Losing

Maybe it is apropos that I quote Mr. October. Although he was never a hero of mine, I can’t disregard his impact when post-season play began. I have some very good friends who are Red Sox fans, and to them I apologize for quoting a former nemesis from the Yankees. However, when the shoe fits, wear it.

Reggie Jackson once said, “I don’t mind getting beat; but I hate to lose”.

As I sat with a stoic stare at my old fashioned, non-plasma non-flatscreen television set on Saturday afternoon, that quote oozed from the depths of my memory. I had done all the screaming, fussing, cussing and discussing that was in me. I had no words left.

After watching a wide-open would-be touchdown pass float well beyond the receiver; after multiple fumbles causing multiple Arkansas touchdowns; after watching the Tigers sleep through the wakeup call until midway through the third quarter; after watching the first half offense look like it needed a dose of geritol; the quote hung in my craw.

“I don’t mind getting beat; but I hate to lose.”

But lose Auburn did. The Tigers lost in every facet of the game. They didn’t just get beat, because getting beat implies that both teams showed up and did their best and one team just got beat by a better team. Big Blue didn’t show up. Auburn had no fire in the gut. Sometimes it looked like the Tigers had no guts at all. For more than half of the game, the Auburn Tigers weren't just getting beat. They were losing. And losing it. Defeated. Manhandled. Overpowered. Outsmarted. Outcoached. Outscored. Taken to the outhouse. Or in this case, taken to the Pig Pen.

I hate to lose.

Finally, after getting a little bit of respect in the media….after getting a little positive press for the head coaching hire….the good guys from the Plains of Alabama reverted back to that same old condition they had WAY too many times under Tuberville: they couldn’t handle the success. Arkansas, with the worst defense in the SEC going into the game, looked like a pros. Auburn’s offense looked like The Tony Franklin System reincarnated. Somebody, PLEASE, throw out the trash and make sure those three ring binders with that dadburn system gets tossed with it!!!

For every sickening minute --- and yes, I watched EVERY sickening minute --- I said over and over to myself: “I hate to lose.”

I don’ t have anything to say about gut-check time, getting back on the right track, overcoming adversity, moving on, playing better, being shorthanded, being young, not having many scholorship players, or any other cliché about the future of Auburn Football. Right now I just have a pit in my stomach. I hate to lose.

I guess I should say something positive to Arkansas and Coach Bobby Petrino, especially after the blog I wrote a few days ago. O.K…….here goes. I’ll quote another great sports philosopher, the great Yogi Berra. Here’s the quote for you, Coach Petrino, and for your Hogs: “You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.”

WJLaneSR