Editor’s note: This staff editorial was written by Editorial Board member Gerri Sax. We support her views expressed in this column.
Last weekend was one of the most surreal experiences of my life, and I’m not talking about the football team’s heartbreaking loss to Alabama.
I’m talking about the hours I spent around campus tailgating — but not as a regular Tiger.
For this game, a fellow staffer and I, armed with a video camera and microphone, ditched our normal attire, threw on crimson-and-white sweatshirts and walked through campus to see what it would be like behind enemy lines.
Most people know how aggressive LSU’s fans are. But to see first hand just how hostile and offensive Tiger fans can be really opened up my eyes.
The final video of our experiences on lsureveille.com is an accurate depiction of what we encountered, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. Here are a few things we couldn’t fit in the video.
Vulgar language has never really bothered me, and the incessant “Tiger-baiting” and
“Around the bowl and down the hole, Roll Tide, Roll” mocking were the least of my worries.
Almost every tailgate spot we visited greeted us with the same expressions. The women called us “bitches,” and the men called us “cunts” followed by the traditional “Rip. Rip. Rip. Rap. Rap. Rap. You ‘Bama girls got the clap, clap, clap!” cheer.
And if that wasn’t enough, the amount of times we were spit on also struck a nerve.
Spitting on someone is one of the most degrading things a human being can do to another.
Verbal abuse is powerful, but when things get physical, that’s a little more effective.
The most significant physical encounters were from male Tiger fans. And they all involved some kind of inappropriate gestures. We were groped and squeezed by just about every guy we interviewed.
Not only did things get physical for us personally, our camera equipment also has some bruises as well. I can’t even count the number of times a Tiger fan ran up to the camera and shouted expletives or just yelled at the lens.
We witnessed what other teams’ fans encounter every home game and just how animated Tiger fans are before a big game.
But maybe we need to tone it down — just a bit.
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Contact the Editorial Board at editor@lsureveille.com
Our View: Tailgating as 'Bama fans highlighted LSU's belligerence
Published: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Updated: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
146 comments
Your name
where is this video? is it posted on the site somewhere?
Your name
where is this video? is it posted on the site somewhere?
Ty Gerbate
I am an lsu fan and I take pride in my behavior. I like to throw stuff at opposing fans, particularly batteries. My favorite thing to do is to collect dog poop from the apartment's yard, and bring it to the stadium in a baggie. I look for unsuspecting opposing fans and when they get up out of their seats, I put it for when they sit down. That's always a lot of fun to see their expression. Sometimes, I have this HIV-positive friend who fills syringes up with his blood and when there's a big crowd going into the stadium of opposing fans, we bump into the and squirt the blood on them. Of course, we do the regular fun stuff like cussing at little kids, "accidentally" spill drinks on them, etc. Gosh, I love football season!
Disgusted
I'm an Alabama fan who was born and raised in NOLA. After countless bad experiences with LSU fans over the years, my friends and I decided to watch the game in New Orleans. We thought we could avoid the “TIGAH BAITS” and trash throwing by watching the game in our own home town. Not the case. A forty year old man, an LSU fan of course, pushed my female roommate down in the bar. This was right after he threw ice at us. We did nothing to provoke him. We were not cheering or being obnoxious. We walked into the bar and were minding our own business. If this were the first time something like this happened I would give LSU fans the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately that's not the case. I have never seen another school behave the way LSU fans behave and quite frankly it's embarrassing. I'm so sick of listening to yatty LSU fans run their mouths. Enough is enough. No one is saying that ALL LSU fans are bad people. I just wish they would learn how to support their team with a little bit of decency and class. And when they don’t, I wish the good LSU fans had the dignity to do something about it.
Tiger4life
I know that my group and all of my friends take pride in welcoming visiting teams to our tailgate, talking to them in the stands and win or lose after, I know I have personally given directions, walked them by hostile tailgates, and just wished them well around town, I want people to leave our city/campus and go back saying "wow that was amazing, they do it better than anyone, that is a great time" but instead they are afraid to come back and think we are classless...it sickens me that our fans cross the line as far as they do, pride and passion are one thing but what I have seen and now reading this , its got to change. I do not think we are the only ones, I encountered ole miss fans that just were ridiculous, cussing and making fun of Y.A Tittle, calling us "gay and retarded" for the angels in the outfield and neck cheers, or racial terms because of the Chinese bandit cheers. Come on Tiger Fans we are better than this
