Record numbers put the 'fan' in fantastic

Record numbers put the 'fan' in fantastic
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
By Bruce Nolan

By 7:22 p.m., when LSU kicker Sean Gaudet lofted the ball deep downfield to start the national championship game, Karen Crossin and Deborah VanAuker, visiting Buckeyes from Columbus, were in their terrace-level seats decked out in scarlet and gray, true apostles of Buckeye football called once again to cheer their team.
VanAuker, by her admission, was well along on her self-assigned task "to kiss as many attractive men as possible" on the way to the Superdome before settling to the true business of the day.
"We did not come here to lose," her friend, Crossin, had vowed a little earlier.
She said it slowly, evenly, as if there were a period behind each word.
Baton Rouge resident Ramon Gonzalez, who boasts that he has missed only two Death Valley games in 28 years, was in the north end zone with his wife, Cris, swilling water to lubricate his throat, the better to fulfill his customary role as LSU cheerleader, even among these relative Superdome strangers.
And Kenny Kerth and Ryan Thibodaux, trumpet players in the Bucktown All-Stars, were in their seats, having proceeded up Poydras Street at the head of a small pickup band playing the Tiger's pre-game anthem and trailing thousands of fans behind them.
Kerth's trumpet was purple and gold.
"Tiger Bait!" their partisans screamed.
"Go Bucks!" was the answering roar.
For 45 minutes before kickoff the Superdome boiled with noise and color.
Both schools' bands blared furiously at each other. Jammed concourses surged with fans in face paint; fans in funny hats; bald men with painted skulls.
It was a record Superdome crowd of 79,651.
They shot fists in the air and shouted good-natured taunts.
They came from Metairie and the Midwest.
From Baton Rouge, like Gonzalez, who once broke off a business trip in New Jersey and went nearly sleepless for four days to make an LSU home game.
And from the West Coast, like Steve Langal, a high school football ref and Buckeye fan, who flew from Encinitas, Calif., without a ticket to stand hopefully outside the Superdome, one inquiring finger raised on high.
"I will get in," he said, with the same determined tone Crossin had used.
He did. He got in an hour before kickoff. Ticket price: $500.
From early afternoon until sunset, not much insurance was sold in downtown New Orleans. Legal research ground nearly to a halt. People checked out early. Voice mail filled up.
The streets of the French Quarter, the Warehouse District and the Central Business District filled with LSU and Ohio State partisans in team colors.
Stretch Hummer limos prickly with LSU flags idled in thick downtown traffic, rocking slightly side to side with the force of unseen celebrations inside.
Each school enjoys a notably ferocious fan base, even by the standards of big-time college football.
Consider Tom Titus, a financial services rep from Kinsman, in far northeastern Ohio, who made most Ohio State games this year, home or away, with two sons, a daughter-in-law and other family members.
Monday he was in New Orleans with two sons, a daughter-in-law and a companion, Pam Elliott.
It is a Titus family passion, first laid down by his father, Bob Titus.
"We grew up Buckeyes. He was a real hard-working guy. The only time I remember him not working was when the Buckeyes were on the radio. When they were on, he'd stop and listen. When they were done, back to work."
So it is that every year the Titus family huddles and schedules the games they will attend -- "at least three travel dates a year."
Buckeye football is every bit as serious as it is at LSU.
"My parents had to postpone their 50th wedding anniversary celebration because it fell on a Saturday during the season," Crossin said.
"They put it off to a bye week."
"They knew it was the only way they'd get their son-in-law to come."
Early in the game Buckeye fans were in ecstasy. Ohio State drew first blood with a 65-yard run from scrimmage by Chris Wells that ended right in front of Frank Benham, a lawyer from Shelby, Ohio.
At home Benham, though not an Ohio State alumnus, is a Buckeye true believer. He said he missed only two games this year, home or away.