LSU football has been a little strange this year.
Many fans’ hopes of a winning season were, like mine, shattered when Jordan Jefferson was suspended from the team. How could we have a winning year without our starting quarterback?
But the opposite happened. Jarrett Lee took over and we won a string of games. Then Jefferson was reinstated, and the Tigers kept on winning.
Now, being the No. 1 team in the nation and sporting a 7-0 record, it wouldn’t seem like fans would have anything to complain about.
But of course, we had to find something. So we did.
It now appears that Tiger fans have declared war on the evil network CBS.
When CBS announced that the LSU vs. Florida game would be the SEC “Game of the Week” with kickoff at 2:30 p.m., Tiger fans lit up CBS’s Facebook page.
If you read The Daily Reveille this Wednesday, you probably saw that Linsey Roach, a fan, was so angry she created a Facebook page titled “LSU vs. CBS.” She thinks it’s “kind of crazy” that the page has more than 2,000 “likes” as of Thursday.
Aside from the fact that the amount of “likes” on a page doesn’t mean much because people “like” things even when they don’t care, the whole “war” against CBS is simply a whiny cry for “LSU tradition.”
The threatening page’s description cites Sports Magazine naming Tiger Stadium “the most feared road playing site in America.” Then it mentions that ESPN named LSU the best pre-game party in America in 1996.
And then it states the Tigers’ night games have been “dwindled to nothingness” by the wicked CBS, and the network has ruined tradition. Talk about a bad argument.
The funniest part is Roach seems to believe CBS actually cares.
“Hopefully, CBS is learning there are some traditions you CAN’T BREAK!” she posted to the page’s wall shortly after it was made.
She posted a slew of similar thoughts onto the wall, inciting other fans to get in to the argument, and Roach told The Daily Reveille she thinks CBS should compromise for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff time.
Sounds nice and all, but unfortunately, this is just a lot of complaining over nothing. Basically: “Wah, wah, wah, our lives suck now that CBS stole our ‘tradition’!”
My question: What tradition are you talking about? Drinking for eight hours instead of four before the game? Is that your ruined tradition? Because that’s the tradition that gives LSU a bad name to the rest of the nation. Wake up earlier.
Traditions are sometimes forced to change — get over it.
And despite the fact the argument is inherently stupid, the SEC has a 15-year contract with CBS, according to The Daily Reveille and numerous readily available Internet sites. Looks like the cry babies don’t understand how to Google search things.
Herb Vincent, associate vice chancellor for University Relations and senior associate athletics director, told The Daily Reveille the University receives an annual average of $4.2 million per year from the contract, which is crucial for success.
The contract also allows CBS first pick for its SEC “Game of the Week” — which, of course, goes to the best game, which are usually played by the best teams. Shocker.
Joe Alleva, Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics, addressed the situation in a broadcast e-mail Tuesday.
He stated games cannot be moved, and if CBS requests a game be moved to the afternoon, the University must move it, essentially informing us that kickoff times are beyond the University’s control.
“Success comes at a price, and in this case the price is afternoon kickoffs instead of night football,” Alleva said.
In the end, Tiger fans will just have to get over their “lost tradition” they continue to complain about. Contracts are contracts — the University doesn’t get special privileges and neither do angry students.
In fact, higher viewership probably plays a factor in the 2:30 p.m. kickoff time. So if there are more viewers, then more people see the Tigers win, and that’s good publicity for the University.
So let’s stop complaining. We should be honored CBS has been making us the “Game of the Week.”
And don’t worry, I’m sure the National Championship will be held at night. You can tailgate then.
Chris Grillot is 20-year-old English and mass communication junior from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_cgrillot.
 
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Contact Chris Grillot at [email protected]