Since Jim Harbaugh didn't clarify what he said when accused of yelling "faggot" during a game two weeks ago, and since the Stanford athletic department would not return my phone calls or emails, I wanted a professional opinion on what the coach uttered. I contacted lipreading translator Consuelo Gonzalez for his professional opinion, and here's what he had to say:

I took a look at the clip, and it is somewhat straightforward, although there is a word that is unclear. ... My professional opinion is that during this portion, the speaker says "Fuck it, [Nigel], Fuck it." He does not say "fucking" nor "asshole." The middle word seems to be a name, which could be different from the one in parentheses above. Possibly the name of a player, coach, or referee, a first or last name.

None of the referees on the game had a first or last name anything like "Nigel," and none of the Stanford players are named "Nigel." Still, that wasn't the part of the translation that was at issue. I didn't want to put this issue to bed based simply on the word of someone whose reps wouldn't return my calls, so I'm glad to finally have some closure on this.

Special thanks to Consuelo Gonzalez of lipreadingtranslation.com