TONY FRANKLIN SPILLS ALL AND SHOCKS NONE
In news that will shock absolutely no one whatsoever, Tony Franklin does an interview that ran in the Montgomery Advertiser this past weekend where he suggests the overall vibe at Auburn is somewhere between that of Elsinore-in-regal-crisis and the KGB-era Lubyanka prison in full blossom. If this surprises you, congratulations: you are a deeply deluded Auburn fan, and probably already subscribe to the conspiracy theory of this having something to do with an impending ruling on Alabama. SPIES EVERYWHERE WE TELL YOU.
Lubyanka on the Piedmont: Auburn.
(For sanity–if you’re into that poison–is at Joe Cribbs’ Car Wash, as usual. It’s slow and Tony Franklin likes to talk. Voila! Off-season piece!)
Only the finest niblets from the place Terry Bowden fled in the middle of the night with his binkie and sippy cup in hand from the article follow.
On the atmosphere:
“It was the most unusual place I’ve ever been,” Franklin said of the Auburn program. “No one liked anybody else. There was this deep distrust of everybody. The coaches didn’t trust the administration, the administration didn’t trust each other or the coaches. It was very strange and very unnerving. You would walk down the halls and there would be tension you could just feel.
On Auburn coaches and religion:
“That’s all they do is pray — and talk about praying and religion,” Franklin said. “It’s a constant thing with them, and it’s just overwhelming at times. A lot of people use religion as a crutch, and I think that’s the case there. Every word coming out of their mouths is something about religion, and most of it is just a joke.
It certainly explains their offense in the final years of the Tuberville era. (Florida note: Damn you to hell, Brandon Cox.)
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1
haybeav says:
Religion is the op
June 8th, 2009 at 10:23 am
2
haybeav says:
^^^
opiate of the masses
June 8th, 2009 at 10:24 am
3
hobeg8r says:
“I don’t have to worry about all the crap you face in the SEC with its ridiculous, nit-picky rules and regulations on everything you do.”
Okay, I’m confused. Is he saying that the SEC has rules other conferences don’t have to follow? Are we the only ones who have to follow NCAA regulations? (Other than the Kiffin “Everyone Play Nice” Rule Slive recently enacted).
June 8th, 2009 at 10:46 am
4
yoyofytbawl says:
If Karl Marx were alive today, he’d have sports a close second on the opiate ranking.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:54 am
5
Marcus says:
When Franklin was hired at AU, he had to “sell” his “Tony Franklin System” business, as the SEC has rules against coaches owning coaching related businesses or some such. Obviously the Sunbelt doesn’t have that rule (since he was able to run the business while coaching Troy), so, yeah, the SEC does have rules other conferences don’t have. Rule #1, be awesome (does not apply to schools in Mississippi or Vandy).
June 8th, 2009 at 11:07 am
6
King Cockfight says:
Bobby Lowder plans to retire soon, I hear. Upon his death, the entire Auburn athletic program, most of the campus, and half of Opelika will be entombed with him in the skyhigh pyramid that will be built in Lee County to memorialize his reign.
June 8th, 2009 at 11:52 am
7
Croc says:
You had me at “KGB-era Lubyanka prison in full blossom”. Great stuff O.
June 8th, 2009 at 11:53 am
8
War Eagle Atlanta says:
As a matter of fact, our offense last year WAS a wing AND a prayer…
June 8th, 2009 at 11:59 am
9
yoyofutbawl says:
8
At least you had a wing. All we had was a prayer in Starksville.
June 8th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
10
Anonymous IV says:
I always pray to the flying spaghetti monster and it gives me the same outcome.
June 8th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
11
Sullivan013 says:
As a retired Catholic, I can’t really say I’m all that religious, but a snide public comment on other people’s beliefs? Low class.
The true joke of the original article was the whopper of an opening line:
“Tony Franklin has never been one to chase the spotlight.”
It ranks right up there with “I’ll still respect you in the morning” and “I’m from the government, I’m here to help you”
Sullivan013
June 9th, 2009 at 7:57 am
12
Finebaum is a Douche says:
Ask anyone who knows anything about Tony Franklin and they will tell you he is low class. He just didnt fit in to the program at auburn personality wise, and on top of that his system failed. The reason he was fired was because nobody there cared enough for him as person to keep him around after he proved he was worthless football wise.
Franklin was crass, rude, crude, and disrespectful. Things that could never describe the Tommy Tubberville coaching staff at Auburn. He was known to dog cuss players, coaches, fans, hell, anyone who did anything. Everyone in the Auburn Family was glad to see him go.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:06 am
13
MiseanAUFan says:
Here’s the WHOLE Marx quote, where he once again, proves he’s an ass:
“Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.”
-Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right (quoted on atheism.about.com)
Marx mentions abolishing religion as a requirement for “real happiness.” Name one “happy” country that abolished religion. Even the “opium” comment rests on the premise that the poor are always to remain poor, and are incapable of moving into higher financial classes, and also suffers from the fallacy that religion in and of itself, keeps the poor people poor (at least if you want to take the opium metaphor to its fullest).
I currently make about $120 a week, doing part-time work when I can find it, and have been without a full-time job and insurance since November. I certainly don’t intend to stay in that tax bracket (nor have I always been in that tax bracket in my working life), and I know I’m not the only one.
Our Founders had the right idea- worship what you want, if you want to worship, and keep the government out of it.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:57 am