My Bayou Classic Experience: From a fans perspective

The Bayou Classic is a tradition for all generations. If your parents graduated from Southern then you most likely have experienced at least one Bayou Classic. For me, I was privileged enough to experience the Bayou Classic at least ten times in my life. Before the Hyatt Regency hotel was rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina, the unique hotel had a mall, a Café Du Monde, and so much more. I remember enjoying beignets, shopping, and enjoying a buffet breakfast before game time. I was so excited to get to the game, to see the band, the dancing dolls, and to cheer my jags onto victory. I’ve enjoyed going to Bayou Classic with my whole family including my mom, my grandparents, my aunts, my uncle, and all of my cousins. We would eat Popeye’s, get off on Loyola Street and buy Tastee donuts, and of course endure the drama of finding a parking spot. I would have my blue and gold shaker, my jaguar print ribbons in my hair and a smile on my face. I knew Bayou Classic would be the highlight of my year.
Later on in my teenage years I got to experience actually staying in New Orleans at the Crown Astoria hotel, with my mom, aunts, and uncle. This would be my first time witnessing the Greek show and the battle of the bands. At this point I had never been to a Greek show, I sat back with my nachos and I enjoyed the fraternities and sororities stepping. The battle of bands was fun also; just a piece of advice the battle of bands and Greek show is a big event, so I would arrive early! After the Greek show was over, my uncle, aunt, and I walked back to our hotel, and we stopped for some famous New Orleans hot sausage. This hot sausage was like one I had never seen before. It was made with onions, peppers, and all the mustard you wanted.
For me bayou classic was an experience I would never forget. I was blessed to be able to spend the weekend or game day with my family and have the most amazing time ever. The food, the atmosphere, and the rivalry were a part of my experience. The concert outside of the dome was also a treat. Different artists would participate and perform for fans, I would somehow always make it out the dome late and miss the concert, I guess 5th quarter with the band always had my attention. My mother would hold my hand as we walked out of the dome, because people would be everywhere. Grambling fans and Southern fans would take over the dome. If you sat next to a Grambling fan then you knew that some arguing was about to go down. I remember shaking my shaker in the face of a girl whose mom was obviously an alumnus from Grambling, as my mom is an alumni of Southern. I didn’t mean to harm to her, I was just letting her know which school was best. It was the little things that made the Bayou Classic so fun for me. Those donuts with my family, my mom laying out my Bayou Classic outfit, and my family piling in our cars to get to New Orleans, was what I wanted every November. You can’t grow up a Jag, and not enjoy the infamous Bayou Classic.