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
basically they are country folk who moved to the big city and don't know how to behave.
It was obvious you had decided on your perspective for this story before you ever put on the crimson tide shirt. This was not objective journalism. This was journalism trying to make a point, that LSU fans are obnoxious to opponents. Then you went out and got video to support that point of view. Notice you had no video of people being kind, inviting, having fun, etc. You wouldn't know good journalism if it slapped you in the face. You are victims; Victims of a very poor education from a bunch of academic frauds that wouldn't know how to act in a real newsroom. You put words in your story for shock value that your censor software won't allow me to use. Hypocrites!