Ugly Penny

In 1872, Hans Christian Andersen wrote a story that most every child has heard or was read. “The Ugly Duckling” is a story of tolerance and how inner virtues overshadow and overcome physical attributes. In the Broadway Musical “Honk”, an adaptation to Andersen’s story, the ugly duckling’s name is “Ugly Penny”.

When I look back at the game between Auburn and Ole Miss this past Saturday, those are the two things that stick out the most. Ugly and Penny.

My seats are in Section 41. They are directly under the goal posts in the north endzone on row 1. I love these seats because they are right down on the field where the action is. Not only can you hear the pads “pop” when the players hit each other, you can also hear them “smack-talk” each other. Standing in the aisle, right beside me, was Mr. Penny.

I don’t know Mr. Penny. But the Lee County Police do. So do the security personnel, the photographers, the Auburn ball boys, and even several of the Auburn football players. Heck, even one of the coaches knew him. He stands in the aisle between section 41 and 42 leaning on the brick wall that separates the sheep from the goats…..or in this case, the fans from the field. And as for the aforementioned people, each who from time to time would walk in front of us just behind the endzone; they would walk over, shake his hand and say, “Hey, Penny! How are you?” Mr. Penny also has a ritual. When Auburn gets a first down, he leans against the wall and does 10 pushups. If Auburn scores, he leans against the wall and does 50 pushups. And this is enough to draw a tremendous amount of attention.

Because of Mr. Penny, my son (and I), found ourselves on the Jumbotron several times. We also made the CSS rebroadcast of the game, because I watched it and saw a close-up of my son pointing to Mr. Penny’s sign that reads “Go Tigers, Let’s Win…Mr. Penny Said That”.

Mr. Penny is a character. In between his cheerleading, pushups and handshakes, he told me he was a steward at the Missionary AME church. He said that the were having Annual Conference this week, and his job was to keep clean towels for the preacher so that when he sweats, he can wipe his head. He said that his preacher “breaks down….and brings it home.”

Another thing Mr. Penny said over and over regarding the game was, “It ain’t purty, but it’s a win!” About that, he was right. It wasn’t pretty.

This brings me to the second thing I remember about Saturday. Although we moved the ball all over the field, on offense, it was ugly. Not bad ugly. More like boring ugly. The defense was great most of the game, but the offense was boring ugly.

However, I must admit…..I like a boring ugly win a whole lot better than an excitingly pretty loss. And at the end of the year, even an Ugly Penny, when put in the win column, looks like every other Swan lined up in that same column.

War Eagle!

WJLaneSR