LSU’s West Coast offensive

Cars tagged with large purple and gold banners declaring “Geaux Tigers” fill the parking lot to capacity at Mr. Pockets, a Manhattan Beach sports bar. On this day, it is the Los Angeles epicenter for LSU Tiger fans.

Late afternoon on Jan. 7, and thousands of miles east of here, LSU is battling Ohio State for the BCS National Championship. The SoCal chapter of the LSU Alumni Association has summoned and gathered at a bar full of hardcore, homesick and enthusiastic Tiger fans.

Today the two-level sports bar is utterly devoid of red. In fact, there doesn’t even appear to be a single non-Tiger bystander. Within these purple and gold-festooned walls are more than 100 Tiger fans packed in around pool tables, hunched forward in oversized leather seats and crammed into booths.

Some wear homemade T-shirts, others don Mardi Gras beads, even Tiger headbands.

They wash down chicken fingers with cold beers, tailgate-style.

Sarah Calandro, a recent LSU graduate and newcomer to Los Angeles, had planned to watch the game with a roommate, but chose at the last minute to join friend Charles Jones at Mr. Pockets. “It wouldn’t be right if I wasn’t with others from home,” she explains. “They’re not going to be screaming and cheering them on like me.”

For years Mr. Pockets has served as a home away from home for Tiger fans. “Every Saturday the owner, Bart Cleveland, lets us take over the sports bar,” says Karen Lear, chapter president. “Everyone knows on Saturdays this is Tigerland,” she yells over the din of Tiger fans around her.

April Page, whose job means lots of travel in and out of L.A., is a Mr. Pockets regular for LSU games. “When I heard about the gathering through a friend, I made my way over right away.”

SoCal chapter past-president Charley Jeffery uses a microphone to lead a chant. “We’re No. 1!” he bellows, and soon the crowd screams with him.

This raucous chapter was not built overnight. One of the people yelling with him is Steve Brown, a Louisiana native who was instrumental in setting up the chapter in 1978.

“I boiled the crawfish for the annual crawfish back when there were only 20 members, but now with over 500 members, I’ve retired from that job.”

It’s hard to tell what’s more inspiring for these fans, the university itself or the sports.

Sujan Daes, a 1999 graduate of LSU’s graduate program in electrical engineering, came to America with no knowledge of football. By the time he finished at LSU he knew all the ins and outs. “LSU and the Saints are the only teams. Everything I know about football comes from the spirit of the Tigers,” he says proudly.

In fact that’s how he met fellow alum and New Orleans native Hans Bailey. “We met at a Saints game in L.A.,” Bailey says between shouts and high-fives. “The chapter really keeps us connected. Plus, every summer USL (University of Louisiana-Lafayette) and LSU have combined events such as crawfish boils, which helps us to meet new people from home.”

Eric Madsem is an honorary Tiger. A UCLA student from Utah, Madsem joined the Tiger nation, thanks to Daes. “I just jumped on the bandwagon one day and now I’m suddenly a lifelong fan!”

Several members have invited friends to join the chapter. Baton Rouge native Mark Gomez found the chapter with friend Ryan Moody more than four years ago. “The chapter really provides a basis for meeting a good group of people to hang out with,” Gomez says. “It gives us a little piece of home.”

As the fourth quarter begins, a guy wearing an “Honorary Cajun” T-shirt leads a small group as it breaks out in chest-butts, muscle flexing and cheers. He is alum John Lett, clearly the crowd-pleaser in this group.

“Being at home you take this kind of festivity for granted,” he says.

The mood intensifies as LSU’s fortunes turn on the TV screens. Ohio State stuns the Tiger nation when it jumps out to a 10-0 lead. But just as they have all season, the Tigers claw their way out of the hole and in due time their talent-laden defense smothers Ohio State’s offense while LSU’s fast and powerful offense dazzles the Buckeyes defense with five touchdowns. Tiger fans go from worry to exalting, and the Tigers go on to win, 38-24.

The crowd hugs, high-fives and breaks into the LSU fight song. The fantastic afterglow of victory envelops the room. Past chapter president Jeffery is basking in it, with an LSU mug in one hand and a stuffed Tiger beside him on the bar. “Our culture is so unique and I’m extremely proud to carry the torch to L.A.” [225]