This Saturday marks the end of the road for many seniors playing in their last home game at Tiger Stadium. It will also be the last time many students get to stand and cheer in the student section as an actual student. It’s an emotional time for students and players alike. They will say goodbye to a stadium they have grown to love. However, it’s not the stadium that they will miss — what they will miss is the perfect combination of things that makes playing in Tiger Stadium special.
Music is one of the greatest additions to any environment. When you walk into Tiger Stadium and hear LSU’s awesome band, you know it’s true. The Golden Band from Tigerland plays as students and the rest of the crowd enter the stadium. It’s a great feeling to hear those drums echo as you’re walking up the ramps in Tiger Stadium.
The best feeling though is when the band marches on the field before the game to play “Tiger Rag.” Many schools have great pre-game traditions, but I’ve never seen people get so emotional in one moment like LSU fans do in that moment. Sports Illustrated’s Douglas Looney once said, “It makes a body tingle — these folks go berserk when the band marches on the field.”
The people are the next thing that makes playing in Tiger Stadium. This concrete beast holds 91,600 people. Without these people, the stadium is nothing more than a sleeping monster. The fans bring it to life. You have older people, young children, teenagers, college students and others. They all come to have a good time and to cheer on the Tigers. It’s a conglomeration of personalities you can’t describe. Fans come and cheer at levels you don’t think are humanly possible.
Legendary Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant once said, “Baton Rouge happens to be the worst place in the world to be a visiting team. It’s like being inside of a drum.” Former Kentucky and Alabama coach Bill Curry said, “The Tiger Stadium sound was like nothing I had ever heard in my life. It’s not like any other place.”
These statements are a tribute to Tiger fans. The coaches who made those statements had great success against LSU teams, but still our fans showed up and cheered loud enough to leave a lasting impression on them. It is this factor that turns Tiger Stadium into something out of the ordinary. It is the spirit of LSU fans.
Spirit is something we all have but sometimes are reluctant to show. This is not the case when LSU fans enter Tiger Stadium. Sure there are those nights like last Saturday when the team struggles to do anything good and leaves the fans disappointed. But there are those other nights when the Tigers are competitive and there’s a feeling in the air that you just can’t define. There’s an excitement building inside of you as the game pushes forward. Everyone forgets about their problems in life and they celebrate with those around them. People of different ages and origins become one. It’s only a football game, but it’s one of the few times in life when you see people let their guard down. Everyone is one with a belief that nothing is impossible. The passion is unsurpassed.
These are the reasons why Saturday nights in Tiger Stadium are special — it’s not because our stadium is huge or because it looks like the Roman Colosseum. It’s because we fill it with music, people and spirit. We fill it with three of the greatest gifts we have in this life.
On Saturday night, many will experience their last football game as LSU students. It is a huge game for the Tigers. If LSU beats Ole Miss, it will be one win away from going to the Southeastern Conference Championship again. It should be one of those games when the atmosphere inside the stadium is special. It should be one of those times when seniors realize that there truly is nothing like Saturday nights in Tiger Stadium.