Your View: Letter From a True Tiger Fan

Editor, The Auburn Plainsman

I was overcome with a sense of profound disgust during my gameday experience this past weekend with Louisiana Tech.

No, not during the game since the football team, the game and all the stadium activities were admirable.

I'm talking about when we arrived at 8 a.m. for a 6 p.m. kickoff, only to find the campus parking where all our tailgating friends have parked for many years closed off with a standing guard.

This is a space that can hold at least 200 cars and still leave the egress lanes open; however, at 5 p.m. when we left for the stadium there were twelve (yep, that's 12) Pay-for-Parking cars in this entire area.

The cause? Is it greed and the unadulterated lust and lasciviousness for the very last dollar that can be squeezed from the Auburn faithful; or perhaps another more devious plot, the continuing effort to drive the tailgaters off campus?

Well, take the upper deck off the stadium, put in reclining seats and serve martinis because the sum total of your efforts to become an Ivy League "walking campus" with Tailgate-for-Rent tents is the alienation of all that is Auburn.

When you finish with your plans there will be about 25,000 "fans" in the stadium at kick-off.

Other teams have fans or simple spectators, Auburn has always had family. You, the Auburn administration, promote these family beliefs and market this atmosphere, but your base actions appear to be those of the uncle that's not allowed alone with the cute nieces.

Get back in line with the Auburn family or head northeast before you ruin the true Auburn family values.

Mike Mancil

Montgomery