Louisiana Melting Pot

Daniel Donovan

The culture of Louisiana is a culture that is unique only to itself, it’s something that no other state or country can duplicate, my relatives that come down from the northern state of New Jersey, say it best when they say “it’s a whole different world down here in Louisiana.” From the excellent creole food and hospitality, to the Cajun traditions, to the swamplands, and you can’t leave out the best party of the year, Mardi Gras. It is traditions like these that makes Louisiana so special and why it is what it is today. However, on select days during the fall, there is one place where all of the cultures and traditions of Louisiana collide and make for great a representation of what the state is all about, Tiger Stadium.

Whether it is outside of Tiger Stadium or inside, on game day when LSU is at home playing football, all aspects of Louisiana are very well represented. The party atmosphere of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the cajun cooking that everyone raves about, and, contrary to the popular belief of the fans of the opposing team, the great and wonderful hospitality of Louisiana. The Mardi Gras party atmosphere arises roughly at about 8 o’ clock in the morning (sometimes even earlier) when the LSU football fans wake up and start to gather around the stadium preparing for the game’s tailgate party, while other people around the country are taking advantage of their Saturday and sleeping late. To help aid the process of getting up early to get prepared for the day, most fans decide to pass on the traditional morning beverage of coffee and go straight for a bottle of beer or glass of whiskey. The first order of business for most is to start cooking some of that great ole’ down south Louisiana cajun food. Once everything is prepared and ready to go, at about 10:30 in the morning, it’s time to, as they say in New Orleans “Laissez Bon Temps Roulez”, let the good times roll. The majority of the fans choose to let the good times roll by cranking up some music and dancing, and using their Louisiana hospitality to invite other fans to join in on their party. Then, when mostly everyone is liquored up and ready to go, the crowd piles into Tiger Stadium, which in turn creates a Louisiana cultural melting pot, and for this reason, as with all of the others stated earlier, is why I chose this photo of the inside of Tiger Stadium during a football game to represent Louisiana.