Chad Baker-Mazara announced Thursday that he'd be hitting the transfer portal, possibly signaling the end of his time on the Plains. If this is the end of CBM in an orange and blue uniform, the Daily Sentinel's Nathan Deal had the perfect way to eulogize the fiery forward's Tigers tenure:
Tying in the "old" jokes to the day's other big news, Lee Corso's retirement.
"What a news-heavy morning in college sports. A universally beloved elderly gentlemen who’s a staple of his sport is leaving his current post, and also Lee Corso is retiring," Deal, an Auburn alum, wrote.
Finally, Tiger fans get to appropriate the Baker-Mazara jokes. If he ends up signing with another school, of course.
If/when that happen, it's okay for the Auburn family to feel conflicted.
On one hand, CBM helped lead the team to a regular season championship, an SEC Tournament win, and a Final Four. On the other hand, Bruce Pearl repeatedly protected him from the kind of scolding his co-AP coach of the year, Rick Pitino, became famous for. Baker-Mazara was often getting himself in trouble with technicals and flagrants, having left far too many important games early from ejections.
Pearl may not have effectively reached CBM, though. His constant ejections may have been a sign the union with AU was not the right one -- even if it seemed like it was as he rose to become the team's second-leading scorer.
Wherever he lands next, the memories will be left alone. That includes the timely-threes and floaters, and his numerous ejections.
CBM is a tremendous loss. But the silver lining is the Tigers just lost an emotional player who was frequently and strategically targeted by other teams.