This should be required reading for all LSU fans

Discussion in 'The Tiger's Den' started by SabanFan, Jan 21, 2004.

  1. McubedLSU

    McubedLSU Founding Member

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    bah humbug. I'm just glad that I can die now. Wait not yet, I want to be able to tell my kids that I was at the game and how it was the best weekend of my life.

    And the stuff about about the Saints is hilarous. Yeah I've been real upset b/c Haslett took us so far and then let us down. Oh wait maybe b/c we find new ways to lose to the worst teams every year.
     
  2. bayareatiger

    bayareatiger If it's too loud YOU'RE TOO OLD

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    "It is far better to live for a day like a lion than to live one hundred years as a sheep." - Benito Mussolini

    Except for the fact that the man was a class A wacko and deserved his fate, a brilliant quote that sums this up for me.

    The one other flaw is he should have said TIGER.
     
  3. Bengal B

    Bengal B Founding Member

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    Re: I'm sorry but that post and the......


    quote:
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    I used to say that the 1958 NC was the worst thing that ever happened to LSU.
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    I don't think that SabanFan is unhappy about the National Championships in either 1958 or this year. I was a little kid in 1958 and while I do have vague recollections of being in Tiger Stadium with my Dad for that magic year it did stamp an indelible impression upon my youthful psyche that this was the way things were supposed to be forever. Charlie McClendon kept the LSU program a consistent winner if not an elite program. He was constantly under attack by the fans who expected him to win it all. Mac was one of the better coaches in college football but he was only able to beat Bear Bryant's Bama teams twice. A 7-4 season with the Tigers in the Sun Bowl or 8-3 in the Liberty Bowl brought out the "Help Mac Pack" bumper stickers.

    Bill Arnsparger might have won an NC if he had stayed for a few more years but he didn't. Mike Archer had us all thinking we were on the verge of greatness after a 10-1-1 season with Arnspargers recruits but after that it was mostly downhill for the rest of the 80's and 90's. Curley Hallman was a joke. Gerry DiNardo had us all thinking that the Tigers were on the way back to the top and if he had learned from his mistakes and corrected them instead of sticking with his bad assistants he could have kept his job for at least a couple of more years and Nick Saban would have taken a job somewhere elses. The fact that DiNardo melted down so fast after a promising first 3 years was a blessing in disguise.

    LSU won't win the NC every year. I don't expect them to win in 2004. The defense will be great again but we don't have a proven starter and winner at QB. I hope that one of the redshirt phenoms turns out to be as good as was hyped but even if JaMarcus is All World he still hasn't played a single down and he has a learning process to go through. You can teach fundementals to a player and instill confidence but there is no substitute for experience. I will be pleasantly surprised if LSU comes through the 3 game road trip to Auburn, Georgia and Florida still undefeated. If they do I will start to believe they can repeat as National Champs.

    LSU had very few injuries to key players in 2003 and no season ending injuries. That is not something we can count on every year. LSU came out of nowhere to win the NC much the same way that OU did in 2000 and Ohio State did in 2002. It was a magic year where everything fell into place just right.

    Nick Saban in 4 years has put LSU football among the elite programs that should be in a position to compete for the NC year in and year out. His approach to the game and his work ethic and attention to every detail will put him in the upper echelon of college coaches and in the same league with Bobby Bowden, Joe Paterno and Tom Osbourne in the past. I would put Bob Stoops in that group but Stoops has only had the OU program at that level of excellence for 4 years but Stoops will eventually become a coaching legend too. Same with Jim Tressel of Ohio State and Pete Carroll of USC. Miami's Larry Coker has won one NC but that was with Butch Davis's recruits. Can he keep it up or will he fade like Barry Switzer did with the Cowboys after winning a Superbowl with Jimmy Johnson's players?

    Right now the top 3 college football programs are LSU, OU, and USC. Miami and Ohio State will be up there year in and year out. Bobby Bowden is in his mid 70's. Can he put Florida State back to that level? His septagenarian counterpart Joe Paterno is fading fast. Georgia's Mark Richt has the potential of taking the Dawgs to that level but so far he has had only one great year. If Ty Willingham dosen't get Notre Dame back to the elite level very soon he will be history and the Irish with all their money will hire somebody who will. Michigan will always be near the top but I see them always falling just short of the top with Lloyd Carr. There will be teams that challenge for the thone for a year or two the way Virginia Tech did when they had Michael Vick but who will slowly sink back into mediocrity when their superstar is gone.

    Sooner or later Nick Saban will answer the challenge of the NFL but for as long as he stays at LSU we have the best coach in college football and we can expect to be in a position to challenge for the NC year in and year out. Lets all enjoy the ride while it lasts.
     
  4. Sourdoughman

    Sourdoughman TigerFan of LSU and the Tigerman

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  5. tiger fan 2001

    tiger fan 2001 Founding Member

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    BINGO!! I don't feel I am wrong as a fan not to won't More top 5 years than top 10. If we don't get to the NC or top 5 every year I won't run and hide. But if we are consistantly in the lower part of the top 10 and not in the run for the SEC championship then the 90K plus days will be over, IMO and TV will also disappear.

    Saban even said it " You have to give them something to cheer about"

    Just my view of the world
     
  6. cajdav1

    cajdav1 Soldiers are real hero's

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    Bengal B

    Bengal B that was a long and well thought post but it didn't even come close to addressing what the original poster said and by no means answers the critics who have replied to his post. Simply put, all of the coaches who have follwed McClendon but Anrsparger should have been fired except for maybe Stovall, who had good reason to be fired however he did take the job under very weird circumstances and never really had a chance to implement his own program and hire his own coaches. To not expect us to win regularly and to expect us to be satisfied with 8-4 seasons is wrong. College football is big business and putting 93,000 fans and getting on national T.V. is imperative to the well being of the entire university and to the state. And when you look at the talent that comes out of this state there is simply no reason to accept mediocrity, none.

    Charlie Mac lasted as long as he should have, was a brilliant defensive coach who also was way to loyal to his OC. If you think a Sun Bowl or liberty Bowl appearance every year is ok then I am afraid that you are in the minority. Charlie Mac was forced out because he wouldn't do what was necessary to take LSU to the next level, not just for failing to beat the Bear. His last several years we pretty much lost to all of the good teams on our schedule and beat the bad teams with a big win here and there. I don't think 95% of the LSU fans expect us to win a NC every year but they do expect us to compete for an SEC West title every year and make the SEC CG every 2 or 3 at least, then the NC stuff will take care of itself.

    And if another coach follows Saban and brings us back down to the level of winning 7-8 games every year he should be fired too. To win that many games and then throw in a 10/11 win season every couple of years would be o.k.
     
  7. SabanFan

    SabanFan The voice of reason

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    Re: Re: I'm sorry but that post and the......

    Thank you BengalB. That's exactly what I meant. A lot of younger fans here don't know what it was like back then. LSU had some great teams under Coach Mac and LSU always had winning, successful seasons. But, there were many who had tasted the sweet fruit of a National Championship and just could not be happy with anything less. My main reason for posting Foote's article was to point out that the NC should be enjoyed but don't set the bar at an NC every year. My personal goal for the Tiger's would be to have a team capable of competing for the trophy. I don't want, say, an SEC Championship and appearance in the Fiesta Bowl to be cause for gloom because 2 other teams are playing for the NC.
     
  8. TigersWin!22

    TigersWin!22 Founding Member

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    Here's my 2ยข...short & SWEET!
    That article is about right written by a diehard USL fan that is jealous again of an LSU top notch accomplishment.
    There he goes again trying to bring down the spirits of another successful LSU team, and their fans.:dis:
    :geaux: :lsug:
     
  9. red55

    red55 curmudgeon Staff Member

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    I don't think that any of us who sat through six straight losing seasons under Archer/Hallman are going to be too cocky about the national championship. You can't take the crystal every year, especially in a league like the SEC, where it is difficult to go undefeated.

    All I want is a perennial top-10 team that competes for the SEC title most years and has a shot at at national title from time to time. Pretty much what Charlie Mac gave us for 16 years.

    Unrealistic expectations have choked the football programs at Bama and Florida, with fans grumbling about coaches that were winning! If they don't get 10 wins every year, they are ready to fire somebody.

    On the other hand LSU fan pessimism after all of the losing seasons hurt Dinardo's program and annoyed Nick when he arrived.

    For me finding the balance between unrealistic expectations and undue pessimism is being in the top ten -- every year. If LSU fans can be happy with a consistent top ten finisher, then the championships will come often enough to please us.
     
  10. SabanFan

    SabanFan The voice of reason

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    Good point Red. Case in point: Nebraska
    Foote can hardly be considered a "diehard USL fan" but he's not a big LSU fan either. ULLers were all over his case earlier for referring to Delhomme/Panther bandwagon jumpers as "traitors".
     

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