Editorial

A Proud Tradition

One Saturday last year I hired a couple of my older grandchildren to help me do a little tree trimming and clean up work at an office building we own in north Baton Rouge. On the way home we were tired and dirty but it occurred to me that it was Homecoming on the LSU Campus and that there would be lots of colorful decorations for the kids to see, so we took a detour down fraternity and sorority row.

It was a beautiful afternoon and before long we were drawn into the festive crowd. The kids were on the wrong side of the car to see the decorations clearly as we drove around the University Lake in front of the sorority houses, so I let them get out and walk while I drove along slowly keeping an eye on them.

As we rode around the campus they were amazed by what they saw and it helped me to see it all for the first time again through their young eyes. At one point my 14-year-old granddaughter looked at groups of laughing people barbecuing under the beautiful live oaks and said “So that’s what they mean by tailgating!” as she realized for the first time the meaning of a word she had heard but never fully understood.

It is doubtful that enough of us pause to consider the makeup of the crowd at an LSU home game. Camped out under the stately oaks and broad magnolias are people from Shreveport, Cottonport, Port Sulphur and Port Barre. There are folks from Coushatta, Monroe, Lake Charles and New Orleans. People come to the games from Vidalia and Leesville, from Ville Platte and Slidell. The whole state is represented in a living George Rodrigue painting of the people who are the soul of the Pelican State.

The common denominator is football, and in this issue’s cover story Elva Jo Crawford tells us how football first came to Central.

There have been many exciting Friday nights over the past 60-plus years when the people who are the soul of Central came together to pull for the Wildcats. There have been many excellent players and coaches who gave their all for the honor of their school and their community. The pride that Central has always felt in its schools is displayed more brightly at home games in football season than it is at any other time of year.

Go Tigers, Go Wildcats, Go Louisiana, Go Central … We’re proud to be part of your great football tradition and proud to be counted among your faithful. Win or lose, we’re with you all the way!!