Last night was Coach Saban's last radio show of the season. It's broadcast from Superior Grill in B.R., and the crowd that was gathered for it was the largest crowd of the season, according to co-host Jim Hawthorne. As many of you know, most of the hour-long show is devoted to Saban taking phone calls from Tiger fans. Near the end of the show, Saban got a call from his house, where he and his wife had hosted 15-20 Tiger players for dinner. The first player who got on the line was Ken Allen. The audience erupted! Ken Allen said he was waiting for Coach to come back to the house (Saban had left his house in order to do the radio show), because Allen had already beaten everyone else who'd challenged him at pool, and he was waiting to dust off the coach. Saban laughed heartily, then said "All I know is I beat you the last two times we played, " to which Allen replied, "Who beat you 13 times before that!?" Then Allen said there was one more Tiger who wanted to say hi on the phone. There was a brief pause, and then the Tiger says, "Hey coach it's Bradie James." The crowd erupted again in a huge round of applause! Bradie didn't say as much, just that the team was looking forward to the game Friday. The crowd cheered loudly again. As many of you know, both of Bradie James' parents died within a short span of each other, a couple of years ago. Ken Allen lost his Dad before his LSU career began, and his brother died recently as well. As far as LSU Tigers go, Bradie is without question one of the all-time greatest Tigers to ever don the Purple and Gold. He is academic all-SEC, he's a Butkus Award finalist, and he'll make every season-ending All-America team there is this year. More importantly, he is a super person. Ken Allen is a team captain, admired by all his teammates, and is a great example of a player who suffered injuries, but kept on persevering. And with Thanksgiving here, it was heartwarming to hear Ken and Bradie calling Coach Saban from Saban's home. I've posted a link to a story written earlier this year about Bradie. Bradie and Ken, you are the best! Happy Thanksgiving Tiger fans http://www.thetowntalk.com/html/941...2F7F73179.shtml
Great post! Great human interest story! It's nice to read about men that make the choice to get that education and persevere in the face of adversity! We will miss Bradie James and Kenderick Allen next season. Let's hope they go out on a winning roll!!! GEAUX TIGERS!!!
