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POSTED 7:52 a.m. EST; LAST UPDATED 8:42 a.m. EST, January 31, 2007
SABAN STEPS IN IT?
Former Dolphins coach Nick Saban possibly has dropped his shoe into a huge pile of poo with comments apparently made off the record to the Alabama press.
Several readers have sent the audio clip to us, in which Saban relates a story that was shared with him by one of the members of the LSU Board of Trustees. He likely didn't realize that someone's tape recorder was rolling.
Here's the audio. Here's the raw transcript:
If you have never heard the word or term then you have never lived in La.
I lived there and a lot of my family lives there and I know a whole lot of people there. That is a very familiar term in La. In fact, there are bumper stickers, etc. that says "made in La by coon++++". Some people are always looking for something and will try to create controversy where none exists, and a few love to manufacture a race problem.
"My friends are okay with it. The rest of those guys? One of my, one of my guy on the board -- you guys won't be able to put this on the thing -- was walking down the street, one of the Board of Trustees guys like these people around here and sitting up on the stage today at LSU, is walking down the street yesterday before the Sugar Bowl. He calls me. There's a guy working in a ditch. One of those coon-*** guys that talk funny. I can't talk like him but he can. Most people in Louisiana can. And he says, 'Hey, you see where Coach Saban signed up with Alabama?' You know however they talk. And the Board of Trustees guy says, 'Yeah, I saw that.' And he says, 'That son of a *****. I feel like he's ******* my wife.'"
We don't know where the audio originated, or who inserted sound effects to block the words "*****" and "*******." It appears that the comments were made on January 4, following Saban's introductory press conference at Alabama.
And though we don't know whether it's real or a forgery, if it's a forgery it's a damn convincing forgery.
With letter-of-intent day for Saban's first recruiting class at Alabama arriving one week from today, this is something that Saban needs to clear up ASAP.
(Meanwhile, that sound you hear in the distance is Miami Dolphins fans around the world laughing their ***** off.)
With all that said, several readers have told us that "coon-***" is not regarded in the South as a racial slur, though we'd never heard the term in any other context. But some regard it as a slur against Cajun folk. This sentiment is echoed in the Wikipedia definition of the term. Other readers are shocked that the term could be regarded as anything other than offensive.
We'd never heard the word before this morning, and we're shocked that the letters "coon" would be considered acceptable in any context other than following the letters "rac".
Either way, it wasn't a moment of genius for Saban, and he has given his NCAA rivals even more ammunition for targeting his recruits.
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