Hope to be doublin’ up in the coming weeks to get current. Archives-wise, Lordy, we’re still in April.

For more marvelous Marconi misadventures in Auburn history, tune in to The Drive—ESPN 1065 FM in Auburn / Opelika or online at www.espnau.com—Thurs. at 5 p.m. And for previous episodes, click here.

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Keep Reading:

* The Eagles’ Joe Walsh in an Auburn shirt
* Auburn’s banned 1979 student recruitment poster
* Only undefeated Triple Crown winner owned by Auburn grads
* Elvis says “War Eagle”
* Alabama in Auburn gear
* Diagram of a 1983 Auburn student
* That OTHER time they burned the Glom

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“I’ve enjoyed looking at everyone’s War Eagle Relics and see a lot of things that I have as well…..the coke bottles, ticket stubs, stickers, etc. This pic that looks like a busted chunk of metal needs a little explanation. It’s a piece of the goalpost from the 1982 Alabama game – ‘Bo Over The Top.’ The fans rushed the field, tore down the goalposts and deposited what was left of one outside the Auburn locker room at Legion Field. I decided that this historical relic had to go with me and I worked this chunk off the crossbar… that was a great day!”

Perhaps no game in the modern era (or any era, really) of Auburn football has meant more to the school’s football fortunes. Without it, who knows if there is a First Time Ever in 1989 or even a BCS Championship Game win 28 years later. That may seem like a stretch or a bit over the top, if you will, but the ramifications of this game can’t be denied. It proved that after nearly a decade of Alabama domination, the tables were finally turning. It proved that Pat Dye’s famous “60 minutes” quote was not just a good sound bite. It sent Bear Bryant off with a loss in his final Iron Bowl as a head coach. It is the focal point for the beginning of a golden era of Auburn football that all of the success we have had since can be directly connected to in some way or another. To have been there when it happened and walk away with a piece of that history in the form of a broken off chunk of metal from a goal post torn down in euphoric celebration is about as cool as it gets.

Birmingham News Sports Page (1982)

This is what the front of the sports page looked like in Birmingham the morning after Bo soared over that pile of humanity. Dye greeting Bryant for a post-game handshake over the headline “Auburn ends a nine-year wait” is nice, but it almost seems too understated. For the Auburn fans who had endured such a terrible stretch in the rivalry’s history, I’m sure it didn’t matter what the headlines read as long as they got the score right.

Tangerine Bowl Program (1982)

Sticking with 1982 a little longer, here is the cover for the Tangerine Bowl program that Auburn played in following the season. The Tigers defeated Boston College 33-26 in their first bowl since the 1974 Gator Bowl win over Texas. This game also started a streak of 9 straight bowl appearances. This was the last year the game was known as the Tangerine Bowl. It became the Florida Citrus Bowl the following year before adopting its current, soulless, corporate-sponsored Capital One Bowl moniker in 2003. The winner of that 2003 game? The Auburn Tigers.

Auburn Media Guide (2003)

Speaking of 2003, here is the cover from that ill-fated season’s media guide featuring both greats (Karlos Dansby, Dontarrious Thomas) and great names (DeMarco McNeil, Monreko Crittenden). I’ve made reference to the disappointment that was that season numerous times in the past, but it really did leave a mark. Auburn entered with sky high expectations and immediately crashed and burned. I purchased this media guide while in Auburn for a wedding that summer and read it cover to cover. I probably knew that team as well as or better than any that came before it. At another, non-Auburn wedding later that summer I bet a Maryland fan (who I would never see again) $50 that Auburn would finish in the top 10. I had to send that guy a check. That stung. I’m not a superstitious person, but since that day I have never bet on Auburn football and I have never bought another media guide.

Pouncing Tiger Auburn Flag (Late ‘80s)

“Auburn takes over Destin, #wareaglerelics style. Pulled it out of the collection from my youth. Reminds me of Reggie Slack #1989”

-       Andrew McCain/@dragon_mccain

Andrew tweeted this picture last weekend from his vacation spot at the beach. I love to see a former player still (literally) flying the flag for Auburn. That he chooses to fly a flag from the ‘80s with that loveable pouncing tiger only makes it that much better.

Auburn Wall Clock (?)

“This War Eagle Relic came in the mail today. eBay find, $40 shipped.”

- @hamilstein

From the Pouncing Tiger on a flag to the other classic “Jumping through the A” Tiger on what looks to be a hand-carved, state of Alabama shaped wall clock. No way to tell how old this one is–probably late, late 70s or early early 80s–but it has the look and feel of a true relic even if it was made last week (which I seriously doubt). An excellent eBay find.

That’s it for today (To see past weeks treasures, click here). Thanks as always to our contributors, including our anonymous friend who contributed the first three items (surely the statute of limitations is up on the goalpost destruction by now). If you have something you’d like to share, shoot me an email at aufearlessandtrue@gmail.com or tweet me @FearlessandTrue.

…

Keep Reading:

* The Eagles’ Joe Walsh in an Auburn shirt
* Auburn’s banned 1979 student recruitment poster
* Only undefeated Triple Crown winner owned by Auburn grads
* Elvis says “War Eagle”
* Alabama in Auburn gear
* Diagram of a 1983 Auburn student
* That OTHER time they burned the Glom

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The Leaning Tower of Pizza avoiding the Noid in Auburn, 1981.

Sir Charles, obviously. The Round Mound of Rebound. These we know. But according to a 1984 Plainsman story on his turning pro by Jon Johnson (that Jon Johnson0, The Sir Mound had a slew of other (and apparently forgotten) nicknames during his Auburn playing days… hilarious, awesome, poetic nicknames:

Last week Charles Barkley shocked absolutely no one when he announced he had decided to turn professional, thus bypassing his final year of collegiate eligibility.

The man known by such nicknames as “Round Mound of Rebound,” “Bread Truck,” “Food World,” “The Incredible Bulk,” “Sir Loin,” “Winn Dixie Beef Boy” and most recently “Boy Gorge” has jolted up and down the floors of Memorial Coliseum for the last time in an Auburn uniform.”

Your first thought is that dang, you know even less about Charles Barkley and Auburn basketball and stuff than you thought you did. Then you’re like, oh, John is making them up, trying to be funny (and succeeding). But I don’t think he was. Because a quick Google of “Charles Barkley” + “Bread Truck” returned a Sports Illustrated story (“The Leaning Tower of Pizza: When Auburn center Charles Barkley uses body language, people listen”) that includes a paragraph devoted to even more amazing A.K.A.s:

The preferred epithet in Baton Rouge is Fat Boy. But you could construct a thesaurus entry of the nicknames Barkley has inspired in his travels: Bread Truck, the Love Boat, Food World, the Crisco Kid, the Wide Load from Leeds, Ton of Fun, the Leaning Tower of Pizza, the Goodtime Blimp and the prevailing Round Mound of Rebound are just a few. “He’s my favorite player in college basketball,” says Oklahoma’s Wayman Tisdale, who played with Barkley at the Sports Festival. “I call him the Eighth Wonder of the World.”

For a pun man, Sir Loin and Boy Gorge (double-pop-culture-word score) are hard to top, and freakin’ Winn Dixie Beef Boy packs a ridiculous, regional punch. But it’s hard to pick a favorite.

…

Keep Reading:

* Auburn’s banned 1979 student recruitment poster
* Only undefeated Triple Crown winner owned by Auburn grads
* Elvis says “War Eagle”
* Alabama in Auburn gear
* Diagram of a 1983 Auburn student
* That OTHER time they burned the Glom

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DesperAUdo.

On February 1, 1980, The Eagles played Auburn as part of their “Long Run Tour.” They opened with “Hotel California.” And in what surely has to be the Tommy Joe Eagles of Rock Stars in Auburn Shirts (see Alabama in Auburn gear here, Willie Nelson here, Jimmy Buffett here, and of course Dr. Dre here), Joe Walsh, at some point in their not one (“Rocky Mountain Way”), not two (“Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks”), but three (“Best of My Love”) encore set in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, traded the tie-die map of the cosmos thing he was wearing for an Auburn baseball-stye tee, which the 12,000 strong crowd—the most since The Commodores played in ’78—probably ate up even more than when he put the cowboy hat on earlier.

Photo: Feb. 7, 1980 Auburn Plainsman.

Related: Elvis says “War Eagle.”

If you’d like to more rock stars in Auburn shirts, click here.

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Keep Reading:

* Auburn’s banned 1979 student recruitment poster
* Only undefeated Triple Crown winner owned by Auburn grads
* Elvis says “War Eagle”
* Alabama in Auburn gear
* Diagram of a 1983 Auburn student
* That OTHER time they burned the Glom

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John Heisman—what a BUST, badum.

Inching further down the Heisman branch of Auburn football’s family tree, we come across a glowing report on our famous forefather from the 1897 Glomerata (which also happens to the first). It’s accompanied by the portrait (cut) of Papa H that seems unique to Auburn among Google image search results, the same used for his Coca-Cola collectors card dontcha know, and amid all the biographical breadcrumbs of his career up to that point you really get a sense for the living-legend-ish reverence Auburn folk had for him even then, after only two years on the Plains and still 20 years away from retirement and several decades away from being namesake’d as college footballs most prestigious award. I quote it in its entirety.

“This cut is an excellent likeness of our efficient coach. Mr J.W. Heisman, who was born at Cleveland, Ohio, on October 23, 1869. In his early boyhood his constitution was none too strong, and his present robust healthy and vigor he attributes entirely to a judicious indulgence in athletic exercises. His athletic career began at the Titusville High School, from which school he graduated with honors in 1887.

During the two years that he spent at Brown University, pursuing a special course, Lincoln Field knew no more enthusiastic retainer than the slender young aspirant for athletic honors. While at Brown he was a member of the baseball, football, track and gymnasium teams.

After leaving Brown University, Mr. Heisman went to the University of Pennsylvania, where he played three different position on the ‘Varsity football team, and was also a member of the baseball team. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s as a Bachelor of Law in the spring of ’92 , and the following fall he was engaged to coach the Oberlin  Football Team. This team was not defeated. Buchtel College then engaged Mr. Heisman to coach to the baseball team and train the track team for the spring of ’93, and take charge of the gymnasium. He was engaged the next year as Physical Director of that college.

The fall of ’94 found Mr. Heisman at Oberlin again, coaching the football team. He came to us in the fall of ’95 and the day on which he arrived at Auburn can well be marked as the luckiest in the history of athletics at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. He has successfully coached our football team for two years, his teams scoring 300 points, against opponents 33. The Athletic Association has show its appreciation of his work by engaging him to coach the football team of ’97. This alone assures a winning team next season.

Mr. Heisman is not only the best coach that the South has ever seen, but he is a perfect gentleman, and we all love him for his worth.”

Read his tear jerking farewell letter to Auburn students here, and learn about him calling refs out for cheating us from victory over mighty Sewanee in 1899 here. Love ya, Papa H.

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Keep Reading:

* Auburn’s banned 1979 student recruitment poster
* Only undefeated Triple Crown winner owned by Auburn grads
* Elvis says “War Eagle”
* Alabama in Auburn gear
* Diagram of a 1983 Auburn student
* That OTHER time they burned the Glom

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Picture of Auburn Football Team (early 1900′s)

“My Grandmother (who is 95 and still going strong) found this picture in an old trunk that belonged to her mother about 17 years ago. This is a picture of one of the early 1900′s Auburn football teams. I have no idea which year this is supposed to be or who the coach is or who is who in the picture. What I do know is that one or two of the guys on the team were cousins of my Great-Grandmother. I’m not sure of their names but their last name might have been either Franklin or Higdon. They would have been from a small town in southwest Alabama in or around Escambia County, possibly around Atmore. The story that my Grandmother knows is that her mother had two cousins who went to Auburn in the early 1900′s for a degree in Agriculture and they started playing on the football team while in school. When their daddy found out they were playing football, he made them quit playing because he sent them up to Auburn to get an education and not play games. If anybody could identify the year and coach and possibly roster, that would be amazing. Thanks and War Eagle!”

-       Will Luker/@wluker17

I doubt that we will get a relic more deserving of that designation than this old photo. The story that accompanies it is why I love doing this so much. If anyone is up to Will’s challenge of finding a year/roster for this picture, please post in the comments below or shoot me an email.

Auburn Door Basketball Hoop (1989)

“Santa brought me this. He always knew I liked Auburn things.”

-       Aaron Seay

Every one of my bedroom doors from about 3^rd grade until college had a hoop on it, but I never had anything this great. I love this so much I would even put this up a stand-alone work of art with no intention of playing on it. Of course I would still end up playing on it.

Auburn Football Poster (1974)

“Here is a hand painted poster from 1974 by Ted Watts. Near the bottom it says “a commemorative poster likely to become a collector’s item.” My favorite piece of AU memorabilia. War Eagle.”

-        Justin Malone

Speaking of works of art, this 1974 poster is a beaut. It’s from Shug’s penultimate season as head coach (and last with a winning record), which makes it even more of a collector’s item than the writer of that tagline could have realized at the time.

“I Heart Auburn” button (1973)

“My mom wore this to games when she was at Auburn in the mid-’70s. She gave it to me as a kid and now it sits on my bedside table.”

-        Charles/@ccrainato

So classic and so simple, yet nothing could better describe why TWER exists or why you are reading this.

Auburn Ashtray (1960’s)

This is another piece from our own Jeremy Henderson’s personal collection of treasures. My first thought was that it would have made much more sense to have these in classrooms instead of the giant ashtrays they used in the bygone era of smoking in the classroom.  It would have left much more room for note taking and whatnot and brought in an element of school spirit. My second thought: What if this belonged to Shug at some point?

ESPN the Magazine College Football Preview Issue (2003)

When we featured the Hit & Run: 2003 All-America Candidates poster earlier this month I mentioned that it reminded me of something I had that featured DT and Dansby. That was intended as a tease for the next post, but I kind of forgot to make good on it (I’m sure you were crushed). Well, here it is. I believe it’s the only time Auburn has been featured on the front of ESPN the Magazine. Considering how things went that season, maybe that’s not a bad thing.

Thanks again to all of this week’s contributors. (To see past weeks treasures, click here.) There’s plenty more coming and it’s all because of our great readers. If you have something you’d like to share, send it to me at aufearlessandtrue@gmail.com or @FearlessandTrue.

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Keep Reading:

* Auburn creams Tuscaloosa in ‘brainpower index’ rankings
* Bear Bryant, Auburn fan?
* Catching up with Auburn’s former Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue model
* Wonder Woman, Joan from Mad Men, Dr. Girlfriend… all Auburn fans
* Auburn’s first nude model tells all
* George Hardy won’t let you piss on Cam Newton
* Best reaction to being named Miss Homecoming ever
* Shug carves a turkey
* Top American pale ale first brewed in Auburn bathtub

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Jeremy Johnson is committed to play football at Auburn -- and maybe more.

It’s been a busy couple of days for Auburn athletics, and TWER hasn’t had a chance to touch base. So in an attempt to bring the ramblings and hyperlinkage of daily-ish sports blogging back to the site, I’m taking this opportunity to do just that, to check our way down the list of Tigers-related news and notes, with plenty of “click heres” and banter along the way—just like the good old days. Let’s start with football.

‘KROOTIN: The football team got its ninth commitment for the 2013 class on Sunday in quarterback Jeremy Johnson from Carver-Montgomery, as first reported by the recruiting sites. Johnson is listed as a four-star player on Scout and 247, and rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals. You can get all of your stats and rankings at the news outlet or recruiting analyst of your choice (and Matt Scalici of al.com has gathered a lot of those folks’ takes on Johnson here).

You can find Jay G. Tate’s story on the commitment with plenty of notes and quotes here, and check out some of his own opinions and thoughts on Johnson at HABOTN. It’s all good stuff, including this interesting little tidbit:

On the court, Johnson averaged 19.4 points and 14 rebounds per game. He bumped his production to 22.4 points per game in the playoffs — including 30 points in the Central Regional championship game. He hopes to moonlight as a basketball player.

“There wasn’t really anything said about the basketball thing,” he said. “I’m going to give them a call later on and talk to them about basketball. I’m going to try to work it out over that.”

I’m not so naive to think that it’s likely that in modern SEC football a coach like Gene Chizik would want or even allow a scholarship player, much less a potential quarterback, to risk injury on the basketball court during his free time. But still, your ears can’t help but perk a little when you think about Bo and the Big Hurt (and, yes, Jake Drum), and something as fun and novel to watch as a modern dual-sport athlete on the Plains.

But while it may be unlikely, Chizik and Loeffler might not want to say no, because then all Les Miles would have to do is get Johnny Jones on the line for a three-way call to Montgomery, and this prospect could be on the way to Baton Rouge to play both.

It’s possible that we could see Johnson suit up, or at least try out for Tony Barbee’s club — and goodness knows the hoops squad could use all the warm bodies they can find — and that’s enough to keep me a little interested in the thought.

But Johnson is a football player firs.t And the most important thing here is football. Thoughts this commitment immediately brings to mind: 1.) Scot Loeffler went after a pro-style quarterback. 2.) Johnson mentioned that Auburn told him that he’s the only quarterback they’re going to sign in this class. And 3.) Auburn has quietly brought in a lot of high-upside talent over the past two years in Johnson, Zeke Pike, and Jonathan Wallace, and at least one of those guys is bound to flesh out and fulfill his full potential on the Plains someday, right?

It’s not a ‘Krootin update without the highlights, but unfortunately there isn’t much free video of Johnson out there. AuburnSports has some nice footage of him at a 7-on-7 camp in Hoover last year, but the only in-game action we have is from 247 Sports, who has a pretty impressive single-game reel of Johnson as a sophomore taking on Prattville in 2010.

BASEBALL: The baseball team enters the SEC Tournament today as the 10th seed, and is set to take on third-seeded Florida in the first round at 4:30 p.m. in Hoover. You can catch the game this afternoon on CSS or WatchESPN.com.

The OA- News’ Ryan Wood has a slew of baseball goodness up in advance of today’s game, including his lead-in to the game, his report from Monday’s practice, and a great feature on senior Creede Simpson.

In case you missed Auburn’s thrilling win over these same Gators in the season finale at Plainsman Park on Saturday, the AUfficial YouTube account has your game highlights right here. Give it a watch. Also, senior Zach Blatt proposed to his girlfriend before the game. So, yeah, pretty good day.

With the win, the Tigers are eligible for NCAA tournament consideration, but they’re going to have to pick up a win or two over the next couple of days in Hoover to give themselves a realistic shot of making the cut.

Can the Tigers pull off the upset against the Gators in back-to-back games? They might have to get someone else to propose first.

SOFTBALL: Meanwhile, Auburn softball’s season came to an end on Saturday in a loss to Texas in the NCAA Regionals. It’s a tough way to go out, especially after close losses against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament and Houston at the beginning of Regionals that could have changed things dramatically had they gone the other way. But it was the end of marvelous careers for seven seniors, who have all graduated and will leave the Plains with degrees.

NETWORKING: According to a report by the Sports Business Journal, the SEC is attempting to launch its own sports channel, and it could come as soon as 2014. As Barrett Sallee notes, an SEC Network could bring about a realization as to what this whole expansion thing was for, as the conference would be able to sell the network to cable providers in the Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, and St. Louis markets.

Personally, I think a full network could be huge for the non-revenue sports in this conference, or at least it could be huge for their fans in making it more available to them. Sports like gymnastics, which already has a huge cult-ish following in the SEC, would appear to have a decent ratings potential if it were televised live regularly on the SEC Network instead of on short, chopped up taped replays on SportsSouth.

An SEC Network would probably be at an a disadvantage to the Big Ten Network without one of the Big Four TV spectator sports, as it doesn’t have any scholarship hockey teams like the Big Ten does. But the SEC has plenty of crazed, die-hard alumni fans that will cheer for their team to win anything (and for their rivals to lose in anything), so I can’t imagine there will be a struggle with ratings. The only question is to how many providers in how many markets are going to want to buy what the SEC is selling. I have a feeling that with national ratings the way they are, it might just be available in several more places than just the southeast.

Of course, I also have big dreams of watching stuff like Auburn’s nationally competitive swim teams live on Olympic-style broadcasts with the graphics in the pool and everything, when they’re probably just going to replay the LSU/Alabama 9-6 game over and over and it will suck.

SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION: Only Jeremy’s genius wit could come up with a name as great as The Bodda Getta Beat for an Auburn sports blog, and that’s just what he did in helping me name my solo effort over at The Corner. If you just can’t get enough me, you can find my main writing for the weekly in the sports section, and check out the blog, including columns on Tony Barbee and Scot Loeffler, and a piece with more on Jeremy Johnson, right here.

And if you still haven’t had enough, keep it locked right here at TWER. If you have had enough, well, too bad. I’ll soon be bringing back (with a twist) another favorite TWER series. Stay tuned.

Photos via.

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Keep Reading:

* Auburn’s banned 1979 student recruitment poster
* Only undefeated Triple Crown winner owned by Auburn grads
* Elvis says “War Eagle”
* Alabama in Auburn gear
* Diagram of a 1983 Auburn student
* That OTHER time they burned the Glom

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The team (or at least some phonetically slang’ed version of it calling itself Flyte Cru—trademark issues purhapz?) performed on last night’s episode of America’s Got Talent and impressed the judges enough for a trip to Vegas. FYI, Taylor’s the one doing the talking—and, we presume, selecting the music.

h/t Karen Powell.

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Keep Reading:

* Auburn’s banned 1979 student recruitment poster
* Only undefeated Triple Crown winner owned by Auburn grads
* Elvis says “War Eagle”
* Alabama in Auburn gear
* Diagram of a 1983 Auburn student
* That OTHER time they burned the Glom

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To be fair, she WAS an 8.3... so...

The 1970s was a titillating time for Auburn’s High School Relations Office.

First there was 1974 Glomerata. Copies of Auburn’s yearbook were customarily sent to every high school in the state. But that year pages 54 and 55 had to go under the scissors to have their breasts removed. Five years later, High School Relations censors were up against a similar issue, this time in the form of the detailed comic of campus life serving as Auburn’s recruitment poster, particularly the six bros scoping out an obviously bra-less coed.

Actually, as The Plainsman noted, it was a fairly accurate depiction. Grading female passersby with actual scorecards wasn’t an uncommon practice on the concourse back in the day. (And let us not forget the A.U. Squirrel Club.) But that wasn’t the only scene that didn’t pass muster. There were the three identical ASS brothers (Alpha Sigma Sigma). And finally, do bear witness to the response to the concourse evangelist—Brother Jed (listen to him here) made his first big play for student souls at Auburn that year—proclaiming that Jesus saves: “Yeah, but does he write term papers?”

Click the picture to enlarge, click here to enlarge even more.

The thing was drawn (in full-color by the way, we just have the black and white) by former Plainsman cartoonist extraordinaire Jimmy Johnson, of current Arlo and Janis fame, and then working for University Relations. He had apparently done something similar for the Kansas State edition of Auburn Football Illustrated a couple of months earlier. University Relations thought it’d make a good poster. He made some modifications–whether racier or tamer, we’re not sure. They showed it to the High School Relations office before they printed them. Assistant Director Grant Davis thought it would offend would-be Auburn Tigers and their parents. Dean of Student Services Wilbur Tincher agreed. Johnson made more modifications. But this time, either thinking that they’d PG’d it beyond objection (there’s Snoopy with a houndstooth hat in mouth!), or that it was to better to ask forgiveness than permission, University Relations actually went ahead and printed the poster before receiving the final High School Relations thumbs up, which as it would turn out, they never got. “THIS DUMB POSTER BROUGHT TO YOU BY AUBURN UNIVERSITY” didn’t make it to a single high school guidance counselor (who, if they kept up with the doins of High School Relations Office must have thought that “The Female Form” was some secret Auburn core requirement or something).  They were put up for grabs at Foy Union information desk, all 16,000 them. Surely one had to survive. If you have one to spare, please send it to us, or even just a photo. We promise not to be offended.

Graphic from Oct. 4, 1979 issue of The Auburn Plainsman.

Related: An Illustrated History of the Miss A.U. Tan contest.

If you’d like to help TWER uncover more banned Auburn recruitment posters, click here.

…

Keep Reading:

* Only undefeated Triple Crown winner owned by Auburn grads
* Elvis says “War Eagle”
* Alabama in Auburn gear
* Diagram of a 1983 Auburn student
* That OTHER time they burned the Glom

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Seattle Slew's website calls him "Thoroughbred Racing's Greatest Champion." So War Eagle to that.

I’m not a horse racing expert. I’m the opposite of an expert. Besides Secretariat—because there was that movie about him and everything—I know the names of three racehorses, current and former. And the only reason I know their names are because of their connection to Auburn, however slight.

A year or so ago we learned about Toomer’s Corner, a three-year-old Bay Filly (whatever that is— I guess some kind of a horse) owned by a yankee who only discovered the significance of his horse’s name when news of the poisoning of the Toomer’s Oaks reached New Jersey.

A few weeks back we reported that the name of a horse running in the Preakness on Saturday, Tiger Walk, was a wink toward the Plains; his owner is Under Armour CEO and trillionaire friend of Auburn Kevin Plank.

But the reason I knew about the first racehorse I ever associated with Auburn wasn’t because he had some Auburn-y name, it was because he was owned by Auburn grads. By itself, that doesn’t sound so special—plenty of people have owned plenty of racehorses, and I’m sure plenty were probably Auburn grads. But only a few folks owned Seattle Slew, one of the greatest racehorses ever, and they definitely were Auburn grads. Or at least two of them were (there were four altogether), husband and wife Jim and Sally Jones Hill, who met at Auburn in the early 60s.

Jim was a vet student and rodeo rider. Sally was the niece of some famous harness racing jockey. The both grew up around horses. The became pals with Karen and Mickey Taylor who in the early 70s had just decided to get into horse racing. Jim became their vet. When he saw Slew for the first time, he reportedly remarked: “If this isn’t a race horse, my name isn’t Jim Hill.” His name is Jim Hill. They bought Seattle Slew together. The rest is thoroughbred history.

The Kentucky Derby. The Preakness. Belmont Stakes—in 1977, Seattle Slew won’em all, the Triple Crown, the tenth of eleven horses to do so, and he remains the only one to ever do it undefeated. And it probably wouldn’t have happened had Jim Hill not graduated from Auburn, which taught him to be a leg man.

“I look at about 2,000 horses a day,” Hill told The Plainsman in May 1977. “While most people look at a horses body to judge them, I place a lot of emphasis on their legs. I also take other things into consideration, naturally, but the legs are the main thing.”

Seattle Slew's great-grandsire gettin' his health on in Auburn, 1970.

“I’ve heard many people say they didn’t think Seattle Slew was built well enough to win the Triple Crown, but his power is in his legs.”

Want more of an Auburn connection? In 1970, Auburn’s Vet School treated Seattle Slews great-grandfather, Bold Ruler, for a malignant tumor (Bold Ruler also happened to sire that Secretariat horse. I just learned that. So I now know five horses).

Seattle Slew co-owner, Sally Jones Hill, at Auburn in 1963.

Want even more of an Auburn connection? Sally Jones Hill invited former Auburn Dean of Women Katharine Cater to sit with her at the 1977 Kentucky Derby. Sally was president of the Women’s SGA in 1963, her senior year. She and Cater were tight. But Cater couldn’t go—she was scheduled for surgery just a few days before the race. But she watched Seattle Slew win it on the TV she had brought into her hospital room. A couple of days later, someone walked in with a dozen red roses. The card attached read: “Hope you will soon be up and running. Love, Seattle Slew.”

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, Seattle Slew was born on Feb. 15, 1974. You know what happened that day. And there’s just no way it’s a coincidence.

If you’d like to help TWER uncover more secret connections between Auburn and legendary racehorses, click here.

…

Keep Reading:

* An Illustrated History of the Miss A.U. Tan contest
* Elvis says “War Eagle”
* Alabama in Auburn gear
* Bo Jackson’s pencil mustache
* That OTHER time they burned the Glom

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