February 19, 2004
TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of LSU Athletics
FROM: Skip Bertman, LSU Athletics Director
This Week’s Topics:
As an SEC representative for the NCAA’s Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Summit, the following items caught my attention:
Joe Kay is an 18-year-old National Merit Semifinalist at Tucson High School in Arizona. He is also a member of his school’s basketball team. Earlier this year, Tucson High won a big Friday night game and Joe finished the scoring with a two-handed slam dunk.
When the game ended, Joe was tackled by a group of excited fans who ran onto the court. He suffered a fractured jaw and a torn carotid artery. The tear in the artery diminished the flow of blood to his brain, inducing a stroke that left him partially paralyzed.
James Grabowski was a 21-year-old fan of the New England Patriots who was in a Super Bowl celebration in Boston that turned rowdy. Fans began flipping cars and lighting small fires as thousands swarmed the streets. James was in a crowd of revelers who had surrounded a Toyota Land Cruiser. In the mayhem, the driver of the vehicle suddenly put it in reverse and accelerated. James was killed in the incident.
In all, six cars were overturned in the area and several other damaged. In another area of town, fans set fire to trash cans and other debris, and a television van was vandalized. Police in riot gear were dispatched to disperse the crowds in an area of town where violence also broke out last fall after a Red Sox playoff game.
The message here is this: no news is sometimes good news. When LSU beat Georgia last fall in Tiger Stadium in one of the most dramatic and important games of the season, not one fan tried to rush the field. When the Tigers won the national championship in New Orleans — at the largest athletic event in the history of Louisiana — Bourbon Street filled with revelers who simply celebrated the victory with cheers, tears, hugs and laughter.
Our hearts go out to the young men mentioned above who should have been able to enjoy a wonderful moment of excitement for their teams. But it makes us appreciate even more those times when there is no news to report, when fans celebrate the way fans are supposed to celebrate.
Congratulations Tiger fans. Our team is the national champion of college football, but you know how to be champions, too.
As we near the end of the basketball season, I hope you’ll take advantage of the remaining opportunities to see the LSU men’s and women’s basketball teams in action. Both of these teams are poised to head into March Madness with a lot of momentum.
The men have two home games remaining, against Kentucky on Sunday, February 29 at 3 p.m. and Ole Miss on Wednesday, March 3, at 7 p.m. At the Kentucky game we’ll honor long-time coach Dale Brown for his many years of success in TigerTown.
The women’s team plays at home tonight (February 19) at 7 p.m. against Vanderbilt, on Sunday, February 22, at 2 p.m. against Mississippi State and on Thursday, February 26, at 7 p.m. against Ole Miss. And don’t forget LSU will host the NCAA First and Second Round Games at the PMAC, March 21 and March 23. Get your tickets now.
These are two great teams who are winding down their home schedules. We hope you’ll join us in cheering them on as they prepare for the NCAA tournaments.
The LSU baseball and softball seasons are underway, and the Tiger gymnastics team has two big meets against SEC competition on tap this month with Kentucky coming to Baton Rouge on Friday, February 20, followed by Auburn on Friday, February 27.
Our nationally renowned track and field program is in its indoor season right now, and will be in competition outdoors at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium throughout the spring. Don’t miss these world class athletes in action.
The women’s golf team hosts its spring tournament, the LSU/Cleveland Classic, March 5-7 and the men’s team hosts its spring invitational, April 2-4, with both tournaments at the University Club. And don’t forget to catch our men’s and women’s tennis teams in action at the Dub Robinson Tennis Stadium throughout the spring.
You can buy tickets and check out the schedules for all of our teams at LSUsports.net.
In my last Cyber-side Chat I talked about the academic success we enjoyed as a department in the fall. I’m proud of our academic center staff, our coaches and our student-athletes for their commitment to excellence in the classroom. But I was remiss in not mentioning our fine faculty members who work hard every day with our student-athletes, and the entire campus, to further the education of our young people. It is truly a team effort.
We welcome your feedback, so write to us at LSUvision@etigers.net. I cannot promise a response to every letter we receive, but I can promise that each one will be read. Thank you for your support of Tiger Athletics.