details I could share, including some great little dives where they primarily speak Spanish, but I don't want to get caught up on that list tonight. Ha!

Anyways, I was initially planning on posting this as a "Go Tigers" and "I'm here but just not there" message since I am in Tampa throughout the holidays while not attending the game. Just yesterday my family made trip to Busch Gardens, both for my daughter to see live Tigers roam around and for me to catch a glimpse of our Auburn Tigers walking around the theme park. I even sat in front of Jay Jacobs on the trolley/tram ride from the parking lot to the front gate. We had a blast and I got to see some of our Tigers walking around the park including Mario Fannin and Zac Etheridge (still in his neck restraint). While there waiting in line for one of the killer rollercoasters I got a call. It was my wife letting me know that my mother-in-law had found tickets and was going to buy them for us as a late Christmas gift. Needless to say, that rollercoaster ride got just that much better. Haha! Honestly, having family that knows people in this "not as big as it seems" city allowed us to get the tickets from a family friend who had won them in a raffle weeks ago. Since this is Tampa Bay Bucaneers country, they were willing to part with the tickets, especially to an Auburn fan as myself. No doubt, this has been the icing on the cake for my holidays down here.

Me & my daughter @ Busch Gardens - image via farm3.static.flickr.com

And so from this extremely excited and optimistic Auburn Tiger to you...I wish you all a Happy New Years and also a big War Eagle! Here's to looking towards our Tigers playing their hearts out and earning the first of what we all hope will be many wins in 2010. War Eagle!!

I know some of you are still having a hard time coming to the reality that Tuberville and Auburn have parted ways after a decade on the Plains, and how could any Tiger fan not be disturbed by what's occurred over the last few days. To say that the situation got out of hand is putting lightly. However, my take on this situation is a little different from some (or most) of you in that I believe Tuberville ultimately had a major flaw that he just couldn't overcome. Coach Tubs inability to find consistency with the offense during his tenure (despite his ability to almost always have strong defenses) became a troubling problem that he never seemed to have an answer for. I know guys, at this time most of you are hurt by what has transpired in Auburn, but his flaw was eventually going to lead him to this day (whether this year, next year or 5 years from now). I came across this article this evening on Scout.com and thought I would share with the rest of you Tiger fans.

Tommy Tuberville: A Dollar Short

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Where does our program go from here? I wanted to be optimistic this week thinking that cutting lose Franklin would bring our team together and all focus would be on kicking lowly Arkansas's butt. Instead, we just got embarrassed by another inferior team. By the way, here's a stat that shows why we shouldn't have even been in this game...Arkansas outgained Auburn 416 to 193 yards tonight. I also ask this, can Tuberville survive this type of season?

Good evening (morning), Auburn fans. Yes, that sick feeling in your stomach is well justified after watching our Tigers accomplish something Auburn hadn't done since 1955...lose to the Vanderbilt Commodores. Unfortunately, I was there to witness the historic win (loss) in person. First off, let me congratulate the Dores on finally beating my Tigers for the first time since before my parents were even born. Their coaches wanted it more, and their team wanted it more. Heck, their fans wanted it more. And in a way, I wish I couldn't say that this loss is a huge surprise. Honestly folks, we've had to endure watching 6 games of an under-performing offense and pathetic (ignorant, bush-league, horrible) play-calling. So, what happened this evening at Vandy Stadium was...in a way...inevitable.

At the beginning of the game our team looked prepared and determined to win this game, and our offense moved the ball very well. Of course, we were running that "3 yards and a cloud of dust" offense instead of the spread formation. However, Franklin's play-calling showed very early signs of ineptitude when AU failed to score despite being inside the 5 yard line for 4 full plays. I was 8 rows up from the end zone and watched in amazement as Ben Tate was pounded up the middle on pretty much the same play on 1st down, 2nd down, 3rd down, and even 4th down. Franklin's lack of creativity in that situation was absolutely mind-blowing. As much speed and versatility that our many backs have, Franklin chose the "stuff it down their throats" maneuver with no success.

And so after a stop by our defense, we got the ball back for another shot. We managed to move the ball well very well with a 9 play, 49 yard march ending with a Rod Smith TD reception. Game on! And before we knew it, the AU defense picks off a pass by Nickson giving the ball right back to the offense again. The AU offense takes advantage by only taking 2 plays to score on the Dores. At that point all I could think about it is how much better our offense looks, and even thought that the rout of the Dores was on its way. Then...Wes "sophomore blues" Byrum misses a simple extra point. What? Really? Well, the way our offense looks, I don't think one point will matter. With 3:09 left in the 1st Quarter that should have been a justified thought, however it would be the last time Auburn got the opportunity to put points on the board.

What we saw tonight was more confusing than any loss should have been. How does an offense go on a 1st quarter tear to 13-0 (should've been 21-0) and then completely drop off the map? They simply didn't show up once Byrum missed that extra point. Why? Well, I will admit that the players made some mistakes and missed several opportunities to gain the momentum back, but this was a loss predicated by the offensive coaching. There was a change in philosophy at some point where Franklin was allowed to switch back to his spread formation and the Auburn offense never found rhythm once that switch was made. That is why we as a fan base are truly justified in questioning the competency of Tony Franklin. This guy really has no clue...

I do agree that our offense has been in decline since the 2005 season, and Tuberville most definitely deserves to shoulder some blame for this team's performance to date. However, the Al Borges days seem like a dream compared to what we had to endure tonight. I've never seen a coach misuse so much talent as Tony Franklin has done this season. At this point I believe we may have just witnessed the end of his career at Auburn, although Tubs may keep him around until season's end. So where do we go from here? Does Auburn return to the Power-I offense and begin to fully utilize the talented running backs? Does the Chris Todd era officially come to an end as well? I'm at a loss when thinking about where the Auburn season goes from here, but Tubs needs to take full control before this completely tears the team apart.

What makes it all worse is that I call Nashville home, and must endure some of the weirdest and most humbling taunts from a fanbase ever...from Vandy fans. Ouch!