Bipartisan Football in Dadeville

I enjoyed Bipartisan Football growing up in Dadeville, AL

It was fun living on U.S. Highway 280 in my hometown of Dadeville, Alabama, in the seventies and eighties.  A major thoroughfare in the state, the highway brought in a lot of out-of-town traffic, especially on Saturdays during football season in the fall of the year.  The reason was because Auburn, home to Auburn University and the Auburn Tigers, was located about 25 miles southeast of Dadeville.  To get to Auburn, travelers had to turn off 280 and detour through my hometown square in order to reach Highway 280 again, which continued into Auburn.

Auburn University was located only 25 miles from my hometown.

On the Saturdays that the Auburn Tigers played at home, I would wake up in the mornings and immediately run to my front door.  Upon opening it, I would always see bumper to bumper traffic lined up on Highway 280.  These were mostly the cars of some mighty passionate Auburn fans. To expound, there were so many people traveling to Auburn from all over the state that the traffic would become heavily congested there and remain backed up for several hours all the way to Alexander City, which was located about 14 miles northwest of Dadeville.  Sometimes the traffic was so thick that it came to a complete stop for several minutes right in front of our house.  During these moments, travelers would get out of their cars and stand for a bit, enjoying drinks and snacks while they waited on the motorcade to begin moving again.

I pulled for Auburn University when they weren't playing Alabama.

These football Saturdays were very exciting to me, and I always greatly looked forward to them.  I was not an Auburn fan per se - I was an Alabama Crimson Tide fan, as was my entire family.  Auburn and Alabama were fierce rivalries and had been since the fifties.  In fact, this rivalry was, and still is, one of the most intense college rivalries in the country.  

Technically, I was an Alabama Crimson Tide fan.

I don't remember NOT being a Tide fan.  As I said earlier, my entire family had always pulled for them, though I am not sure why.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that one of my uncles, Joe McKelvey, had some type of relationship with the legendary football coach, Bear Bryant, who was the head coach for Alabama during those years.  Regardless of the reason, we Pritchards loved Bama and rooted for them with all of our hearts, even though we lived only 25 miles from Auburn University.

With all of that being said about who I pulled for, I still very much enjoyed watching the stream of cars decorated with the orange and blue colors which represented the Auburn Tigers slowly creep past my house on the designated Saturdays every Fall.  As loyal as I was to the Alabama Crimson Tide, I never wished for Auburn to do poorly, as long as they were NOT playing Bama. The city of Auburn was a second home to me.  That is where my friends and I went to eat out, watch movies, attend concerts, go shopping and more.  I even made it to two of Auburn's football games and attended a few frat parties on Friday nights.  Plus, so many of my dear high school friends were Auburn fans.  Loving them caused me to feel a certain fondness for the Tigers, though I never admitted it much to anyone. This was what I called "bipartisan football."

One particular football Saturday in the Fall of '83, my dad, Loyal Pritchard, was at Lamar's Auto Shop, located within walking distance from our house, having some work done on one of our cars.  A brand new Cadillac carrying a man and his wife, along with their three kids, pulled into Lamar's business.  They had been en route to the Auburn football game when the car started to make a noise.  That is when they decided to pull off and let Lamar check out the situation. 

Lamar quickly determined that there was a problem with the alternator.  It needed a new bearing, and since he didn't have one in stock, he was going to have to order one.  He told the gentleman that it definitely was not safe to drive the car in that condition.  This meant that the traveler would have to leave his vehicle with Lamar until the part came in, which would be several days later.

The car owner was certainly upset.  It was the very first time they had taken the car anywhere, and to have it break down was extremely frustrating, especially when they were trying to make it to the Auburn football game.  

As luck would have it, Dad was able to come to their rescue.  We had a 1970 green Chevrolet Impala sitting at our house with a full tank of gas . . . Dad had just filled it up that very morning! He took that as a sign that it was meant for HIM to be the one to solve this family's problem of getting to the Auburn Tigers' football game.  Our Impala was a significant downgrade from their new shiny Cadillac, but at least it worked properly.

The traveler finally revealed to Lamar and Dad that he and his family were from Huntsville, and that he owned a fence company.  Dad told him about our available green Chevy and said they were more than welcome to use it for the day in order to get to the game.  The Huntsville resident could not believe Dad was being so generous.  "Are you sure?" he asked my father.  

Dad answered, "Absolutely!  I’m happy to do it!"  With that being said, the two of them walked the short distance to our house and Dad turned over one Impala car key to the fence company owner.  The man walked back down to Lamar's shop, and he and his family transferred their belongings from the broken-down Cadillac to our green Chevrolet.  Soon afterward, they were happily on the way again to their destination.  Dad had saved the day for these loyal Auburn fans.

When my mother heard what Dad had done, her reaction was not so merry.  "You did WHAT?" she shouted to Dad in astonishment.  "You just let some stranger take our car?  What if he doesn't bring it back!"  By the way . . . Dad, in all the hustle and bustle of the situation, forgot to get the man's name.  Of course, there was no need to worry.  He knew that Lamar had the man's information on file.  The stranger was driving a brand new Cadillac, for heaven's sake.  He surely would be back to pick it up after Lamar had replaced the bearing on the alternator.  More importantly, Dad expected to see this Auburn fan later on that day after the football game was over.

"He'll bring it back," Dad announced confidently to Mom.  "I couldn't let them miss the Auburn football game," he continued.  Dad also had a "bipartisan football mentality" when it came to Auburn/Alabama.  He didn't mind seeing the Tigers win, as long as it wasn't against the Crimson Tide. 

Dad said he wondered how the family would get back to Huntsville after they returned the car to us.  He figured they would have worked something out by the time night came. As he correctly predicted, the Auburn fans came rolling back into our driveway that evening around midnight.  They had called and asked a friend from Huntsville to come and drive them back to their home. 

I have to say, too, that the fence company owner respectfully brought the Chevy back to us sporting a full tank of gas and in the same good condition as it was in when they departed for Auburn.  Dad's worry-free feeling about the entire situation turned out to be accurate, and he was happy that he had contributed to a family's support of the Auburn Tigers, even though us Pritchards were still cheering for the the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Did Auburn win that weekend?  I honestly can’t remember, nor can I recall if Bama rolled in a victory that day, either.  What I DO remember is my kind father putting his own personal feelings aside and placing the well-being of others first . . . no matter which side of the fence (no pun intended) they were on.

My family and I in front of Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL, when my parents were still alive.