My first trip in the Tiger Tail Team Van occurred almost six years ago in 2005 with a trip to Red Stick. That’s Baton Rouge to my French speaking friends. One of the things that I have on my “bucket list” was to see Auburn play in every SEC Stadium. This was only trip number two and the first one since I had been “between the hedges” at Georgia almost a dozen years before. I left work early that Friday at noon and met, KJ, one of my partners in the venture as new owners of the Tiger Tail Team Van. KJ had ridden with the van the week before to Arkansas where the van had the tail burned off. (That is a story unto itself!) We met up with Tommy, one of the original team members in Birmingham and made our way south to the van in rural Lowndes County.
We made our way down to Lowndes County where I was introduced to Lee, the owner of the van. Lee lives out in the middle of nowhere. I guess that’s not a bad thing when you have a van with a ten foot tail on it. Unfortunately for me, the tail was nowhere to be seen and the back of the van was decorated with butcher paper due to damage suffered the week before. After some brief introductions, we packed up and started to make our way south down I-65 towards Mobile.
It wasn’t thirty minutes into the ride when Lee’s cell phone began ringing. I was sitting shotgun and he asked me to answer it. I was immediately asked by a friendly female voice if I would hold for Frank Broyles. The name didn’t immediately ring a bell and I said yes to the lady. I turned around in the van and said “Frank Broyles?” and KJ got wide eyed about the time I heard an older gentleman on the other line ask “Is this Lee?” I said “no sir, one moment.” At this point I handed the phone off to Lee and he began having a conversation with the University of Arkansas Athletic Director, Frank Broyles, concerning the burning of the Tiger Tail Team Van’s tail the previous Saturday at Arkansas. I sat back and listened to the phone call before it really began to sink in; an athletic director of a major university was calling to make sure the vehicle in which I was riding was alright and asking what he could do to help. How often does that happen? To top it off, we were heading to an even more hostile environment called Baton Rouge, or “Red Stick” for my friends who speak “American.” This was already shaping up to be a larger-than-life adventure.
The van continued southward, and the sunset before we reached Mobile. We hopped on I-10 and began making our way West. It wasn’t far past the Alabama – Mississippi Line that we began to see Katrina damage. The trees on either side of the Interstate were littered with large debris, sometimes 30-40 feet up in the trees. There were huge chunks of roofs, siding, pools, and anything else you can think of tangled up in their branches. Some of the trees looked like huge Christmas trees with the amount of debris scattered in them. Most people forget that it was the Mississippi Coast that took the brunt of Katrina’s rage. It was a very sobering experience. We pressed on and reached Baton Rouge sometime really late that night. Even with my great memory, I can’t recall where we stayed that night.
I can’t recall if we met Lee’s nephew the night we got into town or the next day. His name was Trevor and he played a central part in our LSU Game Day Experience. Trevor was similarly aged to KJ and myself, managed a bank branch within a grocery store in Baton Rouge, had went to LSU, had been in the marching band, and maybe, just maybe was a bigger Auburn fan then I was. You may ask yourself how someone who was born, raised, and lived in Louisiana his whole life and had all these connections to LSU, was an Auburn man? There is a truly heartwarming story behind it I will get to in a bit.
We began our Saturday morning with Trevor driving around the van and showing us the LSU campus. We got a lot of dirty looks and gestures among other things. My favorite was when Trevor rolled down the window and started asking “What time is it?” When someone would give a factual answer he would kindly respond, “No, It’s 10 to 9!” (The score of the previous year’s game which Auburn won)
Our next stop was a grocery store where Trevor’s bank branch was located. His employees were in shock to see him decked out in all Auburn gear and seemed thoroughly confused. We ventured on over to his parent’s house for an afternoon of food and good times prior to loading up for the game. This is where I got the story behind Trevor’s Auburn obsession from his family.
As best as I can remember, Trevor’s older brother had been a huge Auburn fan. Loved everything about the school and even applied there while living in Louisiana. He was accepted into Auburn and planned on attending. On the day before he was supposed to start his orientation, he was involved in a car accident while on the way to his Uncle Lee’s house which took his life. Trevor was devastated at the loss of his brother, but chose to honor him by taking over his brother’s obsession and love of Auburn. Trevor’s apartment was covered with Auburn memorabilia and he knew all there was to know about Auburn football. Trevor was so “Dye” hard Auburn that while in the LSU marching band; he always wore an Auburn shirt underneath! His commitment to honor his brother’s memory still amazes me to this day.
After several hours of “air conditioned tailgating” we made our way to Tiger Stadium. Do to the fact that the Tiger Tail Team Van’s tail had been burned off during the last trip to Baton Rouge, we were given special parking. This parking amounted to us parking in the bus lot where our van was in full view of a security guard stationed fifty feet away. Due to the lack of people in our lot, we didn’t stick around long to tailgate and made our way over to Tiger Walk.
If there is one thing I would recommend to any Auburn fan that chooses to go on the road with the Tigers, it is to make sure you always attend the road game Tiger Walk. They have a different energy about them that’s hard to explain and it means so much to those players to see the fans who have traveled hours to watch them play. This was my first road game Tiger Walk and it was simply amazing.
After the Tiger Walk, we made our way into Tiger Stadium. The concourse reminded me of Legion Field except that the air was filled with the smell of Cajun food such as crawfish, jambalaya and corn dogs. it was like I was at a state fair. The visiting section was located behind one of the end zones and our seats were low. The game itself was a great game and came down to OT. All respect to LSU fans as that is the loudest stadium I have been into date outside the ’89 Iron Bowl or the second half of the ’06 Florida game at Jordan Hare. The game ended on John Vaughn’s fifth missed field goal of the night and would ultimately cost Auburn a return trip to Atlanta. Regardless, it was an experience.
We managed to escape the crowds after the game without too much incident and ended up spending the night at Trevor’s apartment in Baton Rouge. I still find it remarkable no one messed with the van at his complex. The next morning we got up and began our long trip home and this time we were able to see the brunt of the damage that Katrina had brought on the Mississippi Coast. Even though Auburn did not win, I count it among one of the best road trips I have taken yet. The LSU fans were suspiciously tame, the food was great, and the atmosphere was amazing. The only thing lacking was an Auburn win in Tiger Stadium. I hope for the same experience with a different game result when I go back there on October 22nd.
No comments:
Post a Comment