I admit that sometimes I get so caught up in the past that I miss things that are happening in the present. I was thus caught by surprise when I read yesterday that Rice is going to play LSU in football in 2018. It is, of course, a return to an old and very long rivalry. The teams played almost every year from the early 1930s through the 1950s and each game was a major event.
My favorite piece of ephemera from this long relationship is this program cover from LSU’s visit to Rice in 1932:
I don’t have time to look it up right now but my sense is that we won this game.
As governor, Long was a huge booster of the LSU football program (and it’s marching band as well) and frequently arranged for trains to bring large numbers of fans to away games. It could be a bit of a scene. One would expect events surrounding the 2018 contest to be less colorful but this being Louisiana you can’t rule anything out.
Bonus:
Rice won the 1932 game, 10 – 8
LSU games were always raucous, not the least reason being that beer was sold at non-conference games. When I was in the MOB, the band was always seated next to the cheap LSU seats, separated only by an aisle. “Interesting” interactions resulted.
LSU motor homes would arrive in the stadium lot mid week before the game and the good times would begin to roll. Rally Club pushed a bus out there to join them. It was a perfect pairing-they had alcohol and food and we had drinkers and eaters.
Is that your “Little Willy” statue covered with grass!
I grew up in Baton Rouge. For a long time, the only thing I knew about Rice was seeing it on the LSU football schedule posted at the barbershop. It sure seemed like an odd name for a university.
Didn’t we play LSU every year well into the 1990s, not just to the 1950s?
That’s what I thought, too. Or at least the 70’s. I graduated in 71.
You are mostly correct, Loki. Nearly every year through 1983 and a couple of times after.
http://www.tigerdroppings.com/lsu-football-history/results.aspx?Opponent=Rice
I think it was at the 1974 game where Rice kicker Alan Pringle attempted something like a 70 yard field goal on the final play to win the game. He could make those in practice but came up well short and the game ended in a tie, 10-10.
The games at LSU were really wild according to the players and trainers.
As I remember, we were glad to get home from Tiger Stadium with only a few injuries.
Tiger Stadium has seats all the way down to the grass level, so it is a disconcerting sideline experience. Photographers had to kneel almost all the time so they wouldn’t block the view from the sideline seats.