By this point I'm sure you have heard all of the rumors about the involvement of two LSU players -- more specifically Ryan Perrilloux and Derrick Odom -- in a barroom brawl at the Varsity in Baton Rouge, just off of the LSU campus. As it turns out, those rumors were generally valid, and the police report was released today.
You can click here for the official document, but I'll sum up the relevant facts in short-hand:
Baton Rouge city ordinances, much like those in Tuscaloosa, require all bars to close by 2:00 am, and on Friday night the Varsity attempted to close at that time. According to the bouncers and the owner of the Varsity, Perrilloux and Odom refused to leave when the bar closed, and eventually they were physically forced out the back exit of the bar. Once in the parking lot, a fight broke out between the bouncers and the small group that included Perrilloux and Odom. The owner of the establishment told the police officer that one of the males in the group began saying that he would go get a gun and come back and shoot the bar's employees. According to the report, Perrilloux was the most confrontational person in the group.
According to Perrilloux, however, he and his pregnant girlfriend -- and yes, apparently his pregnant girlfriend was in a bar at 2:00 am -- were being harassed by the security staff inside the club around closing time, and later said that in the parking lot it seemed like his small group was fighting off approximately 50 people. Derrick Odom -- who, too, was in the bar with his pregnant girlfriend, and yes you read that correctly -- had a similar take. Perrilloux said no one in his group had any weapons, and essentially played the race card by stating that they were targeted because of their skin color.
As for the damaged car that was supposedly all beat up, that's not the case. A woman later called in with a complaint that her left rear quarter panel was dented apparently as a result of the fight. She was not looking to file a complaint, but simply to have to the incident documented, presumably so she could file a claim for insurance purposes to have the car repaired.
In response to all of this, LSU head coach Les Miles said today that neither Perrilloux or Odom would practice this week, and it seems highly unlikely that neither will play this weekend. Long story short, those two guys will be sitting in Baton Rouge this Saturday at 4:00 pm.
I'll have more up on the injuries, arrests, and suspensions regarding how they impact the game in a day or two, but I figured that since some concrete information actually came to light it would be worthwhile to have something up on it. Stay tuned.