Auburn fans are JABAed OUT
No More JABA
JABA – noun
Just Auburn Being Auburn
The emotional state where your program in sports breaks your heart 90 % of the time
Absolutely knowing an entity, you support will dramatically let you down eventually
Auburn Athletics, Chicago Cubs, all sports Atlanta, The Masters Greg Norman as examples
In case you missed it in the 88th Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and you did not, Auburn did everything within their power to give a win away to The University of Alabama. With just a few minutes left in the annual game, and all the momentum in the world, Auburn invented a new comedy of errors to successfully botch a game that could have easily been closed out. Not only closing out a win, closing out their hated rival's championship dreams and putting an all-time cap to a bumpy first year under head coach Hugh Freeze.
Sloppy play, dropped passes, weird calls, muffed punts and other losing football fundamentals is nothing new to Auburn or any college football team for that matter, but to put a new cherry on top of meltdown a “4th and 31” miracle touchdown could be the icing on this JABA cake. In one of the most improbable converted plays in college football history, Alabama QB Jalen Milroe, found WR Isaiah Bond in the back of a Pat Dye Field endzone with .32 seconds left in the game to propel the Tide over the Tigers 27 to 24. At the beginning of the play computers calculated that pre-snap Alabama had a 99% chance of losing the game. That is 1 in 100 of occurring. JABA.
Sure, there have been remarkable things happen at Auburn University in Athletics. Cam Newton leading Auburn to an improbable National Championship in 2010 under head coach Gene Chizik. Along with Newton, Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson winning Heisman Trophies while playing football at the proud university come to mind. Both men’s and women’s basketball representing Auburn in NCAA tourneys while the baseball team bringing life to the plains with the hardball by locking down trips to Omaha, NE for the College World Series just to name a few other highlights. But let us face it, as a long time Auburn fan you knew the meltdown was coming Saturday like so many times before in this year’s edition of The Iron Bowl. If you pay attention long enough history will repeat itself.
In 1983 Auburn won the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day over Michigan to top off a one-loss season in football that many will argue came against the most difficult schedule in college football history. Tiger fans danced in the streets of New Orleans that night and elsewhere, certain that our beloved Plainsmen would be crowned the kings of college football in the last polls of the season. Despite having the same record as Miami, being an actual conference champion and not an independent, playing the aforementioned brutal schedule, disposing of a common opponent of both teams the Florida Gators 28-21, while Miami lost to them 28-3, The Hurricanes leapfrogged The Tigers to a national championship with a last second win in their hometown Orange Bowl over Nebraska. JABA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Miami_Hurricanes_football_team
Not to be outdone by that shot of JABA, the 2013 version of Auburn football took matters into their own hands with the good and bad sides of Just Auburn Being Auburn. Under first year head coach, Gus Malzahn, Auburn got hot after an early season loss at LSU winning out and landing to end the season at The Rose Bowl against FSU in the national championship game. The good side of JABA occurred against Alabama in the Iron Bowl with the miraculous “Kick Six”. But for some often reason we just cannot stand prosperity here on the plains. Up early and rolling the Noles 21-3, Florida State pulled off a fake punt that Stevie Wonder could have seen coming snatching momentum away then finishing off the Tigers late on a last second drive 34-31. JABA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2wfFht-Rkk
Who can forget those amazing 2018/2019 Auburn Tigers in basketball that shocked the SEC into submission with lights out 3-point shooting, tenacious defense and physicality on the boards rebounding that would make Dennis Rodman proud? After rolling through the SEC tourney to become champions of the conference, AU drew one of the toughest draws in the NCAA tourney as a #5 seed with the likes of Kansas, UNC, Kentucky, and Virginia looming. Just Auburn being Auburn. Barely escaping a #12 seed opening match game against New Mexico State 78-77, JABA, the Tigers went on to bomb historically prominent programs like Kansas, UNC, and UK on a march to Auburn’s first ever Final Four appearance. Auburn would take on eventual national champion Virginia in the Final Four losing that game controversially 63 to 62 when a referee missed a clear double dribble against UVA that would have given leading Auburn the ball back with just seconds left to go in the game. JABA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TEtgC2DjWw
After almost 45 years of following Auburn Athletics, these are just a few examples of tremendous JABA in key moments that if one thing goes differently gets Auburn a championship. Other sports like Baseball, Softball and Women’s Basketball have all had deflating JABA moments as well in championship moments. Hatefully envious of Auburn’s football success in 2010, national media, state and local media, rival fans, coaches, and players went as far as to accuse the Tigers of cheating ferociously but incorrectly in the recruitment of star QB Cam Newton. Even at the height of championship success, Auburn fans could not really enjoy their first BCS National Championship truly awaiting a NCAA verdict two years later absolving Auburn of any wrongdoing. No one was ever really held accountable for the disparagement of those national champions, and still to this day the unsavory false accusations are still shoved in AU folks faces about that year. JABA.
So, with all the bad luck, black magic, voodoo, hard candy Christmas or whatever you want to call it in big moments, is anyone really surprised at what transpired in Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday against Alabama? This university hired Bryan Harsin for example to be their football coach once and paid him millions to go away. JABA. Speaking to old school Tiger fans this morning, the fall out after the latest melt has hit harder than it normally does. Auburn fans are tired of this JABA crap sandwich served continually with a tasty side of disappointment. Will it ever end? This is a fanbase that showed up again fully with emotional support at JHS only to have their hearts ripped out JABA style for the one-millionth time. Speaking for them and for me, we are about JABAed OUT. In this author’s journey through life there have been many difficulties. The world can be both a cruel and glorious place. There have been losses that really mean something, wins that mean even more, friends and family come and go, and many careers that have worked out and have not. But without a doubt, the hardest job I have ever had is being an Auburn fan. It is now a test of my Christianity. FACT and JABA.