MatthewBunch

C.J. Holton cleared. Most around the program are expecting for the non-Prep School guys to eventually clear out.

UPDATE: Just looked up Brandon Marti, he cleared too. Some might be injury issues.

Good lord, I'm not trying to rile up the LSU fanbase. Did you read my previous post?

Nothing is directed at LSU. I would actually say LSU is my favorite SEC team; they're fun to watch. Managing to do what you've done in this decade is very hard to do, and that will soon pay off in being listed among the biggest programs in the country. But it takes sustained winning and time.

And the post wasn't really even about LSU! It was about Snoop Dogg!

Should I bring a kevlar vest before I start writing?

I'm the writer of the blog that got excerpted and linked, a.k.a.: dork, tool, little-man syndrome victim, arrogant a-hole, self-important a-hole, moron, certified moron, idiot, worm and McLovin (which I think cut the deepest, although after comparing photos, it's not too far off base).

I really didn't mean to insult or diminish LSU in any way. You guys are clearly the dominant force in the modern BCS era, and two crystal footballs can attest to that. But I think (and I'm speculating here) when you would ask 100 random people name the five most famous programs in college football, LSU probably wouldn't be in as much as a Notre Dame, USC, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan or Miami. It's just that your "winning tradition," being known as a perennial national championship threat, is too new. Once you get it, it's hard to lose (see Notre Dame), but it's hard to get your foot in the door. I'm sure that in the near future, like Miami did in the '80s, you'll crack through that ceiling.

I also didn't mean to imply that just because you aren't directly connected to LSU doesn't mean you can't be a fan. I oversimplified in the explanation, but I'm talking mainly about fans who picked up the team in the modern era, like many Boston Red Sox fans recently or Miami fans in the late '80s. Obviously if your grandpa has been following the Tigers for decades, you have a legitimate claim. I mean, don't you guys dislike bandwagon fans? I figured LSU fans would have been irked by the Snoop Dogg situation.

Also, like I said in the post, I have no problem with Snoop wanting to meet with Les Miles. He's probably the most interesting character in college football right now, and also knows a thing or two about football. Snoop being a youth football coach, I get why he would want to meet. But if I were a USC fan, I wouldn't want to see someone I thought as a big-time fan yukking it up in front of the cameras after a pre-planned stunt with a coach who leads a team that I thought owned a tainted championship (I'm not saying it's tainted, I'm just saying that a USC fan would feel that way). The Snoop thing could wind up being a big deal in recruiting, and if I'm a Trojan, I want it heading my way.

I do feel that if you're from Michigan and you decide to become a South Florida fan that you are a crummy fan. Why weren't you a fan of theirs two years ago. Now, I wished South Florida well this past season, and was interested in their success, but I'm not burning my jerseys and getting USF gear. You shouldn't just arbitrarily pick a team because they start winning; that's the definition of bandwagon-jumping, and it looked like what Snoop was doing.

I would like to slip on my Sebastian head for a second and defend Miami. We do have a longer tradition than most people realize. We were founded in 1928, but were regularly ranked in the late '50s and early '60s, including a couple of top-10 finishes. George Mira and Ted Hendricks were pretty big in the pre-U era. Also, you haven't quite gotten to where Miami was in the '80s. Still got plenty of time, but three in a decade is pretty hard...and I think the future looks pretty bright.

I look forward to playing LSU in a big bowl sometime in the near future (hopefully with a better game than the 2005 Peach Bowl. Good luck, and beat Florida's arse this year.