The song is now referred to as 'Bandits' or 'Tiger Bandits.' The reason for the name change was a big problem in 2004 when the new provost came in and said we could not call it Chinese Bandits anymore because it was not politically correct enough. It is still played everytime we stop a team. Usually after 3rd down but after 4th if they go for it or kick a field goal and miss.
I remember reading a quote from Dietzel somewhere that the name was in fact from that comic strip. I still remember people wearing those Chinese hats to games. You think folks look odd today try mom in a tiger skin dress, dad in tiger skin pants and vest and those both with those straw hats -
The name is, in fact, taken from the comic strip "Terry and the Pirates." When Paul Dietzel was head coach during the mid ‘50s to early ‘60s, there was limited substitution. Most players played offense and defense and a team was limited in the number of times it could make substitutions during a game. (There was no limit on the number of players who could be substituted, but on the number of times substitutions could be made, regardless of the number substituted at any one time.) Dietzel divided the Tigers into three squads. The "White" team had the best players and played most of the game, both offense and defense. The "Go" team was, in essence, the second string and played offense. The third string played mainly defense. (The “Go” team had some defensive formation and the “Chinese Bandits” some offensive plays in case substitutions could not be made.) Dietzel was great at PR. In order to bolster the spirit of the third string players, he gave them the name "Chinese Bandits." What he didn't tell them was how "bad" they were supposed to be. There quickly developed an "esprit de corps" among the "Bandits" and there is even a legend (perhaps true, perhaps not) that there were players who refused to be "promoted" to the "White" or "Go" teams because they were so proud of playing on the Bandits. The Bandits remained after Dietzel left. But, not too many years later, free substitution was allowed and the development of offensive and defensive specialists developed. The playing of the "Third Down" song is all that remains of one of the greatest legends, and times, in LSU football.
I can't remember if the following was a cheer or the words to the "Chinese Bandits" song. But, anyway, it went like this: "Chinese Bandits they can pop. Gonna stop a touchdown, Chop, Chop."
I remember we were subing a lot players in and out on defense that game, trying to keep people fresh. I guess thats what he was refering too.
The song goes: "Chinese Bandits on the way, Listen what Confucious say, Chinese Bandits love to pop, Gonna stop a touchdown, CHOP, CHOP" Some of the band parts have the words on them, or at least they did when I was there. (though not the tuba part I was reading.) The music & lyrics were written by a Memphis DJ and were introduced at the pep rally for the 58 Florida game, according to Peter Finney's "The Fighting Tigers". Now most fans simply substitute "L S U" for the final three syllables. Somewhere during the run of the comic strip "Terry and the Pirates" by Milt Caniff, one of the characters said "Beware of Chinese Bandits, for they are the most vicious people in the world." (Considering a TV special on modern piracy I recently saw, I think that may still be accurate.) It would probably take a lot of research to find the actual comic. One of his years during the 80s, Mike Archer called the Special Teams the Bandits, but it never really took off. GEAUX TIGERS
That was a pretty cool idea. Well, my brother was in the Tiger band so, I could ask him. But I know when I was a student, sure, Chinese Bandits was usually the song to play after defensive stops, and it will always be part of our tradition. But sometimes they throw some modern songs in there. Like when I was a student, when we would make some insane defensive play, like some outrageous sack by Gabe Northern or something, we would play the Imperial March song from Star Wars. That was really cool (although other schools did this as well). Recently, the modern song we've mixed in is that cool rap/urban/gangster song from the 80's (I believe that's what my brother said the era it came from) where the entire student section does that gangster salute by putting one arm up and bring it down in front of you over and over. That was really cool as well. As for the Chinese Bandit thing, that song, for me, gets old quick. I do like the tradition of it after routine defensive stops, but I like the the newer, modern songs on big-time, major, game-breaking defensive stops. I think its awesome. Yes, that's exactly what Dinardo's "Bandit" package referred to, constantly subbing a lot of fresh defensive players in repeatedly. Dinardo was pretty cool at keeping us true to Tradition. He's the guy that brought back the white home jerseys like the championship team wore in the late 50's.
To answer a few of the questions on this thread. 1. We wore home white jerseys through the 70's and early 80's. Purple jerseys were almost regarded as a jinx. In the mid 80's the NCAA passed a rule that the home team must wear its dark jersey. The rule affected only two schools: LSU and Georgia Tech, both of which preferred home whites. Hallman and DiNardo lobbied very hard to get that rule changed, which it finally was after a couple of years of all sorts of special exceptions for us. 2. The "Chines Bandits" name, or "Bandits" was resurrected in 1980 by Coach Jerry Stovall (who played for Dietzel and Mac, and became Head Coach when Bo Rein tragically died in a plane crash before he could coach a single game after coming to LSU from NC State). It had faded a great deal during the 70's. Stovall was the one who began calling it Bandits on his own. 3. The substitution rule was that a player could only enter a game once in each quarter. Dietxel perfected the platoon system by being very conservative and having his third team focus exclusively on defense. In that era Dietzel would frequently punt on third down trying to win a game of field position 10-3 or 7-3 was a common score you could expect in a game. By having the Bandits focus exclusively on defense, and becoming so good at it, a really unusual situation would sometimes occur. The White team would leave a game in mid quarter to be replaced by the Go team (11 subbing for 11 in one stroke). Then after the Go team scored or punted, Dietzel would send out the bandits (again 11 for 11). But sometimes the bandits would stop the opponent very quickly and the other team would punt to them. Neither the White or Go team could re-enter the game because the quarter had not expired. Dietzel would order the Bandits to simply punt the ball back to the other team on first down. The Bandits would hold, and if the quarter still had not expired, they would punt on first down again. Doing this they sometimes gained 15-20 yards of field position, leaving the White team close to the opponent's end zone when they came in on offense after the quarter expired. Like I said it was a conservative era.
