Saban cant help himself...

[DKW 86 7,441]

http://www.lsubeat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...S0202/702040308

LSUFallout from Saban's comment runs deep

February 4, 2007

By Glenn Guilbeau

gguilbeau@gannett.com

BATON ROUGE -- Alabama football coach Nick Saban should have known better than to say the word "coonass" in a recent interview with reporters, according to Warren Perrin, president of the Council for Development of French in Louisiana.

Perrin has produced a letter he wrote on Oct. 13, 2003, to Saban and WAFB TV General Manager Nick Simonette about the use of the word in a feature story about equipment manager Jeff Boss. Boss, who was LSU's equipment manager for 24 years, died on Oct. 27, 2003, of cancer.

In the letter, Perrin explained the term's pejorative origins, some historical context and how hurtful it can be to Cajuns. Perrin has also produced a return letter from Saban dated Nov. 4, 2003, on LSU letterhead that read:

"I apologize for offending you by using the slang 'coonass.' Jeff Boss was proud of his heritage, just as I am proud of mine as being a hillbilly from West Virginia.' I do appreciate you sending the information to me concerning this issue.

Sincerely,

Nick Saban."

Perrin says now that Saban cannot plead ignorance to his use of the term.

"So, obviously he knew," Perrin said Friday. "We continue to try to educate people about the use of this term."

The fallout continues from this "coonass caper."

Jeff Darlington, the Miami Herald reporter who released to a radio station the audio of Saban telling what he thought was an off the record story involving a "coonass" on Jan. 3, will be disciplined by the Miami Herald, according to ESPN Radio. Darlington will not be fired, but he will be pulled from coverage of the Super Bowl today in Miami, ESPN Radio said.

"In poor judgment, I decided to e-mail another journalist an audio sampling of an interview that took place in Nick Saban's office (at Alabama)," Darlington says on the Miami Herald Web site. "Though I did not expect the clip to be used, it was still my responsibility to make sure the audio was never published in any way. I apologize for my bad decision."

Darlington was one of three reporters talking with Saban on the day he took the Alabama job in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Jan. 3. Saban told a story of a "coonass" LSU fan saying Saban going to Alabama was like your friend sleeping with your wife.

"You might not want to use this," Saban is heard saying on the tape. Saban never actually said "off the record."

Like many writers from Florida and elsewhere, Darlington has been critical of Saban since he left the head coaching job with the Miami Dolphins for Alabama.

"I'm not saying Saban was ethical, classy or honest about his departure. He wasn't," Darlington wrote recently in a Q&A on the Miami Herald's Website. "And he bailed on a commitment he made to his organization, instead putting himself first. Quite frankly, that's selfish."

And finally, LSU Board of Supervisors member Charlie Weems wanted to clarify something he was quoted as saying in Gannett papers on Thursday. It was Weems who first told Saban the true story of Weems walking around New Orleans on the day of the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 3 and being stopped by a construction worker with a Cajun accent. The man told Weems that Saban going to Alabama was like your best friend sleeping with your wife.

"We thought it was funny," Weems is quoted as saying in Friday editions.

"When the man said what he said, I didn't think it was funny," Weems said Friday. "It was more like, 'Holy Cow! That's how people down here feel about it. When I told Nick about it, it was no laughing matter. It's not funny. I was telling Nick how seriously people in Louisiana feel betrayed by what he did."

[CarolinaTiger 0]

so did weems use the phrase in question or not when sharing the story w/ $aban?

[runswithscissors 33]

"You might not want to use this," Saban is heard saying on the tape. Saban never actually said "off the record."

actually, he said "you can't use this in your thing", thats a far cry from "you might not want to use this". its funny most LSU folks are laughing at the media because neither them nor most people from the state really care about it. like most folks on tigerdroppings said, anybody crying over it is just looking for something to cry about just because he went to . even alot of people here said that the only thing offensive was the f-bomb. enter dead horse....

[SKCAUB 0]

If you listen to the clip, it is CLEARLY Satan's characterization of the man, as he is telling the story...it is NOT PART of the story. And he never did apologize. He did a Clinton....