Date 2 - 18th September 2010
If Cricket is a Religion in India then people worship Foot Ball [ American ] in LSU!!!
This Saturday was the 1st Game at LSU :Louisiana Vs Mississippi. The 1st home game at LSU is called the "Gold Game" and usually people end up wearing Yellow clothes to show their support. The stadium where the game was played called the "Tiger Stadium" is stone throw away from my apartment!!! So I had the advantage and the opportunity to see why LSU is called the university for Party Animals!!!
People start Tailgating like 36 hours before the game!!!
Tailgating : A bunch of people, could be friends, colleagues, family , students or just new buddies set up a tent in and around the campus.They bring a bunch of eateries and drinks [ Beer holds the King Share], barbecue and sit and enjoy the game which is live streamed on their Televisions set as the game goes on inside the stadium. So right from Friday afternoon, I could see big buses, trucks tailgating in and around the campus. In fact the congestion is so high that :
1. Nicholson Apartment Admin had distributed pamphlet on what precautions the residents need to take
2. Most parking lot facility people had restricted parking post Friday afternoon and what not!!!
3. The mobile phone networks crash!
On the game day, my MBA class also had set up a Tailgate in campus which I visited along with a senior. Man O Man, I haven't see such a unanimous crowd ever in my life in terms of dress code, mood, enthusiasm and beer!!!!! There was one women who got her 3 month old baby girl for her 1st Game!!! It was so damn hot, yet she wanted her kid to have this experience!!!! I visited my MBA tailgate event, where most of them were playing games ; basic intention was to drink beer :-) . I was unable to tolerate the heat without drinking beer I headed back home :-P
The game started around 6:00 PM, and after that Pri, Hari and I thought of taking a stroll across campus and take some snaps. This time the campus was less populated. Few people watching the match in the tent, huge crowd outside the stadium trying to enter it and many people drunk to the brim of their consciousness. I came to know that the stadium holds 92K people and some years back, when LSU was winning a very important match the noise recorded on a Hector scale was 5.5!!!
Where ever we went we saw sign boards that said "Geaux (Go) Tigers!!", "Beat the Bull Dogs!!" and what not. Hearing the roar in the stadium when LSU played good, made me decide I need to go to at-least 1 game during my stay at LSU. I almost feel it would be like Harry Potter Quiditch Games!!! :-D
Finally, after a couple of snaps, walking around campus, meeting people who were not able to stand on their feet we decided to head back home. If there is one thing I can compare this to an Indian Event, it would be "Kumbh Mela". Well there are no stampedes hear but the craziness is definitely here to stay!!!
P.S : Many of my classmates have promised me to find a ticket this season for going to the game. It would cost $10-11. I hope I get one soon!!!
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