It’s not sports, it’s crazy

ESPN has a new and typically innovative line of commercials that finish with the phrase: “It’s not crazy. It’s sports” written across the television screen.

They show scenes like NASCAR fans going to great lengths to make their gas pump or ticket counter number be 24 in honor of Jeff Gordon, high schoolers in lettermen’s jackets being ridiculed for their encyclopedic statistical knowledge and cutups of coaches on the sidelines set to music to create a fictitious dance routine.

But they missed a golden opportunity recently.

Everyone knows football is King in the Deep South. Georgia-Florida and Auburn-Alabama aren’t rivalries, they’re blood feuds. People don’t just wait for Saturdays in the fall, they live for them.

Of course, this has some negative consequences. One of them took place recently in the town of Opelika.

Not sure how to solve the problem of some hefty outstanding child support warrants, the Sheriff of Lee County, Alabama came up with a plan: offer free Iron Bowl (the name given to the Alabama-Auburn game) tickets as bait and let the deadbeat parents come to them.

“Because Auburn had such a tremendous season, we though we’d send letters out telling people we were giving away Iron Bowl tickets,” Capt. Van Jackson told FOX Sports South. The brilliantly devious plan played out exactly as Sheriffs had hoped, with a dozen individuals showing up at a local storefront, complete with balloons and decorations, their “winning letters” and photo identification in hand.

“They were excited, right up to the point where we got them in the back and put the cuffs on them,” Jackson said. One man was so intent on seeing the rivalry game unfold in person that even after realizing he had been set up, he reportedly asked if he would still get his tickets.

That guy loves sports. And he’s crazy.

Contact Mercer Island Reporter Reporter Josh Suman at jsuman@bellevuereporter.com.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.