johnfredlsu

So many extremes on here (from “set him free” to “euthanize him” to ”his living quarters are perfect and are the biggest of all tigers ever”)...and many of them imagined positions of someone on “the other side.” Y’all get into your political corners (and lash out at some enemy in an opposite corner). You’re so busy defending your tribe that you can’t find a way out—even in thinking about Mike’s cage.

Why not expand what counts as his enclosure in some non-traditional ways? For instance, the Philadelphia Zoo (America’s oldest) is hemmed in by I-76 and railroad tracks. So they built elevated walkways for tigers, primates, etc to move around the zoo and even switch enclosures: Treetop Trail. It provides interest. So, just loop Mike around the PMAC; swing it by that cool beach volleyball court; and build a second, connected enclosure where an imploded natatorium used to be.

quote:

---

TigerOnTheMountain: You’re a foolish racist unwilling to accept the failures of your own race. Instead preferring to not look for solutions, but to live in a never ending cycle of victim hood that demands everyone else accept blame for the perpetrators themselves.

---

Are you assuming I'm not white? What on Earth makes you ascribe a race to me as I make my arguments? L O L. Indeed, this is an example of the aforementioned notion (which you laughed at) that whiteness can do real work in the world—here you have formed an image of me, of my skin color, based on the ideas I have espoused. I NEED you to reflect on how deep that is, how you've done this so easily and unabashedly.

Or were you assuming I'm white and were pointing out that it is people like you who fail to accept what white folks have done and continue to do (as you do now). And it is you who is playing the victim? Because that's what this thread has mainly been about.

quote:

---

Do not fricking twist my words and take them out of context again. The mistakes of the past are in no way a reflection of culture in America currently. Arguing otherwise is yet another example of the failures of your own people.

---

Your own words are revealing. I have twisted nothing. The twists, particularly the twists in logic, sir, are all yours.

And you are very right about at least one thing: Your actions here represent an example of a failure "of [my] own people."

quote:

---

If only this documentary was simply about the institution of football. It’s almost like you didn’t watch.

---

I did watch. And you really just don't get it. Or, actually, I think you DO get it. There's no way to separate the institution of football from the institution of racism on some level. In your mind there's a way to keep them separate, sure. But you can't. That doesn't mean we can't embrace football, though. We can see that football, as an American institution, is complex—like every other aspect of our society.

That said, you can't read this board and not run across some racist ideas that persist in our everyday discourse. Exhibit A is dude who says "racism is over" earlier in this thread. This, plus your own meltdown on here, is just another piece of evidence that race and football have some connective tissue.

I won't change minds on here. But I write to point out that you put your finger on the exact crux of this thread: some of y'all have fragile realities built on whiteness (which I can't fully fault you for because it's been passed down for generations)—and any shred of evidence that whiteness is at work threatens everything you hold dear (your words, not mine).

Meanwhile, you use tactics to shift the discussion away from your worldview (i.e., suggesting that I didn't watch), a worldview which is exactly what you feel is attacked here and which you really need to work through (my rephrasing, not yours).

quote:

---

If you can’t figure out that an hour long documentary entitled Anglo-Saxon Supremacy that proceeds to showcase white journalists telling you that everything you hold dear is wrong and detrimental to blacks

---

Bro. Statements like this are stunning and telling: Some folks really can't acknowledge the important, traceable thread of racism in an American institution like football without feeling they'd have to acknowledge that everything is wrong with it? They really can't separate out that, yes, there has been wrong done...and then see that, yes, we as a society, as a group of football fans can do better?

If anyone watching that documentary feels everything you hold dear is implicated...wow.

quote:

---

Georgia and Auburn both have much better bands than LSU. It wasn’t always this way. They’ve caught up to us and passed us since Wickes and Moorhouse left.

---

I haven't seen Georgia lately but when I went to the LSU / Auburn game two years ago, the Auburn band sounded and looked like Tiger Band used to. LSU should hire Spurlin. Or maybe Hanna. I haven't seen Texas march since 2002, though.

LSU looks and sounds like a poorly rehearsed high school band these days, at least based on the videos the band staff puts out. I'm not saying that to disparage current or recent members. I know how incredible the Tiger Band experience is and how much work it takes. But it's clear that the band leadership (I'd argue under King AND Llinas) just wasn't producing drill that was well executed (whatever the style) or sound that knocked your socks off (especially now).

While I think this thread is silly and unnecessary, I have to admit that I derived a lot of joy from:
(1) downvoting a bunch of dumb posts (e.g., "a symbol that I idolize and drape myself in is MORE AMERICAN than civil protest and civic discourse"; "if you disagree with me and believe we should improve the lives of our neighbors, YuO sHouLd JuSt LEAVE because my life is great and nOtHiNG should EvAR CHaNgE") and
(2) seeing that I wasn't alone on this board.
:usa:

This thread didn’t age well...

quote:

---

You don’t have enough Xs for track and field.
Women’s track and field could be described as one of the most dominating sports in the history of the NCAA from the late 80s to the 2000s.

---

Read the post. And scroll up and reason previous posts. Would've taken less time than writing your post and hitting submit.

I posted the counts with track in this thread and was responding to another poster who stated that Alleva shouldn't be blamed for low NC numbers because ultimately Skip was responsible for letting Henry leave and any potential future NCs with him.

quote:

---

Alleva just wanted to be competitive and not win national titles.

---

To put things in context further:

1930s: 2 (1 boxing, 1 M outdoor)
1940s: 4 (4 M golf, 1 boxing)
1950s: 2 (1 football, 1 M golf)
1960s: 0
1970s: 0
1980s: 6 (2 W indoor, 3 W outdoor, 1 M outdoor)
1990s: 19 (4 baseball, 6 W indoor, 8 W outdoor, )
2000s: 13 (2 baseball, 2 football, 3 W indoor, 2 M indoor, 3 W outdoor, 1 M outdoor)
2010s: 1 (1 M golf)

For visual summary:

1930s: XX
1940s: XXXX
1950s: XX
1960s:
1970s:
1980s: XXXXXX
1990s: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
2000s: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
2010s: X

Thanks, Joe...

I'll agree! Maybe I was spoiled as an undergraduate during this time.

A few more details though:
- Football is king, and 2000s was most successful decade for sure.
- 2000s was only decade with 3 Men's Basketball SEC championships.
- Baseball went to CWS once every 2 years on average (5 out of 10 years) in the 2000s—and won titles in 2 of those 5 trips.
- Technically, more total national championships in the 1990s, 19 (baseball and track) compared to 13 (football, baseball, and track), as well as more SEC championships in 1990s, 33 compared to 26. **As AustinKnight pointed out, we only won 1 national title in the 2010s under Alleva.
- Women's Basketball was at an elite level in 2000s, achieving two important firsts: WBB Final Four in 2004 and SEC champions in 2005—but hasn't had an SEC championship or Final Four in the decade since.
- Softball is a little more mixed: first of 2 trips to Women's College World Series in 2000s in contrast with 4 total in 2010s; compare this to 4 SEC season championships and 4 SEC tournament championships (8 total!) in 2000s...and 0 SEC championships in the decade since. So, softball seems to struggle to win conference championships in 2010s but has had more NCAA success than in 2000s.
- Gymnastics was just starting to become elite, reaching its first ever Super Six in 2008.