Ed Pratt: No matter the final score between LSU and Southern, it will be a night to remember in Baton Rouge | Ed Pratt | theadvocate.com

2022-09-10 06:33:02 By : Mr. zhengjun li

Band members at Southern University's 86-0 win over Florida Memorial University, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022 at A.W. Mumford Stadium. It was the highest points total ever scored by the Jaguars in a football game; the 1952 Jaguars beat Bishop College by the score of 105-0.

A member of the LSU Tigers marching band perform on the field before the Allstate Louisiana Kickoff on Sunday, September 4, 2022 Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Band members at Southern University's 86-0 win over Florida Memorial University, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022 at A.W. Mumford Stadium. It was the highest points total ever scored by the Jaguars in a football game; the 1952 Jaguars beat Bishop College by the score of 105-0.

A member of the LSU Tigers marching band perform on the field before the Allstate Louisiana Kickoff on Sunday, September 4, 2022 Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Come 6:30 p.m. Saturday night, more than 100,000 people are expected in LSU’s Death Valley football stadium in what may be one of the most emotion-filled games in the city’s history.

The LSU Tigers, the behemoth from the southside of Baton Rouge, will play my Southern University Jaguars, a predominantly black college located about 11 miles to the north. In terms of finances, educational buildings, student population and the on-paper quality of football players, they are 11,000 miles apart.

Some Southern grads have argued — on the street, at restaurants and especially on social media — that the game, which will net SU about $700,000, is merely a chance for LSU to pulverize an obviously weaker opponent. Others, like me, say, “Yeah, we will take the money, and let’s see how our Jaguars stand up to such an imposing foe.”

Southern has faced larger schools before, such as Georgia, Texas Christian University, University of Southern Mississippi and Louisiana Tech. But none of those games compare to playing the purple and gold giant from around the way.

Many Southern fans have said in no uncertain terms they won’t attend. “No, I don’t want to see that,” a friend said.

Others have said worse. “They (the University) are selling those boys out for a few dollars,” one said. Interestingly, the same people don’t say they won’t watch the game on TV or listen on the radio.

As for me, I am neither watching on television nor listening on the radio. I will be in Tiger Stadium, along with thousands of other Southern fans, proudly wearing our Columbia blue and gold. I will be pulling hard for the school I graduated from way back in the 1970s. In those days, and maybe 10 years prior (when LSU had no black players), there wasn’t much difference between the size of LSU’s and Southern’s players. I wonder what would have happened then?

I can’t imagine the pride I will feel when members of the best college marching band in the world, Southern’s “Human Jukebox,” enter the stadium before the game with the “S” on their chests “that says they are the very best.” (OK, The Ohio State band is good but vastly different.) I am friends with many former SU band members, along with two former band directors, who would have loved to be in such a venue.

I might go crazy when they come on the field to do their halftime show, led by the drum major, who will do the traditional backbend before the rest of the band starts its jaw-dropping performance.

And I will go nuts when LSU’s band and fans hear SU’s version of “Neck.”

More importantly, I will be cheering for the football team. These young men want to prove their mettle. As a former athlete and high school football player, I understand their perspective: You want to play against the big boys. You want to compete.

No prognosticators give my Jaguars a chance. In fact, LSU is a more than 40-point favorite.

To that I say, “So what?” I will be cheering for every yard gained and hopefully, every touchdown.

If LSU wins, as is expected, I will know I was there to support Southern wholeheartedly — the school that launched my educational and professional career, as it did for my wife, two children and so many others.

If we lose, I hope it will be a good game. Even if it is not, I will have had a good time honoring not just the players and band members on the field, but also many others who would have loved to have had the chance to take the field in a stadium like Death Valley.

As a former athlete and full-fledged competitor in everything I do, I know that the chance to compete is all you can ask. Win, lose or draw, all you want is the chance.

Email Edward Pratt, a former newspaperman, at epratt1972@yahoo.com.

Behind the counter at her family’s store, Janice White moved from one task to the next. She restocked shelves with Columbia blue Southern T-shirts. She organized racks of apparel. She helped customers check out and filled a cardboard box with used hangers.

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