Last Saturday was the 88th playing of the Auburn vs. Alabama football game. The stakes were not as high this year, with Alabama having already secured a berth in the conference title game and Auburn laying a foundation for the future.
Regardless, there was absolutely no shortage of passion from either team.
Why is it called the Iron Bowl, who named it that, and why?
In 1964, Auburn’s Coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan said the “Iron Bowl against Alabama would be Auburn’s bowl game,” and the moniker has stuck tightly ever since. But why?
First, it was played at the time in Birmingham’s Legion Field, the “Football Capital of the South,” until Auburn moved its alternating home game to campus in 1989, and Alabama later followed suit.
Second, Birmingham is known for its iron pipe industry. In fact, soon after the Civil War, the Magic City grew like magic from deposits of iron ore, coal and limestone in the area and the resulting rapid rise of a massive iron and steel industry. Birmingham was soon known as “the Pittsburgh of the South.”
All three producers of ductile iron pipe, the primary material for our nation’s public water supply systems, have operations in Birmingham. The area around the site of the annual Iron Bowl is the Ductile Iron Pipe Capital of America.
The main reason the Iron Bowl is so appropriately named is that it’s a tough game, played by tough men, fighting with toughness and resilience for their teams and universities, and their fans care perhaps even more. Tough, hard-hitting, durable, resilient. All describe the players in the Iron Bowl and the performance of ductile iron pipe.
What’s not as well known is that today’s modern ductile iron pipe is made of recycled iron and steel, requires less energy to pump water through, has a long and dependable service life, and is recyclable if retired from service. Iron pipe is good for the environment, good for public health and fire protection, and good for a water utility’s long-term financial strength.
Iron pipe was sustainable long before sustainability was a thing. Iron pipe has been proven by more than a century of service to be safe and effective for public health. Many seemingly miraculous pipe materials such as lead and asbestos have come and gone from industry, yet iron pipe continues to perform and safely serve decade after decade. More recent newcomer materials to the market, such as plastic, remain unproven.
If you plan to watch next year’s Iron Bowl, you can speak to the name’s origin and the attributes of ductile iron pipe. Iron pipe, it’s what America is built on.