Les Miles Suffers From Scotoma

Among SEC fans, Les Miles’ syntax is known as a thing of unique beauty. Miles frequently uses the wrong words, puts them in the wrong place or -- every so often -- pulls out a word you’ve never heard before, like scotoma.

In this case, Miles was talking about fans booing LSU’s offense, something that most would find understandable but Miles later criticized.

I certainly understand being passionate. I just come short of that thought (booing). The rationale I understand completely. I guess I have a scotoma.

For those of you who are wondering -- yes, scotoma is a word. According to Merriam-Webster, it is “a spot in the visual field in which vision is absent or deficient.”

But then things got odd. Miles tried explaining why he doesn’t believe in booing. I think.

I don’t see it. I can’t reflect on it. It draws no feel. It’s non-descriptive. You kidding me? You have to understand something. I saw Jack Lambert play (for Pittsburgh). He didn’t have any teeth. He was tall and he was tough, and he made every tackle. He was from Kent, Ohio.

And Miles was off on a tangent that also touched on Jim Brown, the weather in Cleveland and, in the middle of it all, his apparent point about a live sporting event being a special thing for a middle-class person like himself.

So it was such a rare treat to be in a stadium of color and music and excitement that I elevated it well above anything that could be negative. I promise you that (booing) never came across my mind.

So to review our lessons: We learned what the word scotoma means, learned that Jack Lambert had no teeth and learned that booing LSU is bad because there are middle-class children that might want your ticket -- at least until they actually had to watch the Tigers’ offense. Class dismissed.