What´s going to happen next at "The Box?" Posted on June 11, 2004 BATON ROUGE – It remains one of the wildest scenes in Alex Box Stadium history. No, not Rich Cordani´s home run in the Tigers´ 7-6 win over Southern California in 1990 in one of the greatest regionals in any ballpark. No, not one of those infield dogpiles or a victory lap around the stadium with players high fiving and shaking fans´ hands after winning a regional or Super Regional. No, it was what UCLA did after the Tigers surfed over it with tremendous ease, 8-2 and 14-8 in the 2000 Super Regional at Alex Box. The Bruins partied like they were Jeff Spicoli of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." They drank beer with the LSU fans in the Alex Box parking lot and ate Cajun food. "Dude, this rice is dirty, but it´s good," one said. And they stayed long after they lost. UCLA coach Gary Adams, who just retired after 30 years, got into the act. He stood on the first step of the team bus as it prepared to leave and yelled, "LSU … LSU … LSU." He raised his arms like Rocky Balboa. He smiled from gray sideburn to gray sideburn, and he´d just got knocked out. Several UCLA players traded LSU fans their practice shirts for LSU shirts. LSU fans playfully passed a college-age female through the small, rectangular bus window and into the arms of Bruins. She exited quickly after hugging coach Adams. Then the bus rollicked off as victorious fists of camaraderie flew from windows. And they just had their butts handed to them. It happened at Alex Box, which will host its 13th tournament since 1986 with Omaha on the line beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday when the Tigers (44-17) host Texas A&M (42-20) in a best-of-three Super Regional on ESPN2. Who knows what might happen next? UCLA´s Fast Times at Alex Box came the weekend after Jackson State dropped by for a 19-1 loss to LSU in the opener of the Baton Rouge Regional. After the game, the historically black college´s players relaxed and ate barbecue in the parking lot with LSU fans. Above them flew a purple and gold Confederate flag. Yes, it happened at Alex Box, an equal opportunity party box. It´s not always nice. LSU fans once threw pebbles at Alabama coach Jim Wells´ wife, and they were all over USC outfielder Jacque Jones in the 1994 regional. Just after LSU beat USC 12-10 to reach Omaha, Jones made his way to the source of the verbal abuse, and USC coach Mike Gillespie got nervous. Jones, now a star with the Minnesota Twins, pointed and looked ready to climb into the stands. LSU fans pointed and shouted back. "We better get over there," Gillespie told an assistant. "This looks like a situation." As Gillespie and company hurried toward Jones, they stopped in their cleats. "Now Jacque was high fiving with the LSU fans," Gillespie said six years later before USC and LSU met in Omaha. "I´ll never forget that." Then last year, a spirited North Carolina Wilmington team did a strange thing after it lost 9-8 in 11 innings to LSU in the finale of the Baton Rouge Regional. They took a lap around the stadium right after LSU´s and high fived with the fans, who don´t mind giving something back to those who help them back to Omaha. And the players, who usually play in front of 700 instead of 7,000, loved it. This couldn´t be called a "victory" lap or a "loser" lap. How about a "consolation" lap? And a new tradition was born at the antiquated, yet charming amusement park that could be called Fun Box. Just after the final out of LSU´s 11-3 spanking of College of Charleston Sunday to advance the Tigers to this weekend, an LSU official asked Charleston coach John Pawlowski if he´d like his team to "take a lap." "I was a little surprised at first," Pawlowski said. "But then I said, `Absolutely.´ And they loved it. "It was great. I thought it showed a tremendous amount of class from the fans," the coach said. "It was like the fans didn´t care if we were LSU or Charleston. It was something. I´ve been to a lot of regionals, and I´ve never seen anything like it. It speaks volumes for what Skip (Bertman) has done here. This was college baseball at its finest." After the lap, second baseman Chris Campbell was still in left field, jumping to reach a young LSU fan´s hand in the bleachers and suddenly wearing a pair of beads. And he just lost. "Someone gave me an LSU hat," Campbell said. "The fans here are great." As long as you cooperate.
Surprising that the Daily Wiper (that's what my in-laws from Sunset call it), (1) wrote a very nice pro-LSU article, and (2) there were no misspelled words.
Wait... that article CAN'T be right. According to other fans we just a bunch of hot-headed jerks who smell like corndogs... :lol: I'm confused....
You're confusing our football fans with out baseball fans. Apparently there is a huge difference. :nope: :nope: :nope:
Thats awesome. There is a big difference between 7,000 fans and 92,000 fans, though. I wish we could get the same accolades during football season. I know most football game attendees would be and are just as hospitable.
Unfortunately, it probably won't ever happen. It's a numbers/ratio thing. 1% of jerks at the Box are only 70 people, whereas 1% jerks at TS are almost 1000 strong, not counting the people just tailgatin'... ...and my guess is that my percentage might be a little low for TS, given the fervor & blood alcohol levels... Even national championship in LSU baseball has never stirred the emotions as quite as strongly as the true essence of LSU (& SEC) sports, Saturday night in TS... A nice thought, but....
It was a column written by Glenn Guilbeau who now works for Gannett Newspapers. It was also in the Lafayette paper today.
I recently spoke to a ND fan that has been to LSU vs ND in 97 in Tiger Stadium and also has been to CWS that LSU won and he said the LSU Baseball fans are much better then the Football Fans and my reply was how do you think the same fan for baseball and Football can be 2 different people. That is such BS that our Football fans are bad I have been going to games all my life and OLE MISS gets pretty bad and Auburn (because of their own doings) but its not as bad as they say I just think it comes down to LSU fans know how to have a good time and when LSU wins the other fans cant take the ribbing coming out of the stadium. lefire:
