USC linebacker rips the Sun Bowl and has to apologize to the entire city of El Paso
USC linebacker Tony Burnett was in a little hot water with the city of El Paso and its fans earlier this week when he sent out a disparaging tweeting mocking the Trojans' bowl destination.
USC will play Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31, a far cry from the national championship game many predicted the Trojans to be in when the season opened. But a 7-5 record doesn't land you in Miami, it lands you a hop, skip and a jump from Mexico.
"Georgia Tech!? El Paso, Texas!? New Years Eve!? FML," Burnett stated on his Twitter account, @NoCutz. FML is slang meaning "(expletive) my life."
The account is under the name Benjamin S. Button but has a photo of Burnett and is listed as Burnett's account on the USC athletics website.
Burnett, a 22-year-old former walk-on player from Watts, Calif., in other messages said that no one wants to be in El Paso on New Year's Eve and "if you never seen a real life giant tumbleweed get ready."
When Burnett realized not everyone shared his sense of humor and that more people found his words to be mean than funny, he temporarily shut down his account. Then, USC made him issue an apology.
"Earlier today I made some tweets I regret. To the city of El Paso and representatives of the Hyundai Sun Bowl, I apologize for my remarks," Burnett stated. "My team and I are grateful for the opportunity to play in our first bowl game in three years ... and we are appreciative of all of the hard work that goes into making the game happen. What I tweeted was not representative of my team or my university. I sincerely apologize and hope my apology is taken at its word."
Considering USC hasn't been to a bowl in the past two seasons thanks to NCAA sanctions, they should be excited to have a postseason opportunity. Yeah, it's not the national championship, a BCS bowl or even one of the higher-tier bowls, but the Sun Bowl is one of the most hospitable bowls in the country. Maybe it's because the bowl committee knows it's not the greatest destination, but the volunteers make it a great experience. I've been to a lot of bowls in my years and other than BCS bowls, the Sun Bowl was the best bowl I've been to in terms on hospitality and trying to make it a fun occasion. It's the only bowl I still talk about. And the volunteers made sure none of the media strayed (got kidnapped) to Mexico.
Perhaps, USC will be surprised.
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