The Big Football Letdown

Somehow, I’m living with a feeling that the football season has just gone pffffft. It must be some kind of letdown after the memorable weekend I enjoyed. On Thursday, the football team from my daughter’s high school won its final game of the season. It was noteworthy because she is a senior, so this was her final football game as a high school student.On Friday and Saturday, I had the privilege of watching three top ten college teams play in the span of 24 hours. Undefeated Boise State came to nearby Ruston to play Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs fought gamely, but as expected the Broncos remained unbeaten. Halftime was conspicuous for us because I represented the employer on the field and accepted a commemorative football. Not only was my name called out, but they put me up on the big screen, too. My wife and daughter were in the stands. It was a beautiful night for football and despite the local team’s loss I would be hard-pressed to find a better way to spend a November evening.
My wife, ever the good sport, even engaged in the time-honored family tradition of having a photo made with the mascot.
Saturday featured a quick turnaround and a pre-dawn departure for Tuscaloosa, Alabama and a showdown between LSU and Alabama. Both teams had national championship aspirations. The Crimson Tide’s are still alive after a come-from-behind win over the Bayou Bengals dashed any LSU hopes of winning the SEC Western division crown. It was the third year in a row the circumstances of football led me to Bryant-Denny Stadium. I was proud to be there, despite the Tigers’ loss.
Of course, you have to do what you have to do, and when I am at a football game any opportunity to pose with the mascot must be realized. Tradition is tradition, after all.
All of that being said, I still can’t shake the feeling that the best part of the football season is behind us. There’s still a month or so to go, but for now it seems to be preparation for next year from this point on.

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The Party Ends With a Thud

(Baton Rouge) – There was an electric atmosphere around the LSU campus on Saturday as the Tigers’ clash with top-ranked Florida approached. There had not been a match-up of top five teams in Tiger Stadium since 1959. The Bayou Bengals, at number four in the nation, would have an inside track toward another national championship if they won.
Sadly for the assembled faithful, the game was a lackluster affair and LSU lost 13-3. That’s right, they didn’t score a touchdown. It’s fair to say the game provided an anticlimactic thud for a finish to what had been an extraordinary day.
My trips to Tiger Stadium easily number in triple digits, but this day was different for me. Typically, I’m all about the game. My family and I aren’t big partiers and the legendary excess of Tiger Tailgating isn’t really in our repertoire. For this event, I arrived with a group of buddies seven hours in advance. It was a “blind but now I see” afternoon. We walked across campus and found a place just across the highway for lunch. The place was jammed and we waited almost three hours for a table.
I have always heard that if you spend any time walking around campus on game day you will be offered more free food than you could possibly ever consume. This is absolutely true. We could hardly take thirty steps without being tempted by any number of Louisiana delicacies from jambalaya right on up to fried or grilled alligator, even gator sausage.
We were also showered with offers of beverages, but here’s the thing: No one offered me a coke or iced tea or water. One hundred per cent of the drink offers involved alcohol: Beer, wine, booze, it didn’t matter. There was simply an undeniable assumption that you would want to drink, as if it would be some kind of social faux pas to NOT offer an intoxicant.
I’m not a prude; I accepted a beer and a Bloody Mary along the way, so I’m certainly not judging. It’s just that I started watching for this little detail and discovered a remarkable consistency. I stopped accepting those kind of offers mid-afternoon. We were there, after all, for the game and I wanted to watch it with a clear head. I certainly hoped to remember it.
As it turned out, it was probably worth forgetting.
Not really. My day as a tailgater was memorable. The campus was awash in purple and gold. There was a great concert outside the stadium. When it was all said and done, the largest crowd ever to see a game in Tiger Stadium shoehorned in there. There was a throng left wanting outside, simply enjoying the party. With the exception of the outcome of the game, I’m happy to say I enjoyed a little bit of both.
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Oh! And I got a new mascot photo out of the deal, too!

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Feeling Two Shades of Blue and a Little Purple

(Greensboro, NC)-Madness, indeed. How else would you describe driving fifteen hours overnight non-stop to watch basketball? That's exactly what my friend Tim and I have done, and so far it seems worth the trouble. The LSU basketball team is here for the NCAA Tournament. So are the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Duke Blue Devils, the Texas Longhorns, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Three other schoools you probably never heard of are represtented here, too. I mean, everbody needs an opponent. All eight teams were in one building today, which means legendary coaches were prowling around.We're here primarily for the Tigers, of course; but LSU is completely overshoawed by Duke and Carolina. Each of those teams attracted more than 5000 fans to the Greensboro Coliseum today for shoot-arounds. A shoot-around isn't really a practice; it's more of an exhibition. The players take to the court wearing shorts and practice jerseys in team colors and basically, well, shoot around.
Duke fans and Carolina fans hate each other's teams, so their appearences were well-spaced, with a Texas or a Radford or a Butler thrown somewhere in between. The players barely broke a sweat, but the cheers of their assembled faithful were ear-splitting nonetheless. The most piercing screams were for the Tar Heels' tough-as-nails senior Tyler Hansbrough, who seems to enjoy celebrity status on a level with certain rock stars. To his credit, after the event he mixed in with the students and fans and signed autographs for an impressively long time.
Things get serious on Thursday with four games in one day in this building. LSU goes first, but we certainly plan to stick around to watch everyone. If the Tigers win, they will likely play North Carolina next. That game would be on Saturday. If LSU loses to Butler, we will turn around and drive home Friday morning. Frankly, I hope LSU wins because I'm not looking forward to another fifteen hours on the road. At least pushing it back a couple of days would give us a chance to rest. Geaux Tigers.
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Tim and I ran into our old friend Dave, who is a sportcaster in Minneapolis these days. He's here to cover the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who play Texas. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to spend down time together. For that to happen, LSU and Minnesota would both need to win. Geaux Geauphers.

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