GREEN BAY, Wisc. — LSU president F. King Alexander was lost as he waited for his father.
He looked to his right, down the entrance tunnel onto Lambeau Field for the Green Bay Packers.
“Proud generations on Green Bay Packers players, World Champions a record 13 times, have run over this very concrete to Greatness,” a granite plaque engraving reads in the passageway.
But today? For LSU.
Dressed in a collared-purple LSU shirt topped with a crimson Wisconsin Badgers hat, his father, Kern, welcome his son to Lambeau Field in Wisconsin, his father’s home state, as he gave him an introductory tour of the tunnel and stadium.
“I couldn’t think of a better site than this one,” Alexander said, glancing around, admiring the passageway underneath Lambeau Field.
“Lambeau.”
At 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, LSU will kickoff the 2016 season in front of Alexander, a Wisconsin grad, on Wisconsin’s famous “frozen tundra.” Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards is also in Wisconsin for LSU’s first game.
On the field, Alexander plans to see LSU against Wisconsin, but that’s not too far off from what his home looks like, either.
Savannah Alexander, one of F. King’s daughters, is entering her junior year at Wisconsin. While Kylie Alexander, Savannah’s sister, is a student at LSU.
“We need this win,” F. King said. “Or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
If LSU does win, F. King is a case of cheese richer.
“One case of hot sauce for one case of cheese,” he said.
F. King and Rebecca Blank, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, agreed to the deal prior to Saturday’s game.
Beyond the cheese and hot sauce, Saturday’s duel at Lambeau — which he predicted LSU to win 35-17 — returns a calming, natural spirit to Baton Rouge and LSU, F. King said.
“The University is running, classes are going, we’re feeding our kids and they’re safe. Now, we have football. We need this. We had a rough summer in Baton Rouge and LSU. But everybody needs to know that LSU is going full-force, straight forward.
“We’re here to give them something to cheer for.”
You can reach Christian Boutwell on Twitter, @CBoutwell_
LSU president F. King Alexander being interviewed.
