It's Sunday morning as I write this. The Tigers proved victorious in a roller-coaster ride against Georgia; sadly, my Tide didn't roll quite hard enough with LSU.

As a Bama fan, naturally, I am rooting for the Tide in this week's Iron Bowl.

However, some of my best friends happen to be Auburn folks. They will be hoping for a very different outcome than the one I desire.

Let's face it: neither of our teams is going to win a national championship this year. We aren't likely to take home any SEC championship, either.

Honey, it's all about the braggin' rights.

If Auburn wins, Ed Jernigan will crow &#8220War Eagle” just a little more vigorously at every event; heaven knows what Susan Murphy will come up with to rub the wound ever more raw for all the Tide fans.

You have to give those two props. They love their Tigers.

Of course, Bama fans like Keith Taylor will likely be letting you know all about the mighty Tide if Alabama pulls out a victory. His wife, Sandee, was almost shaking when she temporarily held the Auburn flag during our Lifestyles photo shoot last Saturday. And you can bet little Luke was looking handsome in his Alabama gear.

However, despite her best efforts, Sue Arnold, resplendent in her &#8220Bear” hounds tooth hat, just couldn't get little Ella &#8220I-have-to-be-for-Auburn-I'm-an-Autrey” to actually shake that red-and-white pom-pom.

People who never attended either school, pledge lifelong devotion to their team. My dad never got to finish high school. His older siblings who attended college all went to Auburn. My mother hales from Tennessee, land of the Big Orange.

Yet I grew up in a household that was clearly a Bama home. My sister Sara and her buddy, Michael Daniel went to school in Tuscaloosa in the 70s, during some of those glory days. I got to attend quite a few Alabama games, wearing my crimson and white bush hat and wielding my shaker.

Hanging in the den at the old farmhouse is a Bear plaster bust with &#8220315” – the number that made him the &#8220winningest” coach in college football – emblazoned on a wooden cutout of the state. A commemorative Coke bottle, never uncapped, sits atop the refrigerator.

Somewhere, there is a photo of my mom proudly holding the autographed football my sister gave her for Christmas one year.

Oh, yes, Mama, the Tennessee girl, bleeds red and white, too. She's calmed down over the years, (with my family's heart, stroke and blood pressure history, we realized we all had too), but once upon a time, she was as vocal a loyal Bama fan as you could hope to find.

It's the loyalty I respect. Whether your team is having a glorious season or a horrendous one, support them. None of this fair-weather fan stuff for me, please.

It's been great to see Alabama getting back a little bit of their glory days this season, but I'm gonna love them no matter what. It's the same for the true Auburn fan.

I guess it is in your blood.

Angie Long is Lifestyles reporter for The Greenville Advocate. She can be reached at 382-3111 ext. 132 or via email at angie.long@greenvilleadvocate.com.