This weekend, thousands of Louisiana State fans will swarm New Orleans to watch the Tigers in Monday’s BCS Championship game and generally enjoy the closest thing to Mardi Gras outside February. But before, possibly after and most certainly during the contest, these celebrants will gather in the French Quarter and indulge in the one thing they’re better at than perhaps any other group of American sports fans: boozing. In other words, LSU fans make most other tailgating troupes look like traveling Baptist choirs. Put it this way: When LSU visited West Virginia, one of the only college stadiums that sells beer, Tigers fans were responsible for over $120,000 in beer sales that day. In no other game this season did Mountaineer Field even break $90,000. The tab might have been higher, too, if the venue didn’t run out of cold Bud Light at halftime.
So here’s my story about all this in the Journal, naturally.
Plus, a deleted scene! In 2003, LSU traveled to Tucson for a matchup with Arizona, and it was followed by parties in purple and gold. One business-school executive organized a trip for 40 couples with the concierge-like assistance of his counterpart at Arizona. About a month after the game—an LSU win, of course—the Arizona professor received a call with a bit of surprising news. He was being honored by the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau for ushering in so much commerce to the area. He still keeps the plaque in his office to this day.
I am looking forward to this rematch
(via cajunboy)
