Partly Cloudy / 82° F
Coach Nick Saban finds a new home
Published 8:44pm Monday, October 11, 2010A familiar face attended the MainStreet Alexander City auction Friday night.
Everyone knew who he was. About half the attendees at the downtown event were happy he was there. The other half … well, maybe not so much.
He stood in the corner of a room in The Shoppes of Queen’s Attic containing items for bid at the silent auction, flashing a golden grin.
Who is this mystery guest, you ask? Well, I’ll give you some hints. He has his own statue in his likeness. He’s one of the highest paid college football coaches of all time. And, his team’s 19-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt Saturday night in a gridiron showdown against South Carolina.
I’m talking, of course, about Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who was not actually in attendance, but a cardboard cutout in his likeness was.
Now, since attendees at the event were encouraged to wear their favorite team’s colors to the tailgate-themed auction, the event was already largely a sea of orange and blue and crimson and white. But had the sports dress code not been in effect, simply watching attendees’ reactions to this particular item would have told to which team they have sworn their loyalty.
From cheers from those in houndstooth to jeers from those from The Plains, Coach Saban was one of the most popular ‘people’ in attendance.
One of the most humorous events of the night was when an Auburn fan dressed the cutout up in an orange and blue striped sweater and Auburn cap.
I don’t know how much he ended up going for – or who ended up taking him home – but I can’t help but wonder about his whereabouts today.
After all, what exactly does one do with a cardboard cutout of Nick Saban?
Did an Alabama fan take him home to proudly display in their living room? Or, perhaps, did an Auburn fan sweep him up to use for target practice?
I polled the newsroom to see what my coworkers would do were they to have the cutout, and here are a few of my favorite responses I got:
Sports editor and 5’10” Auburn alum Dusty Harper said, and I quote, “I’d stand back-to-back to him so I could laugh because I’m taller than him.”
On the ‘Bama side, print editor Dale Liesch said he’d use it to scare Auburn fans away. Lake editor Katie Cole said she’d dress him up for the holidays.
Web editor and Auburn fan Brent Maze said he’d invite some LSU fans over for a “Saban roast.” Meanwhile, Auburn fan Mr. Doug Patterson in the advertising department said he’d sell the cutout on eBay – last week.
As far me, an Auburn alumna who bleeds orange and blue, I just hope he went to a happy home. After all, the guy had a pretty rough weekend.
