Les Miles is the Ronald Reagan of college football

Many believe Ronald Reagan to be one of the best Presidents in U.S. history. Conversely, Reagan's detractors were considerable and are passionate in their belief that he was a buffoonish intellectual lightweight. Below are some quotes that I found today that are attributed to various political pundits when I googled for criticism of Reagan as being dumb and stupid.



"demonstrated for all to see how far you can go in this life with a smile, a shoeshine and the nerve to put your own spin on the facts."

"The fox, as has been pointed out by more than one philosopher, knows many small things, whereas the hedgehog knows one big thing. Reagan was neither a fox nor a hedgehog. He was as dumb as a stump."

"An amiable dunce"

"Poor dear, there's nothing between his ears."

"His mask of the affable dunce and self-depreciating fathead was a ruse to lull opponents into a false sense of security."

"He may have been dumb, but he wasn't stupid. He had an animal cunning about him that made him as dangerous as a cornered wolverine, and he had the cold, unsympathetic heart of an executioner that allowed him to cause unparalleled suffering and devastation without even the slightest twinge of conscience."

Many believe that Les Miles is one of the best college football coaches of the modern era. Conversely, Miles' detractors are considerable and are passionate in their belief that he is a buffoonish intellectual lightweight. In the aftermath of LSU's stunning come from behind victory over Auburn last night, many are lobbing criticism at Miles that could be very easily interchangeable with the criticisms of Reagan.



"equal parts inspirational believer, calculating tactician, yipping cowboy and unwitting loose cannon."

"a genuine, flabbergasted horrified kind of stunned set in, with most Tiger fans relieved not only to win, but to survive Mr. Toad’s absurdly hazardous driving."

"Les Miles either has the brassiest, heaviest pair in all of college football, or his mind is the size of a peanut. Or maybe both."

"In this the craziest of college football seasons, Les Miles may just be the perfect protagonist. He is quickly establishing himself as the Dennis Hopper of college football -- reckless mad man, certifiable genius or both?"

In keeping with this analogy, I suppose that you could say that last night's decision by Miles to throw into the end zone instead of attempting a field goal as the clock was winding down was his "the bombing begins in five minutes" moment. As an LSU fan, I just hope that Miles gets his "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" moment when it's all said and done in the form of lofting the National Championship trophy over his head in the Superdome on Jan. 7th.

In the event you haven't seen LSU's final drive to win this week's greatest game in the history of college football that has sparked all the controversy, you can view it here...




some rambling overall thoughts on LSU vs. Auburn

i'm still in shock. what a game. i can't stop thinking about it. so much so, that i'm posting something on a sunday night, which i don't think i've ever done in the 300 some odd posts on this blog. god i love college football.



as for my take on the decision by miles to throw into the end zone on that 3rd and 7 with the clock winding down...i would have done the exact same thing. in retrospect, it was a great call but the whole thing, up until the point that byrd caught the pass from flynn and the official signaled touchdown, was mismanaged and a bit inefficient. waaaay too much time was wasted. fact of the matter is that LSU kicker colt david is anything but automatic, especially from 40 yards and especially from the right hash mark, so it was smart to take one shot at the end zone, especially when EVERYONE was expecting them to run to set up the field goal and then use their final timeout to stop the clock.

but what i think everyone is forgetting is that it wouldn't have come down to that in the first place had the coaching staff been more efficient in getting their play calls and personnel changes in earlier in the half when LSU had to burn two of their timeouts in order to avoid penalties. had we had either of those timeouts back we could have stopped the clock before the play, thereby avoiding the possibility of having the clock run out if the pass had been bobbled or if flynn had been sacked. also, in fairness to miles and his coaching staff, whoever was controlling the game clock last night was not LSU friendly. i noticed quite a few times when two or three seconds were run off the clock well after a play had been signaled dead.

to all the auburn fans crying over the spotting of the ball and the lack of instant replay usage on richard murphy's run on third down in that final drive, i have this to say.

you're absolutely right.

it was a bad spot for you and a GREAT one for us. but you know what? your coach could have challenged the spot himself and he didn't.

besides, you guys got one last year on this non-pass interference call that probably cost us the game and a spot in the SEC championship game, a play that we COULDN'T challenge using instant replay mind you! it was our turn to be the beneficiary of a horrible call.



and finally...

FUCK YOU AUBURN! what's captured in this video clip is about the dirtiest move in all of football. it's called an "over/under," a move in which one player engages an opposing player up high and then a teammate comes in and takes aim directly at the opposing player's knees. this is a move designed to intentionally injure a player...SEVERELY. and to think that the victim was LSU star defensive tackle glenn dorsey, a guy who could have went into the NFL last year and have millions of dollars in the bank but came back because he wanted to stay in school and try to win a championship in college. to take this cheap shot and possibly end his football career is disgusting. some sort of disciplinary action should be taken by NCAA officials. i can barely watch this it disgusts me so damn much. thankfully, dorsey's knee suffered only a sprain and he'll recover.



i reiterate, FUCK YOU AUBURN!

i'll be back with more non-LSU football related thoughts on Monday.

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