The Bayou Classic

In what has become an annual tradition spanning 35 years. Two proud and historical programs, Southern University & Grambling State, travel to the Big Easy to continue a rivalry spanning decades. A 60 minute event that causes rifts between family and friends. A game that turned names like Carmichael, Williams, Blount, and Robinson into legends of college football. Where winning can make or ruin an entire season.

This is the Bayou Classic, the 35th edition. The championship stakes are high but bragging rights are just as valuable. Winner goes to the championship game in Birmingham, AL. Loser has to hear the smack talk for 365 days. Not an easy thing to deal with.

But this is more than just a game. The attraction brings families back together, at least before kickoff anyway. For the Big Easy this means dollars. An instant way to help plug up any hole in the budget. For the fans pure entertainment. The Bands, the Greek shows, the parties. For us at the Raggedy, one more hurdle to clear.

I've dealt with the madness before. The crowds. The unnecessary people roaming the sidelines getting in front of my lens. And of course the endless number of TV time outs. For Erin this was her first experience. I know she covered the team this year but this game is a totally different beast. Not because of the national television exposure but the people who act as if they have never ventured out in the world before. I know it suppose to be a good time but when you work in the media we don't have time to party until the deadline is done.

So after dealing with the endless number of people, mainly the ones who had too much liquid refreshment, we were able to get the game and shoot post. Now the hard part. Getting the stuff back to BR. No Sat Truck so email was the only option. Just one problem...the Internet was down in the press box. No I'm not kidding. So after shooting a four hour game, hustling to get players for post, and dealing with the idiots who wouldn't leave us alone to shoot some stand ups all of our efforts would go up in smoke because someone didn't check to see if the connection to cyber space was working. Not this time. Erin managed to find a working connection. It's worth having good relationships you can count on in this business. We got the stuff edited and emailed back in time for the show. Whoo, that's over but the day continues. We still have to fight traffic back to the Big Raggedy and edit for the late show. Just another day at the office.
And as for the game, there were some big moments but things didn't go SU's way. There's always next year, did you know?