An Auburn man?

It's not surprising that the immediate reaction to Tommy Tuberville's Monday press conference: Wait--why are we talking about strokes? Did someone mention strokes? Who said that Tubby had had a stroke? Do you think he actually had a stroke? Because, let's face it, when the head coach one of the country's most successful football programs over the last five years or so denies having a freaking stroke, that's your lead.

But for me, the really interesting quote was this one:

I just wanted to let you know. I've been here 10 years. I plan on being here 10 more. I'm looking forward to it. All these rumors get started. I'm 10 years an Auburn man and I'm 10 years more of an Auburn man than most because I put my heart and soul in this thing and we ain't going to stop now. We're going to keep working and striving to get better because we do have a good football team.

If you accept that the entire ramble was one long F you, pal to fans who are trying to rumor him right out of his job--and you should, seeing as how it was apparently totally unprompted and seethes with aggravation in more than one point, the stroke thing included as a quintessential seriously, WTF example--this is where Tubby really comes to the point. More of an Auburn man than most. Meaning, more than you are, buddy. Maybe you've been an Auburn fan for a long time. Maybe a lifetime. But unless you are Pat Dye or a handful of his or Tubby's assistants, you have never spent 10 years putting you and your family's livelihood--your heart and soul--on the line when Auburn's football team takes the field.

Does he have a point? Is Tubby within his rights to flex his Auburn man bona fides? Truth be told, part of me's a little unsure he is. Ever since Jetgate, he's always struck me as a step short of becoming the orange-and-blue shaker-shakin' Auburn lifer, the Dye-style coach still publicly cheering the program on years after he's moved on; I'd be awful glad if years from now a retired Tubby is delivering the fire-'em-up speeches at an Auburn pep rally the way Lou Holtz does for Notre Dame, but it's hard to envision. Whatever you think of the Arkansas reports from last winter, it's hard to argue Tubby couldn't have done more to nip that talk in the bud. And of course, the "pine box" is going to hover just over Tubby's right shoulder forever, always warning us that to take this man completely at his word might be a painful, painful thing for us fans someday.

But ah, screw it: Tubby's got the rights. He is the Auburn man he says he is.

Why do I buy it? Why do I believe him? Because, as that press conference yesterday showed, he takes one hell of an exception to being labeled otherwise. Because he would have been well within his rights to hang on after Jetgate just long enough to half-ass his way through a couple of seasons collecting a paycheck from the bastards that tried to get rid of him before laughing all the way to the bank and his next job, and instead handed Auburn the most thrilling back-to-back seasons I can ever remember. Because of posts like this one, where he meets a few random Auburn fans out on the road and is willing to let his guard down enough to shoot the breeze about the recruit he's sizing up, about the differences in high school football from Dixie to Maryland, about some other stuff which I'm sure J.M. will get to in his next post. If you're an Auburn fan, you're worth Tubby taking a few moments to talk to.

And although J.M.'s (understandably) taken the picture down, also because--if you missed it--Tubby was willing to take a quick shot with six fingers up. Because of the whole seven-finger imbroglio, which of course was pretty well completely forgotten as soon as actual football began but still deliciously rankled the more sensitive of our crimson brethren. Because of the whole finger thing, in short, because of what it says about what Tubby wants for this program. What I believe he wants more than anything as Auburn's coach is to beat Alabama.

This, not so coincidentally, is what I want more than anything as an Auburn fan. With all due respect to my fine Auburn Blogger colleagues at the Auburner and their excellent piece on what their hopes are as Auburn fans, the same list here will always start with "1. Beat 'Bama." Claiming to be the best in the SEC is great. Claiming to be the best in the nation, as rarely as those opportunities come along, is downright awesome. But Auburn can't be either of those things if they can't be the best team in our own state, and so 'Bama comes first. That's why it's worth holding those fingers up. That's why Tubby does it. That's how we know he gets it. That's how I know I'm looking at an Auburn man.

And as an Auburn man, not-so-coincidentally, it's the JCCW's position that Tommy Tuberville deserves the right to fix the mess he's made.