Foto goes to Hattiesburg
Since most
Bronco fans couldn’t make the trip to the Boise State/University of Southern Mississippi game on October 11, 2008, Fotograffir will take you along
with a photo travel tour.
One cannot
go to the area without visiting New Orleans.
While there, you ‘gotta’ visit Bourbon Street and experience the wild
life and the food in the French Quarter:
Here’s a
street performer having fun with a fund-raising cup obtained from Uofihater:
The “cup”
also had fun shopping, and this alligator figurine took a liking to it.
Arriving at
the USM campus in Hattiesburg after driving for most of the trip
in hurricane ravaged areas, including Ike, Gustav and Katrina, we first visited a tailgating
area. These were mostly students here. A few said “hello” and “welcome”. Most of the people we spoke with assumed that
all Bronco fans lived in Boise…. (A couple teenage “Bronco fans”
were tossing a football and asked why we were in “enemy territory”?):
They had a
DJ trailer set-up pumping out mostly hip hop type music, and these guys decided to dance to
one of the songs, which appeared to be a fraternity song and skit:
There were
a few promoters here. These young ladies
were modeling a sample of the outfits available at a local costume shop:
The
following young lady stopped to say hello and get her photo taken. I think she’s a fan of Ian Johnson:
 (Chrissy is so sweet!)
Next-up is
a much larger area for tailgating. One
man stated, “If we don’t beat you guys tonight, we hope you go to the BCS”:
This area, closer to the stadium, had older fans, and much friendlier than the
students in the other area. One group
was set aside and closer to the stadium entrance, and there was a group of fans in
blue and orange:
We were
approached and asked to join the group, eat and drink, which we did. Everyone there was very hospitable. What I found out is that a group had gone to
the game in Boise last year, made friend with some BSU fans and invited them to a party
the night before in Gulfport (on the coast a couple hours drive to the south), then to tailgate. Here is one of the host couples with a Boise State fan:
The
sidewalk under the stadium near the entrance:
Photos
during the game:
The crowd
celebrates a score. (I thought I drove a
ways to the game, but a Bronco fan sitting in front of us drove all the way
from NJ.):
Higher-up
than where most of the BSU fans sat, but while taking this shot, I met a couple from Atlanta, GA.
The couple grew-up in Boise and moved to Atlanta 20 years ago. Being fans, they bought jerseys for their two
sons, and the boys wore them to get a
haircut one day. The woman that cuts
their hair was astonished with the jerseys with the number 41 on them! As it turned out, the haircutter is a cousin of Ian’s
mom!
Tanyon Bissell’s (2) very proud grandfather, from Montana, leads one of his many cheers:
After the
game, the team and coaches came over to
greet the fans. We could tell they could
hear us cheering during the game as they acknowledged our efforts from time to
time:
Like in Boise, some fans show-up with signs and
encouragement:
We were
invited back out for some tailgating where another one of the hosts posed with
NashvilleBronco and his girlfriend:
(As a side
note, a couple of the tailgaters here
included the Golden Eagles team’s neurosurgeon and one of Bobby Collins’s
assistant coaches, who was at the game to help retire Reggie Collier’s number
at halftime. He mentioned also coaching
at SMU when the “death penalty” was handed-down.)
Heading-back
to Houston, I couldn’t help stopping at LSU to
see Tiger stadium and give the Broncos’ regards to their bronze tiger:
The only
thing I think I didn’t photograph was the tire I changed on the highway in
western LA.
Hope you
enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed the trip! MS people are very nice!
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