I live in Baton Rouge, near the First Church of the LSU Tigers. My house is close enough to Deaf Valley that when the wind blows right on game nights, I can hear the roar from the crowd if I have my windows open. During football season, Baton Rouge essentially coats itself in purple and gold and otherwise normal-looking folks with show up in public wearing tiger-striped blazers and drive around in their SUV's with snappy little LSU pennants waving from the windows.
Let me commit blasphemy here: I don't follow LSU football.
I didn't know that Les Miles is the coach and Matt Flynn is the quarterback. I didn't know that LSU had made it into some sort of special game until suddenly all my friends were heading to New Orleans for the BCS. Huh?
"Melinda, you DO know there's a game on Monday night, don't you?" my friend Marsanne says accusingly. "Um yeah, I heard something," I say somewhat defensively. She goes on to lecture me about how if I've sworn to do 50 New Things then I can damn well start by coming to her house to watch LSU in a championship game with her and some of her friends.
I was caught off-guard. Isn't 50 New Things all about stretching my horizons? Was this how I wanted to start? I agreed and showed up at her house 15 minutes before kickoff.
It didn't hurt that LSU had a phenomenal win over Ohio State, 38-24. And that I was greatly amused watching Marsanne jump up and down every time LSU got a first down or made a TD. I learned that 'BCS' stands for 'Bowl Championship Series' and that the crystal football LSU won was made by Waterford and cost $30,000. I figure I'm practically ready for ESPN.
The next day, I found myself saying things like, "How 'bout that game, huh?" to store clerks and "We showed them, didn't we?" We??? Was I on that field??? I suddenly felt I was part of something bigger, and there was something oddly comforting about participating in a mass event that everyone seemed so happy about. Life is better when you share it with others. But you won't find me in a purple and gold outfit just yet.
Let me commit blasphemy here: I don't follow LSU football.
I didn't know that Les Miles is the coach and Matt Flynn is the quarterback. I didn't know that LSU had made it into some sort of special game until suddenly all my friends were heading to New Orleans for the BCS. Huh?
"Melinda, you DO know there's a game on Monday night, don't you?" my friend Marsanne says accusingly. "Um yeah, I heard something," I say somewhat defensively. She goes on to lecture me about how if I've sworn to do 50 New Things then I can damn well start by coming to her house to watch LSU in a championship game with her and some of her friends.
I was caught off-guard. Isn't 50 New Things all about stretching my horizons? Was this how I wanted to start? I agreed and showed up at her house 15 minutes before kickoff.
It didn't hurt that LSU had a phenomenal win over Ohio State, 38-24. And that I was greatly amused watching Marsanne jump up and down every time LSU got a first down or made a TD. I learned that 'BCS' stands for 'Bowl Championship Series' and that the crystal football LSU won was made by Waterford and cost $30,000. I figure I'm practically ready for ESPN.
The next day, I found myself saying things like, "How 'bout that game, huh?" to store clerks and "We showed them, didn't we?" We??? Was I on that field??? I suddenly felt I was part of something bigger, and there was something oddly comforting about participating in a mass event that everyone seemed so happy about. Life is better when you share it with others. But you won't find me in a purple and gold outfit just yet.
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