Tradition or poor sportsmanship?

Tradition or cruelty?

Those are the questions we pose, gentle readers.

At Alabama there is a tradition of a cheer called the Rammer Jammer, a spirited chant that razzes the opposition. As such cheers go, this one's pretty tame (take in an ACC basketball game at Duke for some 180-proof student vitriol).

When the Tide beats someone, the students chant:

Hey (Tigers, Vols, Chipmunks, whoever)! Hey (whoever)! Hey (whoever)

We just beat the he(double toothpicks) out of you!

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer

Give 'em he(double toothpicks), Alabama.

Well, some school committee thinks this is unseemly behavior and may recommend that the chant not be performed. Yeah, good luck!

And regarding LSU's mascot, PETA, the animal rights group, is saying that the Tigers should not replace the real tiger, Mike, who died recently of kidney failure. But it appears that the university will indeed have a new tiger by the fall. Advocates of keeping the tradition would point out that tigers in captivity are not vulnerable to poachers and that Mike lived in a $3 million, 15,000-square-foot habitat with bathing pool and waterfall.

And thanks to the blog, SB Nation, for pointing out the 'Bama situation.