This last few days has made me upset and then it turned to sadness.
So I know this guy right. He is as much of a Tulane guy as you will find. His own bloodline went to Tulane and did one of things I have always respected the most - he walked on to the football team. He was as dedicated as much as the guys on scholarship. You can't beat that in my book. I always respected those guys that, as we say, "pay to wake up at 5:30am and later on get their ass whooped." Not that it is because it is what walk-ons are for, but because they come in knowing they have an uphill battle and in any program a coach is going to lean on the guys they gave scholarships to and not towards the walk-on. Walk-ons just have to prove it a little more than other guys.
Anyways - this guy. This guy I know is a die-hard. He is passionate. He is at pretty much every home football, men's basketball and baseball game while also attending some other sports occasionally. For football you will find him at a couple away games most years. Recently he has not much of a reason to buy more than a season ticket for himself but that didn't stop him from buying 2-4-6 season tickets knowing that plenty of games it would just be him. He didn't care. He is a die-hard and that is what die-hards do.
In the late 2000's this guy would sit with me at football practice from time to time and say "you know, they can fit a football stadium in here. I promise you they can. Just twist and turn it a little bit and it will be fit perfectly. Can't you just see it? It would be magnificent. That is what we need to do. We need to get Tulane football back on campus." He would come up to me at basketball or baseball games every now and then and just drop a little line "you know it can fit there, the stadium, it will fit." This fella wanted so badly for a stadium to be built. He even said they could build it with 15,000 seats, whatever, just get football back on campus where it belongs. We both often recognized that as the years had passed, many of the die-hards were getting older and several of them would never see the day Tulane football came back home. He just wanted so badly for football to get back home before his time was up too.
Life as a Tulane fan has not always been perfect. Over the decades we have had many more down or rock bottoms than we have had highs. That doesn't matter though for the die-hard because in our little slice of heaven those highs can't be appreciated when compared to other folks successes because when Tulane has success we truly earn it. We appreciate our success, our triumphs. When the fans get to celebrate, oh you know it is going to be big! In the recent decade and a half there have been several rock bottom moments. At least two for sure. Many will say the biggest rock bottom moments came decades ago and those moments are still a plague on our athletics programs, especially football.
We don't get many highs but for just about every Tulane fan there was a major high earlier this year when Yulman Stadium opened up and Tulane football was back where it belonged. Right in the heart of Uptown New Orleans, tucked away with a little twist there and turn here sat the most beautiful and long sought stadium many had yearned for. So many die-hards had passed while they waited but there were still a few hanging on to the dream and they finally saw it come to reality. For the first time since 1974 Tulane football was back on campus. This guy I know - there was not a care in the world when he finally set foot in that stadium a couple nights before opening day. It was a moment that was a long time coming but on that day there was not a thing on the planet that made him prouder.
So why am I sad? This guy I know - well life is not always easy for a Tulane fan and from coaches to the administration many of us have been frustrated over the years. It is not that we all feel that everyone is not to be trusted or that everyone is incompetent that is hired or leading the charge. For most fans it is as simple as this - we just want those people in charge to believe in the potential of Tulane Football as much as all of us die-hards do. To many of us, we don't understand why others can't see that a magnificent research institution like Tulane, located in the greatest city in the country and surrounded by the best high school football players in the world can't be a premier national program. We want to see the passion of the administration reflected in a relentless effort to field a winning and championship program. Many of us see the fruits of their recent labor coming to fruition but for a group of others they don't choose to see it or it is not happening fast enough for them.
Several fans over the years have grown discontent with the administration and recently a few of them have taken it upon themselves to "make a statement" during Homecoming. So again, why am I sad? This guy I know, this invested, die-hard and passionate fan of Tulane helped lead a charge for this "statement." It makes me sad because this guy who deeply loves Tulane is letting a personal vendetta (he knows what I mean here, nothing to do with wins/losses) against one person cloud his better judgement, his heart. This guy is being pulled into the wrong direction this time around by some folks that don't have nearly the investment in their hearts for Tulane as he does.
This weekend will be the first Homecoming game since 1974 for Tulane football and the agenda of a few selfish individuals is going to take away from what should be one of the most celebrated events in the history of Tulane football. Before writing this today I thought to myself - "how could he do this? How could the die-hard living in New Orleans all these years who knows how deeply important this first true Homecoming in 40 years do something that would take away from this moment?" The actions of a very small group of people will take away from moments that all of our football players should be able to look back on with pride and happiness. All those Tulane students who will be in attendance with their parents for the very first time at their very first real Tulane Homecoming, all of them will have to think back about how a few people took away from their special moment.
I just don't get it. I mean, I get it from some of them. Many of them who are not nearly as invested as many of the other die-hards I know and are definitely not as invested as the guy who sat on the bleachers. Nope, not this guy. He may be unhappy with a variety of things but there is no way he would deter from the moment he has been waiting for, the moment the players who sat in the same seats his own son did have been waiting for and the moment all true die-hards have been dreaming of.
I understand the frustration and if people feel the need to take certain actions then to each their own but this Saturday is not the day. This Saturday is supposed to be Homecoming. It is supposed to be a proud moment. It is supposed to be a day where fathers, mothers, daughters and sons can look back on in another 40 years and tell stories about when Tulane finally came back home.
The guy that sat on the bleachers for all those years taking his hands to his face like a camera, twisting here and turning there to fit it in just right, dreaming of this moment when Tulane would finally come home - I wish that guy was still around to enjoy this Saturday the way it was meant to be.
