Document the Atrocities

This has been an exceedingly strange and difficult offseason for the LSU football team. There have certainly been some bright spots since the Sugar Bowl, most notably the 4 Tigers drafted in the first round of the NFL draft and the signing of a class that many believe may be the best ever at LSU. But other than that, we have dealt with a series of unfortunate or otherwise difficult circumstances.

• The hiring of former LSU coach Nick Saban by one of our biggest rivals, and the subsequent media storm. Technically, the hiring was announced on the day of the Sugar Bowl, so it wasn't strictly an offseason story, but much of the aftermath occurred in the offseason.
  
• While we signed a great recruiting class, the story was soured by the Joe McKnight and Luther Davis situations. To recap, Luther Davis committed to LSU, and then secretly took a visit to the University of Alabama and constructed an elaborate web of lies in an attempt to cover it up. Depending on who you believe, we either pulled his scholarship offer or he decided to de-commit and go to Bama. Joe McKnight, arguably the top prospect in the entire country and a Louisiana kid, decided to go to USC rather than LSU, and there was a big stink.
• Ryan Perrilloux's counterfeiting saga, wherein he was investigated by the Feds for suspected involvement in a counterfeiting ring. He has not been charged and it is believed he may have been cleared of wrongdoing.
• Kyle Anderson allegedly attacked a man outside of a bar, putting him in the hospital. Anderson, a backup OL, was kicked off the team permanently.
• Zhamal Thomas and Troy Giddens, backup OL and DB respectively, allegedly broke into an apartment, stole some stuff, and tried to use a stolen credit card. They were kicked off the team permanently.
• Ryan Perilloux allegedly tried to enter a casino underage using someone else's ID. Because of this and other transgressions, he was suspended from the team indefinitely, and his fate is not decided.
• LSU's live tiger mascot, Mike V, dies unexpectedly following surgery.
• Former LSU defensive end and a key member of the 2003 national championship team Marquise Hill died in a recreational accident on Lake Pontchartrain. Reports are that he died saving another person from drowning.

You could say that we're waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it already has. Several times. And we're not done yet. Next week, the Major League Baseball draft takes place, and we will find out more about whether we will likely lose star recruit Chad Jones, one of the jewels of this great recruiting class. He has said he will go play baseball if the money is right.

Let's hope all this is just prologue to a great season.