It was in my blood from the very beginning.
I was a Tiger from birth. I never had a chance to escape that fate.
My parents both graduated from LSU. In fact, they met here. My grandparents both attended and met here as well. My grandfather played football for the Tigers from 1947 to 1950 and was a part of the Cinderella 1949 football team that finished No. 9 in the nation and played in the Sugar Bowl.
There was never a question where I would one day come to school. I didn’t even apply to any other schools. LSU was always the place for me.
And LSU sports were my greatest passion.
I got my own season ticket to LSU games at three years old and was instantly hooked. I passed on playing little league football so I could come to LSU games.
As I grew older and moved on to junior high and high school, I joined the teams since games were no longer on Saturdays. When my high school career ended and it became obvious my football and baseball careers had come to a dead end, I had to find a way to stay involved in sports.
So I picked up journalism.
When I got to LSU, writing for The Daily Reveille was something I greatly aspired to do. Getting hired to write here was arguably the best thing that could’ve happened to me.
I finally had the opportunity to be on the inside of LSU sports, even though I wasn’t talented enough to play for the Tigers.
Being able to cover LSU teams has been a truly rewarding experience. And I have the coaches and players to thank for making that experience so incredible.
First and foremost, I must thank LSU gymnastics coach D-D Breaux, volleyball coach Fran Flory and their respective teams for dealing with me when I was a rookie. They treated me with the utmost respect despite the numerous times I flubbed interviews and tried to pass myself off as an expert on their sports, despite a complete and total lack of knowledge.
As my time around those teams grew, so did my knowledge of their sports and the respect I have for what the athletes on those teams do. Without them and their patience, I never would have made it through.
Then there’s the privilege of being the columnist covering an LSU football season.
No matter what I end up doing after my impending December graduation, I will never have a job as entertaining as covering LSU coach Les Miles. Whether he does it intentionally or not, he has made being a sports reporter a true joy. There is never a dull moment around that team.
I also owe a large chunk of gratitude to all the editors, colleagues and faculty advisers I have had during my time at The Reveille. Your guidance and comments about my writing, both positive and negative, have helped me completely transform as a writer from when I first began.
I know this goes against everything I’ve ever been instructed in a mass communication class at LSU, but being able to cover the football team’s on-field success this season has made this the most enjoyable fall I can remember. It’s been wonderful being able to walk out of a stadium every week — I’ve made it to every game this season — with a smile on my face after a Tigers’ victory.
And nothing has made me happier than to have the opportunity to break down win after win for the Tigers.
I know people have not always agreed with me. The e-mails, tweets and online comments have made that obvious, but I hope that even when readers have disagreed with me, they feel I at least made a valid argument and clearly expressed myself.
There’s no one out there who wants to see LSU be successful more than myself, but from time to time my responsibilities as a journalist trumped my fandom.
Getting to write about LSU sports for The Reveille has afforded me so many wonderful opportunities, and I am eternally grateful to everyone who helped make that dream become a reality.
As I enter the working world, I am unsure if I will be able to continue to cover LSU sports or if this is the end of my journalistic endeavors. But no matter what the outcome of my job search is, one thing is for certain — I’m a Tiger born, I’m a Tiger bred and when I die, I’ll be a Tiger dead.
 
Rob Landry is a 23-year-old mass communication senior from Mandeville. Follow him on Twitter @RobLandry85.
 
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Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]