September 7
LSU Football
I am thankful for LSU football. Tonight marks the home opener for LSU. After a long spring and summer, I am ready to get back to LSU football. I attended my first LSU football game in junior high school and have had season football tickets since I moved back to Baton Rouge after graduate school in 1980. I have only missed a couple of home games since. I discovered early on that there is nothing like a Saturday night at Tiger stadium. Even through the lean times I have cheared the Tigers faithfully. It's not like I'm anything special - the whole state of Louisiana is wild about their Tigers.
I took the photos in today's blog at Tiger Stadium last year at LSU's game versus South Carolina. The top photo shows the pregrame tradition of the band forming an aisle for the football team to run through after going through the goal posts immediately before the game. The fireworks is a relatively new thing. The photo below shows Tiger Stadium immediately after the game.
I wrote the following poem quite a few years ago during the dark days of LSU football. The idea was that the fans were a big part of the success (or failure) of the team. Kind of like that 12th man tradition at that other nameless Southeastern Conference school.
lsu fan’s obligation
purple and gold
the colors of our hearts
fans from skin to bone
the places where obligation starts
not here to be entertained
not here for our money’s worth
we have a job to do
through merriment or dearth
tigers rely on their preparation
our tireless duty much the same
from beginning bell
to buzzer’s end
we are the team
in loss or win
so if the team is to lose
we share in that loss
a win is our win
we will carry that cost
lsu fan’s obligation
to reach down within
for extra heart or character
to pull our team from doldrums
to pull through thick and thin
to be ever positive
to be ever whole
we will not boo
that is not our role
we will not criticize the players
but revere them for what they do
as they lay their hearts on the line
we will ever be there
we will forever be true
the eye of the tiger
gives the team it’s sight
but the fans are the vision
of a Saturday night
so as we go for the gold
into battle on the field of play
the lsu fan’s obligation
to forever be the strength
of the purple and bold.
© rt tulley
Comments
I appreciate your support of LSU, even as a Mississippian! Thank Pam for converting you. If I come across any extra tickets I will remember to ask you. Also, if you want to go to games, there are usually tickets available outside the stadium (except for Alabama, of course).
By the way, I was not awarded the tickets to the Masters for next year, so it's back to the drawing board. But I am trying to get tickets to the PGA tournament in Louisville for next August. I'll keep you informed.