Paul Finebaum discusses just how serious the hatred between Auburn and Alabama fans is
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The Alabama-Auburn rivalry is one of the biggest rivalries in the country, and those fan bases really don’t like each other.
However, sometimes the Iron Bowl hatred leads to very real consequences, as it did this week when a man was shot following an argument about which team was better.
On SportsCenter on Saturday morning, ESPN host Paul Finebaum said he’s not surprised by that as the Iron Bowl draws nearer (via 247Sports):
“I don’t want to be dismissive of this because it’s a serious story, but it’s not surprising,” Finebaum said during Saturday’s SportsCenter appearance. “I lived in that state more than 30 years. It’s impossible to describe to people who have never been there how serious people take this. People have been killed over it. Things like that happen. Not often, but they do happen. In the state of Alabama, there are no professional teams, so this rivalry, this is it.
“Incredibly and rather sadly, things like this happen.”
Obviously, you don’t want to see any college football argument end in gun violence, so it’s important to have some perspective.
Still, it’s a divisive issue in the state of Alabama, and we’ll find out which squad has bragging rights for the next year in exactly one week.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
