TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of LSU Athletics
FROM: Skip Bertman, LSU Director of Athletics
At the national championship celebration in Tiger Stadium in January, former LSU Chancellor Mark Emmert made a simple yet remarkable statement when he addressed the crowd. He said plainly “These are the good old days.”
There were a lot of messages in that statement, not least of which is that we all have the tendency to overlook the wonderful things around us until time has passed and we look back on them with fond memories.
For instance, it wasn’t until our football program fell on hard times in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Tiger fans fully appreciated the Charles McClendon era of LSU football. Too often in college sports we don’t “stop and smell the roses.”
With this Cyber-side Chat I am inviting you to do just that. Take a look around at your athletics program, in particular the achievements of Tiger Football, and enjoy this time.
For the fourth straight year, LSU will be playing in a New Year’s Day bowl game. That’s a first in the 111 years of Tiger Football.
LSU went unbeaten in Tiger Stadium this season for the first time since 1972, Bert Jones’ senior year.
You set another season attendance record in Tiger Stadium as 638,462 fans came to LSU football games in 2004, an average of 91,209 per game, another record.
This is the best five-year stretch in LSU football history, and never before have the Tigers won as many games as they have in the last two years with records of 13-1 and — so far — 9-2.
Things are looking up all around. By next season there will be a new upper deck on the west side of the stadium and a new Football Operations Center. And it doesn’t stop with football. On the way are continued improvements to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, a new habitat for Mike the Tiger, a new softball stadium and improvements to other facilities. Soon we will have an announcement on the future of Alex Box Stadium.
The women’s basketball team is ranked No. 1 in the country, the men’s basketball team is off to a fast start with an exciting new offensive attack, and within in the next several months LSU’s other sports teams that annually contend for conference and national titles will be in action.
Look around and take pride in the role you have played in making it happen. Someday, 20 years from now, you may look back on this time as a “Golden Era” of LSU sports. But why wait until then?
BOWL TIME
As I mentioned earlier, the LSU football team is making its fourth straight trip to a New Year’s Day bowl game, and we will be traveling to either Orlando or Dallas.
If Auburn wins the SEC Championship Game this weekend, LSU will be playing in the Capital One Bowl against Iowa. We haven’t played there since it was the Tangerine Bowl in 1979 and Charles McClendon was coaching his last game for the Tigers.
If Auburn loses to Tennessee in the SEC title game, LSU will be going to the Cotton Bowl. We had a great trip there two years ago and it is a bowl laced with history.
Either way, I hope you plan to travel with the Tigers. We had great crowds for all of our road games this season, and we will surely have a huge contingent on hand in Orlando or Dallas. We’ve already sold over 12,000 to each of those bowls. It is because of the fans that follow the Tigers that LSU is a team in demand for post-season bowl games.
DEMOLITION UNDERWAY
The demolition of the west side of Tiger Stadium is a remarkable sight. Several very large cranes, including one over 330 feet tall, are slowly but surely removing the upper deck seating. You can check it out by going to our website at LSUsports.net and clicking on our live west side webcam.
HOLIDAY SHOPPING
You don’t have to leave the comfort of your home to shop for LSU merchandise this holiday season. Log on to our website at www.LSUtigergifts.com to see our assortment of LSU merchandise. One of my favorite new items is a set of National Championship Picture Baseballs. This set includes five baseballs with photographs of images from each of our baseball national titles. I hope you will check out this website as you plan for your holiday season.
We welcome your comments, so write to us at LSUvision@etigers.net. Although we cannot promise a response to every e-mail we receive, please be assured that every letter will be read. Thank you for your continued support of Tiger Athletics.