Alabama Fans In An Indecent League Of Their Own
By Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
It began with a poke, and it ended with a darn-near RKO.
USC and Alabama are set to do battle on the gridiron on Sept. 3 in the season-opening game for both universities. So the USC bookstore designed t-shirts -- available for $19.95, while supplies last! -- trolling the Crimson Tide, because taunting the best team in the country is obviously a very good idea.
The Trojans' foresight here can be debated. (Do you really want to provide Alabama with bulletin-board material?) So can their creativity. (Do you really think USC came up with this phrase?) But it's generally agreed that the whole stunt was harmless and playful.
Well, not according to Alabama fans.
They quickly responded with a t-shirt of their own, in what amounts to calling in an aerial strike after being squirted with a water gun.
The t-shirt is obviously a comment on USC alumnus O.J. Simpson, who was accused of murdering his wife in 1994. (He was acquitted in 1995.) Alabama's O.J. - "our O.J." - is tight end O.J. Howard, who assassinated Clemson in last season's national championship by racking up 208 yards and two touchdowns.
One alleged crime is slightly less heinous than the other.
It bears repeating that the Alabama t-shirts were designed by fans, not the university. So the school can't be held accountable here.
Still, it's just the latest example of a fanbase that takes things too far.
In 2010, there was the oak tree incident. Following Auburn's victory over Alabama in that year's Iron Bowl, a crazed Crimson Tide fan poisoned the two sacred oak trees on Auburn's campus. The culprit, later identified as Harvey Updike, proudly copped to his crime on a national radio show before signing off with the words, "Roll Damn Tide."
Both trees had to be cut down in 2013.
Then last year, ahead of the Alabama-LSU game, a band of Alabama students hung this sign from their off-campus residence.
This gesture speaks for itself.
Alabama's P.R. team quickly condemned the sign, calling it "inappropriate and offensive." And though they haven't yet addressed the O.J. Simpson t-shirts, it wouldn't be a surprise to see university officials forced into action. It is by now a common routine: Alabama fans do something stupid and the University cleans up the mess.
We Don't Stand For This.
Look, there are maniacs across the country guilty of this kind of behavior. It's endemic in sports. But fans of the vaunted Crimson Tide have a rap sheet all of their own, one that grows longer each year. And their indecent reputation, their penchant for inciting scorn, seems to be a collective point of pride.
