Who should really be in the BCS Title Game

Here's my involvement with the conversation on the BP thread Famous Alumni thread, just for fun

JohnLSU:
I don't know of any LSU grads in recent decades that would be a national household name. The only recent people I know from Louisiana that would be national household names are Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Peyton Manning and Terry Bradshaw. Spears never went to college. DeGeneres went to the Univ. of New Orleans (but I don't think she graduated). I don't know if Manning ever considered LSU being that his dad played for Ole Miss (and there was an especially bitter LSU/Ole Miss rivalry at the time), but Bradshaw wanted to come be our QB. The only reason he wasn't able to was because his SAT scores were too low. He had to go to Louisiana Tech instead.

TigerKid05:
Shaq, David Toms, Joe Addai, Pete Maravich, Bob Pettit, Paul Byrd, Joey Belle, Ryan Theriot, and Mike Fontenot should all be household names to the average sports fan which I assume, most everyone on this board is and that's just a few who went to LSU. Another big guy who went to LSU that many sports fans can thank is Dr. Jimmy Andrews. He's fixed up so many famous athletes over the years, for example, a certain, Jack Nicklaus. Look him up.So JohnLSU, I've given you some household names that we are proud of. I mean serious, Britney Spears? For the record, Kentwood, LA is really close the Mississippi border so we'll just give them that one. Also, chances are when you pay those ridiculous price at the pump, a few pennies of that go right in the pocket of a few LSU grads who run some oil companies here and there. Example, Marathon Oil is run by a LSU boy....and I'm spent. All because of that Britney Spears reference.

JohnLSU:
Yeah, poor Britney. She was on top of the world not too long ago, I remember Louisiana people were so proud to claim her, rumors of her going to LSU and enrolling in sorority rush excited the multitudes. And now her own state doesn't even want to claim her (and yes, she is pretty much Mississippi, being that she was born there and then raised--as a Baptist even--a few miles away in a town that just happened to fall on the Louisiana side of the border). But as for national household names, you pointed out a good one that I didn't think of -- Shaq. He's a straight-up LSU grad that everybody has heard of. I even got the privilege of seeing him play at LSU (we had the Shaq-o-meter that registered the crowd noise whenever he dunked, it was awesome). But as for Pete Maravich and Bob Pettit, they are way too old to be considered names that everybody has heard of. As for David Toms, Paul Byrd, Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, and Jimmy Andrews -- I have absolutely no idea who those people are. Joey Belle I have heard about (he played baseball), but he wasn't such a mind-blowing-unbelievable superstar like Terry Bradshaw or Peyton Manning that he would be considered a household name that everyone in the US has heard of. Same thing with Joe Addai -- I didn't list him for the same reason I didn't list Louisiana boy Marshall Faulk -- I don't think they are big-time enough to be considered "national household names" (a term I thought would have been understood as meaning "people who everyone has heard of, whether they are average sports fans or not").

GeauxTigers:
Yeah sports wise Shaq is easily our most famous alum. I'd say a lot of people who are into sports probably know Maravich and Pettit, those are big names. We've recently become an NFL factory and there are a ton of LSU guys doing well in the NFL... and if Dorsey gets picked first we'll have back to back number 1 overall picks. Some of these guys are probably going to end up being big time superstars down the line and become famous LSU alumni. Also Faulk should've been at LSU.. He didn't come because they wanted him at CB and he wanted RB I think. So dumb on the coaching staff's part.

Jaxbuck:
You guys are obviously young so I'll help you out here. Pete Maravich is every bit the "big name" that Shaq is, maybe more. He is an NBA legend, his legacy is something to be very proud of. One of the truely great things about being a Buckeye is the long tradition we have, if you embrace it properly you end up learning about guys who played way before your time and appreciating their amazing accomplishments. My absolute favorite part of being born a Buckeye is that I'm part of something that was going on for 90 years before me and will go on for my kids and grandkids long after I'm gone. LSU may not have done as much winning back in the day but you guys have been at it a long time and done some great things(who else has played a game in Cuba?). I'd suggest developing an interest in your schools great history, it will add to your overall enjoyment of the current times, trust me.

JohnLSU:
It's true. LSU wanted him as a DB (I'd assume S), whereas the NM State Aztecs (I think that was the college he went to) made him feel more comfortable about being used as a RB, so he went there. But yeah, I'll never get how that one went down like that.

tryus:
John...he went to Sand Diego State. And Pistol Pete is a legend and one of the more fascinating athletes ever.

JohnLSU:
Yes, Maravich is obviously a much bigger historical name than Shaq. At LSU we named our basketball arena the "Pete Maravich Center" (aka "the P-Mac"). And yes, when I'm on LSU's campus, I love pointing out to people that the old-looking agricultural arena was actually our old basketball arena where Pistol Pete played while at LSU back in the 60's. As for our football history, sure, we have nothing like the insane history of greatness that Ohio State has, but LSU has had a fine football history of its own. Like I added to our wiki page: LSU "has consistently been one of the most successful programs in the nation since it began playing football in 1893. LSU entered the 2007 season with 680 victories, the 12th most in NCAA history, and the 4th most of any SEC team, behind only Alabama (784), Tennessee (762), and Georgia (704). LSU also entered the 2006 season with a 0.635 all-time winning percentage, the 16th best in the NCAA, and the 4th best in the SEC, behind only Alabama (0.712), Tennessee (0.697), and Georgia (0.642)." Oh, and we aren't the only school to play in Cuba, Auburn and Villanova played each other there in 1936. But we were the first team to do it (1907). Also, we played against a Cuban university (Havana Univ).

tyrus:
LSU footbal greats include Jim Taylor and YA Tittle. Steven Soderbergh is a top director (Oceans 11-12-13). And John, Albert "Joey" Belle was a pretty big name in baseball, espescially in Ohio.

JohnLSU:
What about QB Bert Jones, he was named MVP in the pros. And he had a great run at QB at LSU (unfortunately he didn't become our starting QB until the last few games of his junior season). CB Tommy Casanova was a 4-time All-Pro for the Bengals (1974, 1975, 1976, and 1977), before quitting football in 1977 to go become a doctor. He was probably the best all-around football player at LSU (he returned punts, kick-offs, and even played at running back). He even made the cover of Sport's Illustrated while at LSU (with the headline: "Tommy Casanova of LSU, Best Player in the Nation."). In 2000, the Walter Camp Football selected Casanova for their All-Century team, the only LSU player to make it.

Nutriaitch:
Don't forget Billy Cannon, he's probably the best couterfeit money maker either of these 2 schools have to offer.

JohnLSU:
Cannon is a trip: he's the only LSU player in history to receive the most votes in a Heisman vote. Where is the actual Heisman trophy that they gave him? Not in LSU's Sports Museum, but right off campus in a restaurant that features a great collection of LSU sports memorabilia.
Everybody's All-American (1988) was a movie filmed on location at LSU about a Heisman winner from "Louisiana University" who goes on to a pro career, but is sidetracked by various misjudgments in his life. The main character is loosely based on Billy Cannon -- the movie is set in the late 50's, and in the movie, the main character leads the "Louisiana University" to a national championship, just like Cannon did for LSU in the late 50's. Oh yeah, the main character in the movie wears #20, just like Cannon.

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It was obvious sarcasm. Anybody who read the thread (without being blinded by fury at me) would have clearly realized that. That was one of my first, if not my first post on BP, and the green "good reputation" mark I got immediately got from it stated: "nice satire." And if anybody read the preceding conversation I was responding to in the thread, they would also have clearly realized how that post was one of my very first (and finest) backhanded slap-in-the-faces I gave to the Buckeyes there.

Why else would my post have gotten these two immediate replies from two moderators:

Steve19
Thanks, John. Er, listen, we were like pleased to help you guys out with a little mild smack, what with you all being visitors and all and knowing all about Southern hospitality personally for the last six months, but you're gonna have to find a place that hasn't previously been fished so intensively by Tibor76 to fish like that. This here pond has been all fished out...

DaddyBigBucks
There are now more than 1/2 a dozen threads to talk about the game or about strategy or about opinions of opinions. This thread is for Bulletin Board material provided by THE MEDIA for Ohio State. That is this thread's only reason for being. Those of you who are LSU fans and are too narrow-focused to see that the media is providing far more of this for OSU than they are for your team; find or start a similar thread for your team on an LSU site. Those of you who are LSU fans who think that we Buckeye fans are making too much of this; perhaps you should read the thread, but please don't post in it until you have. The overwhelming majority of the Buckeye fans on this site realize that, as little as we care about the media "bias" (personally, I think "laziness" is a better word, but that's a different topic for a different day), said 'bias' does motivate the players. They have said as much themselves. We therefore thought it would be nice to have a repository for this information that is of no importance or use to us whatsoever except for whatever small motivation it might afford the Buckeyes. Well, there's that and the fact that we find media stupidity to be ever so amusing.

Yes, I realize that there have been a few Buckeyes who have expressed frustration with the media in this thread and elsewhere. Those fans are the exception to the rule, but I will not bash them because I remember what it was like to be 16.

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Those of you on each side who wish to talk smack -- find another site of any kind. Please don't do it here.

And here is my reply back to DaddyBigBucks:

This thread is titled the "Official BCS-CG Bulletin Board Thread," that is, the Official BCS-Championship Game Thread. Yet, you say this thread's purpose is not "to talk about the game," but that "this thread's only reason for being" is for posting anti-Ohio State opinions by the media because "We ... thought it would be nice to have a repository for this information" because of the "motivation it might afford the Buckeyes."

Can the title of this thread be changed?

If so, I suggest a title such as "Repository of Anti-Ohio State Media Opinions for the Purpose of Motivating Our Team." Or something to that nature.

If not, I'd suggest not getting so upset with people who come to this thread thinking that this thread's purpose is "to talk about the game."

 

Thanks for the nice response. As for my sig on how the overconfidence leads to humiliation thing, I strongly believe that. I've been there before as an athlete. I've been whipped by teams that my team and I just didn't think were on our level. And the truth is, those teams that whipped us were not even close to being on our level. But they still whipped us because we didn't respect them. As for LSU fans being allowed to be as overconfident as they want, I'm not cool with that. I view fans as the 12th man. Any fan that doesn't have the right attitude needs to be have their attitude adjusted, just like our coaches do to our players. We as fans are part of the team. You and some other poster above in this thread said y'all won't criticize people for opinions -- yes, in the normal world I don't do that either. This is not real life. This is football. This is war. But I don't mean to scare you. If I get out of line, please email me and let me know. I'll try to be gentle around you.

P.S. As for the rep thing, it's just my personal opinion, but giving anybody a red "bad reputation" mark is a low blow. I personally will never do it to anyone. But, that's just my crazy take on the rep system.

 

Then stop crying about it, would you- before I pop you another one. :hihi:

 

Yes, you were the other person on TF that gave me a red "bad reputation" mark. But that was very honorable of you to go back and delete it. I appreciate it.

 

Ya givin me too much credit John, you can't delete 'em. :wink:

 

here's my .02 john. you post here and claim allegiance to LSU but your posts on BP are thinly veiled jabs at LSU, almost as if you are seeking a pat on the head from the mods there. your sig on TF indicates you are from the "land of the free and the home of the brave" but yet on BP your sig states you are from Columbus, OH.

Columbus is a nice place. the property management company i work for has a property there and i can assure you they are all great people. if i were from there or lived there i wouldn't be ashamed/afraid to say so.

when i read your post about the death threats and the others you posted on BP in context it seemed to me that your intent was to further malign the perception of LSU and its fans for the purpose of being viewed as a "reasonable and enlightened" rival poster. you say it's sarcasm....i failed to see the sarcasm.

i see a bit of the chameleon in you john and that's okay. at the end of the day it's nothing more than opinions. you certainly have a place at the table just as the rest of us do, but remember....keep posting bull$hit and you will get called out.