Jacksonville State 1st Half Rideout Video

and Bill Curry was the coach we often didn’t have enough on the field to hold our interest. The band sat near the end of the east stands instead of in the north stands, and we could see the Wreck parked on the track just out of view of the field.

Every now and then, maybe a dozen times during my many years at the Institute, someone would approach the Wreck and think it was a good idea to stand on the running board for a picture or something. It started slowly, but soon the entire student section was chanting “Get off the Wreck! Get off the Wreck!”.

Sometimes they would hear us and get off the Wreck. Sometimes they wouldn’t. I mean, I’m sure they heard the noise, but it didn’t occur to them that all those people would be yelling at them.

It only took a few dozen rats running over there, though, to convince even the most persistent that the Wreck was for looking, not touching.

In the next installment of Uncle Craig’s Bedtime Tales I will tell you about the time the rats stole the tail off the Auburn mascot.

but feel confident that it was Auburn and that it was probably 1979, although it could have been 1981. The band and the rats had formed the T on the field for the entrance but it was delayed for TV.

The Tiger was waving his big flag dangerously close to band members standing at parade rest when the student section started chanting for the rats to get the tiger. Unfortunately for the tiger the rats were already on the field. They knocked him to the ground and took his tail.

After the game the tail was hanging out of the window of Brown. The tail was eventually mailed back to Auburn adorned with white and gold ribbons.

At the 1978 game at Auburn there were some banners hung on the fence in front of the Tech section. An Auburn idiot decided it would be a good idea to come over and start tearing them down. I do not believe he suffered serious injury, but I’m sure he was badly bruised. Drew Hill ran the second half kickoff back for a touchdown in that game.

After that 1978 game Tech didn’t beat Auburn until 2003. I really hate that we don’t play them any more. We’d played them continuously, except for one your during WWII when Auburn didn’t have a team, since 1908. They were our #2 rival. Auburn students held an annual Wreck Tech parade. Thanks, Bill Curry and Homer Rice, for killing that rivalry.