Ever since I can remember, the Auburn/Alabama rivalry has been a big deal.
When I was as young as 5, my school would have team dress up days where each kid showed off their team spirit - most every kid wore the orange and blue or crimson and white combos. The rivalry has gone as far as to ruin friendships, relationships and even seemed to be worth jail time to Harvey Updyke. But to me, the rivalry is overrated.
Don't get me wrong, as a citizen of the South I take football seriously and love a good competition. I also think that it's fun to bad-mouth Alabama and make jokes that are all in good fun. But the point is some of the most important people in my life go to the University of Alabama, and rivalry or no rivalry, that is all that matters to me.
One of those people in particular includes my boyfriend.
Now relationships in college can already be difficult, especially if you and your significant other do not attend the same school. To me, the strain on that relationship is amplified when one individual goes to Auburn and the other goes to Alabama. Forgetting the fact that there is a three hour distance between the two, the constant jokes and snarky comments don't necessarily help.
I think that a person is not defined by the school they go to, but the school is defined by the people that go there. By that I mean just because one person you may not like goes to Alabama, does not mean that you automatically won't like a different person who goes there. And while I know most people only consider the rivalry a joke, there are people out there who take it so seriously to the point of disapproving of a relationship.
Some of the greatest people could go to Alabama, as well as some of the worst, and that goes for just about any college. If two people want to date and can make the relationship work, it shouldn't matter where they attend school and if they are on different sides of a (most of the time) playful rivalry.
And just in case you didn't know, Alabama does have some great people that are definitely worth putting the rivalry aside for.
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