Tiger Bait II (The Jinx)

labd — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:13 +0000

I am not much of a sports trash talker probably because I was never good in any one sport save maybe the occasional vintage video sports game. Dr. J versus Larry Bird anyone? The other reason is I always felt that one should not trash talk until victory is imminent or else suffer the fate of a loss from a sports jinx of being to brash too soon. Such was the case at this year’s BCS game when the OSU fans decided within the first ten minutes of the game they could talk trash as though they had the game all wrapped up.The good Doctor and I had the pleasure to experience the BCS National Championship game between LSU and OSU and along with this experience we were able to observe some of the more interesting points of our fellow humans. We scored a set of corner end zone seats in a section with about a seventy-five to twenty-five percent mix of LSU to OSU fans. The fun did not start until after OSU’s Bennie Wells scampered into the end zone and scored the first touchdown on the longest TD run in BCS history. This enlightened all the OSU fans in the row in front of us so much so they began taunting the LSU around them. One of the OSU fans, a dump truck driver from Columbus even stepped across the aisle to confront and rub it in the face of an LSU fan. They almost came to blows had it not been for another LSU fan sitting behind us who stepped in prevented any further developments. I later realized this LSU fan had the brilliance to defuse the potential situation simply as a ploy to open the door so once LSU did start winning he could turn on the OSU fan with his own trash talk. Brilliant, it was kind of a way of saying “no, set this guy aside and save him for me”.None the less I was surprised at the outright confidence of the OSU fans given the poor showing OSU had in last years BCS game, which also began with a similar strong start. It was too soon to begin bragging because, the mighty Bayou Bengals eventually caught their stride and began to tear into the Buckeyes to the tune of twenty four consecutive points to lead by two touchdowns at the half.The LSU turn around brought on an onslaught of trash talk revenge to the row of OSU fans and in particular there was “venom” coming from the guy sitting behind us who had earlier refereed the pending skirmish. Apparently he had a whole group of half drunk “bayou boys” from deep in cajun country. With each vaunted LSU play they could smell blood and first reminding the OSU fans that they heckled first and they were going to make them pay for it in the form of a rain of “that’s that speed bra (slang for brother)” and “stand up and support yo team bra” with most every exciting play through the end of the game. The good Doctor and I traded barbs and high fives with our fellow fans, but we both resisted pouring on the trash talk. I knew all too well it could jinx our chances at a championship. Surely OSU would have won the game had it not been for this row of onerous OSU fans trash talking to soon and jinxing their team.Now I have been to some interesting sporting events including seeing the Yankees play in the Bronx and witnessing the Mets win the pennant at Shea in 2000, but one thing is certain and consistent folks absolutely lose their minds in cheering for their teams.So the good Doctor and I had a similar experience in the not too distant past. We went to the SEC championship game the last time LSU won the national championship in 2003. LSU took the Georgia Bulldogs to the “shed” in that game. Towards the end of the game we witnessed a seventy year old Georgia Bulldog poor sport of a fan tossing ice at LSU fans several rows below him. The guy he kept hitting was a good sport as he was a young twenty something kid who could have easily taken this old fart, but he chose to only turn around several times and throw up his hands in exclamation of “why”. If it had been me getting hit with the ice cubes, I would have had to taken the old man down! Net things can go bananas in the sporting events fairly quickly.And that brings us back to the BCS game where much to the chagrin of the OSU fans they had also brought their wives and were now suffering a humiliation they could have only prayed would have not happened. It was a repeat of last year’s BCS, an all out beat down for the Buckeyes.The crowning moment was when one of the LSU fans reached down and over two rows to offer a “pour” from his beer bottle to one of the red faced OSU fans. He could not resist leaning over into my ear as he finished pouring his second shot to the OSU fan and said, “look at his wife, she is pissed and now she is telling him off because he accepted beer from one of us”! Needless to say I have to give the OSU fans credit for sticking around through the end.

Tiger Bait

labd — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:27:36 +0000

Upon entering Slim Goodies Diner, my buddy the good Doctor and I were greeted by a purple and gold clad waitress who greeted us with a pleasant smile and “welcome” and then looked past us shouting to no one in particular, “hey and no Buckeye fans are allowed here”! I thought her comment appropriate given we were in the “city that care forgot” on the day the two biggest college football powerhouses were scheduled to square off in the BCS national championship. And it was no surprise once the good Doctor and I were seated their was not a single person wearing the scarlet and gray of the OSU buckeyes. Of course that was no concern to us, all we cared for was lining our stomachs with a good breakfast ahead of a planned day of libations and two tickets to the BCS National Championship.I love a food place with lots of character and warm friendly faces. Slim Goodies on Magazine St. in New Orleans is just that kind of place. Its also a place that has made a come back following Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita and was one of the first places open to feed the relief workers and folks returning to the city to re-build. What you won’t find at Slim Goodies is pretension. Instead you get a sort of kind of” “greasy spoon” with a lot of home cooking made with love and soul. Slim Goodies motto is “still cooking with love”. Unfortunately my appetite was only worthy of a pecan waffle, but I must say it easily ranks in my top five of waffle houses. Slim Goodies waffle is purely of a New Orleans/southern waffle pedigree. That is don’t expect a thick Belgium type waffle that sticks to the roof of your mouth, no this is more on the lines of what you find at a Waffle House, which by the way they are one of the only chains with waffles I love. Yes the Slim Goodies waffle is a thin waffle that is light enough to float off your plate but good enough to soothe and satisfy the palate as this one did for me for the remainder of the day until I had a cup of tail gate Jambalaya at about 2pm. And it was at approximately 2pm that the good Doctor and I found ourselves in the largest Tiger tail gate on Poydras street across from the Superdome. Here next to a large purple and gold painted school bus conversion we picked up our tickets from several of the good Doctors Interns and of course we partook of the libations and entertainment at this satisfying venue for the rest of the afternoon. The school bus was something out of the Animal House movie replete with large flat screen TVs and dancer poles inside and a DJ sound system and large flat screen mounted to the outside. There were plenty of kegs and hot and spicy jambalaya. I felt like I had died and gone to Tiger heaven!The link below sums up what it means to be an LSU Fan all in one pint sized Tiger tike named Anna. You gotta love it…Geaux Tigers!LSU NECK Anna Style (as in the LSU Tiger band playing Cameo’s “Talking out the side of your neck”) <

The Couscous Chronicles » Food Places

Tiger Bait II (The Jinx)

Tiger Bait