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Column: Florida-LSU ... are we there yet?
Posted on 10/9/09 at 1:25 am
Posted on 10/9/09 at 1:25 am
I usually try not to repeat myself, but there are times when it's just too tempting. This is one of those times.
Before LSU began August camp in 2002, the preseason after its first SEC championship in 13 years, I wrote a Sunday piece with the intention of setting the scene for the start of practice. I looked everywhere for inspiration, hopeful of finding something to illustrate how eager fans were for the Tigers to tee it up again.
A passage from A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh" seemed perfect.
"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
We know, and we experience it in a variety of ways.
Don't pretend you weren't looking forward to Jim and Pam's wedding.
Do you remember Christmas eve as a child?
Waiting, waiting, waiting at the airport, and the plane lands, and passengers begin filing out, and ... look, there she is!
When is that moment for you before kickoff?
Maybe waking up on Game Day. Maybe never going to sleep. Maybe the cadence of pregame.
That 2002 season I previewed with Winnie the Pooh uttering the first words opened with LSU at Virginia Tech, and for many fans of the Hokies, I suspect that moment comes with the first notes of "Enter Sandman."
Or maybe just before.
Most LSU fans in 2003 didn't know what it was like to count down the hours to a national championship game involving the Tigers. They could tell you how many years it was since the 1958 championship team, but those Tigers received their title after the regular season -- before the bowls, and long before the creation of the BCS.
What was the moment when fans could almost taste the Sugar-sweet honey? When they walked inside the Superdome? When they saw the Tigers warming up? When the tap ... tap ... tap-tap-tap of pregame crystalized the context in an almost surreal epiphany?
Or was it when they saw Lionel Turner make his move, shift gears and begin to close in on Oklahoma quarterback Jason White?
Did the prospect of more sweetness cause any less salivating and adrenaline as the 2007 team prepared to take on Ohio State in a moment of are-we-really-here-again?
Hype often tricks us, sets us up. More often than not, the Super Bowl has failed to live up to expectations. Two years ago, Florida-LSU did not disappoint. That may have been the perfect marriage of buildup and actuality.
From the presence of "College GameDay" to the introduction of a new Mike the Tiger, to the roar that swept Death Valley when Stanford's upset of USC was announced, to Les Miles going for it and making it on fourth down, to wondering whether he would do it again, and again, and again, and again, to Jacob Hester's lunging touchdown, to Tim Tebow's rainbow into the end zone, to the ball hitting the ground and wrapping up LSU's 28-24 victory, that was the greatest Game Day and Night atmosphere I've ever experienced.
Are we about to see something like that again?
We don't always know when some of the most memorable moments will occur, and that's why we watch. And really, it's never the same if you're at work and DVR the game and have to watch it later, is it? Watching live, watching something no one has ever seen before, that's the thrill.
That's what gets us up early on Game Day, but we never know for sure what's coming.
Did anyone wake up on the morning of the Warren Morris home run in 1996 and think they would soon witness the most dramatic finish in College World Series history? In 2002, a football season that keeps popping up in this column, did anyone think anything special would happen at Kentucky?
The loudest explosion of crowd noise I've ever heard was in 1986, when Billy Hatcher's solo home run with one out in the bottom of the 14th inning kept the Houston Astros alive against the New York Mets in the NLCS. Inside a packed Astrodome, before Houston discovered the art of the retractable-roof stadium, there was no place for the sound to go.
Tiger Stadium has reached for a ceiling many times, including throughout that 2007 matchup between Florida and LSU. Like this one will be, it was a night game, with the low ceiling Miles loves to talk about, and somehow the Gators and Tigers managed to raise the roof.
We all expected that night to be special, and it was. Is that a river we can't step into again, or do you and your senses feel a worthy sequel coming on?
You're beginning to get impatient, aren't you? The honey won't pour out of the jar fast enough.
Winnie the Pooh didn't know what to call the feeling. You do.
Anticipation.
.
Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU sports since 1999. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.
Before LSU began August camp in 2002, the preseason after its first SEC championship in 13 years, I wrote a Sunday piece with the intention of setting the scene for the start of practice. I looked everywhere for inspiration, hopeful of finding something to illustrate how eager fans were for the Tigers to tee it up again.
A passage from A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh" seemed perfect.
"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
We know, and we experience it in a variety of ways.
Don't pretend you weren't looking forward to Jim and Pam's wedding.
Do you remember Christmas eve as a child?
Waiting, waiting, waiting at the airport, and the plane lands, and passengers begin filing out, and ... look, there she is!
When is that moment for you before kickoff?
Maybe waking up on Game Day. Maybe never going to sleep. Maybe the cadence of pregame.
That 2002 season I previewed with Winnie the Pooh uttering the first words opened with LSU at Virginia Tech, and for many fans of the Hokies, I suspect that moment comes with the first notes of "Enter Sandman."
Or maybe just before.
Most LSU fans in 2003 didn't know what it was like to count down the hours to a national championship game involving the Tigers. They could tell you how many years it was since the 1958 championship team, but those Tigers received their title after the regular season -- before the bowls, and long before the creation of the BCS.
What was the moment when fans could almost taste the Sugar-sweet honey? When they walked inside the Superdome? When they saw the Tigers warming up? When the tap ... tap ... tap-tap-tap of pregame crystalized the context in an almost surreal epiphany?
Or was it when they saw Lionel Turner make his move, shift gears and begin to close in on Oklahoma quarterback Jason White?
Did the prospect of more sweetness cause any less salivating and adrenaline as the 2007 team prepared to take on Ohio State in a moment of are-we-really-here-again?
Hype often tricks us, sets us up. More often than not, the Super Bowl has failed to live up to expectations. Two years ago, Florida-LSU did not disappoint. That may have been the perfect marriage of buildup and actuality.
From the presence of "College GameDay" to the introduction of a new Mike the Tiger, to the roar that swept Death Valley when Stanford's upset of USC was announced, to Les Miles going for it and making it on fourth down, to wondering whether he would do it again, and again, and again, and again, to Jacob Hester's lunging touchdown, to Tim Tebow's rainbow into the end zone, to the ball hitting the ground and wrapping up LSU's 28-24 victory, that was the greatest Game Day and Night atmosphere I've ever experienced.
Are we about to see something like that again?
We don't always know when some of the most memorable moments will occur, and that's why we watch. And really, it's never the same if you're at work and DVR the game and have to watch it later, is it? Watching live, watching something no one has ever seen before, that's the thrill.
That's what gets us up early on Game Day, but we never know for sure what's coming.
Did anyone wake up on the morning of the Warren Morris home run in 1996 and think they would soon witness the most dramatic finish in College World Series history? In 2002, a football season that keeps popping up in this column, did anyone think anything special would happen at Kentucky?
The loudest explosion of crowd noise I've ever heard was in 1986, when Billy Hatcher's solo home run with one out in the bottom of the 14th inning kept the Houston Astros alive against the New York Mets in the NLCS. Inside a packed Astrodome, before Houston discovered the art of the retractable-roof stadium, there was no place for the sound to go.
Tiger Stadium has reached for a ceiling many times, including throughout that 2007 matchup between Florida and LSU. Like this one will be, it was a night game, with the low ceiling Miles loves to talk about, and somehow the Gators and Tigers managed to raise the roof.
We all expected that night to be special, and it was. Is that a river we can't step into again, or do you and your senses feel a worthy sequel coming on?
You're beginning to get impatient, aren't you? The honey won't pour out of the jar fast enough.
Winnie the Pooh didn't know what to call the feeling. You do.
Anticipation.
.
Carl Dubois has written or blogged about LSU sports since 1999. You can contact him at carl1061 'at' gmail.com.
Posted on 10/9/09 at 1:31 am to Carl Dubois
Dammit, I was finally sleepy and then I read this.
Posted on 10/9/09 at 1:43 am to yessir
Aren't you glad that there is no "deadline" in writing for TD?
I always enjoy your work, Carl.
I always enjoy your work, Carl.
This post was edited on 10/9/09 at 1:49 am
Posted on 10/9/09 at 1:47 am to TBoy
quote:
I always enjoy your work.
Thank you.
Posted on 10/9/09 at 1:55 am to Carl Dubois
quote:
Watching live, watching something no one has ever seen before, that's the thrill.
This sums it all up.
Posted on 10/9/09 at 2:02 am to yessir
quote:
Dammit, I was finally sleepy and then I read this.
this will be the slowest friday EVER!
i'm so ready
Posted on 10/9/09 at 2:51 am to Carl Dubois
Posted on 10/9/09 at 3:43 am to Carl Dubois
Carl -
Superb article, as usual.
You're such a tease. Compliments intended. While reading your heart-felt feelings I was determined to "fill you in" with a reply to your long-felt searchings for just the right word to describe feelings of true purple and gold Tiger fans in such a moment as this. Wow. Of course you stole my thunder. However, I am absolutely certain/positive you knew this word all along - hence the tease comment.
Yes, I would have responded with the word "anticipation". What came to mind was the Carly Simon song Anticipation .... I'm a guy and I know she was speaking from a woman's point of view. This doesn't diminish the fact that guys also experience anticipation (as you aptly described).
Carl - excellent synopsis of our recent past's successes/failures. We all know that 2007 was a "perfect storm" in BCS history where W. Va. lost, etc. and led us to play the overmatched Ohio St. team en route to our '07 BCS championship. Who cares what the circumstances were ... we beat them.
As you said (that was then, this is now), watching live is 'da bomb - the epitome of life even if we are only experiencing it live on TV. Geaux Tigers.....
We're about to see a much "anticipated" game of college football's elite... Relax guys and enjoy our "Damn strong football team".
Thanks again, Carl. Keep 'em comin'.
Geaux Tigers................
Superb article, as usual.
You're such a tease. Compliments intended. While reading your heart-felt feelings I was determined to "fill you in" with a reply to your long-felt searchings for just the right word to describe feelings of true purple and gold Tiger fans in such a moment as this. Wow. Of course you stole my thunder. However, I am absolutely certain/positive you knew this word all along - hence the tease comment.
Yes, I would have responded with the word "anticipation". What came to mind was the Carly Simon song Anticipation .... I'm a guy and I know she was speaking from a woman's point of view. This doesn't diminish the fact that guys also experience anticipation (as you aptly described).
Carl - excellent synopsis of our recent past's successes/failures. We all know that 2007 was a "perfect storm" in BCS history where W. Va. lost, etc. and led us to play the overmatched Ohio St. team en route to our '07 BCS championship. Who cares what the circumstances were ... we beat them.
As you said (that was then, this is now), watching live is 'da bomb - the epitome of life even if we are only experiencing it live on TV. Geaux Tigers.....
We're about to see a much "anticipated" game of college football's elite... Relax guys and enjoy our "Damn strong football team".
Thanks again, Carl. Keep 'em comin'.
Geaux Tigers................
This post was edited on 7/7/11 at 10:20 pm
Posted on 10/9/09 at 6:08 am to Carl Dubois
quote:Awesome article. The QB was Jason White though.
Or was it when they saw Lionel Turner make his move, shift gears and begin to close in on Oklahoma quarterback Pat White?
Posted on 10/9/09 at 6:12 am to Helo
it takes a great writer to tie in college football with children's literature. great job.
Posted on 10/9/09 at 7:24 am to Carl Dubois
I was a student in '58 and privileged to witness the Cannon run. That whole season we would stay up all night reliving the game, waiting anxiously for the Sunday paper to come out so we could devour the articles, especially the ones that reported comments from the vanquished team members and coaches. The general consensus was that the best sports writer by far was Peter Finney. I think you are a great replacement as the best sports writer of this era. Keep them coming Carl, you are the best.
Posted on 10/9/09 at 7:32 am to Carl Dubois
Great read. Thanks Carl.
Posted on 10/9/09 at 7:54 am to Helo
quote:
The QB was Jason White though.
Posted on 10/9/09 at 8:23 am to Carl Dubois
Jaw dropping...goose bump raising...neck tingling...you gotta love great hype and indescribable anticipation, thanks for raising the roof this morning for me Carl!
Posted on 10/9/09 at 8:33 am to Carl Dubois
Carl, again you provide great insight in to a phenomena that haunts the few of us that love this game. And maybe the Tigers. Fridays are filled with reading every new artical and anything else you can get your hands on to hopefully substantiate your thoughts on the Saturday victory. God help us. I am aware that this game might not turn out like most of us want it to, but the possibilities for success at Tiger Stadium overrule every negative comment I've read. The problem I must admit to is that I want the Tigers to do so well, I have butterflies most of the week and while watching the game, can't do anything but pace the floor. I'm sure it's a character flaw. Keep 'em coming Carl, truly enjoy.
Posted on 10/9/09 at 8:34 am to Carl Dubois
Reading this just gave me goosebumps. Now IDK how I am going to make it through this workday. THANKS CARL
Posted on 10/9/09 at 8:53 am to Carl Dubois
quote:
You're beginning to get impatient, aren't you? The honey won't pour out of the jar fast enough.
Winnie the Pooh didn't know what to call the feeling. You do.
I call this feeling 'ALIVE'!
I've got it this morning already - spring my step, colors are brighter, a little tension in the stomach muscles, bank account feels full even though it's not - I don't care!
It's really feeling ALIVE.... deep down in the core of my being.
WAAAhhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!
Posted on 10/9/09 at 8:57 am to Carl Dubois
Eloquently written, Mr. Dubois.
Mr. Moose, Mr. Rabbit, Captain K. and I here at Ellis Zoo always enjoy your articles, especially when the immense wisdom of Winnie the Pooh is invoked.
Mr. Greenjeans
Mr. Moose, Mr. Rabbit, Captain K. and I here at Ellis Zoo always enjoy your articles, especially when the immense wisdom of Winnie the Pooh is invoked.
Mr. Greenjeans
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