Continuing on with posts of a Cajun nature
Apparently today is Cajun day here at Big Mama’s. Y’all never know what you’re gonna get, do you?
I read a WFMW earlier that was about blogging and one piece of advice it gave was to stick to a theme on your blog, so for today I’m sticking to a theme. As for the rest of the time…y’all can just file me under miscellaneous.
A few weeks ago, my friend Hite discovered Big Mama. Actually, I had sent him an email with my “website” address (and website is in quotes because I’m not really sure that’s what it’s called. Thanks Boomama.) and I think he read one post and never came back again. Until, during his phone call to wish me Happy Birthday, I informed him that Big Mama updates her “website” everyday and I try to keep it mildly entertaining and filled with a variety of topics (try and do are two totally different things). I am proud to say that Hite has now made Big Mama his homepage.
So since Hite has mentioned that he’d love to read a story about some college adventures, I will oblige him. After all, he has made Big Mama his HOMEPAGE.
I haven’t been sure which anecdote to share and since I’m trying to be family friendly it has taken a while. But when I looked at the Aggie football schedule and realized we were playing the Ragin’ Cajuns, I knew I had a story.
Back in the fall of ’91, the Ragin’ Cajuns were coming to Kyle Field. This was back in the height of Aggie football glory so everyone knew that they didn’t have a prayer of beating us. It was a magical time.
The Monday before the game I was sitting in class avidly listening to the fascinating lecture on the ins and outs of Political Science and taking furious notes about libel being a tort…I’m totally kidding, I was reading The Battalion which is the student newspaper. Obviously I was an extremely conscientious student evidenced by the fact that when my dad came to visit, I pointed out the completely wrong building and told him it was the library. And because he loves me, he kept paying my tuition anyway.
So, I am reading The Batt when I notice an open letter to the student body from a professor named Dr. Abraham at USL, Home of the Ragin’ Cajuns. The letter was hysterical and I wish I had a copy, but basically it was an invitation for a select number of Aggie students to join him and some other Ragin’ Cajuns for a pre-game tailgate party complete with complimentary food and drink Cajun style. He said that the first twenty or so people to call him would be invited and he included his phone number.
I waited patiently until class was over…I’m kidding again. I left class immediately and sped home to tell my roommates and see if they were game. We called him and left a message saying that we had seen his letter and would love to join them for the tailgate party and by the way, we were Diamond Darlings for the baseball team. Gulley and I thought that fact might give us an edge and I am embarrassed to say that we probably said it with the importance reserved for statements like “I’m an ambassador to China and in my spare time I volunteer in orphanages”.
He called us back, said we were in and to show up Saturday on the George Bush Drive side of Kyle Field and bring our appetites. He wasn’t kidding.
We showed up at 11:00 a.m. and the beer and crawfish were already flowing. They had enough food to feed the entire stadium. Boudin, crawfish, sausage, and beer were plentiful. It was a true Cajun feast. They were the nicest group imaginable and we all had the best time sitting around listening to stories and telling them about Aggieland and all of our traditions. We drank beer, and more beer and then more beer because those crawfish were spicy and we were in college.
Y’all remember the college days when it was completely socially acceptable to drink beer at 11:00 in the morning? One little problem is that by a 2:00 pm kickoff, you might find yourself a little overserved.
Texas A&M is home of the 12th man tradition. The students stand the ENTIRE game to show our willingness to get in the game if needed. It’s a beautiful thing. But standing on an already wobbly metal bleacher after eating a ton of crawfish and being overserved and jumping up and down cheering for the Aggies…slightly unsettling. I’ll leave it at that.
I’ll always remember those Ragin’ Cajuns fondly. They weren’t much on the football field, but boy did they know how to throw a tailgate party.
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