Volunteers fan pranks Alabama Crimson Tide before rivalry match

A Tennessee Volunteers fan pranked the Alabama Crimson Tide by putting a flag in the hands of Nick Saban’s statue.

When major rivals college football rivals meet up, you can bet that there’s going to be some shenanigans at the other team’s expense.

In the lead up to the Tennessee-Alabama game, there has been a prankster on the loose in Tuscaloosa. Someone has placed a Volunteers flag in the hands of the statue of Nick Saban outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium.

https://twitter.com/Whitecorbindea/status/785481387910504448

One of the greatest aspects of college football, that separates it from the NFL, is its pageantry. Fans seem to have a more emotional connection with their team, and sometimes that manifests itself in the form of pranks.

These pranks often range from the light-hearted, (painting the Michigan State statue Maize and Blue) to criminal (poisoning Toomer’s Corners trees.)

There are generally two types of reactions to these pranks. One is that this is a form of vandalism, and that it should be punished and frowned upon. The other is that, these sorts of activities are what makes college football unique and fun. This type of scandalous behavior is what arguably makes college football more enjoyable than the corporate and cold NFL, sometimes mockingly called the “No Fun League” for its bizarre tendency to strip every player and organization of their individuality and uniqueness.

This type of behavior is nothing new within the college football landscape.

In 2004 during “The Game,” between Yale and Harvard, some Yale students went as far to create the non-existent “Harvard Pep Squad” for the game. They snuck into the Harvard student section and handed out signs to the Crimson fans during the game. When the signs were held up as part of the stunt, they read out “We Suck.”

In 2014, before the annual Michigan-Michigan State rivalry game, a Spartans supporter defaced Michigan’s landmark “Diag,” with spray paint, spelling out “MSU.” Now, Michigan students host a “Defend the Diag” event every year which starts a week before the MSU game and doesn’t end until after.

And of course, in 2011, the Toomer’s Corners trees were poisoned by Harvey Updyke. A fan who took things too far, Updyke poisoned the trees with herbicide. In 2013, he plead guilty and spent 6 months in prison. He now has a Class-C felony and has been banned from entering Auburn University property.

So, what’s a little flag?