One of my students asked me last week if my wedding day was the happiest day of my life. I couldn't lie to him, and said, "don't tell my wife, but it was when the Tigers won the 03 NC and I was there!". Nuff said
Yeah I'm right there with you on that one. Family legend has it that I was given my first :lsup: football in my crib when I was a day or two old. Growing up, the two constants in my bedroom were the LSU! pennant my dad bought me at our first :lsup: football game and the three foot long stuffed tiger on my bed. I don't remember my first football game; I was 3 or 4 at the time. I do vaguely recall being taken to the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1972 in the Astrodome. There was a time when I thought Cholly Mac had always been the Coach and would always be the coach. I don't get as emotional over the games as I used to. A huge part of that is some health concerns that have cropped up over the past five years or so. And I don't go to as many games as I used to either, but there are lots of different reasons for that, too. I follow football pretty religiously then baseball then basketball. But, of course, I keep an ear out for any LSU! teams and athletes who are excelling. I have to say that one of my proudest moments came at the Spring Game this year when I brought my 2 year old son into Tiger Stadium for the first time in his life. It was a great day.
What made you into a Tiger fan? once i realized that LSU stood for Louisiana State University when i was probably like 6 or so. prior to that i just thought they were some kind of professional team or something, i wasn't really into sports when i was that young. the baseball run is really what did it for me though. i didn't even care about LSU football until 1997 when i was in junior high. since my dad is a big sports fan, LSU games were always on TV and he always wore purple and gold, so it was natural progression for me. When and how long ya been a Tiger fan? well i really considered myself a "fan" of everything LSU when we upset top ranked florida in TS. that's when i started following football religiously. i remember how awesome 1998 started off and how terrible it ended. that just made me bleed LSU even more! How passionate are ya, or are ya just the casual fan? pretty damned passionate. punched/kicked holes in walls, broken innumerable remotes when i was younger... and i'm generally a pretty calm guy. How deep do ya bleed P & G, what sports do ya crave? very deep. i follow baseball, football, basketball religiously. i pull for everything else, but don't really follow it. though i do make a concerted effort to catch track meets when they're televised. Have ya been loyal, even in the down decades? definitely. it's not even a question honestly. everything revolves around LSU sports. hell, i'm not even into professional sports any more. i follow MLB, but that's it. i'm not even too big on the NFL either, but i do watch the games usually. in high school i didn't go to school dances because i didn't want to miss LSU games. i've listened to baseball games during my sister's dance recitals. i'm still in school, so weddings and stuff like that isn't really applicable, but no one in my family is ever going to schedule any wedding or anything dumb during football season anyway. i've also told a tulane med student that "tulane sucked" when i was hospitalized in minnesota. i even wore purple and gold in minneapolis even though i HATE the vikings!
I was born a Tiger fan, I really think it's in my genes because I inherited it from my dad. He went to Loyola for undergraduate work because he was on a scholarship, but he was always an LSU fan despite the fact that he grew up half a block from a street named Tulane. He came from the third ward of New Orleans near the Dixie brewery and his dad was a regular at the neighborhood bar... Nick's off Tulane ave. As a kid, he played football for a "rag tag" assemblage of kids who called themselves the Claiborne Tigers. He ended up graduating from LSU medical school, joined the United States Public Health Service and was soon transferred away from Louisiana...to San Frasncisco and then Galveston. As if he wasn't already a solid LSU fan, the distance away made him love LSU even more. You Louisiana "expatriates" can truly understand his situation. We won our first national championship in football when we lived in California. By the time we moved to Texas, we really stood out in the neighborhood because the Ragusa family down the street was also from New Orleans and they were as purple and gold as we were. I remember every Saturday night was a barbecue either at their house or ours and our dads were gathered around the radio outside with the antenna rigged up with a half a mile of aluminum foil...just so they could barely listen to the LSU broadcast on WWL radio fade in and out continually. I swear that I learned my first curse words when they lost the signal at crucial moments. As children, my brothers and I as well as the Ragusa kids witnessed something magical...something life giving...something that defined us as persons, as family, as a larger clan. We witnessed the evolution of Tiger Nation because my dad explained to us that there was a whole large community of families just like us, doing the same thing as us, at the same time on Saturday night as us. He explained to us that we were in exile and were on the fronteir just like the people that settled the old west. That made a BIG impression on me because I was a huge Roy Rogers and Sky King fan back then. My dad used to sing us to sleep at night with the Jesuit High alma mater...and wake us up with the LSU fight song the next morning. I'm sure that's why my heart rate revs up when I hear "Like knights of old, fight to uphold..." That's why I don't think I became a Tiger fan...I was born one. Thanks Dad, for everything!!! (I wanted to honor my father with post number 1,000)
Well we have some interesting stories, some long term fans and some newbies. Nice to see how much our Tigers mean to so many. My story is pretty close to the same. Was born and raised a Tiger fan. Parents both went to LSU, so I didn't have a second choice. First game was in 1978, don't remember much about it, but went to all the home games from that point on. Have been there thru the bad, the good, and the great. No matter where we fall I am there bleeding P & G. If it wears the almighty Tiger I am routing for it.
I was born a Tiger fan. I remember when I was 7 years old watching the 1991 CWS on a hand-held TV during my sister's dance recital. That was awesome.
What made you into a Tiger fan? My Grandparents always watched LSU sports but I never got into it...having been warded away from sports all my life by my parents (hippies....but I luv 'em anyway). In '00, I started dating this girl that went to LSU and I got hooked. I even attended for a semester. "Attended" is a loose term...LOL! When and how long ya been a Tiger fan? Since the above. How passionate are ya, or are ya just the casual fan? I feel the excitement of the upcoming season bubbling up to the surface as I type this. My next baby is due on December 2nd. I told my wife if it waits until the 5th and LSU is in the SEC Championship Game that she better cross her legs and hold her breath, 'cause we ain't goin' nowhere!! How deep do ya bleed P & G, what sports do ya crave? This all started and pretty much ends with football. I read about basketball and watch a game from time to time when a really big one comes around. Baseball has NEVER interested me, but for some reason, when it's LSU I can really get into the game. I get excited when they do well, but nothing compares to my passion for LSU Football. Have ya been loyal, even in the down decades? LSU was always mediocre when I was younger. I would always ask my grandparents about what's going on and I'd get excited to hear they won a game. Last year I was loyal to the last tick of the clock no matter the score.
I remember my just over 5' brother jumping up and touching the ceiling when Labruzzo scored his second TD to beat No.1 Arkansas in the '66 Cotton Bowl. First game for me in Tiger Stadium was against Florida. They had this quarterback named Spurrier. He was pretty good, and they beat us. But I will never, ever forget how beautiful the field was the first time I stepped into those stands. It was like walking into the Land of Oz. Whether we win or lose, it is truly a magical place. I remember the years when we had Stokely and Garlington and Morel but we couldn't make an extra point if our lives depended on it. The Toeless Tigers we were called. I think Bama and Stabler beat us 7-6, missed extra point. Cholly Mac was a good coach, just couldn't beat Bama. However, I was in the stands that night, along with my mother, when we finally did beat Bama. My brother had just signed with LSU, and this was a fantastic game to see in person. It was the first time any assistant of the Bear ever beat him on the field. Hats off to Cholly Mac. I think most of you know how the program has progressed, for the most part, since then. Down here and there, but look at us now. One of the best, if not THE best, sports progams in this country. Also, whenever the Tigers are on TV, I put my little dog's ashes on the coffee table so he can watch too
lsufaninmiss and LSUtiga made me an LSU fan ... well, them and the really long history that is LSU's proud football heritage. Also, my stepmother was a huge LSU fan and was from the Pelican State. Believe it or not, she raced cars there before she moved to Hawaii in the early 60's. She was quite a lady and waaaaaay ahead of her time. Finally, LSU kicking the shyte out of Notre Dame's monkey-azz a few years ago in that bowl game didn't hurt any. :hihi:
