Fun memories at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans ... the Saints team, Super Bowls and prayers for the city in light of the tragic January 1, 2025 terrorist car attack.
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With the Super Bowl LIX (59) coming up at Caesar's Superdome in my hometown of New Orleans on February 8, 2025 at 5:30 PM CDT and being broadcast on FOX, I have to reminisce to when I was 15 years old 'Yat and living with my family on the corner of Broadway and Spruce Streets in the the Uptown, within easy walking distance to the old Tulane Stadium.
While I worked after school at De La Salle and on Saturdays at a Piggly Wiggly on St. Charles Avenue and Cherokee Street, I still was an entrepreneur by parking cars for big events like the Sugar and Super Bowls. It was neat to check with a elder neighbor, Ms. Gertrude, who let me park cars in her driveway and we split the profits.
It is amazing how football fans would give me their keys so I could back up their cars, if needed, for others who may have delayed their return from Tulane Stadium – even though I still hadn't a Driver's License.
My late dad was a Tulane Grad who loved to follow their sports … how could I forget joining him on December 1, 1973 when the Tulane Greenies finally beat the LSU Tigers 14 – 0 after having lost to them the previous 24 years in a row!
The old Tulane Stadium was demolished in 1980 and is now the site of a recreation and athletic center.
After doing some research, I found out that Tulane's final game on campus was played November 30, 1974 vs.Ole Miss. The final collegiate game played in Tulane Stadium was the Sugar Bowl and was played one month later on New Year's Eve, 1974 when Nebraska defeated Florida.
And the last professional football game played at Tulane Stadium was Super Bowl IX on January 12, 1975 when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 16-6.
And I was truly one of those many who attended the November 8, 1973 New Orleans Saints vs Detroit Lions football game at Tulane Stadium with my late neighbor, Drew Hillery. Back then, New Orleans QB Billy Kilmer and the 'Aints had dismal playing records, so most folks left the games early, as Drew and I did.
But Drew and I left that November 8th game and were walking on Audubon Street when we heard a very load ROAR from the stadium … that we found out later was the then record setting, end of the winning game's 63 yard field by Tom Dempsey's special needs boot of the Saints!
Due to the high costs of a Super Bowl ticket, I wasn't ever able to attend a Super Bowl, but it was sure fun with all the excitement and fun for folks like us who lived near to Tulane Stadium.
An how can I forget the ZZ Top concert that I attended with my buddy, John Giraldo, at Tulane Stadium on July 17, 1976. We were lucky we didn't get run over by the police who were trying to restore order from some unruly hippies throwing beer bottles at them; other than that, ZZ put on a great show!
With the unfortunate recent terrorist event at Bourbon Street on January 1, 2025, all of us are understandably concerned for safety at any large events like the upcoming Super Bowl LIX and Mardi Gras event getting started soon.
Prayers for all those who perished, were injured and/or in any way affected by that Bourbon Street tragedy, and let's hope that we can get back to some source of normalcy and "laissez les bon temps rouler!"
For a time, I perched myself on a flat rock, comparing my life with the Guyandotte River. Just as its tributaries replenish it daily, changing it in some small—sometimes great—degree, so have the day-to-day occurrences of life changed me. Like the ri
Pics: Public Domain
