Did Jim Hawthorne take a fall so Patrick Wright Could Get His 15 Minutes?

A lot of LSU fans have given Jim Hawthorne a lot of grief over the years (myself included), but Hawthorne is one of the nicest people you could possibly meet. I believe Hawthorne could have waited a month to have his surgery, but he wanted Patrick Wright to get his taste of the big time, stepping down and allowing Wright to perform play-by-play duties for this year's game of the century, the LSU-Alabama game.

Patrick Wright has paid his dues to the LSU Sports Network, covering Softball and Women's Basketball and lent his voice to Sunday Night Live as well. Wright was recently passed over to be Voice of the Tigers to some broadcaster from Georgia Southern. This may have been fair or unfair, and although Hawthorne never vocally expressed his displeasure regarding Wright being passed over, he instead allowed him the opportunity to call one of the biggest LSU games in four years. A game that Wright deserved to call, and called very well.

Jim Hawthorne. Class act.