Lombardi Look-Alikes

I woke up this morning thinking that maybe I was a bit unthoughtful about pointing out the resemblance between LSU's John Lombardi and Uncle Junior. There must be a few other candidates that deserve at least some consideration.



I mean, he could just as easily be a young Henry Kissinger or an ageless Larry King. Larry doesn't have an age since he became a cyborg at some point during the Lewinsky scandal.

But then it hit me. Aren't thick black glasses pretty in right now? Don't I wear black glasses?

Yep. That's it. Lombardi is a drop-dead Johnny Depp.

Just like me.

Dead Ringer?

Go check out the latest at SaveCharityHospital.com. Last week LSU President Dr. John Lombardi made some rather impolitic remarks at a university get-together in New Orleans to discuss the floundering hospital process.

Make sure you go take a listen.




I mean, c'mon. Which one is John Lombardi and which one is Uncle Junior? Even he'd have to admit the resemblance is quite striking.

They're both equally foul-mouthed apparently, too.

Oyster once pointed out that Dr. Lombardi has apparently had some issues with his language in the past. See this column referring to an incident that occurred while Lombardi worked for the University of Florida.

He got into more hot water not long after that for allegedly bullying some visiting law school deans.

Not classy, not at all.

UPDATE: James Gill has also picked up on Lombardi's salty tirade.

Pearls before swine is putting it mildly. The sparkling intellects of LSU offer New Orleans a lifeline, but the populace is too stupid and backward to be roused from its torpor. Time is running out to get the rabble in line.

So says LSU President John Lombardi, who nevertheless remains determined to save New Orleans from itself. Lombardi is just the man for the job, being, as he is fond of pointing out, from the efficient north.

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LSU, of course, would never do that. It doesn't deal in such small sums. For a few hundred million, however, it will let its superior imagination run riot. In seeking the full replacement cost of $492 million for Charity, LSU provided an account of the storm damage that was wildly exaggerated.

Doctors and military personnel who worked at the hospital immediately after the storm have testified that the hospital had been readied for re-use within weeks, and have produced photographs to prove it.

But LSU told a tale of terminal destruction in hopes of grabbing the maximum loot. FEMA was smart enough to see through the misrepresentation, setting fair compensation at $150 million.

Far from being embarrassed by its duplicity, LSU still hopes to get the full $492 million on appeal. Lombardi told his audience that the feds "owe" the state that much and that it is "the critical linchpin point amount." Does that mean the medical complex won't happen unless LSU can pull the wool over FEMA's eyes? That must be a challenge even for the geniuses who run LSU.

It may not be enough anyway, for LSU will still need to borrow at least $400 million, and state Treasurer John Kennedy said last week that bond underwriters will laugh LSU out of the room when they see its business plan for the medical complex.

Kennedy uttered those unkind words just hours before Lombardi addressed the troops, assuring them that the business plan had, in fact, been "validated by every smart consultant in the western world." You'd have to be as dumb as Lombardi thinks we are to believe that.

Gov. Bobby Jindal isn't. The LSU plan, he declared Monday, is inadequate.