“War Eagle” written by Lori Darlin is based on a true story, motivated by extreme culture shock encountered after moving from a small town in Kansas to Southeast Alabama.  This humorous look at some of the cultural dissimilarities from a football perspective takes place  in the 1990’s before internet and satellite television were widespread. (First published in A Wiregrass Welcome – Winter 1995). Copyright 2017. All rights reserved.

Fanatic.

A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause. A person who is ardently devoted to a particular subject or activity. Enthusiast, maniac, devotee, zealot.

Auburn fans.

I don’t know if the folks down here in southern Alabama have realized it, but they are in the midst of a veritable maelstrom of fanaticism.

I must admit, I’m not originally from the Wiregrass area of southern Alabama, but I was never so surprised as when I first saw these Tiger fans in action. My first full-blown fanaticism sighting was on a beautiful Alabama Sunday morning. The unusual sighting occurred while I was touring around the local countryside with a friend. I figured that we would likely encounter a bit of church traffic after a late sermon. Boy, was that an understatement! It wasn’t long before we chanced upon a whole congregation of parishioners heading home after an enlightening morning, but that wasn’t what really caught our attention. It was the steady stream of orange and blue items protruding from almost every window and door of the automobiles in front of us. I had never seen such curious vehicular accents and it wasn’t until we got closer to the vehicles, that I could make out the big AU’s and tiger heads plastered on flags and windsocks. How peculiar. Almost every car and truck had one and many actually had two! We were amused but didn’t really give it any more thought until the next weekend.

The following Saturday my friend and I were once again cruising the countryside and
enjoying the beauty of southern Alabama. As a new resident to the area I was once again taking the opportunity to check out my surroundings. I turned on the radio but found only talk-shows. We finally settled on one station without paying a lot of attention. Before long, we heard a guy call up and instead of saying hi, hello, or giving any other traditional greeting, the caller hollered “War Eagle!” … and then both hosts, in unison, shouted in reply, “War Eagle!”

My friend and I were dumbstruck. We looked at each other, both quite befuddled as to what THAT was. We listened in earnest, attempting to figure out what was afoot. The caller chatted awhile, then right before he was about to say goodbye, he abruptly called “War Eagle!” again and then he hung up.

Still puzzled, we listened further. Sure enough, the next caller dialed up, and once again, no hello or hi, just a loud “War Eagle!” Well I was buffaloed. I turned to my friend, and said, “What IS that? Why do the callers keep saying War Eagle? What kind of place is this?”

I had become convinced that this “War Eagle” thing was some sort of weird southern salutation, akin to a secret password that only TRUE Southerners used. I sat there in a state of confusion, determined to figure out what the true meaning of this vehement phrase was. After some of the initial confusion abated, I finally realized that I had tuned into some sort of football talk program. Well, that was good. I like football. A lot. But I’ve never heard anyone back home in Kansas answer the phone like that!

Pretty soon my friend, (who had lived in the Wiregrass several years before and had just recently returned), hit upon the critical point of our mystery. “Ohhhhhhhhhhh,” he said. “Yep! This is the Auburn Network. You know, Auburn University?”

“Ohhh. Yeah. Ok. What’s that got to do with it?” I queried.

“The Tigers. THE AUBURN TIGERS!”

Well, that only served to further my confusion. I mean after all, what does a tiger have to do with a eagle or war? They seemed like two totally different things to me.

The strangest part of the whole talk-show was the intensity of emotion of the callers hollering “War Eagle!” It was almost militant. I turned to my friend once again and straight faced, I said, “They sure are serious about this War Eagle business. I wonder if they raise their arm in a salute when they say that?” He thought a second and then laughed at the mental picture of millions of Auburn fans “saluting” while solemnly bellowing “War Eagle!”

I let the subject drop for the time, but it still perplexed me. Plus, I hadn’t yet put the “War Eagle” together with the blue and orange flags and windsocks that I had witnessed the week before. I decided to ask someone to explain the exact meaning of this peculiar phrase. My curiosity had definitely got the best of me and I was determined it wouldn’t be long before I started getting a few answers.

I began looking for potential Auburn-answer-candidates. My first opportunity happened at the gym. I was on a stationary bike, cycling along, and a fellow came up and hopped on the adjacent bike and began peddling. I noticed his Auburn sweatshirt.

Here’s my chance.

I got up my courage and casually asked, “You an Auburn fan?”

“Yeah,” he panted, “War Eagle!”

Oh great! He already used it on me! I can’t ask him now!

Not wanting to seem rude, I returned a rather weak “Uh, War Eagle.”

Oh well. I wasn’t going to let a little setback like that get in my way! I would simply find someone else and ask. Meanwhile, I kept catching myself wanting to say it. There was just something about those words. War Eagle! War Eagle!

I wish I had a dime for every bit of Auburn paraphernalia that was somehow adhered to that rolling tribute to the Tigers.

My next chance to discover the true meaning of War Eagle came when my friend and I dropped in at a local watering hole. Coincidentally, I was happy to find that the football team of my alma mater, the Kansas State Wildcats of the mighty Big Eight, was playing the Colorado Buffaloes on a television located at the end of the bar. A little later as I was rooting for the ‘Cats, the bicycle guy from the gym walked in. I figured I’d beat him to the punch this time, so I just blurted out “Sooooo, what’s the meaning behind all this War Eagle enthusiasm?”

Visibly, excited, he said “MAN! It was like this: It all started when this guy, who was an Auburn student, brought his pet eagle to the first Auburn football game. (Don’t ask me why!) Toward the end of the game, the eagle somehow broke loose and flew over the stadium. The eagle flew a perfect circle around the interior edge of the stadium and when the majestic bird got back to where it started, it dropped dead. Since Auburn won the game, the fans decided the eagle was a good omen and they kind of adopted it as a something of a mascot.”

I was quite impressed with this bit of folklore, but it wasn’t long before I found out that there was more (or maybe less) to the story than the version I’d just heard. Since then, I’ve discovered quite a few alternative renditions of this oft told tale, and in fact, in these parts, it is almost up to urban legend status!

 

One of the more fanciful accounts asserts that a Confederate soldier had found an orphaned baby eagle on a battlefield after one of the last skirmishes of the Civil War. He picked it up and cared for it, eventually making the eagle his pet. Years later, the same veteran attended Auburn University and took his eagle to an Auburn football game against an important rival, possibly Georgia. During the game, his eagle broke loose, flew around the stadium once and returned to his owner (but didn’t die). Auburn won the game and their fans took up the chant of War Eagle.

Both narratives sounded pretty good, but whether they are fact or fancy, I couldn’t say.

***

Many months later and with my first Auburn football season under my belt, I must
admit I think I have picked an SEC favorite. Now, don’t take me wrong here, I will remain forever loyal to my alma mater, but my partiality was decidedly slanted towards the blue and orange, at least during my sojourn in SEC territory. I can’t precisely articulate how this came to be, but it’s true – I’m a closeted Auburn fan. I am still in awe over the lengths tried and true AU fans will go to show their spirit. I really thought KSU Wildcat fans were going too far when, after many years of devastating losses, they started tearing down the goal posts after each win (any win – no matter how insignificant!). But the AU fanaticism is a ittle different. It seems to be all-encompassing. Auburn team spirit is even more prolific than kudzu, and in the South, that is a hard claim to stake. But, true it is. Everywhere I go, all I see is AU this, AU that. Big stickers, little stickers, blue stickers, orange stickers.

AU EVERYWHERE.

One time I was at the famous Mr. Henry’s Amoco #8, out on Boll Weevil Circle, in Enterprise, AL. I was headed out the door, about to partake in my daily dose of Dr Pepper, when all of a sudden, there before me was the epitome of Auburn Tiger Spirit. It was a seventies model Winnebago literally covered in AU stickers. I wish I had a dime for every bit of Auburn paraphernalia that was somehow adhered to that rolling tribute to the Tigers. I had definitely never seen anything quite like it in my short 25 years. I immediately called to my friend to hurry and come see this Auburn homage. There we stood, transfixed and in awe of the reverence of these fans. We attempted to count the plethora of pennants, stickers, flags, horns, streamers and banners adorning that wild Winnebago work of art, but the task was useless. We were up into the hundreds before the AU wagon lurched away. But I’ll never, ever forget those AU fans’ apparent devoutness!

This AU fanaticism is almost like a religion in some ways. Ever been to one those churches where the whole congregation is really into the sermon and they tend to say “amen” a lot? It’s something like that here with “War Eagle.” People in these parts say War Eagle for every occasion, hi, bye, right-on, affirmative … you name it. Just for fun, I enjoy coming up with new and creative ways to incorporate “War Eagle” into everyday conversation. Another neat thing is the WAY Auburn fans say it. To say it correctly, one has to say it with emotion, like when saying “hallelujah!” Try it now for yourself a couple of times…

War Eagle!! WAR EAGLE!!!

The definition of a heretic to an Auburn fan is bound to be a person who pledges allegiance to that “other team up north.” What is the Hymnal of the Auburn faith? The Playbook. Who is the Reverend? Who else? Brother Terry Bowden, of course. No other college football coach is as revered or well known in the South. I would bet that his voice could be recognized just about anywhere, by anyone. There’s never any doubt who’s talking when Brother Terry’s voice is echoing out over the radio waves. Heaven forbid if something interrupts Tiger Talk on the Auburn Radio Network – that’s worse than passing notes in the back pew!

The run on shoe polish after an Auburn or Alabama win is worse than the turkey aisle at Piggly Wiggly on Thanksgiving Eve!

By the way, guess what the bestselling product in Alabama is during football season? White shoe polish. That’s right. It is the solemn duty of every Auburn fan to stock up on a season’s supply of white shoe polish, so as to have plenty on hand after every victory. The run on shoe polish after an Auburn or Alabama win is worse than the turkey aisle at Piggly Wiggly on Thanksgiving Eve! At least here in the Wiregrass, one never has to worry about forgetting an important football score – just check the back window of about any car or truck!

As a rather newer denizen to SEC territory, I must admit that I still don’t really understand the whole existence of this War Eagle slogan. Here in Alabama there are more mottos, mascots and sayings for football teams, than there were slogans for Pepsi in the 1980’s! Take that “other team up north” for example. They’ve got Crimson Tide, Roll Tide, elephants, toilet paper and likely more.

As new as I am to Alabama, I’m not sure if this trend is indigenous to southern living, or possibly to the entire Southeast Conference. But either way, there is one thing I have learned while residing here … if it isn’t in the SEC, then it just isn’t. At first, I was a little disheartened to find that many of my Wiregrass compadres were apparently unacquainted with our friends in the Big Eight. But that’s just the way it is. Face it … SEC football is a way of life in the South!

War Eagle!

© Copyright 2017.  All rights reserved.  Publishing requests or other inquiries may be sent here:

 

Would you like to view “War Eagle” as a PDF? Click Here.?