Bayou Classic oasis for schools

[CSN Log]

11-25-2009 03:02 PM

Bayou Classic oasis for schools

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Bayou Classic - always so much more than a football game with its job fair, battle of the bands and fan festival - brings joy not only to the fans but to the city.

There are the thousands of people filling the city’s hotels and restaurants and the reunions and parties that fill many neighborhoods.

And never has the almost weeklong round of festivities come at a better time for the alums of Grambling State and Southern University.

The football teams square off Nov. 28 in the Superdome, giving the hard-pressed students, faculty and alumni a welcome chance to cheer for their schools - rather than fume about them.

Read more ... (http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/index.php/2009/11/25/bayou-classic-oasis-for-schools?blog=2#more5880)

[TexasTerror]

The 'other side' of the Bayou Classic.

I've heard Grambling and Southern mentioned a lot lately in talks about the state of affairs in the state of Louisiana as far as higher education go.

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Now that a conference championship is out of the picture ...

Now that a winning season is out of the way ...

Now that Bryant Lee has moved to No. 1 in the Southern record book ...

The game’s the thing.

For archrivals Southern and Grambling, there’s this small matter of playing against each other.

At 1 p.m. Saturday in the Superdome in New Orleans, the Jaguars (6-3, 3-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) and Tigers (6-4, 4-2) collide in the 36th Bayou Classic, and the two teams have little else to concentrate on other than giving their fans a show to remember. They often do.

The Bayou Classic often has a different feel to it. Blood runs a little hotter. Players seem to play a little harder. Coaches seem to bring out the best in them, and each other.

Just ask Rod Broadway.



http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/southern/70730422.html

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SIX POINTS: TDR’s take on the greatest Bayou Classic games


SIX: 1980

When Mike Williams walked off the Superdome carpet with the most valuable player award after the ‘80 Bayou Classic, it marked the end of an era.

The Williams’ era.

A quarterback named Williams, either Mike or older brother Doug (shown above, at the 2007 Bayou Classic), had started for Grambling in every Classic until that point — and had won four of the seven MVPs ever given.

GSU had also gone 6-1 against Southern with a Williams under center, falling only in 1979. Five of the Top 6 best-attended games, including Nos. 1-4, occurred during this span, as well.

Doug Williams remembered the very first game, played at Tulane in 1974 while construction of the Superdome was completed: “I looked around and said: ‘What am I doing here?’” he told me in 2003. “We had 75,000 at a historically black college football game. I was a redshirt freshman, and scared to death. I was blessed to have some veterans around me and Coach Robinson ran a conservative offense that didn’t put too much pressure on me.”


http://www.thederisoreport.com/2009/11/23/six-points-tdrs-take-on-the-greatest-bayou-classic-games/

[SUjagTILLiDIE]

Written by Reggie Parquet Monday, 23 November 2009 14:39




When most people think of the Thanksgiving holiday, ideas of family, good food and football usually come to mind.

Here in Louisiana, one tradition that stays on the mind of football fans during the Thanksgiving weekend is the annual showdown between the SWAC’s Grambling State Tigers and Southern Jaguars, better known as the State Farm Bayou Classic.

This Saturday in the Louisiana Superdome the Tigers and Jaguars will face off in the 36th meeting of their storied rivalry, which has featured slew of legendary players and coaches. Renowned figures such as late Grambling coach Eddie Robinson, Super Bowl MVP and former Grambling coach Doug Williams, former NFL Pro Bowler and Southern Jaguar Aeneas Williams among many others have added to the lore of the Bayou Classic throughout the years.

http://www.neworleans.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=268477&Itemid=578

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NEW ORLEANS — Five days before the biggest game of the year, Southern quarterback Bryant Lee strolled into the Superdome with a sharp, snappy look.

He wore a dapper jacket, a square-pattern necktie and neatly pressed pants. He accompanied his coach, Pete Richardson, to New Orleans for the annual news conference in advance of the Bayou Classic — the one game Southern and Grambling fans care about the most.

Lee looked confident, like a young man in control of the scene. But in fact, his tres-mode look was thrown together at the last moment.

“I think these pants belong to Stew,” he said, referring to wide receiver Juamorris Stewart.

Evidently, the Jaguars’ superstar had left his own pants back home in Boutte. So when he woke up Monday in Grandison Hall, Lee walked next door and asked tight end Evan Alexander if he had something he could borrow for a day.

The 250-pound Alexander scrunched his eyebrows and looked at the 205-pound Lee, saying: “Man, are you kidding me? I don’t have anything for you. I wear a size 46.”

http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/72135657.html?index=1&c=y

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It's Bayou Classic Week.

"My thoughts coming into this job was that it was about winning championships," said third-year Grambling Coach Rod Broadway, whose team meets Southern on Saturday at the Superdome. "But when I get with fans, all they want to talk about is, 'Are we going to win the Bayou Classic?'

"I think that's more important to them than winning championships."

Broadway found that out firsthand two years ago in his first Bayou Classic when the Tigers, with the division title in hand, were upset by Southern 22-13.

After the game, Broadway and former Grambling standout Elfrid Payton had a heated exchange on the Tigers' sideline, and afterward, Broadway said if he had to put up with such distractions, that "they can have this (expletive) job." :lmao:
Broadway said Monday that he considered the incident a closed matter, but Southern Coach Pete Richardson said he has encountered similar situations.

"Our goal is to win our conference championship," he said. "But the goal of our fan base is to win the Bayou Classic. At least that's what they're always asking me about. I understand that, and that's what makes this such an exciting game."

Certainly, Richardson's legacy at Southern was cemented when the Jaguars won his first eight Bayou Classics against Grambling coaches Eddie Robinson and Doug Williams.
The players appreciate what winning the Classic means


http://www.nola.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/11/winning_the_bayou_classic_trum.html

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worthy of accolades
By Ted Lewis, The Times-Picayune
November 25, 2009, 1:19AM
To Grambling Tigers junior defensive end Christian Anthony, being a leading contender for the Buck Buchanan Award means more than having his name on a list.

"I mean, he's a Grambling guy," Anthony said of Buchanan, for whom the award that goes to the top defensive player in Division I-AA is named. "And I'm playing the same position he did.
"Nobody from Grambling's ever won this. If I was lucky enough to, it would be about the greatest thing I can think of."

Certainly, Anthony has a good shot.

Not only does he have six sacks, 14 tackles for losses, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries this season, he also has five interceptions, the latest of which he just missed returning for a game-clinching touchdown in the Tigers' 47-33 victory against Texas Southern on Nov. 12 when he was tackled at the 4-yard line.

"I was worried about one of their wide receivers catching me from behind," Anthony said. "And instead, a lineman got me, and I didn't even see him coming.
"To have that happen on national TV (ESPNU) was a little embarrassing."


http://www.nola.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/11/grambling_tigers_defensive_end.html

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For much of this season, Southern University’s offense has marched as swiftly and briskly than the Human Jukebox.

The offense leads the Southwestern Athletic Conference in total offense and passing offense, and it scores an average of 33 points per game.

But this weekend?

Well, if the Jaguars (6-3, 3-2) struggle on offense in the Bayou Classic against archrival Grambling (6-4, 4-2), it won’t really matter how explosive the Jaguars looked in all those other games.

Fans will only remember that the SU offense crashed and burned in the game that mattered most.

“This is a biggie,” offensive coordinator Mark Orlando said. “It’s always a biggie.”

Meanwhile, in three years at Grambling, coach Rod Broadway has hammered home his three basic goals for every game: 1) stopping the run, 2) protecting the football, and 3) winning the kicking game.

He lists them in that order, too




http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/73206117.html

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Jags remember first Bayou Classic victory



Although Grambling has won four Bayou Classics this decade (including last season), Southern has spent much of the past two decades dominating this all-important series — much to the delight of fans who used to cringe at the thought of another probable loss to their archrivals.

The Jaguars have won two of the past three Bayou Classics, four of the past seven and 12 of the past 16.

It didn’t used to be that way. In fact, during the 1970s, Grambling absolutely crushed SU.

That pattern was finally interrupted 30 years ago.

In 1979, Grambling was on its way to the Division I-AA playoffs, and Southern hadn’t beaten them in nine years — including the first five Classics.


http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/southern/featured/73200812.html

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http://media.2theadvocate.com/images/first+bayou+classic+112509.jpg
Then-Southern University System President Jesse N. Stone holds the 1979 Bayou Classic Trophy joined, from left, by Southern nose guard Ken Times, defensive end Carter Spruill and wide receiver George Farmer


“We were determined to win that game,” Barron recalled. “We had guys who gave up drinking for three weeks. They were making sacrifices.” lol

http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/southern/featured/73200812.html?showAll=y&c=y

Jaguars beat Grambling 14-7 in the Superdome. At far right in the back is defensive back Herb Williams. It was Southern’s first win in the Bayou Classic, after losing the first five Classics.

[SUjagTILLiDIE]

Here is the real broadcast from ESPN of the 1979 Bayou Classic Happy Thanksgiving!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz2vOxgPbZo&feature=related[/QUOTE]

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Every year, as football season winds down, Southern and Grambling gather in New Orleans for a grand game known as the Bayou Classic.

You might have heard of it once or twice. Simply put, it is the best and purest rivalry game in Louisiana — and sure, we could tell syrupy, melodramatic stories about what the game really means.

Instead, we asked the people who invest more in the game than anyone else.

The question was simple: What does the Bayou Classic mean to you?

The answers varied, but they were always interesting.


http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/74412617.html

[SUjagTILLiDIE]

Ticket Sales Strong for Classic



Although both teams are out of the hunt for the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship, Southern Athletic Director Greg LaFleur said ticket sales have been “pretty strong” so far for Saturday’s 36th annual Bayou Classic between the Jaguars (6-3, 3-2) and archrival Grambling (6-4, 4-2).

LaFleur said that in all, 47,000 tickets had been sold at the end of business Tuesday night.

That number didn’t include sales Wednesday at the SU ticket office, which he called “pretty lively” (by Wednesday afternoon, a line snaked around the building).

“Friday is also usually a good day for ticket sales because of the battle of the bands,” LaFleur said. “And you usually have a good walk-up crowd on the day of the game.”


http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/74420612.html

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By Ted Lewis, The Times-Picayune
November 26, 2009, 6:00AM
Several years back, then-Southern University President F.G. Clark paid a visit to Jaguars trainer Carl "Doc" Williams' office and was so struck by a poem Williams had on his wall that he asked Williams if he happened to have another copy.


Carl 'Doc' WilliamsWilliams insisted Clark take his copy. Later, Clark's secretary told Williams that Clark posted the poem on the wall behind his desk, where it remained until Clark's retirement.

The poem was "The Indispensable Man, " an ode to how no person is so important that he can't replaced.

However, Williams might just be proving to be the exception to the rule.

Six years following his retirement after four decades as Southern's director of sports medicine, Williams, 72, was called back to duty. His successor, Alec Hawkins, departed for a high school job in Texas just before the start of preseason football practice.

Williams' return was to last just through two-a-days. Then, it was stretched through football season, including Saturday's State Farm Bayou Classic against Grambling State at the Superdome.


http://www.nola.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/11/southern_trainer_carl_doc_will.html

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Bayou Classic 1976 Promo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xblWzYoXMEI&feature=related