People selling their football tickets at tuition price, Nick Satan Saban memes and tweets dominating social media, camera crews setting up on Thursday, and tourists rocking that ugly crimson color around campus: it's Bama hate week.
As a devoted LSU student and lifelong fan, LSU football has been and still is, a huge part of my life. I live for the Louisiana Saturday nights, tailgating all day and cheering on our tigers in all of the excitement in the stadium. I could only imagine what it would be like sitting in the student section for the LSU-Alabama game. Though I have watched countless LSU-Bama games, nothing prepared me for the experiences I had this past Saturday.
Transportation
Tiger Trails was the best option that day. Usually, I could get on the bus around 2 o'clock and there is a fair amount of seats that I can choose from. As I was waiting for the bus at my apartment with a few friends, I check the Rider app and see that the bus is only 12 minutes away (on a normal day, the bus is actually 7 minutes away). 30 minutes pass and no signs of the bus. We get extremely impatient waiting so we decide to walk, and then magically the bus turns down the street.
We check the status of it: 17% full. Everyone at the stop is ecstatic.... until we see the bus stop before us and around 30+ people cramming into it. Oh, the fear and determination we had in our eyes awaiting the arrival of the bus, anticipating the amount of pushing and shoving we would have to do in order to fit on it. WE WERE NOT WAITING FOR THE NEXT ONE.
After finally situating ourselves on the bus, we were on the way to tailgate. I had never been that close to strangers EVER in my life. I could not even move one step without hitting someone and with the small and abrupt stops the bus makes, it was impossible not to. One girl ended up spilling ramen noodles all on the floor of the bus and one of the poor guys sitting right by her. This was going to be a long bus ride.
Forty-five minutes pass and I am fed up. The traffic is horrible. People are constantly bumping into me and I was not too fond of the smell of alcohol lingering throughout the vehicle. My friends and I decide to walk to the Parade Grounds.
Tailgaiting
Ahhh. Tailgating. Such an interesting atmosphere to be in. Drunk college students stumbling everywhere, loud music coming from under all of the fraternity tents, and the constant fear of getting an M.I.P.
Not much change on this particular game day, except there was an astronomical amount of people and way too many from Bama. Not much I can say about tailgating without self-incrimination, but word of advice: don't show up after 3 o'clock unless you want to drown yourself in beer and hard liquor to get drunk.
The Game
The line to get in was HORRENDOUS. Even getting in line an hour early did not help the traffic of people trying to enter the gates.
I felt like I was on that bus again. We were all like a can of sardines and after 30 minutes of getting shoved, we finally got in.
My friends saved us seats behind the band which was really awesome because I never had the chance to appreciated how amazing Tiger Band actually is. The only downfall was that the tubas totally blocked my view and I pretty much paid to watch the game from the Megatron.
On the contrary, did I mention how CRAZY our student section is, especially for Bama? We are usually pretty loud and obnoxious but that day we were just a bit extra, although, we can never be too supportive of our boys.
Every LSU student was anticipating for the band to play that notorious song that day: Neck. Though it never came, the LSU student body could not help but utter those famous words...if you are an LSU fan, you know what I mean. For those who are clueless:
Final Thoughts
Even though we were not victorious after such a heated battle with the Tide, going to a game like this will always be memorable. The tailgate, the student section, the band, the rivalry... nothing can ever compare to the LSU experience.
Maybe next year we will roll the tide on out of here, but until then, GEAUX TIGERS & Forever LSU <3
