As my wife and I sat in a decidedly frigid Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia last weekend, it quickly became clear that the Bulldogs were doing their best Buck Owens impression because they had the Tigers' tails firmly in hand.
Along with a host of other hangdog Auburn fans, we left after three, finger-numbing hours, trying desperately to put some distance between ourselves and a stunningly lopsided scoreboard.
Two years ago, this outcome couldn't have mattered less to me. My alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University, never managed to pull out a win in any of the handful of games I attended as a student, and unless you're a die-hard fan, there's only so much sad a person can stand before packing it in.
It's different with Auburn. I inherited a love of the Tigers through my wife, an alumna. Her passion for the team probably - at times, most definitely - exceeds her affection for me, so it was a case of learn to love them, too, or forget about seeing her for 16 weeks.
So I dusted off what football knowledge I'd gleaned at the feet of my orange-blooded Vols fan of a father. I tried to forget how much I hated being woofed at and having "Roll Tide!" screamed in my face. Then I started watching.
And lo and behold, the Tigers began winning games in the most grand, unbelievable fashion. Last year, Auburn pulled off the kind of comeback-kid performance normally reserved for sports bio-pics, making it to the national championship game just one year after a disastrous 2012 season.
I'd like to think I would have supported them regardless of their performance, if only for my wife's sake, but it was hard not to get swept up in the heady thrill of victory. I cheered for them. I read weekly summaries and tracked conference performance. I even posted about games on Facebook, which led more than a few mystified friends who were accustomed to my anti-sports mindset to wonder loudly whether I had suffered a head injury.
It was a good time to become a fan. Or maybe a terrible one. It's hard to come off that kind of high. Hopping on the Tigers bandwagon in 2013 is kind of like "discovering" AC/DC when "Back in Black" was released. The next album, "For Those About To Rock We Salute You," was pretty good, but the band never quite touched on that kind of greatness again.
But that's the truest test of a fan, isn't it? Whether it's football or hard rock, you've gotta stick with the subject of your adoration through thick and thin.
Kind of like marriage.
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.