Les “Fear the Hat” Miles lead the Bayou Bengals to an ass-whippin’ over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl last night, 41-24. The Aggies quick-tempo offense had the Tigers off balance for the 1st quarter, but the LSU speed, agility, and pure strength simply overwhelmed the puny Aggies. The LSU OFFENSE (Who knew?)
dominated the Aggie “Wrecking Crew” Defense.
The Mad Hatter's autograph on the Visitors' Wall at Cowboy Stadium
While our coach may not appear to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, he’s the only LSU coach to have FOUR 11 win seasons (in 6 years). Even the great Nick Saban doesn’t have that in his pocket. So, Coach, go ahead and mangle your words, eat Tiger Stadium grass, and keep going for it on 4th down — just keep winning and you’ll be a bigger Louisiana legend than Edwin Edwards!
My dear, old Daddy used to always say, “The smartest thing you can do is to let people think you are stupid and then prove them wrong.” Keep proving them wrong, Coach.
Mucho Congrats to the 2009 National Baseball Champion — the LSU Tigers!
The Freshman from Lafayette, Mikie Mahtook, turned the tide with a run-scoring double in the 6th and the Tigers never looked back, beating powerhouse Texas 11-4. Mahtook’s father, Mike, and his uncle, Robbie, both played football for LSU, creating a great legacy for the young Mahtook….particularly since Mike Mahtook died from a heart attack at 32, when Mikie was four and his twin sisters were only 2. No doubt, Big Mike was an angel in the outfield last night.
At the request of some readers, I’ve elected to take my football musings off the front page and I have created another blog (or a sub-blog) to address my LSU/Louisiana pride.
Tonight. January 7th, 2008. 7:00 p.m., CST. Fox-TV, live from the New Orleans Superdome.
ESPN illustration
The LSU Tigers take on the Slow-hio Buckeyes for the BCS National Championship.
Now, for obvious reasons, this is an IMPORTANT game. However, what many sports analysts and College Football watchers across the country don’t understand is the real importance of this game for Louisiana. You can analyze and compare the differences in the offensive and defensive lines, the kicking game, team speed, and key personnel in the hopes of predicting a victor, but the one “intangible” that many are not factoring in is LSU’s need to win one for IT’S home team — the people of Louisiana.
You see, for way too long, Louisiana has been under-estimated and the butt of many jokes. Most people don’t understand the uniqueness of the culture and the wonderful work ethic and creative intelligence that thrives in Louisiana. Sadly, Louisiana’s biggest notoriety has come from its renowned political Romper Room and most recently, the spectacle of tragedy via Hurricane Katrina.
What’s lost or not recognized is the vibrancy of the state, and of the Gulf Coast in general. From East Texas all the way to Key West, Florida, the states surrounding the Gulf of Mexico are a critical part of the United States’ infrastructure, providing food, fuel, utilities, and manufacturing to the rest of the country. In addition, the area is a veritable paradise for tourists, providing a sanctuary away from the frigid cold temperatures of Northern winters. We have swamps, beaches, lakes, and rivers that provide ample opportunity for vacationers to enjoy the outdoors year ’round. On top of all that, our hospitality and “joie de vivre” is unmatched. But, I digress….
Back to LSU vs. Ohio State. You see, the Tigers are made up primarily of boys from Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. Boys from Louisiana towns like New Iberia, Eunice, Shreveport, Carencro, West Monroe and Amite. Boys from Gulf Coast towns like Mobile, AL; Pascagoula, MS; Lakeland, FL; and Spring, TX. These boys have something to prove. These sons of the South deserve to be touted up there with the football elites like USC, Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame, and they are out to show the rest of the country just how much.
Louisiana and the Gulf Coast are united around this proud LSU Tiger team. If LSU wins, so does the SEC and so does the Gulf Coast. I will take great glee in seeing these Tigers dismantle the Buckeyes. You see, twenty years ago, I was on a flight to Baton Rouge coming home from a business trip. The Ohio State Buckeyes just happened to be on their way to play LSU at Tiger Stadium and were on the same flight. I listened to these arrogant interlopers degrade Louisiana and ridicule the South for over three hours. I got off that plane with a burning yearning for them to get their asses handed to them on that Saturday. Alas, it ended in a 13-13 tie with no real resolution of my need to see this self-important bunch of morons eat crow.
So, tonight the Tigers will avenge that mocking and stereotyping, on the biggest of stages. They’ll be playing for Louisiana, for the pride of the South and for the National Championship. They are faster, deeper and more talented. While I’m sure that Ohio St. will be prepared, I think that a healthy LSU with an impassioned and Buckeye-despising Les Miles wins by 14. Besides, we’ve got Poo-Poo on our side.
ETA: LSU wins the SEC Championship and in another whacky college football Saturday, both #1 Mizzou and #2 W. Virginia lose to let everyone back into the party. It appears that LSU may slip in to that #2 spot to play Ohio St. in New Orleans for the National Championship.
What a day…..
While it’s not the last Championship that LSU was hoping to hoist at the end of the season, today they take on the Tennessee Volunteers in Atlanta, GA for the SEC Conference Championship. Any other year, this would be HUGE, but this year it’s a let down as this team and these fans were expecting to be playing for the National Championship.
Given that Les “Fear the Hat” Miles will be departing for Meechigan next week, and Defensive Coordinator Bo Pellini will be Nebraska’s next head coach, I’m concerned that LSU is done for. Add some key injuries to Glenn Dorsey on defense and QB Matt Flynn on offense and this game could be really close.
However, we’ve been here before. Back in 2001, in the aftermath of 9-11, LSU snuck into the SEC Championship much like Tennessee has done this year. Starting QB Rohan Davey was injured and understudy Matt Mauck came in to lead the Tigers over heavily-favored Tennessee, 31-20.
It was a beautiful thing. All Tennessee needed was a win over LSU to go to the National Championship Rose Bowl game and LSU served them a trip to play Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. It sure was fun walking through the sea of dead roses on the ground after the game. I know….Mr. D., Mini-DD and I were there.
At Centennial Park Fountain in Atlanta – SEC Championship 2001
Mini-Tiger, Mini-DD at the game
Mini-DD was only ten, but he (and we) had a ball. As the tide turned and LSU began to win, the small LSU crowd was ecstatic. After hearing Rocky Top, non-stop for four hours, the quiet of the stunned Volunteer crowd was soothing to my ears.
Rocky Top
So, here’s to today and hoping that the Tigers can get focused and secure the SEC Championship. A win could possibly put them back in the title hunt (about 1% possible), but would put them in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. A loss will undoubtedly make LSU the biggest disappointment story of the year. Regardless of coaching changes, injuries, rivalries, bad calls, etc., sometimes you’ve just got to “man up”.
As for next year….LSU is loaded with talent once again and will be coached by a new sheriff. My choice? The one who strikes fear in the hearts of men:
The Ole Ball Coach – Steve Spurrier
NEWSFLASH: Approximately 20 minutes after I posted this, Les Miles changed his mind and agreed to stay at LSU.
Well, that’s the way it goes. The Boot goes to Arkansas and LSU is relegated to an “also ran” again. Too bad. However, it was theirs to lose and they couldn’t convert….in triple overtime….at home. If you can’t secure an inferior opponent at home, you don’t deserve a shot at the National Championship. I still love the Tigers, but don’t think they are deserving of a National Title shot.
10-1. #1 Ranking. Favored to take it all. Today, 25 Seniors at LSU — the last of Nick Saban’s recruits — will make their final walk down Victory Hill and into Tiger Stadium to take on a mediocre Arkansas Razorback team. While these Seniors have played every game of their storied college careers as ranked opponents, none of them were part of the team when Arkansas last beat LSU.
It was 2002, in Little Rock when the traditional meeting was held on “Black Friday”, when all between LSU and a consecutive SEC Championship Game appearance were the underdog Hogs. I vividly recall this game as I had to run to the restroom and puke after this:
Last year, the Hogs (due to a soft schedule) had sewn up the SEC West before the LSU meeting. LSU beat the Razorbacks in a tough game in Little Rock, 31-26, securing a Sugar Bowl birth but no SEC Championship shot. While LSU didn’t represent the West in the SEC title game, they did end up beating the snot out of Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl to secure a final #3 ranking. The West “champion” ended up losing to Florida in the Championship game, 38-28 and to Wisconsin in the Capitol One Bowl, 17-14 and ended up with a #15 ranking.
Today, the Tigers have sewn up the West title and will play in Atlanta in a couple of weeks. The Razorbacks come to Baton Rouge unranked and 3-4 in league play. Their coach, Houston Nutt, is likely on his way out. But, he’s a crafty little devil and there’s nothing more fierce than a wounded animal, so LSU needs to stay on task and finish this thing up right.
Their quest is bigger than just the SEC — it’s for the National Title. There can be no more losses — particularly, not Arkansas at home.
Forget the Miles to Michigan talk and if they’ll play Tennessee or Georgia in Atlanta. Today is about pounding the Hogs…for “The Boot”, for the SEC West, for the SEC, and for the National Championship.
Hopefully, these 25 talented Seniors will provide the leadership and focus needed to secure this victory and march on to Atlanta for the next leg in the Championship journey. Perhaps, a little We Readywould be appropriate for the lockeroom….
Sorry. For those of you who are not aware, this has been a LSU war cry for decades.
On Saturday, LSU faces yet another arch-rival in the University of Mississippi “Ole Miss” Rebels in lovely downtown Oxford, MS. Ole Miss is a different world. They tailgate in Southern opulence in a square filled with lovely moss-draped oak trees. Ladies are in high dress while men sport starched shirt and tie.
“The Grove”
This will be the 96th meeting between the Tigers and the Rebs, with LSU leading the series 54-37-4. However, the animosity between the two teams goes back 50 years. Between 1958 and 1962, both teams were ranked in the top 10 each time they played. The most feared man in Oxford, MS is this guy:
Billy Cannon
On Halloween, 1959, defending National Champion and #1 ranked LSU trailed Ole Miss 3-0, late in the game in Tiger Stadium. Then, this…
The Halloween Run
An 11 year old Mr. D and two of his brothers and Dad were watching in the wings on their way out of the stadium for their three hour drive home and witnessed, “the run”, first hand. He still remembers the deafening roar when Cannon broke the 7th tackle and sprinted into the endzone.
Archie Manning, the legendary Ole Miss QB, was 10 years old listening to the game with his father in his Cleveland, MS home. When time expired and LSU emerged the victor, 7-3, young Archie cried. Then, he listened to the replay of the game, hoping for a different result which of course, didn’t happen. He then cried himself to sleep. In a few short years, he would beat LSU two of three years that he started against LSU. He lost his last start against LSU playing with a broken arm. Today, the speed limit signs in Oxford are set for 18 m.p.h. , the 18 being Archie’s number. Archie later went on to fame in the NFL as the Saints QB and is of course, the father of Peyton and Eli Manning. Although a hero in Mississippi, Archie has called New Orleans, Louisiana home for the last 35 or so years.
As for Billy Cannon, the Missississpi native went on to win the Heisman Trophy in 1959, having his #20 retired at LSU — the only jersey to ever be retired at LSU. As with many public figures in Louisiana, however, he fell from grace in the ’80s when Billy Cannon, the orthodontist, was convicted of printing counterfeit money. He’s still a hero to many in Louisiana.
This year’s game in Vaught Stadium shouldn’t be close. Ole Miss is 0-5 against #1 teams in recent history and have lost the last five years to LSU. Besides, they REALLY need an updated cheer.
After a sound trouncing of Louisiana Tech, 58-10, LSU is back on top….back to where they once belonged….
Get Back, The Beatles
….get back, LO-retta.
And, I gotta say that one week removed from the “crashed wedding”, it still feels good. Even better, actually, since Mississippi State put the hurt on the great Saban Nation. Sweet Home Alabama never looked so good:
HEY, PEOPLE! The LSU Tigers are, once again, #1 in the Nation.
