re: Anyone on the board that was alive to see Cannon's return...

I’m just an old dude who loves LSU and likes to read Tiger Rant because most of the posters here are as fanatic and partial to LSU as I am. It’s good to read what the regular LSU fans have to say. I have never posted here because my thought is that no one wants to hear what an old guy who attended LSU from 1957 to 1961 has to say. Then I saw this post and thought, what the hell, maybe some would like to hear my experience on this subject as there are few of us left. For what it’s worth, here it is.

The 1958 LSU-Ole Miss game was also held in Tiger Stadium. The pregame atmosphere before the 1959 contest was a carryover from 1958 when spontaneous campus-wide pep rallies occurred every evening during the week leading up to the Ole Miss game, which LSU won 14-0. The excitement in 58 was a result of the LSU football team going from a 5-5 record in 57 to currently being undefeated and ranked #1. It was a marvelous and fun time to be a student at LSU. The football team completed the 58 season undefeated and became the National Champions. They were still undefeated leading up to the 59 game. The excitement was building up even more than in the previous year and this was a game no one wanted to miss.

My fanatical LSU football friend, a non LSU student, came up to Baton Rouge with the thought of somehow getting into the game. We both knew a homeboy who was a member of TGBFTL who might give up his student pass for my friend to use. We found him and he reluctantly agreed to hand it over. At that time the student pass was like a mug shot with the height chart in the background. The band guy was close to 6’, my friend was 5’6”. I was doubtful this was going to work. My friend told me after the game that he waited until the crush at the gate was at its peak, merged into the line, and just flashed the card when approaching the gatekeeper and kept on going. Said he wound up sitting in an aisle near midfield in the West side. As for me, I went with some fellow student friends to the stadium early enough to find a spot somewhere around the 10 yard line in the student section on the Northwest side. The stadium was jam packed, the excitement kept building as the game progressed, and toward the end my friend and I were witness to one of the greatest moments ever in the history of LSU football. Afterward, the celebration continued far into the night and next day. What a great time to be a Tiger. We still talk about it to this day.

Of all of the LSU football games that I attended in Tiger stadium as a student, this one was the obvious standout. After graduating from LSU I attended many great games in Tiger Stadium over the years but the one that always comes to mind is one we lost, the 1979 USC game. It felt as if there was an electric charge in the atmosphere before kickoff and during most of the game. I remember the crowd noise being so loud that it had almost a physical effect on your body. What a pity we didn’t come out on top in that one.

Also on the Radio. I was 14 at my aunt's home in Morgan City. My father got up and danced around the room. It was the play of the year on the TV series Touchdown.