Saturday Night In Death Valley

 

 

 

 

 

It is a pantheon of concrete and steel

It is a city that rises defiantly in the delta alongside the father of waters

It is the humidity of autumn evenings that drapes stately oaks and broad magnolias

It is haunted ... and it is loud.

It is Halloween night & Cannon blasts

It is a Louisiana gumbo of humanity that cheers its Tigers to victory & destroys the dreams of invading foes

Chance of rain is ... never!

It is the cathedral of college football & worship happens here

When the sun finds its home in the western sky it is a field of glory for sure ...

But much more than that it is a sacred place

And it is Saturday night in Death Valley

                                                                         Dan Borne

 

 

When the sun sets and night falls on Death Valley may ALL you tigers roar.

 

 

I'm not a football fan.  I don't count down the hours until a game starts.  I don't keep up with players and stats...but I love LSU. 

 

I was raised in Louisiana.  If there was a Saints game airing on television we were watching it.  If it wasn't on television we were listening to it on the radio.  I was always confused by everyone yelling at the tv/radio as if the player could hear them.  I've never been that interested.  I don't yell and jump up and down.  I don't get excited over every touch down or depressed over every incomplete pass.

 

I am proud of the fact that I was raised in Louisiana.  There is no other place that compares.  Miles and miles of beautiful cotton fields as far as the eye can see.  Nothing is as beautiful as a field full of cotton.  It looks like a beautiful winter snow.  Traffic back ups caused by tractors is the norm.  I grew up in north Louisiana. 

 

Head down south and that's when it gets really cool.  Have you ever met a real life Cajun..full blooded Louisiana coon ass? I was raised in the northern part of the state but I am convinced I have a little Cajun blood in me.  I get called the "redheaded coon ass" a lot...a whole lot. I seem to have that well known short Cajun temper.  For some reason these Mississippi people act like that is an insult.  I just say thank you and smile :)  I love to hear a real Cajun talk.  It's just fascinating and awesome to me.  It's amazing that 100 miles down the road life is completely different.  There is no place in the world like south Louisiana.

 

Growing up there you inherit a loyalty to your state.  People say Mississippi is full of fat dumb people and Louisiana is full of stupid coon asses.  You have to stick together. My family was Saints fans before it was cool, back when everyone knew they weren't going to win a single game...back before the days of Drew.  I cheer for the Saints but I love LSU. 

 

My husband is an Auburn, Alabama, Southern Miss, Ole Miss...basically any team but LSU fan.  I think he does it to screw with me.  If we ever get divorced it will probably be because he smarted off 1 too many times about how LSU sucks and he can't stand all of us Louisiana people.  I'm tempted to go drop him off in a bayou and let an alligator get him some days.  I wonder if he even knows what a bayou is. 

 

As I am typing this Mississippi State just scored..I'm going to hear about this for a while.  You win some and you lose some...and it doesn't matter.  LSU fans are unrelenting, no matter how bad the game is going LSU fans still believe in their team. 

Death Valley - the stories behind it fascinate me.  I have heard several versions, I don't think anyone knows for sure where it came from.  One story is that the name originally started as Deaf Valley which later became Death Valley because fans thought they were saying death and not deaf.  It is said that the roar of the crowd was so loud that you couldn't hear anything.   That makes sense considering Tiger Stadium is the site of the Earthquake Game.  In 1988, during a game against Auburn, LSU won 7-6.  The crowd's reaction registered as a legitimate earthquake on the seismograph in the  Louisiana  Geological Survey office.  How many other teams have generated an earthquake?    I'm guessing not many if any. 

It's not looking so good for LSU right now.  That's ok though.  You can't win them all. 

Laissez les bons temps rouler!