On Saturdays, We Wear Orange

For whatever reason, twitter decided to lose its mind this past week about Auburn encouraging fans to wear orange to the Clemson game. People mocked the idea that putting orange in the stands against a team that wears orange would give Auburn any sort of psychological advantage.  Chadd Scott summed up this debate nicely.

Always wanted to use this gif, debate over relative merits of Auburn "orange out" vs opponent wearing orange is it pic.twitter.com/gzJctRIcmW

— Chadd Scott (@ChaddScott) August 21, 2016

That summed up my reaction too.  Auburn's stadium color gimmicks have jumped the shark.

Auburn wearing orange to games--like the pregame eagle flight--is a fairly new tradition.  It started with Tommy Tuberville who said that the fans should wear orange and the players should wear blue at home games.  Before Tuberville, aerial shots of Jordan Hare show a hodgepodge of mostly white, gray, and blue shirts.  White was the preferred color of Tiger Rag's shirt of the week.

When Auburn went to All Auburn All Orange, I welcomed the change.  Auburn's burnt orange is a distinctive color.  You have to wear something to the games, it may as well be orange.  When it gets cold, I wear my orange shirt under a navy blue Auburn pullover.

My main loyalty to this tradition stems from my frugal (some would say cheap) nature.  Officially licensed Auburn gear is expensive.  I buy a new shirt every few seasons and wear it until the color fades from War Eagle to Rocky Top.

A more superstitious fan would change shirts after a season like 2012.  Maybe the striped orange and white shirt caused Auburn to lose to Vandy.  Who can say?  But spending $80 for a new polo is bad luck I can avoid.

Does our opponent wear orange?  Good, me too.  Purple? I'm still orange.  Crimson? I'm orange until the sun goes down, then I'm layering with blue for warmth.

Over the last few years, Auburn has moved away from All Auburn All Orange.  Wear Blue.  Stripe the Stadium. Obey my dog! Call me cynical, but these gimmicks seem more designed to sell gear than support the Tigers.

Until further notice on Saturdays, I wear orange.  I don't really care what the rest of y'all wear.

War Eagle.