re: Auburn Toomers Celebration picture

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I wonder if Auburn fans will roll the new trees when Saban eventually passes away . . . like they did when Bear Bryant died?

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I'm a Bama alum who was working at Auburn's Graduate School (Hargis Hall, within sight of Toomer's Corner) when Coach Bryant passed away, and I never saw or heard anything about the trees being rolled. Whoever created that story didn't hurt AU. They hurt the Alabama fanbase.

Good luck with the replacement plans, Auburn fans. As college fans, we don't have to understand traditions. We just have to respect them.

Those trees saw a LOT of history.. A LOT. A silent but imposing reminder of memories from multiple generations passed down from one to another.
Yes they were 'just' trees.
But at the same time, No. They weren't JUST trees.
At least not to the grandfather who celebrated under their branches in the 50's or his son who celebrated in the 80's or his grandson who celebrated underneath them in 2010.

People mock what they don't understand...And if you've never stood for a bit at that intersection sipping a freshly squeezed Toomer's Lemonade or rested a moment under the shade of those oaks on a hot Alabama August day, then it is perfectly understandable why you mock.

Then again, the shade and the symbolism given from those silent and soon to be gone relics were never meant for you in the first place.

War. Damn. Eagle.

Great show of support by all those AU fans. Really sad to see this tradition end.

I've heard they did roll it when he retired, but certainly not when he died (at least not a mass number of people)

This popped up on my feed today, thought some of the Barners could appreciate it and was appropriate here.

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AUFAMILY ?@AUFAMILY 6h Troops in Afghanistan: Since we couldn't be "home" for the big event...we did the next best thing, we rolled a tank! pic.twitter.com/bd2wUP7bUv

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I can just hear a CO somewhere "THAT WAS A THREE MONTH SUPPLY YOU FOOLS"

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Jefferson Dawg Auburn Toomers Celebration picture I wonder if Auburn fans will roll the new trees when Saban eventually passes away.....like they did when Bear Bryant died?

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More likely to happen UGA winning a national title? Either way, it's a very small chance.

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Fail on my part

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Yeah, your entire post

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I've heard they did roll it when he retired

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Not true either.

The trees themselves really weren't rolled until the late 80s/early 90s.

The most bonafide story I have heard is that back in the 40s and 50s, well before games were on tv and even before there was a travelling radio call of the game, the only way to keep up with the score of Auburn road games was via the AP/UPI sports wire. One of the few places in town to have a sports ticker was Toomers Drugstore, so people would gather there to follow the game. When Auburn would win a game, they would take the ticker tape and toss it up onto the utility wires around the intersection to let people know that Auburn had won.

At some point, once the sports wire faded into history, the tickertape was replaced by TP, and the celebrations happened for both home and away victories. However it was still draped over the wires. Two things brought about the change. One was the 1989 Iron Bowl (first time it was played in Auburn). There were so many people and so much TP it spread from the wires to the trees. Another was the relocation of all utility wires in the area from poles to underground.

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Tiger n Miami AU83

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Neil O. Davis, former owner, editor and publisher of The Auburn Bulletin and former journalism professor at the University, is slightly more specific in a date for the beginning of the rolling tradition. “That was not until the 1960s. There were always pep rallies and celebrations there, but the throwing of the toilet paper came later.”

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If true, that would make Terry Henley a liar. AMIRITE?