re: LSU Tailgating in the 60's 70's and 80's

I have been tailgating since 1966.
Parking was free on campus and traffic was not a problem.
We used to park in that horseshoe shaped lot by the geology building across the street from the side of the Union.

Tailgating was a lot calmer than it is now, but people were very serious about the football game, especially when it was against a big rival. Ole Miss was the big rival back then. And Tulane, but Ole Miss was the big game.

We had season tickets throughout the 80s and early 90s. We parked across from the box when it was all grass. The way people parked made the perfect football field for us kids to play. People would be cheering us on on, as kids it was great.
The they started the RV lot and we would park next to Eric andolsek parents. That's about the time me and my friend would head to the union to play arcade games.
There were so many people and it was so loud that I didn't realize my parents never bought me a ticket to the game until I was like 12. I snuck to almost every game I attended.

Lived in S. Stadium during the mid-80s. Game days were crazy. Residents had to relocate their vehicles to make way for the tailgates. Some RVs would show up on Fridays.

I was in the throes of thermodynamics with Dr. McLaughlin. Game days wrecked my fugacity coefficients and they've never recovered.

I took my wife there on our first date for nickel beer on a Tuesday .

Up until the early 2000s when black posts, yellow ropes and orange construction fences went up everywhere, cars parked on pretty much any open land on campus.

Oddly enough no trees died, grass was flat for a day or two then stood up straight again, nobody got run over and leaving the game took about the same length of time as it does now.

LSU fans hate to admit it, but unless you have a big group who are all willing to shell out some big money for parking passes and TAF donations, tailgating at LSU just plain sucks now.

As a kid in the 80s I always enjoyed eating burritos (actually chimichangas) covered in cheese or the pizzas at the Tiger Lair in the Union on gamedays. Followed by nonstop pitch and catch till it was time to go into the stadium. I do not miss everyone smoking in the stadium.

I do remember being there for the filming of Everybody’s All American during halftime and after the game was over.

Tailgating today is too corporate and too pain in the arse to enjoy. Back in those days it was actually a fun and enjoyable experience

In the 60's and early 70's, we would go to the student cafeterias on the east side of the stadium or get 2 to 3 buckets of KFC along with the ice chest of beer.

Its just like everything else in our lives....things have gotten worse as time goes on. Let's talk about the 50's. Baton Rouge was a 2 hour drive from our home. Some games parents would drive home after game and some games stay at the Howard Johnson's on Airline. On Howard Johnson's games kids had choice of staying at HJ's or going to game. The ritual was for kids with parents for game would mill around the HJ pool. If no good chicks we would go to game. If good prospects we would get them to stay at HJ's and we would too. For Sugar Bowl games we would drive down to NO and park on St Charles across from Tulane. For all games if driving home after the game parents would bring deviled eggs, cold fried chicken and sandwiches to eat under trees before game. Ice chests in those days were metal with old news papers used for insulation. One last memory: for some reason I will always remember a Holsum Bakery billboard on Airline that just had the name Holsum Bakery but 3 letters were much larger than the rest. HoLSUm.

Now my college days at LSU late 60's is another story. But its still a better story than the situation today.

I think largely in the 60's and 70's folks went to bars and restaurants before if anything.

I can remember going to games in the 80's with my dad and we'd eat sandwiches in a bag in the car in the parking lot.