BATON ROUGE, LA. — “Tiger BAIT! Tiger BAIT! Tiger BAIT!”
That’s the chant we hear from all of the purple and gold clad people hanging out by the purple and gold tents, grills and trailers that we walk past. They are here early.
“We’ll be here at 8:30 a.m. for a night game,” says Lind Guillot, from the Noassatall Tiger Tailgaters booster group.
8:30?!?
“Well you have to realize there’s tailgating and then there’s the game itself. Tailgating is a full contact sport of its own,” Guillot said.
Gary Sarrat is an LSU grad who has been traveling from New Orleans to Baton Rouge to set up out in front of the Studio Arts building on South Campus Drive since 1997.
“On a big game, like Alabama on Nov. 3, there will be 170,000 people tailgating here,” he said. “The stadium only holds 92,000.”
Despite the chants, Southern hospitality reigns. No matter where we go, we’re offered beers and food. Best menu items: A plate of duck and deer sausage.
There’s no animosity toward UW fans. They’re happy we’re here, impressed that we bought all 6,000 visitor tickets and more, and respectful of the UW program.
“I enjoy when we get actual teams and historic programs on our schedule, so they can come down and experience what we SEC football is all about,” says Sarrat. His group characterizes Saturday’s game pretty simply.
“We’re going to win this game,” he said. “But really, we have no animosity toward the Huskies. Later this year, we hope Washington kicks USC’s ass.”
Who do LSU fans hate? Glenn Rainhardt of the Noasatall tiger tailgaters has his opinion.
“Let me tell you about Mississippi,” he said, spitting. “I hate Ole Miss more than Alabama and Florida combined. There’s nothing good about Mississippi fans with their namby-pamby fru-fru pants.”
What do UW fans say about the LSU tailgate scene?
” These LSU fans are amazing,” said Brad Gagne, a UW fan who stumbled into the Sarrat tailgate. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. Within five minutes of us walking around, these guys invited us in, fed us, stand us in front of a fan, and gave us beer. Great experience.”