If you were watching the Alabama-LSU game this past Saturday with the volume at any appreciable level above “hush,” you heard it plain as day.
“F*** you Saban,” the chants, most likely from the LSU student section, rang out late in the nationally-televised game. The fact that such expletives would be directed at the Alabama head coach is not surprising; Nick Saban both coached at LSU before bolting for the NFL and is one of the winningest head coaches in the college football game, ofttimes at the expense for the Bayou Bengals.
What is surprising, though, is that people actually got their unmentionables all wadded up over what their ears heard. And that the man who leads the LSU athletic department felt the need to address what was nothing more than college-age non-sobriety colliding with a quiet lull in televised action.
In response to whatever nonsensical outcry he may have been hearing from inside the program or out, LSU athletic director Joe Alleva issued the following statement Monday apologizing for whatever perception is out there regarding the swearing of college kids that was picked up by TV microphones.“I’d like to once again thank our fans for their incredible support of our team in last Saturday’s game with Alabama. The Tigers played with tremendous heart and passion, and our fans played a huge role in inspiring a performance of which we can all be very proud.
“Unfortunately, a small minority of people chose to diminish the image of our great university by engaging in a profane chant directed toward Coach [Nick] Saban. We are deeply sorry that such crude behavior occurred in Tiger Stadium, because that is the antithesis of what we represent at LSU.
“If it occurs in the future, we will make every effort to identify those who choose to act in this manner and make sure they know they are no longer welcome in our stadium. Our hope, however, is that this will never happen again.
“Best wishes to Coach [Les] Miles and the Tigers for a strong finish to this season, and we sincerely appreciate the pride they instill in LSU fans each Saturday. And, thanks again to the best fans in the nation for their continued support of the Tigers!”
Very eloquent, and even impassioned, but wholly unnecessary as the “profane” chant or its verbal cousin is something that’s heard at nearly every sporting event that’s televised live. In fact, Alleva took what should’ve been a relative non-issue and turned it into an issue two days later.
The rudest part of the whole situation? It occurred as a Tigers player lay on the field after suffering an injury. If anything, an apology should’ve been directed at him.
