Hot Boudin, Cold Cous-Cous...

Who's Bo Pelini Most Likely To Pull Out of Chris Owens by the Ear at 3 AM This Winter?

Browsing facebook this morning, I noticed that the ever-active Xavier Carter (what exactly is he doing these days?) had joined another group. This one was titled “LSU should be in the Rose Bowl!” In another vein, he has joined “LSU versus Notre Dame Sugar Bowl” and “LSU owns ND.” Actually, that last one is completely unjustifiable, the all-time series is 5-4 in favor of ND (very few teams have winning records against the Irish). Also, Xavier is a member of “Im tired of BITCHES sayin NIGGAS aint shit when BITCHES aint shit neither.” Seriously, take some time to befriend Pee Wee and peruse his questionable early morning facebook activities; Spencer has taken the extra step of poking X from his facebook mobile. Carter poked back.

Xavier is a valuable facebook entity to say the least.

Still, it’s troubling that Xavier is disappointed with LSU’s current bowl situation; it’s even more troubling that DE Charles Alexander agreed with him. I might be overanalyzing, but, on the small scale, I’m concerned about just how motivated Miles will have the team on January 3. On a larger scale, I’m concerned we’re gradually becoming a program more and more like Florida, Alabama, or Nebraska.

In the two weeks between the victory in Little Rock and the official bowl selection, the program, local media, and fans bathed in a frenzy comparable to 2003’s championship climax. The LSU ticket office dipped into the bottomless well of Rose Bowl tickets, to the tune of 42,000. (Note: it’s not like LSU fans still have those tickets. Bowl seats are sold on the basis of your team playing in that game. As opposed to…) Hotel reservations and plane fares whizzed around like a giddy, hapless governor with nothing more occupying than pointless lobbying.

I totally sat next to her at mass last December in Lafayette. Actually, that was the same day we found out about the Peach Bowl. That's fucking interesting. Could K-Bill be controlling everything?

On a personal level, HTF was preparing the Rose Bowl piece, thinking in his best Jeff Bebe voice: “You know who won the first Rose Bowl? Michigan. Eleven of them, eleven of us.” The popular page header would be adorned with a painstakingly detailed rose around Eddie Fuller’s helmet until the blog’s retirement in January. I even planned on digging up this old gem of an email sent to my father before the Florida game:

> Dad,
>
> I'm thinking I might skip the Monday and Tuesday of
> Thanksgiving week and come in for the Ole Miss game
> and stay that whole week. That would make more
> sense, and as long as I don't have a test on those
> days, I could do it. Just a thought, I'll get back
> to you on it later.
>
> I was thinking randomly today, if we win the rest of
> our games (I think we can), we'd probably get an
> at-large bid to the BCS. Assuming Auburn or an East
> team wins the conference, that would eliminate us
> from playing in the Fiesta or Sugar. Orange gets
> first choice this year, and would probably take
> Michigan at 11-1 against the ACC champion. So
> there's a good chance we'd be going to the Rose Bowl
> (if Ohio State goes to the Fiesta). Yeah, I know
> it's the second day of October...
>
> Pat

We’d bathe in Bacardi Limon. Cigars would be lit. We were going to the fucking Rose Bowl.

Part of me appreciates the #1 all-time ranking in winning percentage, but still, doesn't Michigan kind of roll over in every big game now?

It got to the point that, for some, seeing hated sudden-rival USC lose to UCLA on Saturday became disappointing. Um, this is the same team that has continuously succeeded in undermining the greatest moment of my life, right? Disappointment? The early returns and eventual announcement confirmed what we expected: the Rose Bowl had their desired Big Ten / Pac-10 matchup. Alley and Fave would not be rapping on The Tonight Show.

Fave has a sizable 26-teammate lead over Alley in the best rapper poll.

I know it’s difficult at this point, but reminisce to 2001, when a highly-underrated, Rohan-led offense derailed Tennessee’s national championship shot at Miami. Even the cheapest of hits on our star Jamaican couldn’t prevent an upset by the sudden newcomer, the first team from the West save Alabama to win the conference in, like, a really long time. And we were going to the fucking Sugar Bowl.

So why do these two paths seem so different? Sure, the program has radically changed since 2001 (and Skip Bertman isn’t given nearly enough credit), but doesn’t it feel good to join Florida as the only two schools to make the Final Four and a BCS bowl in the same calendar year? This is our third BCS bowl; no others in the West even come close. Hey, Auburn and 'Bama. We’re leading you both, 3-1. Be glad that $13.5 million is split among the twelve conference members; build yourself a nice new weight room in our name.

The Tide lost to awkward chestbumpers Tom Brady and David Terrell in the '00 Orange.

It will be interesting to see how motivated Coach Miles can get his squad. Because, really, we all laugh about it, but that’s kind of the man’s only job. You’ve got two coordinators who are annual mainstays in the head coach rumor mill; we’ll once again be blessed if Jimbo or Bo doesn’t sign onto the NC State or Arizona State job before New Year’s. But there is a marked difference between playing in a city less than 5 or 6 team members have stepped foot in… and playing eighty miles away. There’s a difference between appearing on national television (I could only hope for a Glenn Dorsey interview)… and having your team party at Zea Rotisserie.

Get ready, Mike VI.

But, on the surface, this shouldn’t be disappointing at all for Tiger fans. We’re fortunate enough to be considered a kneejerk at-large selection; the 2001 team would’ve definitely paced the Peach Bowl in a similar situation. Also, this gives us the rare opportunity for JaMarcus to exercise a Vince Young memorial while pocketing the game’s MVP trophy: “We’ll be back here next year. I’ll be back here next year.”

- P.T.