a nice article about "Leslie Edwin Miles". Jan. 2, 2008 By Dennis Dodd CBSSports.com Senior Writer BATON ROUGE, La. -- You've seen him before. He's the guy who flashes across the screen at midnight when the ad rates are cheap, selling you everything from used cars to Ginsu knives. They call him something different in every market. But in this market he's Crazy Les, and he's selling you risk and reward while making it all perfectly sensible. Just like those crappy Japanese knives that slice through soup cans. "I know it may appear from the sidelines that, 'Oh, this guy has lost his mind,' and that might be true," Crazy Les Miles said, "but the truth of the matter is we are operating with a set of circumstances and criteria that are in flux." At some point this season, Leslie Edwin Miles morphed into that midnight carnival barker. The seemingly conservative, tight-lipped LSU coach veered off the tracks onto a dark path that could have easily gotten him roasted on the spit of public opinion. Instead it got him to the BCS national championship game against No. 1 Ohio State. And a warning to the world from LSU's loving hordes: Fear the Hat. A series of decisions that were -- at best questionable, at worst potentially season-ruining -- have defined LSU's season. And they gave us a glimpse of what percolates below that trucker hat now traditionally rocked by Miles on the sidelines. Judge for yourself: http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10554434 Not enough is made of the Miles' guidance of the program through the Katrina disaster. Witless critics want to focus on a 30-27 overtime loss to Tennessee in the 2005 home opener but consider what the man, the team and region had been through. Blowing a 21-0 lead in the middle of that emotional cauldron should hardly be a consideration. Surviving the whims of nature and man, LSU has become one of the powerhouses of this decade. Three SEC titles, two national championship berths, one national championship. Saban started it but wouldn't it be weird if Miles, the ultimate Michigan Man, was the guy who left the lasting mark? By midnight on Monday, we'll know more which seems just about right for Crazy Les.
