The Golden Band From Tigerland

 Baton Rouge, LA

Geaux Tigers!

The Band and Team Procession to the Field

LSU has a tradition of only having night games at Tiger Stadium and having a celebrated procession about 2 hours before kickoff where the band marches and plays heading to the stadium and then the team follows up.  We are into the whole marching band thing so we braved the rain to go watch the procession.  We were told the game against UAB (The University of Alabama at Birmingham) wasn't a "Big" game so we figured between the rain and the less popular opponent the crowds would be light.  Nope!  People were packed in and partying!  The first band to go by was the Alumni Band.  An older teen was standing next to me and watched them go by and said something like, "That's it?"  Her parent explained that it was just the Alumni Band.  She responded with, "I don't even know what that means".  

The Alumni band makes its way to the field.

We had hoped for a cool marching band experience but we got a running band.  It was still cool.

$4 Tickets to the Game

During the week I was checking Stubhub for ticket prices.  On gameday I found 2 that were $4 each.  I asked Donna if she wanted to spend a few bucks to show up to the game late, watch the band, and then leave.  That sounded great to Donna so I pulled the trigger on the tickets.  After the procession we headed home to dry off and wait for the right time to head to Tiger Stadium.  I was watching updates on the game and we headed over around the start of the 2nd quarter.  It was going to be about a 15 minute walk.  We got to our seats with about 7 minutes left in the quarter.  We got to see an LSU touchdown which was a bonus.

We were up top and the stadium was much larger and much steeper than I had thought it would be.

The band played in the stands until it was time to head to the field for half-time.

I took the opportunity to take photos from the top of the stadium.

You can see the state capitol in the distance.

Touchdown!

The band sounded great and their marching was pretty tight.

The Alumni Band also got to get out on the field.

Tiger Stadium

Tiger stadium holds 102,000 people.  It's probably the 2nd largest stadium I have been to.  2nd to The Auto Club Speedway in Fontana which holds 120,000 people.  2 weeks ago LSU played a huge rival, The University of Alabama.  Alabama came into Baton Rouge the favorite and left having lost in a dramatic fashion.  The game had eight lead changes and went to overtime.  Alabama scored quickly in overtime and put LSU in a bad spot but LSU came through with a touchdown and decided to play for the 2 point conversion instead of locking up a tie.  It paid off with a dramatic victory that caused the crowd to rush the field resulting in a $250,000 fine from the SEC.  During the game the crowd was so "stompy" and noisy that they set off the seismograph at LSU.  Tonight's game was very different.  LSU did win but the crowd was much smaller and it wasn't as big of a deal.

It's really fun being so close to a university.  They are great places to walk around and they provide a lot of low cost opportunities for fun. 

That's it for today.  If you missed yesterday's post you can find it here.

Back to The Avenue, Pinball, Nachos, Beer, and Football Festivities

 Baltimore, MD

The best way to wait for a bus is at a brewery right with the stop just outside the door.

The Avenue

Today we returned to The Avenue AKA Hampden Avenue AKA The Hipster Area to go to a Mexican Restaurant, Holy Frijoles, with 18 pinball machines.  When we got there we went right to the machines but someone was servicing some of them and working on the change machine so we decided to get a snack and a drink before we played.

Their logo is really cool

They have both new and older machines

I had more Natty Boh today.  The tap system wasn't working and Natty Boh cans were only $3

We also shared a nachos.  They were the best nachos I have had in a long time.

Once we saw the guy that was working on the machines behind the bar we knew it was time to go check out the pinball machines

I played a few games of Elvira because there were free games on it

Same thing with Terminator 2: Judgement Day

We also got to play Munsters Premium.  

We ended by playing Godzilla Premium which is awesome.  

The bus that we took to The Avenue only runs every hour on Sundays so we ended up killing some time at Nepenthe Brewing.  There was just enough time for a quick pint.

After our bus ride back we decided to walk Raven's Walk because it was packed with fans and festivities.  It's a night game tonight.  The game starts at 8:20 but people started "getting ready" for the game very early in the evening. 

We didn't leave much room for Donna in the photo.

When I put on football gear my head gets tiny.

The walk was so much fun that we decided to get Francis and walk around the stadium to see all of the goings ons.  We ended up getting dinner at Checkerspot Brewing which is right in the middle of all of the action.

It's always a lot of fun being out and a about during big sporting events.  Everyone is having a great time and Football really gets the economy going.  There are about 8 home games a year and that means that 8 away teams play here and their fans flock the area and spend tons of money on hotels, tickets, food, and drink.  We have been here for 3 home games and it is really apparent.  The Ravens even did us a favor by winning their last game while we are here.  Next Sunday we hit the road and begin our 3 week trip to Baton Rouge LA.

It was a fun day.  If you missed yesterday's post you can find it here.  We went to a neighborhood festival and saw a pig race.