This is a pure old memory.

Louisiana State University and Tulane University had one of the oldest rivalries in college football.  LSU beat Tulane annually. By a large score.

But the rivalry continued for decades.  With the schools on 90 miles away from each other Fans of both teams attended the games and t he LSU fans went home happy most years.

Initially, the rivalry was competitive.  After the first game in 1893, the series ran from 1919 to 2009.  From 1919 to 1948, the rivalry was close, 23-18-6.  After 1949, the situation changed.  LSU led 45-4-2.

In 1982, LSU had a wonderful team.  The Tigers were 8-2-1 coming into the last game of the year and earned a big to the Orange Bowl.  LSU fans were so confident of a victory that a local broadcaster announced “Tulane has as much a chance of winning as the Russians being in Kenner.”  The Cold War was raging and Kenner is a suburb of New Orleans.  One person wrote the next day proclaiming the Russians had been seen off the Louisiana coast.

My grandfather lived for Tulane athletics.  I feel Tulane helped him earn great life.  He had earned a journalism scholarship.  A first generation immigrant, he and his family were naturally proud.

However, he decided that his life course could be better served through medicine.  To show you how long ago this was, he met with a dean, then convinced the dean of his desire for a medical career.  The dean scratched out “Journalism” and inserted “Medicine.”  Hence, grandfather had earned a medical scholarship.  He was a doctor for decades thereafter. 

Once he retired, he followed Tulane football like the Grateful Dead.  Despite annual bad teams, he went to almost every game.

I made my first trip to the LSU campus for the 1982 LSU/Tulane game.  The LSU stadium, ‘Death Valley”, is one of the loudest stadiums in the United States.  I grew up in the Louisiana Superdome, also a very loud place.  LSU fans were ready for a trip to the Orange Bowl.   The game against Tulane was merely a speed bump to Miami.

The 1982 game was fantastic.  Both teams played well, and Tulane was keeping it close.  My job was to get sodas for my grandparents.  Falling rain gave the field a muddy, slippery look.  I was wet and loving the great game and the entire atmosphere. 

LSU scored to make the game 28-24.  The LSU fans were ready the bowl game.  Tulane’s offense was outplaying their talents.  As the game was going deep into the fourth quarter, Tulane got the ball.  The LSU fans were getting nervous as Tulane made short gains and continued progress. 

I do not know the exact time left, but the vision in my mind is clear.  Our seats were in the corner of the stadium, and the crowd was so loud you could not think.  The Tulane offense ran a swing pass to Reggie Reginelli.

Reggie went to the same school I did.  His dad was the football coach and he was a nice college player.  He was not the fastest player, but he gave great effort. 

Reginelli caught the swing pass and began to run down the sideline.  His teammates blocked well.  Reggie proceeded down the sideline towards the end zone.

LSU fans show their disapproval by showering Reggie with oranges.  The vision of a Tulane ballplayer running for the winning score in a shower of oranges was too much for my grandfather.  He cheered, laughed and cried simultaneously.  All the years of Tulane football, and this was the greatest game he ever saw.

The next day, the New Orleans announcer who gave Tulane no chance ”ate crow.”  He wore an Ushanka, a Russian winter hat, to show that “the Russians have landed in Kenner.”

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