Road Conditions In North Alabama Delay Auburn Gear From Hitting Stores

The Askews are devout Auburn fans who couldn't wait to pick up their championship gear after their team won the title.  Heather Askew says, "It's more of a mission to come get the gear.  My dad decided that we might as well get it now because it will probably be crowded tomorrow when there's not as much snow on the road."

Although the Askews made it to the mall, most of the championship gear did not. Sports Mania Salesman Drew DeArmond explains, "We've had a lot of phone calls about hats, car flags, bumper stickers.  But we're going to have all that later in the week.  The weather definitely affected it.  We had hats and shirts and bumper stickers coming today, but it got delayed."

But all hope wasn't lost for those who wanted gear as soon as possible.  The store had two championship shirts in stock that came in last week.  DeArmond says, “We had those, thank goodness, so we've been able to sell them."

But Askew didn't need championship gear to show her pride. A new Auburn sweatshirt was just fine: "I feel proud, just for this year, because sometimes you win one year, sometimes you won't, but other than that, yeah, I'm gonna wear it."

DeArmond looks at the bright side: “[The storm was] bad timing, but at least everybody was able to keep their power and watch the game.  And so now it's just going to be a little bit of delayed gratification, but hopefully they'll still be able to, you know, get their gear and be able to celebrate their championship."

He says they hope to have the rest of their gear in by later this week, once road conditions improve.