Hey, before you judge, they did just beat Auburn.

Les Miles is deliriously happy after his win on Saturday, and who can blame him? It’s a move that no doubt horrified Larry Johnson, but at least Miles didn’t use tongue. (If they beat Alabama, however, all bets are off).

Was that inappropriate? Anyway, following the jump, another dramatic example of an LSU man-on-man football celebration, in video form. Read more…

• The Dallas Cowboys’ brand-new billion-dollar stadium was christened with a plethora of picks, courtesy of Tony Romo & Jerry Jones.

• Seems that the only thing that could possibly slow down the Florida Gators is the dreaded swine flu.

• Sadly, four Gator fans were killed in a small plane crash after returning from Saturday’s game in Gainesville.

• And now some fun video of a Bayou Bengals fan bombed out of his mind.

• An Arkansas high school football coach gets a kick out of never having his team punt.

Read more…

FRIENDS OF THE PROGRAM has some fun vids of LSU tailgaters this season. Like this one:

If he isn’t booked for the next ESPN roast, he soon will be.

Well, the bad news is that Ryan Perrilloux has been suspended for Jacksonville State’s opener Sept. 5. The good news is that now he has some extra time to step up his hunt for Osama bin Laden. Perrilloux, who was jettisoned from LSU due to reportedly failing a drug test (among other transgressions), has not straightened himself out to the satisfaction of his new team, it appears.

Perrilloux was suspended for the Gamecocks’ season-opener at Georgia Tech for “a violation of team rules in the spring,” head coach Jack Crowe said this morning. Just another chapter in the Perrilloux Story, the favorite chapter of which, for me, is when he thought he saw Osama bin Laden serving food at the Kona Grill in Baton Rouge. Read more…

Former LSU tailback and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame yesterday, some 26 years after he was originally selected for enshrinement. The delay happened because months after voted into the Hall of Fame in 1983, he was arrested and pleaded guilty to federal counterfeiting charges. He eventually spent more than two years in jail and had his selection rescinded.

But while the College Football Hall of Fame decided that time heals all wounds, Bradley University apparently isn’t as forgiving. The SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER says the school’s president is refusing to retire the jersey of former basketball star Gene “Squeaky” Melchiorre because of his involvement in a points shaving scandal 60 years ago.

Read more…

Shaquille O’Neal is now a Cleveland Cavalier, and according to this, he found out about the trade via Twitter. So the franchise’s quest to acquire a suitable playmate for LeBron James, not to mention bring the city its first pro sports title in 45 years, seems to be serious this time. And all it cost the Cavs was Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, plus the 46th overall pick in tonight’s NBA Draft. Oh, and the final year of Shaq’s contract at $20 million.

The Cavs have agreed in principle to the trade, according to multiple sources, in what is seen basically as a cost-cutting move by the rebuilding Suns, who will save around $9 million in salary and luxury taxes in the deal. The Suns get $500,000 from the Cavs in the deal, could save even more if Wallace accepts a retirement buyout. The Cavaliers had also been in talks to acquire Tyson Chandler.

So what does this mean for Cleveland? At 37, can Shaq really make a sudden impact? He seems a more natural fit for the Cavs than he did with the roadrunner-like Suns. And Cleveland does need a center.

O’Neal’s addition also provides Cleveland with some much needed size in its frontcourt. The Cavs couldn’t stop Orlando center Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference finals, losing the series in six games and seeing a 66-win regular season and deep playoff run come up short.

O’Neal can still bang inside, which is why Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry tried to acquire him before the trading deadline in February. Ferry and Suns GM Steve Kerr are former NBA teammates and good friends.

Hmm … I wonder if the deal includes the rights to Inflatable Ben Wallace? That would be a sticking point with me, and I’m sure is the reason why they couldn’t get this done before the February trading deadline.

Well, at least Cleveland won’t have to wait long to see who it gets with that No. 46 pick. It’s NBA Draft Day, in case you’ve forgotten. Tall men will be trying on new caps beginning at 6 p.m. EST, and here’s a pretty good live blog in which to track the action. What happens after Blake Griffin goes at No. 1 to the Clippers is anyone’s guess (um, Clippers, please do not blow this), with at least one site’s writers picking Ricky Rubio going anywhere from No. 2 overall to No. 8.

Meanwhile, ping! Paul Mainieri, ping! who was hired by LSU in 2006 to bring the program back to greatness ping! ping! can now claim mission accomplished. LSU beat Texas 11-4 in the deciding Game 3 of the College World Series for its sixth NCAA championship since 1991 and first since 2000 ping! ping! ping!

Sean Ochinko’s two-run single highlighted a five-run sixth for the Tigers. That’s reliever Louis Coleman and catcher Micah Gibbs on the bottom of that pile there.

If you’re the guy who called 911 — twice — to request a police escort to see the Lil Wayne concert, congrats … and welcome to jail. Here are some links to pass the time.

• Lakers’ GM Mitch Kupchak put an end to the rumor that Phil Jackson might only coach home games for the Lakers next season — which was officially the dumbest idea in sports when Jackson floated it earlier this week. “What he said, he didn’t mean it to sound the way it sounded,” Kupchak said. “If he comes back to coach, he will come back and coach both home and away games.” Still to come: A contract in which an athlete only plays in home games. Your move, Scott Boras.

• This is kind of the last thing you’d expect at a Colorado Rockies game in Anaheim, but an off-duty cop shot two men whom he said were attacking him in the parking lot. One got it in the chin and the other in the arm in the incident, in which the cop said he was walking to his car with his wife and two small children.

• NBC chooses ratings over Alex Ovechkin in picking the Philadelphia Flyers to meet the Boston Bruins on New Years Day at Fenway Park.

• The United States’ big 2-0 win over Spain in the Confederations Cup has naturally led message board commenters to … get into a heated debate over which sport is better, soccer or baseball. What?

• Rest easy kids, Brett Favre and the Vikings have reached agreement, and Favre will attend the team’s training camp at the end of July.

• Your two-year project of building a Foosball game with players consisting entirely of Barbie dolls is now obsolete (throws down tools in disgust). Above we have “Barbiefoot” by french designer Chloe Ruchon, created in partnership with Mattel and Babyfoot Bonzini. “Barbiefoot” was part of the DMY youngsters exhibition at DMY Berlin Design Festival ‘09.

• So it’s been seven weeks, and Yao Ming’s broken foot has still not healed. Perhaps he can visit Tom Brady and acquire some of that magical healing pixie dust.

• Free Reign, the heavy metal band made up of Dallas Cowboys linemen Leonard Davis, Cory Procter and Marc Colombo, has signed their first record deal. They’ll be joining the same label as WWE wrestler Chris Jericho’s band, and Y2J seems to know how to deal with concert hecklers.

• Goodbye, Tiger Stadium. We didn’t even get a chance to bid on your rubble. I’m just thankful that Roy Scheider didn’t live to see this.

• Is ex-Laker Rick Fox calling it quits on his basketball broadcast career?

If so, could he bring his sister Jeanene onto the show before he goes?

• This Celtics-Bulls series is turning into an instant playoff classic.

• Trev Alberts: Form the TV analyst’s chair to the athletic director’s chair.

• Tommy Lasorda visits with the troops - but he’s not looking so well.

• Under Armour recalls over 200,000 athletic supporters. Well, ain’t that a shot to the balls.

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The Twitter fad keeps growing & growing throughout the sports landscape. Athletes have used it to talk about getting into near-fights with the local populace, and to just say a simple hello to any fellow diners.

So it was only a matter of time before Twittering made its way into the college football ranks. And coaches are taking notice of the new technology. Like Les Miles, for instance.

Read more…

Today our thoughts and prayers are with former LSU wide receiver Demetrius Byrd who, according to USA TODAY, is in intensive care at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami after an auto accident on Sunday. Byrd was expected to be a mid-to-late round pick in this weekend’s NFL Draft, but all of that takes a back seat to the young man’s health. Byrd, who caught 37 passes for 513 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2008 for the Tigers, was traveling to church of all places yesterday when the accident occurred.

Thankfully, PROFOOTBALLTALK.COM is reporting that Byrd’s condition has stabilized and he is expected to make a full recovery. The NFL could use a player like Byrd, who is known as something of a free spirit and fun-loving personality, as seen after the jump. Read more…

• Some exercising ladies in Utah are working out their chances to make pole dancing … er, “pole fitness” an Olympic sport.

(”London, here we come!“)

• What happens when an LSU student reporter visits the Tigers’ tailgate dressed in Alabama gear? Let’s watch.

• Them’s fightin’ words: Ex-Viking Troy Williamson would like to “duke it out” with current Viking coach Brad Childress.

• A 12-year-old British kid gets his life of hooliganism started early.

Read more…