The Morning After and Pride

For purposes of disclosure, it has been a long time since I have posted on this board. Normally, I am not inclined to post here, but would best be described as a passionate fan and observer of all things pertaining to LSU sports.

Watching the dysfunctional Collins announcement last night on ESPN I was left with a sense of great pride in being a LSU Tiger. I take great pride in our coaches, players and LSU as a whole. With specific reference to LSU (and LSU only), Les Miles and his staff do (1) a fantastic job in evaluating talent (2) recruiting good kids (3) developing the kids recruited (4) instilling a sense of program/family (5) winning ball games and (6) supporting the player’s education.

Les Miles and Nick Saban are men with different styles and personality traits that make each extremely successful. Recruits ultimately find something in these men and their staffs that tip their decision to favor one school over the other. No different in the Collins decision. It is a bummer that the top rated kid in Louisiana chose Bama, but it happens. LSU not only survived, but has prospered following the loss of other top recruits such as Joe McKnight and Trovon Reed.

I think the unfortunate thing is that Collins’ decision was likely made a long time ago and the kid leveraged the intense competition between the schools to heighten the spotlight on his “moment.”
I don’t ever remember a LSU recruit expressing his commitment in the manner or fashion that Collins chose. Ultimately, the manner in which he chose to handle his commitment serves to tell you more about Collins, rather than portray LSU as the loser in this sweepstakes. He is a physically gifted ball player, but history clearly shows that the LSU program will move forward successfully without the silver gloved one.

A couple of thoughts for the Tiger supporters:
1. Stop posting comments hating on the girlfriend as it is classless to do so. As a parent, you wouldn’t want someone referring to your child with some of the disgusting comments made toward the girlfriend.
2. Stop hating on Collins. The kid made his decision and while we may all be disappointed he didn’t stay within the confines of “the boot”, he is gone. Time to move on. It is his decision, he made it. I don’t wish him well or ill will. It only serves to heighten my support (if possible) of LSU.
3. While I appreciate Collins’ mom’s honesty in her expression of support for LSU and Louisiana, she needs to support her son too. The decision was a tough pill to swallow for her, but the level of support demonstrated for her son on national television did not reflect well on her. As a LSU fan, I loved it. As a parent, I found it poor.

In sum, time to move on. There are bigger things at stake on Monday night. Geaux Tigers!