A Historic Game is Happening in My Hometown This Weekend. For the Sake of the City I Hope All Goes Well
For the first time in both school's histories, Southern University will play Louisiana State University (LSU) in football. The social implications are high for a number of reasons.
1st Down.
When my wife and I made the decision to move from my hometown of Baton Rouge, I knew there would be watershed moments I would miss out on. This weekend, Southern University (SU), my alma mater and one of the largest historically Black colleges in the nation will head across town to play Louisiana State University (LSU), a Division I powerhouse, in Tiger Stadium (aka Death Valley) in football for the first time ever. To put this in context, both institutions have existed for over 140 years, and have collectively amassed a number of championships in their respective conferences — LSU has also won a few national college football titles, as recently as 2020.
LSU and Southern have some of the most dedicated fanbases in all of college football. Southern fans, or “The Jaguar Nation” as they are affectionately known and named after the university’s jaguar mascot, are known for taking road trips across the Delta and beyond in support of the team, and filling up AW Mumford stadium for home games on Saturday nights every fall.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Observations In Blackness by Donney Rose to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.