Banner critical of Alabama governor flies over Pasadena stadium at BCS championship game

BCS football fans get taste of Alabama politics

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Fans attending Thursday’s Alabama-Texas national championship game in Southern California got a dose of Alabama politics to go along with their football.

A banner reading “Impeach Corrupt Alabama Gov. Bob Riley” was towed through the air about four hours before the game.

A longtime Riley critic, Tuscaloosa businessman Stan Pate, said he paid for the sign. He said he wanted everybody to see that “Bob Riley is a phoney.”

Riley was in Pasadena for the game as part of an industry recruiting trip to California. His press secretary, Todd Stacy, blamed the banner on Riley’s opposition to electronic bingo operations in Alabama.