On Nov. 9, LSU played against Alabama in Baton Rouge. We severely lost that game; it wasn’t even close, as the final score was 42-13. We only scored one touchdown, with the six points coming from two separate field goals (shout out, Damian Ramos, you’re the GOAT).
This loss was embarrassing and incredibly difficult to swallow. Not only did we lose at home to one of our biggest rivals, but Nick Saban, former coach at LSU and Alabama, was present, and a load of 2025 recruits were also there. Not only did they have to see LSU suffer so badly against Alabama, but they had to see blatant animal abuse, as well.
Louisiana’s Governor, Jeff Landry, an alumnus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, thought it would be a good idea to get his slimy, snake-like hands-on LSU and our traditions. He broke a nine-year metaphorical “picket line” all so he could stroke his tiny ego.
Landry had been talking about wanting to have a tiger at LSU games in early October, and he finally was given the opportunity when he found Mitchel Kalmanson. Kalmanson, the owner of the tiger who was brought to Death Valley, has a history of abuse to his animals. Kalmanson and Landry negotiated a price that hasn’t been disclosed to the public, with the only thing stated that it was a private donation to fund Landry’s cat-chasing madness.
Landry continues as planned, finally revealing his plans for bringing a live tiger into Death Valley, sometimes known as Deaf Valley, due to its sheer volume. Furthermore, this sparked protests from LSU students right by the parade route, a protest that I am proud to say I was a part of for a bit. The Gumbo pot of bad vibes was already simmering.
As the day went on, I wanted to think that Landry wouldn’t purposely torture an animal for his own small, little ego, right? I wanted to believe that Landry had some sense of morality, considering that he is a claimed Roman Catholic, so he’d have some moral integrity.
I went into Tiger Stadium with a friend, struggling to find a place to sit; eventually, we found one and just sat, anxiously waiting for the game to start. I was hoping they wouldn’t force a live tiger to sit through pregame, right? But as soon as I thought that, the stadium went dark, “Louisiana Saturday Night” played and ended, “Callin’ Baton Rouge” played and ended. Then, I thought that the band would begin its performance.
In comes a truck hauling a carrier. Oh no. The video boards mention the former tradition. Oh no, no, no. I heard a mix of boos, cheers and expletives towards our most “beloved” governor, and then the curtain came down. The video boards showed a camera of Omar Bradley, the poor tiger who was brought across multiple state lines.
Let me be the first to say: NOBODY. WANTED. THIS. It is an unnecessary use of funds and is an example of animal abuse. Republicans like Landry wish to drag us back in time when it comes to things like women’s bodies, but he wants to go back even further when we tortured live animals for entertainment.
We as a society have progressed past the need to torture and abuse animals for entertainment. The biggest circuses in the world have since stopped using them purely due to their immoral nature. Animals have feelings, too.
From a purely scientific point of view, the sound of Death Valley is actively harmful to the cat. This is because cats, especially tigers, have excellent hearing. Their ears can rotate like a satellite dish to hear multiple different high-pitched tones simultaneously.
If my friend and I were extremely overstimulated inside Tiger Stadium, I couldn’t imagine how it felt for Bradley. This is even before the band starts playing. When the band started playing, it was probably even worse for the tiger, as more sounds were happening, along with the stadium lights changing and the crowd’s continual noise. Thankfully, they pulled him out before the flyover of various fighter jets.
Bradley, who was stressed, as seen on the video board and in later clips I saw on Twitter, now known as X, was out for up to 15 minutes, if that. But the band was there, playing directly towards him at points, and fireworks were shot off. Not to mention, Landry flubbed up one of the most iconic parts of the tiger tradition: the roar.
Landry spent all this time hyping up this tradition and “bringing it back” and forgot a key point of it. Regardless, this tradition should not have been done in the first place, and, almost serendipitously, it started raining.
It was raining in Tiger Stadium. The whole point of Death Valley is that there’s never a chance of rain, and yet it rained. It rained throughout the entire first half. It’s Louisiana, so you have to expect some rain at any given point, but it’s still extremely odd that it didn’t rain all day, even after looking like it would. Yet, it finally rained when Bradley was dragged out there, likely drugged up more than anyone else in the crowd.
This game was an absolute blowout loss by LSU, and since then, I myself and others I talked to after the game have dubbed it the “Curse of Omar.” And who’s to blame for this curse? Governor Landry. Landry, who didn’t even attend LSU, is the reason why Bradley cursed us. The gumbo pot of bad vibes has finally boiled over and was embarrassingly served to us.
The ingredients of the curse of Omar Gumbo are a fascistic governor, animal abuse, LSU’s refusal to grow a spine and say no, rain in Death Valley, Saban’s presence and the team we were playing happened to be our biggest rival of the decade, Alabama.
The conditions were perfect to hand us an embarrassing loss at night in the wet Tiger Stadium. The number one place for college football lost all that magic over those four quarters. Not just with the exodus of fans but with how quickly things spiraled out of control.
The team seemed to lose all the power and fight it had against Ole Miss, and the fans, as rowdy and out of control as they could be after being at a 20+ point deficit, started throwing bottles on the field.
We are not the University of Texas at Austin. We are better than that and better than them. But I do know that all the magic that made Tiger Stadium a wonderful place was gone last night. And there’s only one person to put this on, Governor Landry.
Landry, this is directed at you. I want you to take a good, hard look at yourself. You have failed as a governor. You subjected an innocent animal to 130 decibels of sound, and now, the team you’re so proud to tout has lost.
Just because you have failed Louisiana doesn’t mean that LSU has to be another one of your mistakes. But you have single-handedly ruined our (not yours) team’s playoff chances this year, all because you have a Napoleon complex. You ain’t him, bro; hop off.
Andrew Sarhan is an 18-year-old mass communication freshman from Baton Rouge, La.
