Iron Bowl 2007
The 2007 edition of the annual Iron Bowl between Auburn and Alabama has been laid to rest and for the next 365 days the Auburn faithful will taunt the Alabama loyalists much as they have for the previous five years. I don’t know if Auburn has ever dominated this rivalry as they have during the last six seasons but they have certainly done well during the Tommy Tuberville era. Coach Tuberville is now 7-2 against Alabama and I think the Tide is now on at least their fifth coach during that run.
This was the first time that Bama’s new head coach Nick Saban faced the cross state rivals. When he was hired, Alabama fans were just a bit too pumped up. I never believed that the Tide would do better than 8-4 this season. As it turns out they ended 6-6 much to the disappointment of the Tide nation. I believe that the Tide fans felt like by paying the $4 million a year to Saban they were guaranteeing a national title and certainly a regular whipping of the Auburn Tigers. Oh well, there is always next season.
This Iron Bowl was the most poorly played Iron Bowl I have covered. I have done Iron Bowls were one team did not play well but I have never shot one where both teams could only be kindly termed mediocre. Neither team played very well and the 17-10 score did not really reflect the actual game. From the start, Auburn appeared to be the better team while Alabama just looked like a team that lost last week to Louisiana Monroe. The Tide just muddled along not doing much. The Tigers, after their opening drive, just muddled along not doing much. My co-worker Jonathan Palmer and I covered the game for The Decatur Daily and we had a decent night of photography. You can see a complete slide show of our work at The Decatur Daily website.
We both were able to come up with 400mm f2.8 Nikkor lenses that were so nice I can’t even begin to tell you the pleasure of shooting the game with them. I have never had an complaint about Nikon lenses. It is their bodies that cause me pain. But this lens is a magnificent piece of photographic heaven. If you ever can use this lens you will see what I mean. Unfortunately, we both have to give them back all too soon. Jonathan borrowed his from a Decatur doctor who we frequently shoot beside on the sidelines of our high school games. I got mine from Nikon Professional Services. If you are a pro, make sure you join NPS or Canon Professional Services. When you have to have something for a job, these guys are fantastic.
I am including several of my favorites from the shoot along with this post but be sure to visit the slide show.
Photos copyright The Decatur Daily. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily express those of my employer.
