My deadline for this season-in-review column was supposed to be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and before the Tigers’ trip to Atlanta and before another Southeastern Conference Championship.
But, just like when like when Mr. Belding ran into Zack Morris causing a season-ending knee injury in “Saved By the Bell,” shooting for the Tigers’ hopes and dreams fell by the wayside in less time than it takes to heat day-old pizza.
Arkansas ripped out the hearts of the LSU faithful and now the Tigers will play the waiting game as the non-Bowl Championship Series bowls determines which teams to select for their respective games.
The season ended like another line from your favorite showgirl and mine — Jessie Spano — (changing a word or two) “I’m so excited. I’m so excited. I’m so depressed.”
Not even Spano’s Keep Alert pills could save the depression from not getting into Stanford or missing out on a chance to go to Atlanta for the SEC Championship.
This ending could have been seen from a mile away with the constant jubilations and letdowns.
The usual cliches like “what goes around, comes around” or “do unto others as you would have done to you” could be uttered throughout southern Louisiana until the Tigers play in a Bowl that will be, in short, a disappointment.
Sure, the win over Florida in “The Swamp” jolted the Tigers into the top 10.
Sports channels and national news outlets splashed Devery Henderson’s miraculous reception to beat Kentucky all over the television set, calling it possibly one of the greatest plays in college football ever.
Even the 24 million Chinese people that Nick Saban said didn’t know the score to the Auburn game probably caught a glimpse of “The Bluegrass Miracle.”
Injuries and disappearing acts plagued the Tigers in the roller-coaster campaign. LSU won some close games and choked in others.
The fact is a trip to the Cotton Bowl or Independence Bowl now rings as sweet to the ear as when your girlfriend kicks you to the curb saying, “It’s not you. It’s me.”
One year of glory may have spoiled the LSU faithful. The preseason hype of SEC West may have jacked up the fan’s expectations.
But this is not the Gerry DiNardo era and anything but a BCS bowl just won’t cut it any longer.
LSU wants to be considered among the nation’s elite. After last season’s run and the recruiting successes, winning isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity.
(Pardon all the Saved By the Bell references. I wrote this after watching the show’s “E! True Hollywood Story.” I expected a more hard-hitting program, more like that bad-girl Shannon Doherty-laden “90210: E! True Hollywood Story.”)