re: The earthquake game - myth? Any geologists out there?

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bulldogger

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Got your tinfoil hat on today?

I was at the earthquake game in the studen section and here are my two cents...

I agree with the idea of the foot stomping on the bleachers creating more "noise" than the actual cheering, etc. The student section became more like a mosh pit after that TD, especially since it happened in the end zone right in front of us.

I think the cheer was also so thunderous at that specific time was because of how the game played out and because of the build up to the specific moment of the TD.

--We trailed 6-0 almost the whole game. Our offense was CRAP all night. It was very frustrating to watch. Hodson was taking a beating, but our defense was keeping us in the game. However, you just didn't get the sense that we would be able to do ANYTHING on offense.

--We got the ball back at about the 30 with about 6:00 left. Everyone in the stadium sensed that that would be the last gasp drive.

--Somehow, Hodson methodically moved the team down the field, converting a couple of 4th downs along the way.

--To add to the frustration, Fuller dropped a sure TD toward the end of the drive.

--To even further add to the frustration, on 3rd down at the 11, Hodson rolled right and was in trouble. There was a WIDE open receiver in the left corner of the end zone, but Hodson never saw him because he was in trouble.

--Then on 4th down, Hodson was about to get murdered by the rush, but somehow managed to get the ball away to Fuller at the last possible instant, and he had to go up to make the catch and barely stay in the end zone. That one moment was the capper to a night of incredible build up, and the explosion from the stands was like a catharsis of a night of frustration.

No, that was actually Charlie's fat arse farting that set off the seismograph!!!

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You get the picture.

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I am with ya...read my longer post above...I just expanded on your idea a little bit.

I saw the machine the Monday after that game. I always cut through that building between classes. The machine was enclosed in a glass box with the paper scroll running under the pens. I noticed a big black blob on the paper. I knew the paper scroll feed was just an inch or so per day and saw that the blob must have happened in the last 2 or 3 days and wondered if it was the touchdown from the game. Eventually the article in the paper confirmed it was. Now, it was not a real earthquake but the machine did register vibrations in the ground that originated from the stadium crowd.

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--To add to the frustration, Fuller dropped a sure TD toward the end of the drive.

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I agree with all of your post except for this.
I believe the play you are referring to was the play right before the TD.
It was the same exact play. Fuller didn't drop it the first time, he was just out of bounds.
The coaches saw that he was open, so decided to run the same play.

I was on the opposite end of the stadium in the south endzone. We couldn't see anything, so just had to go by the crowd.
It was insane.

My favorite part of the story is that years later Ro Brown (new orleans sportscaster) mentioned the game and he said the noise was so strong it registered as a quake in California.

He didn't realize LSU had their own earthquake equipment.

It was 05 Auburn I believe.

The OT FG try from Auburn was the loudest I have ever heard the stadium.

I believe the answer to the riddle is that there usually isn't a seismograph on campus. There just happened to be one that game because of research being done at Howe-Russell at the time. If there was one there all the time I can only assume you would hear of comparisons to recent games if nothing else.