I'm going to come out of the closet big time on this one.

.
I used to hate Alabama because when I went to LSU, we could never beat them...no matter how good we were. In fact, I'm sure that's one of the reasons LSU fired Charlie Mac...a coach with an 80% winning record.
I remember driving all the way to Birmingham in 1974 to see us play Bama when they were #1 and we were #5 only to see us lose 35-0 with the game ending with Bama on the one yard line taking a knee 3 times to end the game.
Talk about a long, sad drive home!!
I also remember driving to Birmingham in 2005 fleeing hurricane Katrina and arriving in Birmingham essentially not knowing a soul there. The people I met opened their hearts and helped me and my family like you wouldn't believe. From the lady who donated a townhouse she owned to us with no questions asked...to the lady in the line at WalMart who bought us a Bible when we didn't have any money left and were waiting for the $2,000 dollars from FEMA to be deposited in our account; the citizens of Alabama showed such charity and kindness to me and all the other refugees who landed there.
I would wake up and open the front door to the apartment and bags of food and supplies were there anonymously on the front porch on more than one occasion. I met the Governor, Bob Riley, who invited me to go to Montgomery and cook for him and some of his friends...and who gave me his personal phone number in case I needed anything, and who invited me to stay in Alabama.
The Baptist church in Chelsea, Alabama, in particular, paid attention to our well being...me being a devout Catholic notwithstanding...and prayed for us every day. They even paid me to cook for the refugees from St Bernard who were living in campers at Oak Mountain state park on several occasions.
When we returned to Louisiana, it was a long, sad drive home because we left our hearts with all my new friends in that state.
I hope LSU wins Saturday like you won't believe. I'll live and die with our team along with all the rest of us Tigers...but I can't say that I hate them.
...In fact they're now my second favorite SEC team...but this week...TIGERBAIT !!!:tigereye:.
Click to expand...