Is it really 2017? Well yes, the calendar says so, but damn it feels a lot like 1997 in the world of sports for the fine fans in the state of Louisiana that cheer for our beloved Saints and Tigers. Was it just a dream or did LSU Football actually win 2 national championships in 2003, 2007 and contend for a SEC championship year after year? Did the Saints really win the Super Bowl in 2010? No way that’s true… it can’t be. After a lifetime of being the laughingstock of the NFL and really all of sports, there’s no way the most pathetic franchise all of a sudden got a hall of fame quarterback and a head coach that were made for each other.
I know I said verbatim during the misery years of the “Aints” that “I’d take 100 years of losing just for one Super Bowl.” Well, it appears that I got exactly what I asked for. I don’t regret saying that at all. That Super Bowl year was indescribable. The city of New Orleans was on cloud nine. Everyone was happy and it was easy to forget the shortcomings of this lovely yet very flawed city. But now, while being tricked into thinking we could still be the dominant Saints, we are a mediocre-to-bad team… and with the structure of the front office, I think it’s just going to get worse. Worse to the point that the brown paper bags will make their triumphant return to the Superdome.
LSU dominance was a hell of a ride too. After years of mediocrity under Gerry Dinardo and his predecessors, LSU made an all-time great hire in stealing Nick Saban from Michigan State. In just a matter of years LSU went from an average, at best, SEC team to National Champions. WHAT? A few years prior to that LSU fans were ecstatic to go to the fucking Independence Bowl. Then Saban leaves. We’re fucked right? We go out and hire Les Miles from Oklahoma State. Who the fuck is that I asked myself. Les Miles, while being an absolute clown, kept the train rolling after Saban left and kept smiles on the faces of LSU fans. And even though Miles was winning games and contending for SEC titles, he was the antithesis of Nick Saban and fans never embraced him.
Tigers fans wanted a hard ass and Miles was a grass eating, clock managing moron that lucked out almost every close game. The luck finally ran out in the last few years and the Tigers weren’t catching the lucky breaks like they had been for years. So what do we do? Fire Les Miles and promote Ed Orgeron. Ed fucking Orgeron. Dude can barely speak English. Yes, he is a hard ass that the fans yearn for. But the man is not a head coach. Dude can barely speak English. It was only supposed to be an interim basis and then LSU would go out and hire whomever we wanted, right? WRONG! The inept AD, Joe Alleva, hires Coach O full time (WITH A $12 MILLION BUYOUT!!!) because he’s a coon ass Louisiana native that the dumb fans of LSU can relate to. Welcome back to the Dinardo years LSU fans. LSU will win some big games here and there but there will definitely be massive bed shits sprinkled in between those nice wins. I’m not saying that LSU can’t recover from this, but it won’t be anytime soon.
While the Saints were getting blown out this past Sunday by the mighty Patriots, the day after Mississippi State completely annihilated LSU, I finally saw the light and realized the years of football success were officially over. I had pondered this before but refused to accept it. I had a discussion with a lifelong friend and fellow diehard Saints fan how this in a weird sick way is somewhat comforting. 2017 is 1997 in Louisiana. It brings us back to our childhood years where we could just brush off the losses and just one big win here or there was the greatest thing that ever happened to us. I am very thankful for the last 15 years or so of successful football from the teams I care for most. It was a dream come true while it lasted, but now we can go back to the dejected conversations we had walking out of the Superdome or Tiger Stadium about how next year will be the year, while knowing full well that’s not the case. Unfortunately, Louisiana, I think those conversations will go on for the foreseeable future. But don’t worry, WE WILL BE BACK! WHO DAT FOREVER AND GEAUX TIGERS!
