I am usually a fan of the cyber side chats but this one is just stupid. Here's the link. Does skip really believe that the idiot fans who do stupid stuff read the cyber side chats? This is just giving other schools stuff to quote when they say LSU has the worst fans. Also, how does skip even know all the things actually happened? I mean I could send an email saying I got beat and raped because I was wearing UGA colors at the game and he would never know if I was making it up or not. This cyber side chat was just dumb:angry:
I just read it, and it sounds like a junior high school principal wrote it... Skip is a duck out of water on this... I find it interesting that we got all those comments about our behavior the year we won the SEC title, and everyone had sour grapes... EVERY Jawja fan I talked to enjoyed their stay...There WILL BE CASES OF MINOR SITUATIONS... I just can't STAND the way he acts as if this is indicative of our fanbase, and constantly harps on it... HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO BRINGS IT UP NOWADAYS... Go look at the Jawja boards...they have said nothing but good things about their stay in Baton Rouge... Bertman should be replaced...
And just who should Bertman be replaced with??? Look, everyone knows that the rep Tiger fans as a group gets is largely undeserved. I don't think there is any question about that. But at the same time, incidents do happen, and even though the same kind of incidents happen at other schools too, that doesn't mean Skip shouldn't try to take steps to minimize them. As for the question of whether they actually took place, I know that if any of the things mentioned happened to me or my family, police would have been notified. Right there you have a way to verify the event. I'm not saying this is or isn't a real problem, that's not for me to decide. But I believe that Skip is doing what he thinks he needs to do. Why criticize him for that?
I find the port a let thing hard to beleive I find the port a let thing really hard to believe. I was there the entire day and think someone would have heard something about it by now on the local news or something. Opposing fans try to diss us. I occasionally post on the Bama sites and always get some far-fetched negative comment from a BAMA fan who has never been to an LSU game. I would need hard facts on this incident to believe it.
Skip is just trying to improve the reputation of the university. Whether our current reputation is justified or not, it does need improving. I like his idea of chanting "Tiger Bait" when the opposing team comes out instead of booing. What does everyone else think?
I think this is just the first of many steps... ... to see the behavior improve by the 1%. I really don't see what the problem is with Skip's letter. If I'm reading this correctly at the AD's office, there is a movement to clean up the fan behavior/misbehavior. I'm in total agreement with everything he said, and I don't believe he would have mentioned those specific incidences unless he was certain that they took place. My opinion is that it's the one's who are abusing alcohol that cause most of the problems. I predict more of a crackdown on that aspect of tailgating in the future. There is no sustitute for self- control.
Tiger Dabbs, I'm not kidding... If you're going to tell me you're NOT for hiring the best possible candidate for EACH and EVER position that relates to the flagship University of our home state, then you're anti-progress... At the time of his hiring, Skip Bertman was not-and he remains to this day-the most qualified candidate. Period. End of setence. We had Mitch Barnhardt-who was the choice of the Governor and the Chancellor and the President of the LSU System and the group of pro-Emmert BOS-but, Cusimano, Dean, and other "entities" at LSU were out to thwart Emmert and prevent him from putting himself and the rest of those who should have rightfully been in the position of making the choice in the position to offer the job to him. Once he saw the power struggle, he immediately advised that his name was no longer to be mentioned, and left Baton Rouge. He was on campus. Speeches were being drafted. It was that close. Emmert was afterwards faced with a quandry. Who to hire? He could not give in the BOS and forever allow them to exert undue influence into AD matters in which he should have been the top dog decisions wise to begin with. He was wary of hiring anyone other than Barnhardt, who was-AGAIN-the MOST QUALIFIED CANDIDATE AVAILABLE. So, he went to his plan B...Stanley "Skip" Bertman... Think about it...This is a guy who was going against BOS members who were out to marginalize him and bring themselves into the hiring process, which is AGAINST STATE LAW. FACT-BOS Members, including Robert Wood, the Student Government BOS member and former President of the student body at LSU, barged into Emmert's office to demand more input into the hiring process. THIS IS AGAINST THE LAW, and they did it anyway! So, Emmert went with Bertman-an obvious duck out of water-and OBVIOUSLY not the most qualified candidate, to thwart the Anti-Emmert, anti-progress BOS members out there. Who in the LSU community would oppose that choice? What LSU fan would be disappointed in this hire? I believe I was the ONLY one. There was a petition on the internet signed by 8,000 fans who asked the leaders at LSU to hire the best qualified candidate. I was the ONLY PERSON I KNOW that sent an e-mail expressing my disappointment when the gist of the petition's message was not followed by the hiring group... But, again, it was PR move. Emmert is biding his time. Ricks replaced some an anti-Emmert BOS member after this member was warned to stay out of Emmert's way by FOSTER himself... Emmert will soon hire another AD, which I GUARANTEE you will be the most qualified candidate. But, to say that Skip Bertman should not be replaced may be a fan friendly and P&G glasses clad statement to make, but it's not pro-progress at LSU... For LSU to move forward, we need competent leadership. Bertman has continually shown not to be the man to provide that leadership. I could get specific, but I'm hoping that the SIMPLE, UNDEBATEABLE FACT that he was and is not the most qualified person to man the position for LSU will suffice... Take off your glasses and look at it objectively, instead of subjectively... Skip Bertman isn't a good Athletic Director. His PR moves-from the Sugar Bowl Ticketing Fiasco in which LSU reworked a policy that had been advertised and in place for YEARS at the last minute in order to give preference to TAF members to the RIDICULOUS full page ads "asking pretty please with sugar on top" for fans to improve their behavior (as if fans with unruly behavior read papers, or advertisements in them, much less heed them)-leave so much to be desired it would take a novel to explain to you my distaste for the ridiculously parental-juvenile relationship he seems to address LSU fans with at every turn... I rest my case-however-on the simple fact he is not nor ever was the most qualified candidate. If you believe that, then you are ignorant. I know red55 will like that last sentence...
