Les Miles Rant, On the biggest BCS blockbusting day of the college football season, LSU Coach Les Miles took center stage and spotlight.
Sure, Stanford and Baylor rocked the BCS world with upsets of unbeatens Oregon and Kansas State, but right along with that, folks across the country were muttering "Did you hear what Les did this time?"
Miles' emotional post-game rant following LSU's 41-35 victory against Ole Miss was full of spit and vinegar - and one profanity - formed by the confluence of a thrilling victory, the home finale/Senior Day experience, and Miles anger at a newspaper story about one of his players' failure to live up to his recruiting hype.
It was a classic Les Miles moment for the man nicknamed the Mad Hatter and to whom a website called "The Quotable Les Miles" is dedicated to collecting and dispensing his greatest utterances. They've suddenly got a lot more fresh, quality material.
The video went viral hours after the game. No text representation could do it justice buthere are some of the highlights:
"Wasn't that 89 yards, the Billy Cannon route? Wasn't that really the same route? Honest to Pete, somebody needs to check that out, where the route was, where the cuts were, that sideline period, right? 'Cause 89 the same time. Was it the same night? Is this Halloween? I was on a roll there for a while. Damn."
"Just so you know I'm proud of those men, how frickin' easy it would have been to say it's their (Ole Miss') night," he said. Miles followed that with a repeat of "how frickin' easy" except that he used the obscenity for which "frickin'" is often substituted. He immediately followed with "excuse my language."
"Spectacular group of men. You go find them, you throw your arms around them, you give them a big kiss on the mouth - if you're a girl.
"Wow! What a game, are you kidding me? When Odell Beckham is going. . . I felt like a bowler at the bowling lanes. Anyways, questions."
I wasn't even sure where to start untangling all of that.
LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette said calls, texts, emails and Twitter message have been pouring in. Bonnette said veteran ESPN broadcaster Bob Ley on SportsCenter called it "the best post-game sound bite he's heard in 34 years at ESPN," and that ESPN radio and TV host Scott Van Pelt remarked, "That's why I love Les so much."
Bonnette said there haven't been any complaints about the obscenity, which was not clearly audible on first listen and was spoken with Miles' wife and two daughters in the room. Bonnette said he wasn't expecting any form of reprimand from LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva for Miles.
"He regrets saying that word, obviously," Bonnette said. "But he already made his apology."
We shouldn't be surprised by Miles' explosion. We are, but then, actually, we aren't. We just never know when it's going to happen, like one of his patented trick plays that catch everyone off guard, not just in timing but in daring.
No one knew Miles liked to eat grass until TV cameras caught him doing it. This is the man who in 2007 took ownership of the phrase, "Have a great day!" (with emphasis on "great") at the close of a similarly impassioned address where he explained that he was not leaving LSU for Michigan on the morning of LSU's SEC Championship Game victory against Tennessee. You can't repeat that phrase anywhere in Louisiana without getting a smile, a wink, or a knowing nod. He owns it now.
Sometimes, it seems, the portal from Miles' brain to his mouth can't quite handle the traffic. Words tumble out like Scrabble letters poured onto a tabletop and waiting to be arranged into something coherent.
But Miles' latest rant is also a reflection of his spontaneity, triggered in this case by his love and devotion to his players. In a world where coaches' comments, post-game and otherwise, become more and more carefully scripted, dull, and far less than insightful, Miles puts a refreshing pizzazz and fun back into a kids' game, even if we don't see it coming and can't always make sense of what he says.
Sure, Stanford and Baylor rocked the BCS world with upsets of unbeatens Oregon and Kansas State, but right along with that, folks across the country were muttering "Did you hear what Les did this time?"
Miles' emotional post-game rant following LSU's 41-35 victory against Ole Miss was full of spit and vinegar - and one profanity - formed by the confluence of a thrilling victory, the home finale/Senior Day experience, and Miles anger at a newspaper story about one of his players' failure to live up to his recruiting hype.
It was a classic Les Miles moment for the man nicknamed the Mad Hatter and to whom a website called "The Quotable Les Miles" is dedicated to collecting and dispensing his greatest utterances. They've suddenly got a lot more fresh, quality material.
The video went viral hours after the game. No text representation could do it justice buthere are some of the highlights:
"Wasn't that 89 yards, the Billy Cannon route? Wasn't that really the same route? Honest to Pete, somebody needs to check that out, where the route was, where the cuts were, that sideline period, right? 'Cause 89 the same time. Was it the same night? Is this Halloween? I was on a roll there for a while. Damn."
"Just so you know I'm proud of those men, how frickin' easy it would have been to say it's their (Ole Miss') night," he said. Miles followed that with a repeat of "how frickin' easy" except that he used the obscenity for which "frickin'" is often substituted. He immediately followed with "excuse my language."
"Spectacular group of men. You go find them, you throw your arms around them, you give them a big kiss on the mouth - if you're a girl.
"Wow! What a game, are you kidding me? When Odell Beckham is going. . . I felt like a bowler at the bowling lanes. Anyways, questions."
I wasn't even sure where to start untangling all of that.
LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette said calls, texts, emails and Twitter message have been pouring in. Bonnette said veteran ESPN broadcaster Bob Ley on SportsCenter called it "the best post-game sound bite he's heard in 34 years at ESPN," and that ESPN radio and TV host Scott Van Pelt remarked, "That's why I love Les so much."
Bonnette said there haven't been any complaints about the obscenity, which was not clearly audible on first listen and was spoken with Miles' wife and two daughters in the room. Bonnette said he wasn't expecting any form of reprimand from LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva for Miles.
"He regrets saying that word, obviously," Bonnette said. "But he already made his apology."
We shouldn't be surprised by Miles' explosion. We are, but then, actually, we aren't. We just never know when it's going to happen, like one of his patented trick plays that catch everyone off guard, not just in timing but in daring.
No one knew Miles liked to eat grass until TV cameras caught him doing it. This is the man who in 2007 took ownership of the phrase, "Have a great day!" (with emphasis on "great") at the close of a similarly impassioned address where he explained that he was not leaving LSU for Michigan on the morning of LSU's SEC Championship Game victory against Tennessee. You can't repeat that phrase anywhere in Louisiana without getting a smile, a wink, or a knowing nod. He owns it now.
Sometimes, it seems, the portal from Miles' brain to his mouth can't quite handle the traffic. Words tumble out like Scrabble letters poured onto a tabletop and waiting to be arranged into something coherent.
But Miles' latest rant is also a reflection of his spontaneity, triggered in this case by his love and devotion to his players. In a world where coaches' comments, post-game and otherwise, become more and more carefully scripted, dull, and far less than insightful, Miles puts a refreshing pizzazz and fun back into a kids' game, even if we don't see it coming and can't always make sense of what he says.
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