Aside from God and love, there have been more lines quoted about time than any other subject. You have heard them.....Benjamin Franklin said "Remember, time is money". Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote "Can anybody remember when the times were not hard and money not scarce?" And who can forget Kermit The Frog's play on words when he said, "Times fun when you're having flies!" My personal favorite is a quote from Marilyn Monroe, who, when late for an interview with a New York Times reporter, said "I've been on a calendar, but never on time."
I've been thinking a lot about time, lately. Maybe it's my age. Maybe it's the fact that my wife has a birthday in a few weeks. Maybe it's because I see my children growing up (and in a couple of cases, already grown!) way too fast. Maybe it's because 1/4 of the Auburn football season is already over. Maybe it's because I'm not sure that Mick Jagger's words really apply to me anymore. (When I give you these words, this song is going to be on your mind the rest of the day!) Remember the words?? Time...it's on my side.....yes it is....
In my quest for re-capturing some "time", I decided to stroll backwards down memory lane and look at 1 decade ago today....September 20, 1997. Tenth ranked Louisiana State University played host to the twelfth ranked Auburn Tigers. Over 80,000 fans packed Tiger Stadium to see the 11 point favorite LSU Bengal Cats have their way.
But this was a day that belonged to a star. And that star didn't wear gold, or yellow, or mustard, or whatever color LSU has that somehow supposed to blend nicely with Teletubby Purple. This star was an Auburn Tiger. And on this day, he passed for 342 yards and 2 touchdowns. His name is Dameyune Craig. Craig was quoted as saying, "They may have been a 10 point favorite to beat us, but we felt like we could come to Baton Rouge and win the game. I felt like we were 10 points better than them." Auburn won the game by a score of 31-28.
This was a game that saw a wild first half end in a 21-21 tie. The second half, however, was one of defense. With 3:12 seconds left in the ballgame, LSU was up 28-24. Craig and his troops took the field at the Auburn 20 yard line. On a 10-play, 80 yard drive, Dameyune Craig went 5-8 for 69 yards, including an 18 yard pass to Tyrone Goodson on a third down play that needed 14 yards for a first down. Rusty Williams capped the scoring drive with a two yard run into the endzone with 30 seconds left in the game. Jaret Holmes converted the PAT, and Auburn won 31-28.
An awful lot has happened in the 10 years since that game on September 20, 1997. Bowden-gate, Brother-gate, Jet-gate, Undefeated Season, Fear the Thumb, and now....a rebuilding year. Time just seems to get away from us, when you think about it. The joys seem to be over too soon, and the lows seem to last longer than they really do. But it brings a little smile to my face when I think about how Dameyune Craig used to run and pass up and down Jordan-Hare Stadium. Maybe looking at Kodi Burns last week, it reminded me of a young, green Dameyune. Maybe that's just the kind of quarterback Auburn needs right now. The speed, the arm, the excitement. In fact, when I saw Kodi running and juking down the field last week, I thought....
....it's about time.
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