Having something Auburn so visually front and center in a TV show? Rare. But rarer still is actually having Auburn a part of the storyline, even if just a sliver. That this scene from the first season (“Tanglewood,” 2004) of CSI: NY had both had us hopeful for the meta-trifecta—an Auburn reference in the Director’s Commentary explanation of the Auburn reference!
And we totally thought it was coming. But the only choice he felt compelled to explain—and we think it’s safe to say that when it comes to team gear, these hats aren’t exactly the most obvious selections to stock a CSI:NY sporting goods store scene with and therefore might warrant an explanation—was Hawaii. The dude started talking about Hawaii—for whatever reason, he and one of the shows producers or writers were big fans—and about Timmy Chang, yo, and his “hella touchdowns” and how he was going to light up the NFL like a tiki torch. Nothing about Auburn or this kid Johnny Lucerno’s preference for Cadillac Williams or whether he had to jump through the same licensing hoops to show AU’s logo as he claimed he did the Warriors’, even though the Auburn hat is far more prominent. Not even an “I just like orange.”
So once again we’re left to our own powerfully imaginative devices, and those devices give us two options: Either Gary Sinise developed a soft spot for Auburn while researching his role as AU alum Ken Mattingly for Apollo 13 and demanded a shout out to the 2004 Auburn Tigers (totally plausible), or the writers specifically wrote the Auburn hat into the script for added realism—what better way for a thug to disguise his thugness and homophobia than Auburn accessories?
“Why no, officer, I did not steal that rare Mickey Mantle baseball bat. I believe I can count only on what I earn. Perhaps you didn’t notice my hat…”
h/t Freida Murphy.
Related: Another prime time TV show, another 2006 Iron Bowl clip.
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That’s interesting, because I remember a similar scene in another one of the CSI shows around that time that was just about the same as that one. I know it was a different show because the two guys selecting a cap were black. One chose a Miami Hurricane hat, and the other said something about Cadillac, and took a AU hat. Maybe you can find that scene also. Definitely a pattern there.
Another theory – It was 2004, they needed another college football hat… so they went with the best team that year.