Jerry Bogle earned fame as one of Bama's biggest fans Wednesday, June 23, 2004 By MIKE MARSHALL Times Staff Writer [EMAIL PROTECTED] They ended Jerry Bogle's funeral just the way he wanted. Grady Bennett, the best-known organist in Scottsboro, played the University of Alabama fight song. But the closing song, "Yea, Alabama," was one of the few references to Bogle's loyalty to University of Alabama athletics. Most of the funeral held Sunday at the Scottsboro Funeral Home Chapel emphasized Bogle's devotion to family and co-workers at Revere Copper and Brass Inc. Bogle died June 18 of cancer. This was the side of Bogle few knew. He was better known - famous, even - for wearing an elephant snout, red suspenders, red pants and a 5-foot-long tie to Alabama football games. His signature apparel was a Tide detergent box with a roll of toilet paper on top. For almost 25 football seasons, from about 1980 until mid-2004, Bogle and Troy Ferguson waved Tide boxes at Alabama football games. Their boxes are on display at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. The originals are at the Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa. Bogle and Ferguson were known as the "Big Dogs," a nickname given to them by the late Alabama All-America linebacker Derrick Thomas. For the last 15 years of Bogle's life, he and Ferguson referred to themselves as the "Big Dogs from Scottsboro.'' They also used the nickname in conversations with each other. When they were traveling to an Alabama football game in Tuscaloosa, for instance, Bogle made his usual request as they were riding west on Interstate 59. "Big Dog, let's stop at the Iron Skillet" was Bogle's way of letting Ferguson know he was ready for a pit stop. After visiting the handicapped section at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa or at Legion Field in Birmingham, Bogle told Ferguson, "Big Dog, my back was hurting before we came over, but I don't feel any pain now." Before a big game against Auburn or Tennessee, Bogle said, "Big Dog, we've got to function at a high level today.'' He began battling bladder cancer in October. First came surgery, followed by two months of treatments. In the spring, he appeared better. At the annual Jackson County Alabama Club scholarship banquet, he told two or three Auburn jokes at Ferguson's request. But on May 28 at Huntsville Hospital, doctors discovered the cancer had spread to Bogle's intestines. This time, the cancer was terminal. Bogle still referred to Ferguson as "Big Dog" in the last days of his life. In early June, after returning home from Huntsville Hospital, he began planning his funeral. When he got around to the clothes for his burial, he told his wife, Betty, not to worry about the tie. "Just call the 'Big Dog,' " he told her. "He'll know what I want." The next day, June 9, Ferguson drove to Bama Fever in Huntsville and bought a crimson tie with an Alabama emblem. That night, Ferguson dropped off the tie at Bogle's home on Woodall Lane in Scottsboro. " 'Big Dog,' I got one more thing," Bogle said. "Call Wimp." Wimp Sanderson, the former Alabama basketball coach, was Bogle's college roommate at the University of North Alabama, known in the late 1950s as Florence State Teachers College. Sanderson drove to Scottsboro on June 11, and for a while Bogle's spirits improved. But he died a week later at home. He was 66. Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore and Dude Hennessey, a longtime assistant football coach, were among the Alabama officials at the funeral. A standing-room-only crowd was at the funeral chapel. Some were in the foyer. The funeral lasted for about 30 minutes. During the eulogy, some flowers fell from one of wreaths behind the minister, Terry Broome, landing by his feet - a first in his 36 years as a Church of Christ preacher. "Must've been caused by an Auburn or Tennessee fan," someone told Broome after the service.
______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
