I was standing in a hotel elevator in New Orleans with two older couples dressed in Florida Gator colors. By the time the elevator let us off on our floor my buddy Jeffrey Spears and I had tickets to the LSU versus Florida football game.
We were heading to Baton Rouge in the morning for our first visit to “Death Valley.” Not only did those Gator fans in the elevator have two extra tickets, but they kindly sold them for face value. We were going to the game for eighteen bucks.
And though it was Florida fans that gave us this opportunity, it was an LSU shirt that I bought in the French Quarter that Friday night.
LSU has been my SEC team ever since.
The next morning we bought some muffuletta sandwiches at the grocery on Decatur Street. Then we headed to the beer store and filled up a styrofoam cooler with Abita for our impromptu tailgate.
Jeff was the more responsible guy so he was driving the rental. That enabled me to grab a ”to go” hurricane for the trip over to the State Capitol of Louisiana and the home of the LSU University Tigers.
The Bayou Bengals!
Geaux LSU!
We arrived at the parking lot and had our glimpse at the glory of SEC football on Saturday. A traditional event full of southern charm that had a more religious feeling than any college game I ever attended before.
Here we were two Yankees hungover from the night before. Actually I was already ripped thanks to the shampoo effect.
We absorbed everything purple and gold and were baptized as new members of the LSU family.
The last couple nights I’ve watched my Tigers defeat Wake Forest in the College baseball World Series. Those victories put LSU into the championship against the dreaded florida gators this weekend.
So that is why you see “Geaux Tigers” on the Morning Chalkboard today.
I thought the Billy Shakes quote was fitting for the Football story. Jeff and I took a chance and tried something different. Instead of walking around all the bars in New Orleans on that October Saturday in 1995, we went outside the box and it changed our lives.
Jeff is the biggest LSU fan in Nigeria and I’m the biggest LSU fan in my neighborhood.
Life is about getting out of your comfort zone and experiencing alternative plans. Maybe it was only another football game, but for the two of us it was an indoctrination into another realm.
Happy Friday…. Go do something different this weekend.
