A cautionary tale for LSU fans/players

This is the 10th year of the circus that is Tennessee athletics. Since 2008, UTk hasn't once reached the 8-win plateau. The Kiffin-Dooley-Jones saga has been well documented.

The basketball program had to fire it's beloved coach for NCAA infractions; its fanbase ran off his replacement despite winning 60% of his games while under NCAA sanctions. HIS replacement was then fired for...yup... NCAA violations at a previous school. They now have a coach who failed to win big while employed at the premier athletic department in the country.

So where did this all begin? Was the firing of Phil Fulmer the carelessly discarded cigarette that inadvertently started the raging dumpster fire in Knoxville?

The answer is "no". UTk Athletics, and the mess they find themselves in is the result of karma--dating back to an incident in 2005:

The #10 volunteers came into Tiger Stadium on a Monday night--the game postponed because of hurricane Rita--and went on to upset the #4 Tigers.

After a stunning comeback victory, UTk players planted their flag in the middle of LSU's field; adding insult to injury as the state was still reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Before leaving the stadium, Coach Fulmer boomed in the locker room "that'll be the last time they underestimate the Tennessee Vols!" Things were looking bright for a program trying to reclaim its places atop the SEC and National pecking order.

Tennessee went on to have their worst season in decades after that game. Though Fulmer would win the East in 2007, the damage had been done and UTk would be forced to pay for their sins many times over the next decade. Their hubris, arrogance, and classlessness from that Monday night is what landed UTk in cellar of the SEC, and nothing else.

So, LSU, this weekend, be courteous to USC fans, wherever the game is played. Players, play hard and humble with good sportsmanship. Fans, Offer up beers and food at the tailgates and understand that this Saturday is an afterthought compared to what some in South Carolina are going through. And before you chant "tiger bait" or launch a piss bomb, take a second to think about where UTk is right now, and that the same thing could happen to you.