The Fighting Tigers, 1993-2008: Into a New Century of LSU Football
By Scott Rabalais and Peter Finney. (Baton Rouge (Louisiana).Louisiana State University Press, 2008. 231 pp.)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana is the home to a wide variety of sporting events. Consequently, the most notable are the home games for the LSU Tigers. The LSU Tigers are one of the elicit teams in college football. The Baton Rouge skyline is dotted with numerous buildings. One of the most spectacular buildings is the LSU football stadium which is properly named Death Valley. Death Valley is the home stadium for LSU. It is an example of modern architecture. The building is different because of its style, color scheme, and venue.
In this book, the authors Scott Rabalais and Peter Finney talks about the history of LSU football. First, the authors give us a brief look at the history of LSU football. However, these two authors go into details about the present history of LSU football from 1993- 2008. Les Miles, Nick Saban, Marcus Randall, Brandon LaFell, Matt Flynn, Jacob Hester, and Trindon Holliday are some of the players who were mentioned in this book.
The authors of the book, The Fighting Tigers, 1993, 2008: Into a New Century of LSU Football are Scott Rabalais and Peter Finney. First, Scott Rabalais is a sports writer for the Advocate. He is best known for his weekly columns on LSU athletics. Rabalais does more than write about LSU athletics; he is also a writer of several books. Lastly, Rabalais has covered many other sporting events including; the Daytona 500, the Masters, and the Super Bowl. The other author of this book is Peter Finney. Peter Finney is a sports columnist for the New Orleans Times- Picayune. Finney is probably best known for being an author of the first three volumes of
the book; The Fighting Tigers. Peter Finney is of the best writers, and probably one of the best writers in the twentieth century. He is widely respected for his books and his columns.
The book begins by discussing briefly the history of LSU football. In 1893, the LSU football program was started. Dr. Charles E. Coates was LSU first coach and was a very good coach and motivator. LSU first loss came in their very first game; they were defeated by Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana by a score of 34 -0. In 1984, LSU under a new coach named Albert Simmons went 2-1 with wins over Natchez Athletic Club and Centenary. The only loss came on December 3, 1894 vs. Ole Miss. For the next several years, LSU managed to win at least 75 percent of their games. John P. Gregg, Edmond Chavanne, and Allen Jeardeau were some of the coaches for LSU during the early days of LSU football. LSU first conference championship came in 1896 under Allen Jeardeau. LSU now have a total of thirteen conference championships in three different conferences. Since joining the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1933, LSU has won ten conference championships. LSU first national championship came in 1958 when the Tigers went 11- 0 and defeated Clemson in the Sugar Bowl to win their first national championship. LSU recently won two more national championships in 2003 under Nick Saban, and in 2007 under Les Miles.
No one can talk about LSU football with about talking about Death Valley. Death Valley stadium is that nickname given to LSU football stadium simply because of the high level of cheering during the games. Death Valley is probably one of the toughest if not the toughest place for road teams to play. When Death Valley opened in 1924, the seating capacity was about 10,000. The stadium was upgraded several times to add seats and can now hold about 90,000 screaming fans. Death Valley has broken many records for attendance. First, on October 22, 2005, LSU had about 92, 000 fans which was a record breaking. LSU broke the record for attendance again on October 10, 2009 when about 94,000 fans attended the game.
Lastly, the book discusses some of the great moments in LSU history. There were several moments that I will never forget. First, in 2002, the play is named the Bluegrass Miracle. On last play of the game when LSU was facing defeat, Marcus Randall threw a 75 yard touchdown to Devery Henderson to win the game for the Tigers. Probably the most hilarious thing was that
Kentucky stormed the field thinking that they had just won the game. The other moment that I will never forget was in 2008 when LSU defeated Ohio State 38- 24 to win their third national championship. There are lots of other great moments in LSU football history; one could write for days describing the moments that they will never forget.
In conclusion, I believe that LSU is one of the best college football teams in history. They have come a long way since their first season in 1893. LSU has done many great things for football and for the city of Louisiana. I am proud to be a part of the LSU football family even though I believe that USC and Florida football programs are way better.