It’s a cool Thursday night at the Auburn Soccer Complex, every bit of breeze a relief for the fans in the stands after this long summer. The fans stomp their feet on the bleachers. They blow into the giveaway vuvuzelas.
Their cheers for each goal ring out over the intramural fields, where the frat boys play next door, and carry out over the Plains. A hint of fall is back in the air for Auburn University, classes are back and so is the traffic bringing the city back to life from summer slumber and, yes, that means football is back soon too. But soccer is back too.
And volleyball is back. And the tennis teams and the golf teams are gearing up for fall schedules and cross country is ready to run. Then it’ll be time for basketball, then gymnastics, and all the rest.
The Auburn faithful will follow every step, because Auburn fans love more about Auburn than Auburn football, and that has been proven time and again. But here’s a quick challenge for the Auburn fan at the start of the new schoolyear: Challenge yourself to roll Toomer’s at least one time this schoolyear for a win for a sport other than football. Keep those rolls rolling for football, of course, but if you’ve never rolled Toomer’s for another sport, here’s your nudge.
Around here, football is our most royal sport, but fans are missing out if they haven’t been there for a team of less popular sports looking for a fan, filling a seat that wouldn’t otherwise be filled. Be part of a build. Learn the players, maybe even learn the nuances of a sport that’s new for you, and adopt a program you hadn’t supported before.
It’s a great hobby. And it’s rewarding. Just ask the hardcores at the soccer complex, who stayed well after the Tigers built their big lead, well after a chunk of the stands cleared out at halftime satisfied with the lead, all the way down to the final whistle in some beautiful weather.
Don’t be a casual. Find a team that needs you. There are plenty at Auburn to choose from, from soccer to tennis to the track team fresh off a relay championship.
Stick with your team through the thick and the thin, just like football and men’s basketball — and get out there to roll on a win, even if you’re the only one out there. Auburn fans love Auburn for more than just one thing. And Auburn fans love the sight of toilet paper in those trees, even if it’s just one strand.
You might just find there’s no better feeling than being part of the climb for a team in front of sparser crowds, watching the seats fill in around you with you own eyes. No better feeling, at least, besides rolling those trees right after. Auburn fans roll Toomer’s Corner with the Auburn men’s golf team on May 31 in downtown Auburn, celebrating the Tigers’ NCAA national championship earlier in the week.
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