The Bandits of Baton Rouge - SI article from November 17, 1958

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the Bandits have done a remarkable job on defense.

"They're not really that good," they will tell you at LSU, "but they think they are, which seems to be what counts."

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Will not read, too negative from SI

Cannon is certainly intelligent, and this goes far beyond his B average in a predental course. With a deceptive Deep South drawl, he is smart enough to talk about his blockers instead of about himself and to give all the credit for LSU's startling success to his teammates, his coaches and even to the howling mob of fans. And also, of course, to his wife and family, without whose help he would have had quite a bit more trouble living down a teen-age indiscretion involving a stolen bottle of whisky and the long arm of the Louisiana law. It is an incident which has been overpublicized both locally and nationally and really wouldn't have been so bad except that Billy Cannon was Billy Cannon—and he got caught. Billy had to check in with the probation officer for a month or so, and then everything was all right.

"I've always been sorry it happened," says Cannon. "But I guess all kids make mistakes. In one way, I guess it was good for me. I learned a lesson I'll never forget."

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LSU has been playing its games at night for more than 20 years, and in Baton Rouge they do not consider this strange at all. In fact, it is almost a necessity. An industrial town, Baton Rouge operates on a three-shifts-a-day schedule, and night football enables workers from two shifts to see the games. "I didn't care much for it at first," says Dietzel. "Now I think it's great."

"For a while, it seemed a bit peculiar to me, too," says LSU's dynamic young athletic director, Jim Corbett. "Now I wouldn't have it any other way."

Because it's a night affair, LSU football has become perhaps more of a social event than would be possible someplace else. Instead of having parties after the game, people in Baton Rouge dress as if they were going to the opera, have cocktail parties and buffets before the game, then troop to the stadium en masse. "Sometimes they have parties after the game, too," says Athletic Director Corbett, "although that makes a rather long day."

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The more things change, the more they stay the same...

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Excellent article on the 1958 squad, with great stories about the Chinese Bandits, Billy Cannon, and of course, Coach Dietzel.

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Good read..Winning.

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TPOS

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whites gonna white

Les Miles has lost control of Billy Cannon in 1958.