I’ll tell you a true story about that year. I was a senior and, still, in the band. It was a rough game in Athens, iirc, had been a very long, tiring day and all +250 of us were hungry. So, we pulled up at this restaurant and got in line. We were tired, grumpy and hungry and knew this would take several hours.
Then, the word went down the line that the football team had been there before us and the restaurant was out of much of the meat. They had plenty of veggies, but the main course was scarce.
Next, word came down the chow line that Auburn had just accepted an agreement to play in Phoenix in the Sun Bowl. That was played on Dec. 26 and would have meant we couldn’t have Christmas with our families, and there was a conference I wanted to attend between Christmas and New Years. Yes, really a conference.
So, hearing the news of the Sun Bowl was the last straw for me. I complained loudly that the just ruined Christmas and why couldn’t we have gone to a lesser bowl but one that played either before Christmas or closer to New Years. I don’t remember if I was alone in my sentiments. As we progressed closer to the buffet, it became apparent the Sun Bowl and Auburn officials were just on the other side of the restaurant’s divide.
The band did NOT go to the bowl game that year.
But I enjoyed Christmas with my family and went on to my conference.
If you played in Athens that year, then you witnessed another great David Langner moment, I believe. Langner was either returning a punt or an interception, and was running straight at a Georgia player, who went into a slight crouch to tackle Langner.
Langner tried to hurdle the Georgia player, just as a hurdler does with a hurdle on a track, and almost cleared him. He caught the heel of his shoe in the forehead of the Georgia tackler. A photographer captured the moment perfectly, Georgia player crouched and squared up to tackle Langner, Langner in a hurdler's pose an unbelievable height above the ground, just clipping the forehead of the Georgia player.
Langner was flagged for a personal foul. If the Georgia player had been about two inches shorter, Langner would have cleared him.
Anyway, glad you had your Christmas with your family.
WAR EAGLE!