History in the Making: A Review of ESPN’s Roll Tide / W*r E*gle

Like many Tide fans, I watched the ESPN documentary on the Alabama/Auburn rivalry last night. First off, regarding the asterisks in the title of this post, I cannot bring myself to actually type out that idiotic shrill phrase, and when discussing Auburn asterisks are always appropriate.

I went into the viewing not knowing much about the film, so I was expecting something along the lines of the HBO documentary from a few years ago on the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry.  That film focused on the history of the programs, how the rivalry grew, the fans that span generations and the epic battles between Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler.  That’s not quite what we got with the ESPN film.

The focus was heavy on the events of the past two years, such as the Tide’s 2009 national title, Auburn’s tainted 2010 national title*, the Cam Newton scandal and the Harvey Updyke tree poisoning. I suppose it makes some sense to put heavy emphasis on the past few years since events have transpired to amplify the venom, but I felt that much of the programs’ histories (especially Alabama’s) were glossed over.

Much of the film centered on the Paul Finebaum radio show and the collection of crazies that call in regularly. For those of us that don’t listen to that program, a lot of material was lost and by focusing on the more unhinged callers, the film did nothing to break down the stereotype of southerners being rednecks. It seemed like Harvey Updyke was more a focus than Bear Bryant, which is absolutely insane.  Who had a bigger impact on the rivalry, one unhinged fan or the greatest coach ever to walk the sidelines?

The portion of the film that dealt with the 2009 season was well done and was fun to relive.  It made you appreciate the kind of people that Nick Saban’s program generates, such as Greg McElroy and Mark Ingram.  Of course just as soon as you find yourself reveling in the memories of that night in Pasadena, the story changed gears and focused on Cam freaking Newton.

The segment that followed encapsulated the stark difference between Alabama and Auburn. On one hand you had Mark Ingram winning the Heisman, giving one of the best acceptance speeches in recent memory and conducting himself like an absolute gentleman. Then you see Cam Newton, talking about how he felt disrespected by Alabama fans. I suppose in Cam’s opinion, we Tide fans are just supposed to accept the fact that his father actively solicited money for his services as no big deal and not do anything to hurt Cammy’s feelings.

The scene where he mentioned the “ongoing investigation” and flashed his fake, $180K grin made me want to throw something at the TV. Of course the film then used the 2010 Iron Bowl game as a vehicle to feature yet more Harvey Updyke material. Look, we get it and nobody actually condones what the guy did, but I felt it was disingenuous to paint an entire fanbase with he Updyke brush. It was also never mentioned that the Toomer’s Oaks have been dying for years due to those idiot barners constantly throwing toilet paper in them.

The tornado footage was heart-wrenching and I cannot even begin to imagine what Carson Tinker has gone through. Even though the wounds are still fresh and the town is still rebuilding, I felt the film did a nice job of capturing the resiliency of the people of Tuscaloosa. On a side note, the segment breaks that featured Sweet Home Alabama played on a piano were very cool and hearing the opening notes make you realize what a truly beautiful piece of music the song is.

In short, there was too much Finebaum stuff, too much Updyke and too much Auburn.  More time should have been devoted to the history of the rivalry, especially for those of us who are too young to have experienced the Bryant years and how they impacted both fanbases. The film is definitely worth watching, but leaves a somewhat bitter taste since we had to share it with those filthy Auburn fans. I hope that Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump and the Crimson Tide coffee table book that we all have decides one day to write and produce an Alabama documentary.