Smiley Anders for November 4, 2009

• By SMILEY ANDERS
• Advocate columnist
• Published: Nov 4, 2009 - Page: 1B

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After all the hoopla over Billy Cannon’s run against Ole Miss in 1959, we get a reminder of another extraordinary event in the LSU-Ole Miss rivalry.

T-Bob Taylor, the most avid LSU fan in Panama City, Fla., recalls the 1970 game, played on Dec. 5.

Archie Manning, the Ole Miss quarterback, had a broken arm, and played with a cast on his arm.

Why the Old Miss coaches let him play the entire game in that condition is a mystery to me, but Archie gutted it out — as he was later to do so often with the woeful Saints.

LSU was playing for an Orange Bowl berth, and as the game started getting out of hand for Ole Miss, Tiger fans pelted the field with oranges.

LSU won 61-17, but Archie won a lot of fans that night with what is still the most-courageous performance I’ve ever seen on a football field.

Says T-Bob: “I most vividly remember the picture of one of the last tackles, where our lineman sacked him by placing one hand on Archie’s chest and another arm on his back as he guided him down gently.”

Cursing the Tide

No need to worry, LSU football fans: Leslie Tassin has taken care of the Alabama game for you.

Leslie says he recently went on a bus trip to Canada.

“On the way we passed through Tuscaloosa, Ala. We stopped in front of Bryant-Denny Stadium and I placed a voodoo curse on Alabama.

“I just made it back to the bus in time, because I had an LSU shirt on and two students started chasing me.”

(Leslie told me exactly how he performed the curse, but I don’t want to reveal it, in case any Alabama folks are reading this and know how to undo it.)