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
Comments
148 comments
clintonrebel
they are just plain dirty nasty people down there, almost like going to mexico for a soccer game
Average Joe
Wow, pretty pathetic! I'm glad LSU lost. No dignity and no victory either. Cajun Sensation, you have a subset of people that have made LSU into a loser school.
Cajun Sensation
All of you LSU hates can kiss my grits. If you don't like Tiger Stadium....stay out of it. It'll still fill up.
GoBigRed
This is the reason I stopped being a Tiger fan. Used to be a fan until I wore another teams hat into Tiger Stadium and was punched, spit at and had cups thrown on me. Told one of the security (marshals) and was told by the guy that "I should know better than to wear that hat in an LSU section." Very sad, because alot of the LSU fans are really great people and great fans.
LSU Engr Grad
This is nothing new. When I first went to LSU in '97, I was appalled at the lack of decency of the student body. Very few people in the LSU community have any class. Of course you can't expect people who don't respect themselves to respect others.
RAM_Hater
I do feel vindicated reading this article. My father did radio and TV for the Tigers many years ago and a cousin was a coach there until recently, but I, as a fan of another SEC school, was treated so badly on my numerous trip to Red Stick that I have come to hate lsux fans with a passion that shocks me. Never in my 50 years as an avid college sports fan have a found such an obnoxious group of needlessly rude and embarassingly nasty school supporters. The language is really something, but the physical aspects of the hostile, belligerent fans is disturbing. LSUcks, I hate you and you deserve it.
LSU grad
While I was attending grad school at LSU I attended my first game as an opposing fan. When my under grad Alma Mater played them. I was genuinely looking foreward to seeing a game in Tiger stadium for the first time. That was the last game I attended there and I won't be going back. I'm sure the treatment me and some of my friends got was not nearly as bad since we were male and our team wasn't much of a threat. There were some nice LSU fans too but the nasty ones seemed to be the norm. I have been to Tennessee, Texas A&M, Penn State, Arkansas and a few other schools and none of them were as bad as LSU (where I was a student). Tennessee did have a few nasty fans but they seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. Even now when people find out that I graduated from LSU they always say "you must be a big tiger football fan" I always have to set them straight. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who sees how bad the fans can be.
Razorback fan
What do you expect from the uneducated and unwashed masses in southern Louisiana? What else in their lives do they have to be proud of? They are trying to find one small way to feel superior to anyone else so that they can endure the soul crushing weight of the rest of their meaningless, insignificant lives. So please, don't take this tiny glimmer of joy that they clutch so desperately. Take that away and the number of workplace shootings will increase 1000-fold. As for the real LSU fans, I have never had such a good time hanging with opposing fans (at my stadium not BR). They cook some great food, love to drink cold ones and they know their football. These are the folks that should be the most pissed about the booger-eating, mouth breathers that are giving LSU fans a bad name. I never encounter rude LSU fans when we play LSU at our stadium. I guess the trash doesn't travel.
Razorback fan
What do you expect from the uneducated and unwashed masses in southern Louisiana? What else in their lives do they have to be proud of? They are trying to find one small way to feel superior to anyone else so that they can endure the soul crushing weight of the rest of their meaningless, insignificant lives. So please, don't take this tiny glimmer of joy that they clutch so desperately. Take that away and the number of workplace shootings will increase 1000-fold. As for the real LSU fans, I have never had such a good time hanging with opposing fans (at my stadium not BR). They cook some great food, love to drink cold ones and they know their football. These are the folks that should be the most pissed about the booger-eating, mouth breathers that are giving LSU fans a bad name. I never encounter rude LSU fans when we play LSU at our stadium. I guess the trash doesn't travel.
Count Chocula
You're going to find this at every stadium in the SEC. There will always be classless fans at the games and they are the ones to step up and make jack asses of themselves. Trust me, I've been to all of them. And you know what, it's not the practice to berate the opposition. As it turns out the fans only cheer harder for their team!
Your name
I smell corndogs.
hotty toddy
even the angriest, most belligerent white trash lsu fan can be soothed with a corn dog and a warm natty lite. i always carry at least three of each.
OleMissLaw
I have only been to LSU games in Oxford, not BR. However, the vulgarities thrown out by not just a few, but many, LSU fans visiting Oxford makes me NEVER want to go to LSU for a game. LSU long ago passed Florida fans and may be the worst acting fans in the country. Not really something to be proud of. I know that any visiting fan stopping by our tailgate in the Grove is always welcomed and respected, even the MSU fans.
Your name
I love LSU, the fans, the stadium, everything. Great atmosphere to watch a game as an LSU fan. Not so much for visitors. I would NEVER take any of my Alabama friends to BR. I wish the rest of the country did not have this negative view of our fans. I would love for them to experience the passion, the food, the feeling we get when the band plays "Hold That Tiger", the whole Tiger Stadium experience. Louisiana is a unique place and it's people are kind, lively, devoted. Let's show more of that to the visitors and rest of the country.
Your name
I am an LSU alum (85-89) and went to most games as a student and have tailgated in BR since then a few times. All of my friends who are LSU fans are good people and act as such at the games and on campus for tailgating. I have seen some of this negative behavior and would be concerned for my friends that support other teams coming to LSU dressed in Bama or Auburn colors. That being said, do not lump us all into the same category. There are some fans that are unsportsman like but not all of us. I'm sure we have more than our share and they are probably pretty hammered. I know it happens everywhere but the rest of the counrty has an image of the typical LSU fan and it is not good. Alittle ribbing is fine but vularities, spitting, groping, etc is out of line. I would hope that fans of the team I love so dearly would show people from other states that there is no place greater in the country than Louisiana and to come on down and enjoy the food, some friendly competition and the best place to watch some college football.
LRL
I am so disappointed in the Tiger fan base. I thought the Gators were bad, but LSU seems to have surpassed them. What a tragedy! I have stopped attending games in Gainsville. I would hate to have to stop attending games in Baton Rouge. Crudeness and physical damage should never be part of ragging on the opponents. I think some one has been watching too much wrestling. Then to boo our team. I don't see any of these "fans" out on the field. Maybe if they tried it, they would appreciate the team's efforts more. Yes, the quarter backs need more experience, but lets give them some time to grow. We knew this was going to be a tough year before it started.
proud tiger
I'm glad to be referred to as part of the most obnoxious student section in college football!And don't act like the rest of the SEC doesn't treat the opposing team's fans poorly too... I used to be in Tiger Band and got plenty of experience with that on away games. Just because you aren't a part of it doesn't mean it doesn't happen, so get off your high horses.
Former LSU fan
A total lack of class exists now in LSU fans and a once outstanding fanbase now exhibits awful unsportmanlike conduct. Get real, tigers-- a classy university doesn't treat its opposing fans this way--throwing stuff at fans, cursing, spitting, etc. Let your team settle things on the field.
Jane Reding, Bama Girl '71
There are two places I NEVER go as an Alabama Crimson Tide Fan and Alum - Tiger Stadium and the entire city of Knoxville, TN. Without a doubt these are the two most obnoxious places in the entire SEC. I can remember back to the days of playing LSU in Birmingham, AL at Legion Field - sometimes I felt I was taking my life in my hands at those games. I have seen Tiger "fans" hit people dressed in Crimson with Umbrellas, spit, eggs and numerous other items, have heard words my Momma would have fainted at coming from the lips of LSU coeds, and watched the Tiger Football team employ dangerous and harmful moves on the field of play - thank God for the Personal Foul penalties.It used to be said that Bama didn't lose in Baton Rouge - I feel sorry for the Bama fans that watched those games in person. I realize that this is SEC Football - and LSU is always a worthy opponent, but really y'all - get a life. I hate that your possible future employers are going to see this You Tube tape and read this interview.
Your name
LSU fans act the same way when they visit Oxford. I'll be there this coming Saturday and I'll be wearing clothes I know won't be suitable for future usage, due to the inevitable barrage of various liquids and bodily fluids which will be thrown my way. Most of the people I know from LA are warm and genteel but the LSU fan strain are the complete opposite. At Ole Miss we treat opposing fans with respect and civility because that's how southerners are supposed to behave. But opposing fans who visit Baton Rouge need to brace themselves for some constant verbal and physical assault. I guess they think they're showing team spirit. But, all they ever show me is a complete lack of class. That's pretty much why everyone else in the SEC hates LSU- not because of "jealousy" as many would like to believe.
