Thank You Seniors '12

I have developed a personal tradition of writing a post of personal thanks for each senior Auburn football player. This year was a tough one, but the seniors fought through. These players have seen the highs and lows of life and college football. I love that they allow us feel like we are a part of things or 'know' them through social media or other outlets.  As always, we as fans, have favorite players, so there may be players I know about more than others. That doesn't mean that I am not grateful for each and every player on the roster. The players are listed in order of their jersey numbers.

At any rate, here we go:

DeAngelo Benton:  I know things happened in your life this year that weren't the way you would have chosen. I am so thankful you stuck with the team. I appreciate your dedication to the team and to Auburn. I thank you for your time at Auburn. I hope good things happen for you in your life.

Anthony Morgan:  I always enjoy reading your twitter posts. I know you probably didn't play as much as you wanted to, but I enjoyed watching you play when you did.  A team doesn't work without all of the parts so your dedication mattered. I thank you for your time of service to Auburn.

Ikeem Means: I think you will have a successful life.  You did make a difference at Auburn. I wish you nothing but success. Thank you for your time of service to Auburn.  I know that there will be  many good times to look back on and remember. We thank you.

T'Sharvan Bell:  You really worked to step up as a leader this year. I know that it may not have seemed like it mattered much, but down the line, the legacy you left will make a difference.  I won't ever forget seeing you take the Bama quarterback to the ground to basically seal the game. You played your heart out every time you set foot on the field. Thanks for everything you did for Auburn.

Onterio McCalebb: I often use you as an example to my students for overcoming obstacles. I remember watching you the first time I saw you in person at the Auburn/MS State game in 09. Anytime you got a chance to dazzle the crowd, you did it. You did it with class. You always credited your teammates. Thanks for everything you did for Auburn. I look forward to hearing about great things from you .

Daren Bates: I bet it doesn't feel like you are nearly finished. Your still-arm play this year was amazing!!! There were many times I saw you make some terrific plays. I appreciate your quiet leadership that you lent to Auburn for the last few years. Your playing was outstanding as well. I hope that good things happen in your life.  Thank you so much for everything you did for Auburn.

Jonathan Evans: I saw you play a few times in high school. I so enjoyed seeing you at Auburn. I hope you are able to move on to great things. Your time at Auburn did make a difference. You paved the path for others. I appreciate you and look forward to seeing great things from you.  I hope all of your dreams come true. Maybe one day another player from Blount will say you inspired him.

Philip Lutzenkirchen:  I've got an unusual last name, so I always felt sort of connected to you. You've been a shining light at Auburn, both on and off the field. you have demonstrated leadership beyond measure. I was sick when I heard you were out for the rest of the season! I hope you heal quickly and are able to move on to the things you want to do. There are so many favorite plays of yours, but what I appreciate most from you is the class and leadership and Christian walk you demonstrated at Auburn. (OK, maybe I remember the touchdown at Alabama and the little dance!)  I hope that WONDERFUL things happen for you. I can't wait to hear about you in the future.

Ashton Richardson: Your story is another one I love- a walk on later earning a scholarship! You demonstrated a never quit attitude that was clear. Your leadership was something that helped the team many ways. I am super impressed that you interviewed for the Rhodes Scholarship. I hope all of your dreams come true. I can't WAIT to hear about the things that you do. I know they will be great!!

John Sullen: Your little smile is too cute!! You have been a steady person on the team. I appreciate the plays and the leadership that you demonstrated in the team. I hope that terrific things happen for you. Thanks for everything you did for Auburn. I appreciate it. Let us hear from you.

Jamar Travis:  I've said this before, but I don't think that a team works without all of the parts. I appreciate your effort and your love for Auburn. Your time did make a difference. Thank you for your service to Auburn. We will never forget your graduating class.

Emory Blake: Wow! What a career! You have been impressive both on and off the field. I HATE to lose you!  I remember one of your first touchdowns when you pumped your arm in excitement! I loved it! I love how you have tried to be a good teammate. You've been supportive of the team, both players and coaches. I think any NFL team would be CRAZY not to take you! I appreciate your time and effort and love for Auburn.  Thank you so much for everything you've done for Auburn.

Travante Stallworth: I always thought your twitter name was so funny. I appreciate everything you have done for Auburn. Your time and effort has been appreciated. Thank you so much for your time, leadership and love for Auburn. It seems like yesterday that your class started at Auburn. Thank you so much.

To all of the players- please come back to Auburn often. We love and support all of you. We will always be a part of a family through the good times and bad times. I love Auburn and I know all of you do, too. Stay in touch and visit often! War Eagle over and over again!

So, I haven't blogged in a while. First, why can't Internet people just leave things alone!!! They have to change constantly so we have to re-figure it out. Grrr.

Wanted to say thanks for people who prayed for my kiddos. Most of the seniors passed. 2 didn't. One of those, we will be able to make some accommodations in order for him to walk at graduation. It's complicated and I can't go into it too much. However, he is planning to test again so he can complete his regular diploma.

The other won't be able to walk at graduation. He only came to us part way through this year. He took the test again today, so hopefully he will have passed when the scores come in the summer. He is also planning to test until he passes. I think if he had come to us sooner, we might have been able to help him more. I honestly thought he would pass.

It's tough to tell them. However, I was very happy to tell those that did pass. Thanks for the prayers!

Prayers Needed

OK, my friends.

I have 6 students that need prayer. Next Monday and Tuesday they take a test that will affect graduation. I have one more week to work with them. Please pray that we have an effective and productive week. Please be be praying for them to be free from distraction and focused. Also, pray for them to be free from fear. There are the students initials...JG, CS, JJ, DM, JW, MD. Another student, TD has to take one in Biology, but I don't teacher her anymore. All 7 have a test to pass. There are 5 they must pass to graduate. All of these kiddos have passed all but one. They will have one more chance, but if they don't pass next week, they won't have the scores back in time for the graduation ceremony. If on the 2nd try they pass, they will get diplomas over the summer, but please pray that we knock this out next week and get these kids ready for the world. If you know me at all, you know how much I care and love my kiddos. Thanks so much for your prayers.
Love to you all,
Christy

The Best of College Sports

This afternoon, I witnessed (not in person, unfortunately) one of the greatest things I have seen in college sports in a long time. Today was the last game of the regular season for Auburn. It was also a home game, so that meant it was Senior Night. This is a team that has not been successful with the 'W', but they have never quit fighting. There were so many games they were RIGHT on the edge.

This afternoon, however, the won.  Here is where the great moment came in. It was nearly the end of the game. It was somewhat locked up that Auburn would win. The student section started chanting, 'We want Jake!! We want Jake!'  They were referring to Jake Drum, a walk- on (non sports-scholarship) Senior. He hasn't played any this season. I am not sure if he has played any other time before. When I could hear the uproar of the crowd, I knew he was going in, even though I couldn't see him yet.

So, in goes Jake. Lo and behold, he grabs a 'steal' and they moved it down the court. The ball is passed to Jake, and he goes up for a shot and is fouled. Then, he gets to go to the free throw line. I was sitting on my coffee table with tears in my eyes, pleading that he make his shots. He does!!! The student section (known as The Jungle) goes wild! It was really a special moment to watch, even on television. I love the underdog, and this kid scoring definitely fits as underdog in my eyes. I love sports anyway, especially college sports, and this is one of the reasons why I love it so much.

Then, he becomes a trending topic on twitter. So, if you saw, 'Jake Drum' (drumsanity) trending on twitter, now you know why.

Here goes my thanks list to the Auburn basketball Seniors:
Kenny Gabriel- You fought for what you wanted. Your path wasn't easy. You showed us high-flying acts of slam-dunking greatness, even when other things weren't great on the court. Thanks for your hard work and love for Auburn. I admire your dedication to the team and the university. Congrats on a win for the end of the season. Best wishes for a successful career.

Adrian Forbes- I don't know any backstory on you. However, I knw it was probably not the easiest path for you. You also showed great moments of basketball. You remained dedicated to your team. Thank you for being an Auburn man for this team. Congrats on the win today and best of luck in the future.

Tony Neysmith- I think you have a pretty cool name. There were probably times that you wanted to give in, but you did not. Hard work and dedication mean more than other things sometimes, even a W. Thank you for your dedication and hard work.

Jake Drum- It takes a lot to be a walk on for a college team. There is a lot of practice time. You didn't get the glory, and you didn't get your school paid for as others have. You didn't quit though. I am so glad you got a shining moment today. You deserve it. Thanks for being an Auburn man. I wish I could have seen it in person today.

A Dedicated Life

I have posted some things recently, but I was not trying to be cryptic. I typed out the entire story earlier, but it deleted accidentally. I am not retyping the whole thing. Basically, I was giving the chain of events that happened in Mobile on Friday night. A young man was being taken into custody when he stabbed a police officer in the neck and killed him. The suspect was later killed in a standoff, but you can go to http://www.wkrg.com/ or  http://www.local15tv.com/ to get the whole story. It was a scary evening. Officer Green was laid to rest today. He leaves behind a wife, three children, his brothers and sisters on the force, friends, and a church family. We don't often have officers killed in the line of duty here, so it has been hard on the community. It was a very disturbing chain of events. May God bless and comfort his family.

Random

"You fight when it don't look good. You fight when everybody counts you out. You fight when there's NO WAY anybody besides you thinks you can do it. You just keep fighting, and at some point, you are going to win."
CGC

Don't quit. Keep trying. Never give in. Sorry this is so short. I've had a terrible case of strep throat and am just getting back into the swing of things.

Healing

So, I had a date slip past me this year without even thinking about it. I thought about it a couple of weeks BEFORE the date of the event, but I didn't even think of it on the day or after, until last week.

If you have read my blog a while or know me, you know the school I teach at was nearly defined by a single event about three years ago. A student, a 4 star football recruit, was killed in an 'incident.' I don't know for sure what happened and I am not sure anyone else does, either. It nearly ruined us. It devastated the school and divided the community. We had CNN calling the school. We were on local news, cable news, and media websites.

At any rate, the day of his death passed without incident this year. That was the first time that has happened.  It doesn't mean we don't miss him. It doesn't mean we don't think about him. This group of 12th graders were freshmen when it happened, so hopefully we can all continue to heal. I know I was forever changed by the events of that day. December 10, 2008. I think about the last time I talked with him, even though I didn't know him well. We talked about orchids. Yes, orchids - the flower. He was doing a research paper on them. I know the kids still think about him. Periodically, a kid will show me a picture of him on their phone and ask if I wonder what he'd be doing these days.

This is what I do think about though. The next time I or anyone else insult a football player who we do NOT know personally, think about this idea. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. We don't EVER know when there might be an ordinary accident or a bizarre, unexplained accident. We don't know about health. I am glad I have peace in my heart that the last thoughts I had on Friday afternoon were about BJ and his strange research paper on orchids. I am glad I didn't have a conversation on the way home that day that, 'wow, this kid is _________'. It is SO easy to throw thoughts out on social media that insult and assault the character of a person that we don't know at all. My wish for the memory of BJ is that we would all take 2 seconds before words flow out of out mouths that insult a group of fans, a player (you know, because what the media says about someone is ALWAYS true), or anyone else for that matter-and consider that there might not be a tomorrow or another hour.

Healing, however slowly, is finally coming to our sweet community. We've been waiting for you.

And BJ, I sure do wish you'd gotten the opportunity to be a part of the 2010 AU football team. Every time I think of you, I think of 'team day' with your entire Auburn PJ outfit.

Thanks, Seniors

I did this last year and decided I would do it again this year. I think the seniors are all worth being thanked individually, so I do my best to try to say a bit to each of them, even if they never read it. As a whole, all of you deserve to be thanked for standing tall when things were rough. I hope that you come back and visit often and keep in touch with the Auburn family. I know lots of people say that we only won the national championship because of Cam, but we won because of each one of you. Every one of you played a part in it in one way or the other.

In no particular order...

Chandler Brooks- Wow, you came up big when we needed you. That play will be in the highlight films for quite some time. Thank you for your time and dedication to Auburn.

Sam Brown-  I will admit, I don't know very much about you. However, you were a part of the team. Thank you so much for your time and dedication to Auburn.

Quindarius Carr- You had some fabulous punt returns. It was fun to watch you run. Thank you for your time and dedication to the Auburn team and family.

Drew Cole- I always watched you as much as I could. I work not far from Picayune, so I really wanted to see you do well. Thanks so much for sticking it out and staying with it. The Auburn family is grateful!

Jared Cooper-  I think this year you provided some much needed leadership this year. Thank you for your time and dedication to Auburn.

Eltoro Freeman- You are a real Auburn man. You set a goal and you reached it. I know it wasn't easy for you and you didn't reach all of your goals. You earned my respect. Even when people sort of gave you a hard time, you kept putting one foot in front of the other and never game up. I hope you stay in touch with Auburn and visit often. Thank you so much for your dedication and love for Auburn.

A.J Greene- You battled injury and injury, but you never let it stop you. You have been an excellent leader and player. Thank you for your time and love for Auburn.

Josh Harris- I know long snappers don't get the credit they deserve, but you really deserve credit. Snap after snap, you were error-free, even when others got the glory. I ragged you a bit on twitter since you made fun of a band t-shirt, but I was really kidding. (sorta) Thank you for being such an awesome player and person. You were a leader when we needed it. I hope you do well in the senior bowl.  Thank you so much for everything you did for Auburn.

Davis Hooper- I think you were a quiet leader. I mostly say this based off of what others say about you, but quiet leadership can take you far in life. You did make a difference. Thank you for your time and dedication to Auburn. We are all grateful for your time. I hope you stay in touch and visit with the team in the future.

Chris Humphries- A fullback doesn't always get all the credit he deserves, either. Thank you for your time and service to Auburn. This family loves you and thanks you.

Bobby Ingalls- Thanks so much for your time and dedication to Auburn. You made a difference, even when you thought no one noticed.

Brandon Mosley- Wow, you helped out this year! You provided leadership to a very young group. I thank you for your time and dedication to Auburn. You will always be a part of the Auburn family. I hope you stay in touch with the team and visit often.

Nathan Taylor- Thank you for your time and dedication to Auburn. You made a difference even if you didn't think you did. Thank you for everything you did for the team.

Neiko Thorpe-  You had such a great career at Auburn. Not only did you make some big plays, but you made a difference to the younger guys, Thank you for your time at Auburn. I wish you much luck and hope you are able to visit us in the future.

Jay Wisner- You had some big catches this year! Thanks for your dedication to the team and to Auburn. I hope you are very successful and all of your future dreams come true.

Finally, I want to thank Coach Roof and Coach Malzahn.

Coach Roof- Thank you for time time and dedication at Auburn. You are truly an honorable man. Thank you to your family as well. I wish you luck at the next step in your life.

Coach M- Wow, what a ride. Thank you for being such a positive influence for all of us. We will miss you greatly. We wish you could stay, be we also understand the need to move on to another level. Best wishes and thanks for sharing your family with us.  Come and visit as much as you can.

War Eagle to all of you.