Crimson Tide uber fan Harvey Updyke Jr. has made a number of appearances in this space over the years, starting with his confession/boast to radio host Paul Finebaum that he’d poisoned the beloved trees at Auburn’s Toomers Corner. On Wednesday, ESPN.com’s Mark Schlabach reported that Updyke, “has agreed to appear at a charity event Sept. 27 in Mobile, Alabama, in which fans will be allowed to either dunk him in a dunking booth or throw pies at his face.”
“He thought about it and thought about it,” Updyke’s wife, Elva, said. “His daughter said he needed to do it because it will show that he’s not as big of a nut as some people believe. He told them they can do whatever they want to him if it will raise money for kids.”
T.J. Hodges, an Alabama fan living near Chicago, is organizing the event to help raise money for the family of John Oliver, a boy from outside Mobile who died of cancer in July. Hodges started a nonprofit organization, Roses From Linda, after his mother passed away that helps raise money for family members to visit terminally ill patients before they die.
Updyke’s wife said he realizes Auburn fans probably will show up at the Mobile charity event to take a shot at him.
“He knows there’s going to be a lot of Auburn fans there, but he doesn’t care,” Elva Updyke said. “He’s 65 years old. What are they going to do to him? They’ll have security there.”