This past Saturday (Sunday for me) provided the dawn of a new era for LSU. After the Tiger’s embarrassing last minute loss to Auburn due to ignoring the play clock, Coach Les Miles was fired by the Athletic Department. He was a great coach and I suspected that this was going to occur after the loss to Wisconsin. So, a 12 year relationship is done. I wish Coach Les all the best in whatever he does from now. Coach Orgeron has taken over the reigns in the interim. So far, I have been hearing all kinds of talk about a new coach coming in, but Orgeron performed spectacularly in his first game. If he can keep up momentum and defeat Alabama, he might have the final spot.

On to the game. I was impressed by the heart displayed, especially by the two backs, Guice and Williams. The offence, even without Fournette (ankle injury), played smash mouth football. They gained 634 yards, the most against an SEC school in LSU history. On offense, the only issue was with Danny Etling. He was cool in the pocket and performed great. The only criticism was the fact that he has difficulty hitting backs in stride down the field. He has the arm, in fact perhaps too much of it, often overthrowing the receivers. The defense was almost flawless. I particularly want to give a shout out to the D-backs, as I have been very harsh toward them the last few weeks. I saw more man coverage and those guys did fantastic, holding Mizzou to 265 yards (167 passing). Mizzou’s only score was off a gimmick play in the fourth quarter. An excellent recap is here, ironically provided by the Mizzou Network.

It will be interesting to see if this can be replicated against teams with much stronger defenses – Florida next week and in particular, Alabama.

Last night I enjoyed perhaps the second greatest championship game in my memory. The first of course was when the Saints beat the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. I still remember that day. I was living in Chengdu and had to get up at 5:00 in the morning due to the time difference. I went down to a sports bar. I had been watching games on my laptop but I had really bad internet service in the dorms. I ordered a steak and egg breakfast that morning and it was pretty good. I was talking to a man from Iowa when Tracy Porter intercepted the ball with but a few minutes left. That moment will stay with me forever. Decades of shame reversed in a few moments. But, I digress.

The battle between the Ravens and the 49ers was epic. I thought that in the beginning the 49ers had better playing ability, especially with their quarterback, Colin Kaepernick. His speed and passing ability were utterly amazing. However, the Ravens were able to take a large, early lead. At half, I think there was something like a 21 or so point deficit. The Ravens seemingly had it in the bag. After the half, however, the 49ers came screaming back. It basically came down to the wire. In the punt before the end of the game, I want to point out for consistency sake that one of the 49ers defensive players was egregiously held. I think it was pretty damn blatant, but since I was going for Baltimore I will let it slide.

Now about the half-time show. While I am not a fan of Beyoncé, I think that she is a very talented singer. R&B is just not my style of music. Damn nice legs though. Although a lot of people seemed to really like the show, I was left with the question of what did it all mean. This also leaves the question of whether she helped cause the 34 minute blackout with her over use of lighting. I first heard about it on Facebook from my brother, Dougie. Seems that multiple sources are reporting that her rehearsals had caused a similar situation and it was something that the NFL people knew. I don’t know if her show was more powerful than any other or whether this was circumstance stemming from the whole ‘green Super Bowl’ extolled by Herr President. Let the conspiracy theories begin.

Finally, the winner for me in commercials was the Dodge “Farmer” narrated by the great Paul Harvey. The runner up was the Montana land Tide commercial.

http://youtu.be/AMpZ0TGjbWE

This weeks’ events in Louisiana football were bittersweet for me – LSU with its first loss and the Saints with their first win. It really stinks losing to Florida, although it will be much worse losing to those “people” two states over. I really want to gloat to Mr. Cy (my brother’s ex-father-in-law) on Facebook. He is always posting about those menstruating pachyderms. Other than this issue, I have always had a great deal of respect for him. I really want to upset their national ambitions. I would like a SEC team to win the National Championship again, consolidating our football superiority on the rest of the nation, but not Alabama. Saban is the devil, to bring in a Water Boy paraphrase.

For the Saints, it was a great weekend because we finally finally finally won. They had been playing tight with the rest of their opponents but just could not get the W. I have to admit that the defense backs suck more than I can even describe in words. In the 3^rd quarter, they forced me to turn off the game and I didn’t even see the big finish. Rivers (Charger’s QB) was dropping the long ball into his receivers hands all night. Freakin’ depressing. Now, we have that behind us and we can start playing with more focus. Another good milestone for the night was Drew Bree’s passing of Johnny Unitas for the TD streak record. Go Drew!

Perhaps the most surprising team to set the chattering agog in Louisiana was the LA Tech Bulldogs. Normally, these guys are not even on my radar except for the fact Tech is my favorite cousin’s Alma mater. He really likes them. Well, he posted an interesting story on Facebook that I will link here: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf–unconventional-attack–la–tech-runs-high-flying-offense-through-its-center–not-qb.html. I, along with a great many other fans, wish we had this offense. Damn straight.

On a positive non-football note, I got to hang out with the Moak boys for some Conference watching. It was uplifting as always. Just have to see if I can actually incorporate some of it into my life. No so easy all the time. :-(

Among the ancient Aztecs of what is now Mexico there was a belief that if the god Huitzilopochtli was not given strength through human sacrifice, the world would end as the god no longer had the power to hold back the sun. As each human was slaughtered, Huitzilopochtli was satisfied and all the world settled in its proper order. Today, my world was once more set in its proper order by the defeat of the Alabama Crimson Tide by my beloved LSU Tigers, 9-0. For another year, I was able to look upon the anguished faces of my enemies and taste the sweet flavor of their defeat. I rejoiced! Satan…I mean, Saban, was sent back to Hell…I mean, his locker room for another year to console his team, surrounded no doubt by downcast eyes and the occasional sniffle. Let them tears roll.

The game itself was too exciting for me. My blood pressure shot up through the roof and at one point thought I might have a heart attack. The LSU defensive plays by Mo Claiborne and Eric Reid were able to stop the drives of Alabama. What the game really settled on was field goals. Come on, Saban. You have the best defense in the country and a good offense, yet you cannot find a man to kick the damn ball. Glorious! Four missed field goals (one in OT) and a blocked one do not a National Championship team make. The gameball goes to Wing and Alleman for their golden feet.

Seriously, Alabama has a great team. If they had fixed their special teams issues, I would have been the one crying tonight. Oh well, them’s the brakes.

Football on Sunday was a study in what the hell happened. The Saints played like a decent team, but not the one that we had come to expect. The Rams played like the Saints usually do. Brees had 30 completions for 44 attempts. They had possession of the ball almost as long as St. Louis. Total yards were about 30 less than the Rams. Offensively, they had 2 interceptions and the most difficulty running the ball that I had seen this year. The Rams’ back-up quarterback ate up our defense and so did Jackson, their running back.

Why the loss? I tend to put the blame on Sean Peyton having to coach from the booth. Intellectually, I know this is not the real fault as other coaches have done well and this is a well-oiled machine. The game versus the Colts is a witness to that. Emotionally, I feel that they expended too much energy on the Colts and had nothing left over. A zero sum game as it were.  My roommate feels that it was a secret agreement between Tom Benson and the Rams’ owner to give it to the Rams so that the Cardinals are not the only winning team in the Gateway to the West. Maybe, maybe not. I usually don’t tend towards conspiracy theories, but maybe Brees or some player inadvertently insulted a Voodoo Queen before game day. Whatever happened just needs to be fixed.

As a friend noted on Facebook, the Aints showed up but left the S behind.