Nick Saban's statue could one day become sacrosanct in college football lore, but Alabama's opponents are just toying with it in recent weeks.
LSU pranksters are up to some old tricks this time. A week removed from Mississippi State fans posting a sign on the statue reading, "From Behind Enemy Lines ... We Believe," it's the backside of the Alabama coach's monument Crimson Tide fans will be up in arms about this time.
Why? Because an LSU fan — or more — pinned a tiger tail on the statue Wednesday.
When considering the build-up and magnitude of this Saturday's showdown between No. 1 Alabama and No. 5 LSU, the first since January's BCS Championship game, this is child's play compared to some of the other rowdy festivities that will surely descend on Baton Rouge, La., this weekend.
In fact, it's child's play in the most appropriate kind of way, since Halloween — the presumed day of the "crime" — is Saban's birthday.
What fire-breathing, championship-winning coach doesn't love a good old-fashioned game of "Pin the Tail on the Statue" to celebrate 61 prosperous years on Earth?
Well, maybe the type to forget his own birthday altogether.
"My wife said, 'Happy birthday,' this morning," Saban said in a TV interview, "and I was like, 'Oh, I forgot.'"
Talk about a surprise party. One minute you're preparing for the most important game of the season, and the next you're strolling around campus and see a tail pinned onto your bronze lookalike.
Well done, pranksters.
Although, do remember, Mississippi State ultimately paid the price for its shenanigans.
And if a picture of statue hasn't already made its way up onto the Crimson Tide's bulletin board, then what purpose does a bulletin board serve?
