Category: Tailgating

Posted on

Football & Funk At Grambling Homecoming

001 Grambling Homecoming002 Grambling Homecoming003 Grambling Homecoming004 Grambling Homecoming005 Grambling Homecoming006 Grambling Homecoming007 Grambling Homecoming008 Grambling Homecoming009 Grambling Homecoming010 Grambling Homecoming011 Grambling Homecoming012 Grambling Homecoming013 Grambling Homecoming014 Grambling Homecoming015 Grambling Homecoming016 Grambling Homecoming017 Grambling Homecoming018 Grambling Homecoming019 Grambling Homecoming020 Grambling Homecoming021 Grambling Homecoming022 Grambling Homecoming024 Grambling Homecoming025 Grambling Homecoming026 Grambling Homecoming027 Grambling Homecoming028 Grambling Homecoming029 Grambling Homecoming032 Grambling Homecoming033 Grambling Homecoming034 Grambling Homecoming036 Grambling Homecoming037 Grambling Homecoming038 Grambling Homecoming039 Grambling Homecoming040 Grambling Homecoming041 Grambling Homecoming042 Grambling Homecoming043 Grambling Homecoming044 Grambling Homecoming045 Grambling Homecoming046 Grambling Homecoming049 Grambling Homecoming050 Grambling Homecoming051 Grambling Homecoming052 Grambling Homecoming053 Grambling Homecoming054 Grambling Homecoming055 University City High School057 University City High School058 University City High School059 Grambling Homecoming060 Grambling Homecoming063 Elite Danceline064 Elite Danceline066 Rayville High School067 Rayville High School068 Rayville High School069 Grambling Homecoming070 Grambling Homecoming071 Grambling High School072 Madison High School074 Madison High School075 Grambling Homecoming076 Grambling Homecoming077 Grambling Homecoming078 Grambling Homecoming079 Grambling Homecoming080 Grambling Band081 Grambling Homecoming082 Grambling Homecoming083 Grambling Homecoming023 Grambling Homecoming084 Grambling Homecoming085 Grambling Homecoming086 Grambling Homecoming087 Grambling Homecoming
The name Grambling was familiar in my youth, more than likely because my dad was quite the NFL fan, and the little historically-Black college in the Piney Woods of North Louisiana had sent an incredible number of athletes to pro football. It also just so happened that we used to pass it all the time as we traveled from our home in Dallas to my grandparents’ home in Gulfport, Mississippi, or our annual family reunion in Jackson. But Grambling State University would come to my attention first through a movie called Grambling’s White Tiger about Jim Gregory, the first white football player to play for Grambling and its famous coach Eddie Robinson, and later a Coca-Cola commercial featuring the World-Famous Tiger Band further grabbed my attention. So when our family quit having our family reunions in Jackson in the fall of 1993, I made plans to go to Grambling’s homecoming instead. I ended up having so much fun that I have gone almost every year since then.
If Grambling is best known for football, it also has a long tradition of excellence in music, particularly its marching band. Tradition has it that the first band instruments were purchased on credit from Sears & Roebuck by Dr. Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, who was the president of what was then called Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute. Jones is said to have directed the band himself, although music education was not his field. Grambling’s excellent band tradition means that a lot of the country’s best Black high school bands come to the annual homecoming parade, determined to show their talent. Many bands from Louisiana come, like Lake Charles’ venerable Washington-Marion, Alexandria’s Peabody, or Tallulah’s Madison. Bands also come from Texas, and from further afield, occasionally coming from University City, Missouri or Tulsa, Oklahoma. Unlike the previous year, the weather this year was perfect for a parade, and a large crowd turned out to enjoy the bands and floats.
The football game in the afternoon was the occasion for a battle between two of the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s best bands, the Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and the World-Famed Tiger Marching Band from Grambling. The two bands battled back and forth throughout the first half of the game, as did Grambling’s Chocolate Thunder drumline and UAPB’s K.R.A.N.K. drumline. Outside the stadium were the acres of tailgaters, many with mobile homes or tents, some with DJ’s and most with barbecue grills. It was all in all a great day with good football, good music, good food and good fun.































Posted on

Tailgating at Tiger Lane During The Southern Heritage Classic

099 SHC100 SHC101 SHC102 SHC103 SHC104 SHC105 SHC106 SHC107 SHC108 SHC109 SHC110 SHC111 SHC112 SHC113 SHC114 SHC115 Alphas Tailgate116 Alphas Tailgate117 Alphas Tailgate118 SHC119 Alphas Tailgate120 Alphas Tailgate121 Custom Bike122 SHC123 SHC124 SHC125 SHC126 SHC127 SHC128 SHC129 SHC130 SHC131 SHC132 SHC133 SHC134 SHC135 SHC136 SHC137 SHC138 SHC1842 SHC
The tailgating at the Southern Heritage Classic is like a gigantic party at Memphis’ Tiger Lane outside the Liberty Bowl. There are tents and campers sponsored by all kinds of organizations- Black fraternities and sororities, Cowboy and Steeler fan clubs, DJ coalitions, Memphis businesses like Coors and FedEx and more. People run into people they know everywhere, and vendors are set up selling everything from food to T-shirts. The grassy midway becomes home to a lot of pickup football games, and the smell of barbecue is everywhere. Some tents have buffet lines, and even professional DJ’s to keep the party atmosphere rolling. Many of these people will never enter the stadium, but they have a great time anyway.