Mini Ethnography: LSU football experience! (Hebe Gurdian)

LSU FOOTBALL EXPERIENCE

By Hebe Gurdian

Last weekend I made a trip to Baton Rouge to attend the LSU football game against Idaho. Also, to live the experience of a tailgate party. Tailgating was a foreign concept for me so I decided to check out what it was. I’d heard that LSU tailgates had the best food of any tailgate in the U.S. and I really wanted to get close to this cultural experience.

At noon, Christy, Gaby, Maria and I decided to start our tailgate party and we left their house. Getting from the streets of Baton Rouge to the Stadium was a nightmare, bumper to bumper traffic and people didn’t know where to park, so we decided to walk. After all, the distance wasn’t a big deal.

While we were walking to the stadium, Maria and Gaby had the idea to buy some margaritas for the sunny walk, so we could refresh ourselves. We stopped in a commercial square and it was crowded with young people, mostly of them dressing in purple and yellow t-shirts and shorts. My friends and I were dressed that way too for two reasons, first, to cheer and support the team and second, because it was a very hot day in Louisiana and we wanted to be comfortable.

We had margaritas, as everyone there did too, and we continued walking. There were a lot of cars in the surroundings of LSU campus and people were coming and going from one way to another, carrying beers, food, grills and coolers. When we arrived to the campus, I realized that the place was such as a big party! There were tents everywhere and about 10-15 people in each tent. Tailgate tents had plasma TV’s installed inside or projectors to watch the game preview. Besides, there was music everywhere and barbecue food, such as chicken, pork, meat and sausage. You could even find Jambalaya and Gumbo!

As we walked through the campus, we passed one tailgate area after another and the smells of the food that was being prepared almost made me want to stop and beg for a taste. Besides this, I discovered many awesome things. For example, there were different flags and souvenirs of LSU in each tent, some families even had their trailer house prepared for this event, covered all with LSU colors and team's advertising.

People were having so much fun at the tailgate! Many of them were singing songs and shouting phrases for the team and dancing songs with the same choreography, even if they didn’t know each other. Almost everyone was drinking alcohol in the tailgate party, most women were drinking cocktails and men were with beer. I supposed then that drinking alcohol was one important activity of this event because it helped people to unwind and chill out.

A few minutes later, we arrived at our destination: the food science department's tent. It wasn’t different from the other ones. People knew each other very well in the tent, but I was a stranger. Then I discovered that a group of friends, classmates or coworkers are the ones in charge of the tailgate area and all the members of the association were allowed to bring as many friends as they wanted. That was a reason why it was really easy to socialize with people that you didn’t know, somehow we were related friends.

We had a lot of food here as in other tents and, of course, beer and cocktails too. I could observe the same behaviors here as in other parts of the tailgate party: people were drinking, dancing the same choreography and some of them flirting with that new friend they’ve made. Then, I had a better idea of this party, it isn't only to have fun and support the team, but to meet new people and share with all the LSU fans.

The football game was at night but it was so crowded that we had to leave the tailgate about 5:00 pm. As we were walking to the stadium we found many people selling tickets for the game. It was a very good business because the tickets for public in general were expensive and the ones for LSU students were limited or hard to get.

I finally knew what a tailgate party was; now it was time to feel the game experience. The stadium was very crowded outside, people were trying to get in there but there were long lines at the entrances of the stadium. At this point, a security guard asked us for the ticket and a LSU ID card, which I had borrowed from a friend. I wasn’t the only one in the line who was holding another student’s ID, it was a common fact here: you are looking for fun and another student is looking for money, so he sells you his ticket and sometimes you can borrow his ID for the game.

The atmosphere at Tiger Stadium was amazing, there were a lot of people in a big stadium like this. People were singing popular songs and laughing, making jokes to their friends, others were throwing popcorn into the air. Alcoholic drinks are not allowed inside the stadium, so people have to conform by having a good hot dog, pop corn and nachos! Anyways, it was an atmosphere of joy.

At the beginning of the game, the college band was in charge of the ceremony and the national anthem, for which, we kept in silent and we sang the lyrics, as a sign of respect. Besides the above, there were cheerleaders and gymnasts to entertain people.

During the game, the enthusiasm didn't disappoint. There was a big list of songs written for the team and choreographies for each one. Despite this animated audience, people were tired and some of them started to leave the stadium early. Women were not wearing makeup at all at this time, we weren't looking good either, and both men and women, we had had a long day, but the party had just began and there was a long night ahead, they must have left the game to rest a few hours before the night party started. As many people, we were tired too and decided to leave.

In short, attending a game at LSU's Tiger Stadium is an experience you will never forget. For some people it is like attending Mardi Grass, a Voodoo Ceremony, and a college football game all in the same day! I can say that LSU’s Tiger Stadium definitely has great and very outgoing atmosphere and attending a game here is definitely a good experience full of fun and new friends.