By Chris Macaluso
Special to LSUsports.net
NEW ORLEANS — The enormity of my circumstances didn’t sink in until Friday morning.
Driving through Metairie I noticed a pick up truck with a purple and gold flag waving from its window. On first glance, there was nothing that separated it from the hundreds of other vehicles lining interstate 10 displaying their love for either Tigers or Sooners. It was the Alaska license plates that made this one truck catch my eye upon closer inspection.
Alaska? I can only imagine the conversation the driver had with his boss before he set out for what has become the Mecca of college football for the last several days.
“You’re taking two weeks off to drive to Louisiana to do what?”
“I’m going to watch the Tigers play for the National Championship.”
He and thousands upon thousands of others who have been out wandering the streets of New Orleans screaming “Boomer Sooner” and “Tiger Bait” at anyone wearing opposite colors have piled into this city that care forgot and given it a reason to care.
It’s not that this city of revelry isn’t equipped to handle the situation. After all, the biggest, most expensive, free party in the world will take place in just a few weeks on these very streets like it has for more than 200 years.
But this one is different. This is Mardi Gras with a purpose; carnival with a resolution to played out for three plus hours on a football field. This is LSU and Oklahoma playing for the right to make the claim they are the best and carry the emotions of devoted fans from unspoken nervousness to unbridled elation. This is the National Championship game.
Sitting in a practically empty stadium four hours before kickoff, I couldn’t help but notice how large and empty the Superdome really is without 70,000 or so screaming fans bearing their shouts down on the field. However, there is an unmistakable yet almost indescribable energy filing this cavernous arena that was punctuated about 4 p.m. when the sheets covering the Nokia Sugar Bowl insignia in the middle of the field and the team names in the end zones were removed.
At 4:15 or so the bands starting filing in and the one from Oklahoma began singing Rogers and Hammerstein songs. Chants of “LSU” rang out from the Golden Band to counter their opponents’ enthusiasm. Now the sounds of the games are starting to filter in and soon so will the copious parties lining Bourbon and Canal, Rampart and Poydras.
A man in a Bourbon Street bar last night told me that it doesn’t matter who wins because the important thing is being here and having the chance. He couldn’t have been more right and wrong.
This is the place where all true Oklahoma and LSU fans should be. This is where all who have a true passion for college sports should be sitting. This is where all Tiger and Sooner alumni who teared up when their alma matter was played at their graduation ceremony should be gathered. This is the National Championship game. All that’s left to say is “Go Tigers.”