Meet Section 111, the official hecklers of Auburn Baseball
One of their commandments is ‘thou shalt be witty’
Every baseball stadium has it’s hecklers – the people who are first in line to yell at the umps after an unfair call or make up chants about the opposing team. But not many teams have an established group.
Section 111 is the official group for hecklers at Auburn Baseball games. With the season in full swing, The Tab Auburn caught up with Emily Shoffit, a senior studying Sports Journalism, to ask the Section 111 veteran a few questions about Auburn’s hidden gem.
How long has Section 111 been around?
In 2000, Section 111 became the official student section and it consisted of a random group of people that would come and yell at all the games. Around 2009 is when the official heckling began.
Tim Penix was the founder and formed a great relationship with Coach Pawlowski. He came up with the official commandments for Section 111. This year, under Coach Thompson, he tweeted out: “What do you want to be the official student section?” and 99% of feedback he received said Section 111.
From there, he got in contact with Section 111, and for the first time in Plainsman Park history, Section 111 was recognized by the Marketing Department of Auburn University.
What are the official commandments?
The commandments are the rules and guidelines that allow the entire stadium to have a good time.
If you sit in the section, do you have to heckle?
It is encouraged, but not mandatory. In 2013, I started sitting in Section 111 but I didn’t start heckling until 2014.
Where did your love for baseball come from?
I am the youngest of five kids. I have three brothers and they all played baseball so before I could even walk my mom strapped me to her back and coached my brother’s little league team. I always say it’s something that I know better than myself.
What does “not even…close” mean?
When Auburn is up to bat, and there’s a pickoff for first base to try and get a lead off runner out, and the pitcher fails to get the runner out, someone will yell “NOT EVEN” and everyone else will yell “CLOSE.”
Who is your favorite player?
I don’t have a favorite, but all of the guys are extremely supportive of Section 111. After a game, they’ll come up to us and say: “Hey, what you’re doing is really funny – keep it up!”
So, what are your chants?
Our chants have been created for years, so we just carry them on. When the opposing team starts yelling, “NOT EVEN…CLOSE,” we reply with, “NOT EVEN…ORIGINAL.”
If an opposing team’s player strikes out, we will yell: “dirt, grass, dirt, dug out.” A lot of the cheering is taunting though. If an opposing team’s player gets upset, we will yell something like “take it out on the water cooler!”
You’ve been with Section 111 for a while now, so what is your favorite memory?
Butch Thompson, our head coach, was hired on my birthday. Which made me so happy. Other than that, I would say my favorite memories are the friends that I have made and the integration with athletics.
Keep up with Section 111 on Snapchat at “ausection111” and Twitter, and follow Coach Thompson on Twitter.