Good perspective post. After the BCSNCs in '03 and '07, sometimes the year-end review starts to take the look of either "won it all" or "wasted season" on these boards. I saw that type of behavior out here in the Bay Area with the Niner fan base in the 90's, after all the SBs in the 80's they believed the Lombardi trophy was their birthright. That can have a tendency to make you as a fan look presumptuous and ungrateful, without any sense of historical perspective and insight as to all the things that have to fall into place to win it all. Am I concerned with the direction the program is taking? Absolutely, but not so much that I can't look at it from an outsider's point of view (being 2500 miles away helps in that regard) and try to keep a balanced rational view about where our place is in college football. We had a good year in 2009, not a great year, but a good year.
no one does this in person, only on the internet. As I visited Opolousas this week, I went to a local barber shop and my cousin's resturant Soileau's dinner club and of course we discussed LSU since I always wear alot of LSU gear and Dad was a big LSU fan and well known in these parts. A couple of things everyone agreed upon. 1. LSU deserved better COACHES ( this year ) .... many of the old timers said they'd help run Miles out of town if this crap continued. ( they are outspoken God bless them ) 2. Miles maybe "coach" @ LSU but he is not LSU, people understand "where you are from" in the bayou better than anywhere. 3. Everyone agreed Miles is a great guy but LSU football was bigger than any ONE coach. NO one called them "bad" fans. Indeed they are the "heart" and soul of Louisiana and LSU football. Their sons and daughters are the Alumni and student body. LSU football will be around LONG after Gary Crowton, Les Miles and myself are dead and gone. Coaches change as do players, Les Miles is not a bad coach, but at some point in time HE WILL no longer be LSU's coach. WHY? who knows? he may go to Michigan, he might retire with 4 NC's, he could get elected mayor of Detroit, who knows? BUT that is not to say that Miles wont have a long tenure at LSU, but I guarantee everyone here, regardless of what you consider a good fan or not, if MILES does NOT right this ship.... his tenure will not linger, for the outcry of the NON internet fans will be great. and remember what I said above, alot of these elderly people ARE LSU. They dont post here but they do write checks. LSU does not "deserve" or "not deserve" anything, it is a learning institution. LSU Football lives and thrives because the people of the bayou country are adamant about their football to a nth degree. Even as other SEC schools are. The difference is the culture. Other SEC schools are largely just a part of southern heritage, where college football reigns supreme. And that is great, everyone knows how crazy us Southerners are about SEC football. LSU takes this a step further in that its fan base ( although less and less ) is largely tied to the Cajun culture, surrounded by family and food. tailgating and reunions. I am sure alot of you are from French decent as I am, and understand this, while others wont have a clue. If you have an Uncle Robert ( pronounced " Row Bear " who plays the accordian, you might know what I am talking about. If you dont know what your Aunt Pu-Lou's ( prounounced Pa Lou ) real name is but you know that she makes the best duck Gumbo in St Landry Parrish, if you have a cousin Baptist ( prounonced Baa Tist ) that farms rice.....you might be on the same page. Non of the other SEC school's fan base can say they live where they do and their family talks a certain way because they were exiled there to my knowledge, however MOST LSU fans can.. THESE are the people that ARE the heart of LSU.. their daughter is in pre med, their son's are taking engineering. ... the coaches represent LSU but in the end they are just passing through. They arent "bad fans" at all, just concerned fans and like all Cajuns very passionate about LSU football. JS
We have great fans. They could educate themselves more on the game. Some of you will understand what a coach told me once: Some of the greatest high school players never play college ball. Some of the greatest college players never play pro ball.
Great post JSracing !! I've always realized this from my days at LSU. We don't just beat our chests about winning college football games. We beat our chests about who we ARE. We're not a reflection of a university...it's the other way around, LSU is a reflection of us and our culture. When you live away, you realize that despite our problems, our economy, our jobless rate, our educational ranking, we have something no other place in America has. We really know LIFE and how to live it. People from other states and regions don't. They are alive, but they don't know how to live. Their hearts beat, but they have very little heart. That's what makes Louisiana and LSU the greatest place in the world...and that's what really makes us the greatest fans in the world...all of us !! :tigereye:.
That includes Saban! Miles is one of three coaches to win a championship at LSU and is building for another. I am of the Guidrys of Vacherie and the Bievenues of Saint Martinville. We were throw out Canada, We chose to Live in Louisiana we were drawn to the french in Louisiana and New Orleans. My family came from Port Royal Canada and settled in Vacheri in St James Parish on the Mississippi. The river is what brought them here and Vacherie was the first Acadian settlement. There is an Historic metal Louisiana state sign to mark the spot just about 30 miles to LSU Tiger Stadium, where I once resided.Saintslogo Fleur-de-lis for the French. My family was Napoleonic or empire French for they took the Greek names. My Grandfather's name was Ulyses.
if your family was exiled from Canada like mine they didnt choose to live in LA, the truth was they were dumped there because no one else wanted the land. it was swamp. Our family's were carted off to France, ( they tried to send some home to France ) sent away, carted to the carolinas then sent away again, they tried to make other places take our families, basically political refugees because they would not bow down to the king of england. Most were finally "dumped" to die in south LA. There was no proud choice, they were expected to die from exposure but they didnt. Later relatives that were not from the english area of Nova Scotia (French/ quebec area ) came down to join their bretheren in south LA. Most settled in areas where they could survive from fishing, hunting, farming and trapping depending on their abilities. The Spainish settlements around New Orleans were not as in-hospitable as were the 13 colonies. France and the existing 13 colonies claimed it was too much of an economic hardship on the existing population to inherit the exiled Arcadians. My family relatives are Dupre, Soileau, and Fontenot. I can trace my family's history back to the early 1600's in the West of France then to Nova Scotia. One of my Dad's hobbies was geneology. PS: yes it includes Saban. LSU helped Saban as much as he did LSU . However, I think Saban has proven his coaching ability, Miles has not. He inherited the cupboard full. He will have a chance to right the ship, good luck to him I want it as bad as anyone. I think Miles is a stand up guy, I just dont think he is top tier as a coach. You have to be willing to look a tad deeper than the wins/loses. Ad's do this all the time, they look for intangibles when hiring etc. Some you win some you lose. Miles will turn out to be like SMoke laval or john Brady... we loved those guys too, many wanted to keep them.... but in the end.... Yes LSU is bigger than Saban, Smoke, Skip... all of them win or lose great or flop.
