Nobody pick a fight please but.......there's been a LOT of historic stuff that happens right around the LSU-Alabama game, either before or right after. Take a look
1989 - Berlin Wall comes down two days before the game
1991 - Magic Johnson announces he's HIV positive two days before the game
1994 - on the day of the game, former President Reagan announces he has Alzheimer's (which really moved this disease into the national conversation)
1995 - during the game, Israel's Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated; in fact, they cut into the game with CBS News updates throughout the 10-3 Tide defensive struggle win
2000 - DuBose resigns a few days before the game and a few days after the game we have an election that goes on for what seemed like forever
2007 - minutes before the Vols game, the Textbook scandal is revealed, but it actually becomes a point of conversation starting the day AFTER we beat UTe and dominates conversation leading up to the LSU game
2008 - you know the historic thing, let's not argue about it
2009 - Fort Hood shooting
2010 - the week of the LSU/Alabama game, the Cam Newton scandal breaks
2011 - on the day of the LSU/Alabama game, the Sandusky scandal breaks during ESPN Gameday (I was over at the Texas Motor Speedway that morning); there was also an earthquake in Oklahoma that weekend that made the news
I don't want to start a ruckus, but there's a LOT of critical events that always seem to develop right around the time of the LSU game and not all of them are a NS subject, either. Granted, a FEW of those are because of the TIME of year of the game, but not all - certainly not Cam Newton, Sandusky, Magic, or the Berlin Wall.....