Roll Tide. War Eagle. Go Heels. Duke Sucks.

Roll Tide.  War Eagle.  Go Heels.  Duke Sucks.

These are all common salutations where I grew up (North Carolina) and where I live now (Alabama).  

It's like "aloha" in Southern vernacular.  It could be "hello", "goodbye", "goodnight" or "don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you."

They're all-purpose phrases with specific geographical origins but no boundaries.

I've heard a man shout "War Eagle" down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and seen my father-in-law approach a stranger in Brooklyn just because he was wearing an Auburn hat. 

"War Eagle" is part battle cry and part welcome.

Football is a lifestyle in Alabama and the surrounding country.  It’s all anyone talks about.

And while the Tide didn’t have the stamina to repeat their run to the BCS Championship, Cam Newton led Auburn all the way to Glendale, AZ.

Brooklyn Dodger meets Auburn Tiger

So on January 10, state and city governments will come to a virtual standstill so legislators can either be at the game with their ethically dubious tickets or be in front of a TV without a work conflict.

Lawsuits have been delayed.  Church meetings deferred.  

A federal judge has even granted a furlough to an indicted casino owner charged with buying votes, so this dude can leave the state and see the game in person.

Auburn fans or not, it seems everybody in the great state of Alabama will be in front of a television at 7:30 p.m. Central on Monday.

War Eagle, indeed.