OTL: LSU-Bama fans, the last time they met

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2012, and around the world, but mostly in the South, thousands of people Garrison Stamp and Brian Downing don’t know (and more every minute!) are watching a video of some guy in an Alabama hat and some passed-out guy in an LSU T-shirt, wondering who they are and what the hell they were thinking. But Stamp and Downing are blissfully oblivious to all of that. They’re still anonymous. They’re 700 miles apart from each other, each enjoying a quiet morning in his respective suburban home.

Stamp, an 18-year-old college student on the final day of winter break, is packing up and looking forward to getting back to LSU, back to another semester of rooting for the Tigers. Downing, a 32-year-old new father with a job that keeps him on the road more than he’d like, is playing with his adorable 4-month-old son and talking with his wife about what they need at Target.

As each moment passes, more people are laughing at these guys. More people are disgusted or amazed. More (perhaps even you, dear reader) are judging them one way or another. On message boards, a debate is under way about whether Downing committed a vulgar, drunken prank or a sex crime. Blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook pages are awash in speculation. Stamp is rumored to be dead.

Settle in, it’s a long painful article.

#football