The Bodda Getta

Not even close...not only was Auburn losing to the mullets, most of the time it was not even a good game. We weren't going bowling (mid-late 70's), and had no reason for hope.

Today, there is hope, we do win (maybe not as often as some would like), but at least we go into seasons with expectations. During the 70's, the only expectations were that bammer would beat us and we would again be home for the holidays.

I would say it was different. There was no BCS, no ESPN, no talk radio. I was a high school and AU student in the 70s. It just wasn't what we were about. There just wasn't the 24/7 (pardon the pun) media. It's a different world now. We are assaulted every day everywhere you look. I say that as I sit here in Omaha and think its one one of those mornings it's great to be a thousand miles away.

War Eagle Everyone!

Bama pretty much dominated both the 60's and the 70's. Coverage of College Football was not anywhere near the scale it is today and while the turds dominated the state's newspaper coverage Auburn always received a fair share of articles. Most articles were generally positive about both schools. No Feinbaum or ESPN was nice. By my estimation there were far fewer Auburn fans during this time. Graduating in 1968, my high school class had 65 students I was the only Auburn person.

Auburn's nine year losing streak 1972 -1981 was dreadful. Few of the games were close and we were always outmanned. It has never been easy to be an Auburn faithful!

As a previous poster stated the arrival of Pat Dye on the Plains changed everything. No one should ever forget what he did for our football program and he still deserves wide range in any discussion he has about AU football.

The most wonderful words I will ever remember about AU Football were spoken by Pat Sullivan when we finally broke the streak "Oh Hell Yes".

No. The 70s were worse ... much worse. Bear had Auburn pinned on the mat for 9 straight years and was not letting up. Being an Auburn fan in the 70s was ridiculously brutal. There are major differences: Until Pat Dye took over, it was a bleak outlook. Because of great teams under Dye, Bowden, Tubs, and Chizik, Auburn is a power in the SEC now and one horrid year can quickly be erased. Auburn bounces back pretty quickly these days. That was not the case in the 70s. I also think that Bear was admired more than Saban ever will be. Not sure if it was Bear's grandfatherly gruff charisma or his famous sayings or what, but he was more popular than Saban ever will be. Todays reality is that we beat Bama just two years ago, went undefeated, and won the NC. In the 70s during nine years (1973-1981) of suffering, that would not have even been imaginable to an Auburn fan.

You raise a great point ... with Bama having a nationally syndicated radio show in Finebaum and with the ESPN love, it may make it feel much worse than reality. The reality is that there are TONS more Auburn fans around than there were in the 70s.