LSU Fans React to Shocking Alabama Football News

Some of the greatest college football games in history have been between the Louisiana State University Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The two storied programs have battled each other for decades for supremacy in the Southeastern Conference and the quest for titles on the national level.

Just a few weeks ago we learned that the rivalry between the Tigers and the Tide would be taking a different turn next season. That different turn was brought on by the announcement by longtime Alabama and former LSU Head Football Coach Nick Saban. If you didn't hear, Nick Saban has stepped down at Alabama and is now going to be a TV star.

While that move in itself is enough to upset the meticulous balance of college football in the south there was another move made by Alabama which many LSU fans and fans of other teams in the SEC have found to be more than a bit upsetting.

Alabama to Make Major Changes in Football Gameday

For more than 35 years one name has been synonymous with football in Alabama. This Alabama "tradition" has served Tide fans and fans of college football through the Gene Stallings years, the Mike Dubose, Dennis Franchione, and Mike Shula years, and most recently he has been a part of Coach Saban's success at Alabama since the early 2000s.

Who is this fixture in Alabama football? It's Eli Gold, the legendary play-by-play voice of Alabama. It was announced yesterday that Eli Gold will no longer be that voice. I can tell you as a fan of college football who can actually spell Verne Lundquist that upsets me.

Eli Gold like Jim Hawthorne formerly of LSU, Jack Crystal formerly of Mississippi State, Larry Munson of Georgia, John Ward of Tennessee, and Gene Deckerhoff of Florida State were the soundtrack of college football for those of us who are of a certain age.

They truly turned the broadcast of a sporting event into a novel. A story whose ending could not be written until the final gun. They made us hold our breath while we waited for the snap and they voiced our frustration when the "guys wearing stripes" got it wrong.

Such was the golden age of college football. Leonard's Loser, us. Some of you understood that if you didn't click here.

Eli Gold is Not Retiring

To me, the more shocking side of the Eli Gold story is the fact that the 70-year-old legend is NOT retiring. I capitalized the letters in not because Gold emphasized that in comments he made to members of the Alabama media.

Gold was very respectful of the University of Alabama's choice to move on from him but also made it very clear that he had other irons in the fire and other projects. Chris Stewart who has handled the Crimson Tide basketball broadcasts will now add football to his duties. Gold's contract with Alabama expires at the end of June.