Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 15, 1993 TAG: 9310150245
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
So at the risk of being forced into a job selling lottery tickets to individuals with stained blue jeans and missing teeth or mopping up spilled beer in a seedy downtown saloon, I have this to say:
Three cheers for Auburn High football.
Eagles 21, Grayson County 3 says all there needs to be said for the triumph of the spirit of the little man.
They may still be dancing in the streets out in Riner after that victory by one of the most under of dogs except for this one hangup.
"I'm not sure how many streets we have out here," said Eagles coach Steve Wright, who orchestrated one of the most soaring athletic achievements in the school's history in his first year on the job.
So let them holler in the hogpen.
Cha-cha in the cornfield.
Pirouette in the pasture.
Boogie in the barnyard.
Strain every bit of your credulity, if you will, to picture one of the smallest football-playing schools in the state chopping down the perennial behemoth of the Mountain Empire District.
Stopped them cold, did the Eagles. Jabbed those Blue Devils right in the tush with their own pitchfork. Held them to 80 yards total offense.
Eighty yards total offense!
Who wrote this script, the guy who led Pickett's charge?
St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, must have been manning the water cooler and ministering to the thirsty on the Auburn sideline.
Wait a minute. Stop it. You're killing me, right? Auburn beats Grayson County in football? You'll never trick me. The next thing you're going to tell me is the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves in six games for the National League pennant.
Malign me all that you wish because I am unable to explain the technology behind a mechanical milking machine, but I do know a little something about football.
Must not know as much as I thought, though, because there it is. Right in the Saturday paper, Auburn 21, Grayson County 3. Unless evil elves came in in the dead of night and took over the pressroom, it must be true.
The lamb devoured the lion.
The tortoise outsprinted the hare.
The three little pigs whacked the wolf on the butt with a frying pan.
It's true. Somewhere in hell, a snowball rests in cool repose. The skies over Montgomery County are clouded by winged pigs. A Hollywood starlet passed by a mirror without looking into it.
A skinflint saw a quarter lying in the street and left it there for the next fellow. A con man donated the proceeds of his lastest grift to an orphanage. A Serb shook hands with a Croat.
A politician was speechless. A doctor lowered his rates. A gang member helped a little old lady across the street.
The moon turned blue. It snowed in the Sahara. Jackie O invited the neighborhood over to swim in her pool.
Which isn't to say that Grayson County deserved this. Those people up there in the mountains are some of the nicest you'll find. Most years, they play good football. They're down now and having a little bit of a hard time.
But Auburn has a hard time every year. When you're out in the cornfield, and most of the students who don't have to work are too small or too slow or too friendly to play football, you have a dicey time putting out many teams that put the fear of the Almighty in the big boys.
So raise a glass to those Eagles. Buy Steve Wright and his associates Dennis Green and Bob Sandy something cool and soothing to drink. Hoist the boys on beefy shoulders and carry them in triumphal procession past the dairy barn.
And don't ever forget what they did.
by CNB