Carville has strong feelings about LSU, BCS situation By SCOTT RABALAIS [email protected] Advocate sportswriter Associated Press photo James Carville When not planning the strategy for his latest political campaign or sparring with conservatives on CNN's "Crossfire" program, James Carville's thoughts often turn to football. He is a passionate defender of the liberal left and passionate about his LSU Tigers. He once said he won't read the Sunday paper after an LSU defeat because "it affects my mood." Carville has only had to endure one such Sunday this LSU football season, and his mood has gotten better and better. That's because his beloved Tigers are ranked No. 2 nationally and in the BCS and will spar with No. 3-ranked Oklahoma on Jan. 4 for a shot at the national championship in the Nokia Sugar Bowl. "This is huge," Carville said last week from his office in the Washington, D.C., area. "It doesn't get any bigger. It's like Haley's Comet since the last time (LSU won a national championship) was 45 years ago." As a young boy, Carville said he was in Tiger Stadium for every home game in 1958 as the Tigers rolled toward their last national championship. Like many LSU fans, Carville was skeptical at first that this LSU team could overcome the disappointments of the last four-plus decades to get into position to win another title. But he's become a believer. "It took me a long time to come to this conclusion," Carville said, "but this is a very good football team. "In 1958 we won, and in 1959, we lost to Tennessee" Carville said, recalling the last time LSU was ranked No. 1. "We were really good in '61. Then (coach) Paul Dietzel made the worst career decision in the history of college football when he went to Army. "Then we got beaten down, and I never thought we'd get here. I thought we'd be doomed to just be pretty good some years. "But now I'm so completely gassed up. I'm off the charts about this." That doesn't mean Carville, a 1970 LSU graduate, is without an opinion on the Bowl Championship Series system that led LSU and Oklahoma to their showdown in New Orleans. While he's thrilled with the result, he's disgusted with the process. "I think the BCS should drop the C," Carville, who is from Carville, said recently on Crossfire. "Because that's what the system is, B.S." Like many college football fans, he longs for a playoff. "No rational person doesn't want it," Carville said. "I want to take the computers, committees and sportswriters out of it. I want to let the football players decide who wins. "They're making college football into figure skating. You're telling me that in a nation like this with the collective wisdom of all the universities we have that they come up with the BCS that lets Boise State beating Hawaii determine the outcome? It's laughable. "I came back (from the SEC Championship Game) and fell asleep on the plane. I wake up the next morning dying to see who won the Boise State-Hawaii game." Boise State's 45-28 win at Hawaii hours after LSU's 34-13 win over Georgia on Dec. 6 in the SEC Championship Game weakened Southern California's strength of schedule to the point that the Tigers slipped past the Trojans and into the Sugar Bowl. USC, though ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN coaches' polls, will play Jan. 1 against No. 4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl. A USC win will likely lead to a split national championship. None of that means Carville isn't looking forward to the Sugar Bowl. He hopes to be there with his wife, Republican political strategist Mary Matalin, and their two young daughters. Matalin graduated from Western Illinois, which LSU beat 35-7 in September. "If the weather is good this is going to be the first game in the history of football where there's more people outside than inside the stadium," Carville predicted. "It'll be a mob scene." Carville often regales his daughters, ages 8 and 5, with tales of LSU's athletic prowess. "I was telling the kids this morning about it," Carville said. "One of my little girls asked me how good we are in football. I said, 'Great. Baseball, great. In basketball, we're kind of like you in math, but we're getting better.'" Though LSU is a touchdown underdog to Oklahoma, Carville said he believes the Tigers can prevail. He plans on putting his Tiger pride where his famous mouth is very soon. "Just watch 'Meet the Press'" next Sunday, Carville said. "We're going to be pushing it (LSU football) hard here." If Carville's campaigning can do for LSU what it did for former President Bill Clinton -- Carville ran his first presidential campaign in 1992 -- then the Sooners might be in for a hard time in The Big Easy.
Speaking of J. Carville, as my girlfriend and I was leaving the Georgia Dome, we spot Carville walking right in front of us. I took the opportunity to introduce myself and jokingly ask him if he could lobby some 1# AP votes for LSU. Well, after he stumbled back onto the sidewalk(he was hammered), he replied," I don't think LSU needs any help after tonight." I must say, it was refreshing to hear a democrat make sense out of something.
he is a freaking bleeding heart liberal idiot and i wish he would have gone to Ball state or Queer u or some crap he is a weasel and undermines the decent moral fabric of this country. One of the embaressments of LSU. he loves Clinton and anything to do with liberalism. he is a disease. I wish I would have seen him at a game. I would have rolled him in a ditch for Trent Lott and George Dubyah LOL he is slime. bleah.
If you think he is bad, you should read Cottonbowl's posts on the capture of Saddam. He makes Carville look like Pat Buchanan. You would think Saddam is a victim, and the whole genocide thing is totally made up.
Hell of a campaigner, though...and ease off a little--the guy is talking here purely as a Tiger fan. You need to separate sports and politics.
I agree. While I don't agree with the man politically, I definately agree with him when it comes to LSU! Sports and politics should never mix...unless of course you are Howard Dean, who I'm sure believes that USC not playing in the Sugar Bowl is a right-wing conspiracy led by President Bush.
