LSU vs Oregon St

(22-21 Win in OT)

I have to admit to being partly responsible for the pathetic display of athleticism in yesterdays season opener. The Beavers refused to let LSU wear the traditional lucky white jerseys and I left my lucky fuzzy tiger tail at home. The whole event was reminisant of last years sluggish start... but we all know how the 2003 season ended.

Before I get to that... there are a few things I have to cover. First it's noteworthy to say that this was the first time we didn't spend in excess of a hour to find a parking space and from our spot we could actually SEE the stadium. I can't tell you how happy that made me (getting out after the game was a completely different story though). Secondly, it's always amazing to see the profound display of pride in our team by walking through the campus and seeing what tailgaters are up to. I've learned that if you want to get offered every type of food imaginable... wear the opponents jersey or colors. People in Baton Rouge are more than willing to fatten you up and get you drunk. I'd like to think its the southern hospitality, but I know for a fact, its so you don't realize that you've been raped and pillaged until you wake back up in your own hometown 400 miles away the next morning wondering why your pride (or other parts of your body) are hurting. We're friendly until you walk through the gates of Tiger Stadium. Then even the most docile of old ladies turns into a foul-mouthed antagonist. We train them young as shown by the photo below.


Who wouldn't want to take a picture of kids playing?

That's right... that's little Tiger fans in training... playing with a beaver on a noose. There is nothing sacred (not even endangered cute and furry woodland creatures).

Anyways... moving on... seeing as we were playing the beavers you could imagine the student section (packed early as usual) was inspired for creative comments. The question of the day was... do their cheerleaders wear bloomers or do they opt to proudly display their mascot everytime they jump up and down?


Thus begins a full hour of the largest wet t-shirt contest on earth.

Alright... so I mentioned the fact that this game and last seasons first game was remarkably alike... right down to the timing of an hour of a deluge in which Tiger Stadium was soaked with nearly 4 inches of rain (I used my cup as a rain gauge) during which no less than 8 people decided to hop the fence and have security chase them around for a while before sliding across some section of the field. The goal, of course, was to get to the "eye of the tiger" which is painted at midfield. The only guy that didn't slide was the one that was completely naked... but really.. I can't blame the guy... I'm sure he just tucked his clothes away so they would be dry once it stopped raining.

Anyways, while we were aware that beavers are completely comfortable in situations where everything is wet... after all... nothing is worse than a dry beaver (pun intended)... we were not aware that those theivin Beavers was carrying the Fighting Irish's stash of clovers. It didn't take long before the crowd was quieted by the tricks they were pulling out of their *ahems*. That and Marcus Randall sucks. Sure he is the most experienced quarterback the team has but there was absolutely no quarterback/receiver connection... and probably never will be. I hope Saban realizes soon that he is a natural born benchwarmer.

On the opening kickoff, LSU turned over the ball. On the first play of the second possession, Randall threw an interception.
We intercept next and then have a 67 yd. touch down called back because of illegal shift. (Oregon St. must have been displaying the goods to the refs before the game because there were several calls throughout the game that were just not right... I'm sure you're going to hear the fans cry for the replay option like the PAC 10 has). Oregon fumbles the ball again and we recover only to go nowhere. In fact.. we went nowhere for the next three quarters. For the first time in my experience, the normally rowdy Tiger fans were so silent, you could hear the players feet crunching the blades of grass on the field.


Exhibit 1: the drunk moron
Exhibit 2: the spot where the only other person I knew that was
actually at the game (Chad) was sitting... hence I was alone.
Exhibit 3: the ugly stick girls
Exhibit 4: oh yeah the point of coming to a football game...
to watch the team actually score!

In fact... most of my entertainment came from the guy that was sitting across the gate entrance from me. During the entire game, this guy was spotting his two pieces of a** which he was apparently hoping to get at the end of the game. Granted the back of these two girls weren't anything to complain about... but when they turned around... they both had been hit by the ugly stick quite a few times in their lives. So I dub exhibit 1... the drunken moron of the game.

Anyways back to the game... balls that actually made it to receivers slipped through their hands like they were petroleum jelly enthusiast. The same thing went for everybody who's foot touched the ball... field goals and punts flying everywhere on both sides except through the uprights. The Tigers were shut out in the first half and behind 15-7 with 1:38 left in the 4th quarter. Then there was a touchdown that lead to overtime in which first the Tigers scored and then the Beavers came right back from their own 25 yd line. It was drama, I was about to have a friggin heart attack... and the Beavers missed the extra point which gave the Tigers their victory. YAY!!! I went home and went to bed.

(For more pictures from the day and the game... just click on an image posted above... it'll take you to my flickr imagebase. If you want to see a larger version of the image posted just click on that image.)