re: For those in Tiger Stadium for the ‘97 Florida game (airing now on SECN)

Here's how loud that 97 game was ...

I was in the band and marched out for pregame. When we hit those "four notes" that was the last time I could hear my own horn. Now, usually, even in a loud environment, you kind of pseudo-hear your horn because it reverberates some of the bones in your ear and your skull ... so even with loud external noise you can "feel" your own horn sound in your head. Not that night. I couldn't hear myself at all. Then, when we marched down to form the tunnel for the cheerleaders and players to run through, I started feeling a weird sensation in my chest. Nope, not a heart attack ... it was actually the sound waves from the crowd noise moving through the air sacs in my lungs. It was the most surreal experience I ever had at an LSU game. I still have some turf and some goal post foam from that night, but the memory of literally FEELING the crowd noise in my lungs is the thing that has stuck with me all of these years from that night. Nothing else has come close. I've been fortunate enough to attend several big games in the years since my time at LSU, and I've still never seen, or felt, anything like that. 97 Florida is hands down the loudest and most unbelievable football environment I've ever seen.