'An out-of-this-world experience': The mystique of night games at Tiger Stadium

It was the mid 1950s, and Danny Borné was anxious to get his archetypal look wrong Tiger Stadium. Eight years old, he'd already fallen successful emotion with the pageantry of LSU football from listening to John Ferguson telephone games connected the vigor from his location successful Thibodaux, Louisiana. WWL, that aged 50,000-watt AM presumption retired of New Orleans, was crystal wide astatine night.

Now, his Aunt Doris was taking him to spot it successful person. The interstate strategy wasn't arsenic developed then, truthful Borné, Doris and her 2 boys got connected a ferry to transportation them up the Mississippi River to Baton Rouge. Stepping connected campus, walking amid the oaks and magnolias, and up to the monolithic stadium of factual and alloy earlier an 8 p.m. kickoff felt similar a dream.

The hostile was incidental. The acquisition was visceral. Never caput that the lighting was terrible. Never caput that LSU wasn't precise good. Sitting wrong the bowl, proceeding the piercing horns of The Golden Band from Tigerland and the debased tones of Sid Crocker calling retired plays implicit the loudspeaker, Borné was swept away. The smell, the atmosphere, the roar of the assemblage -- everything connected.

Doris would thin implicit and archer Borné, "It ne'er rains successful Tiger Stadium." He didn't cognize what she meant, but it felt right.

Not agelong aft kickoff, helium watched arsenic the fog began to drift implicit the stream astir a fractional mile disconnected to the west, dilatory encircling the stadium.

"It gave it an ethereal effect," Borné recalled. "It gave it an out-of-this-world acquisition that I grew up having go portion of my assemblage and my soul. It conscionable ever stayed with maine implicit each those years."

He couldn't ideate past what his aboriginal would hold. He couldn't cognize that his dependable and his transportation to Tiger Stadium -- some deeper and much vivid than the different boys his property -- were a cleanable match.

There was ever thing peculiar astir nighttime games astatine LSU. Borné would negociate to marque them dependable adjacent much magical.

His dependable volition beryllium among the archetypal things Alabama players perceive erstwhile they instrumentality the tract to play rival LSU connected Saturday nighttime (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). Echoing passim the 102,321 spot arena, Borné volition beryllium the unseen narrator of a crippled that volition either marque oregon interruption each team's season.

IN A NORMAL year, fractional of Alabama's roster oregon much would cognize what to expect up of Saturday night's travel to LSU. But the freshmen and sophomores person ne'er been to Tiger Stadium, and the juniors and seniors lone person the 2020 crippled nether their loop erstwhile the stadium was mostly bare due to the fact that of COVID restrictions. Sure, they mightiness deliberation they cognize what they're astir to locomotion into. LSU has a singular reputation. Paul "Bear" Bryant lone mislaid determination erstwhile successful 25 seasons arsenic caput manager astatine Alabama, and inactive helium called it "the worst spot successful the satellite for a visiting team."

Former Alabama backmost John Parker Wilson remembers however adjacent the bleachers are to the sideline and the feeling of truthful galore raucous fans being close connected apical of you. "The electricity," helium said, "is thing you can't replicate." AJ McCarron, different erstwhile Alabama QB, remembers the thrust up to the stadium and however it acceptable the tone. "Pulling in, nighttime game, everybody's flipping you off," helium said. "They're rocking the bus, throwing eggs astatine the bus, brew bottles astatine the bus."

"They person a large contented there," Alabama manager Nick Saban said. "They person a large atmosphere."

Saban should know. He coached astatine LSU from 2000 to '04. On Monday, helium said his squad would person to support its absorption connected the roadworthy -- thing that hasn't travel easy this play aft a adjacent telephone astatine Texas and a nonaccomplishment astatine Tennessee.

"We person to beryllium capable to person capable poise to execute successful this benignant of situation and not fto it impact us," helium said.

Quarterback Bryce Young, who was a freshman backup during the crippled successful Baton Rouge 2 years ago, said, "We recognize going successful to play astatine a spot similar LSU, it's going to beryllium highly hostile."

But hostility is lone portion of the equation. Other stadiums person large and surly fans. What sets Tiger Stadium isolated is its mystique, particularly astatine night. It has a living, breathing, haunting prime that fewer person been capable to seizure accurately.

Borné is 1 of those people. For the past 36 years successful his perch precocious up successful Tiger Stadium, he's been a narrator helping to physique upon the fable of Death Valley -- a cathedral to assemblage shot wherever it's said that opponents' dreams spell to die.

BORNÉ WILL TAKE an elevator upstairs to the nationalist code booth wrong Tiger Stadium connected Saturday nighttime up of the crippled against Alabama. But the information is destiny carried him determination agelong ago.

It was listening to Ferguson connected the radio. It was Aunt Doris and their trips to Baton Rouge. It was Sid Crocker and the thought that specified a occupation existed. And it was a dependable that Borné says is simply a "gift from God."

He's a deacon successful the Catholic Church. So, yes, determination is modesty successful that statement.

Borné, arsenic it turns out, was ne'er acrophobic of nationalist speaking. In precocious school, helium emceed assemblies. After calling retired the members of the grant society, a teacher approached him. "Danny," she said, "When you talk successful a microphone, the speakers bash thing with your dependable and I'm not truly definite I recognize what it is."

Neither did he. But it served him good erstwhile helium did play-by-play for Nicholls State baseball, went to LSU for postgraduate schoolhouse and got a occupation with the TV presumption WAFB covering sports and news.

One September time successful 1968, helium recovered his spot successful the property container astatine Tiger Stadium erstwhile Crocker called him over.

"Come spot wherever I work," Crocker told him.

Borné marveled astatine the country with a view.

"Look astatine it," Crocker said. "You mightiness beryllium doing this 1 day."

Borné laughed and didn't deliberation astir it again. But then, successful 1985, Crocker announced helium was going to retire. Borné, who had gotten retired of the broadcast business, called Crocker and asked wherefore helium was quitting.

"He said helium wanted to bash successful the stands things helium couldn't bash successful the booth," Borné said of Crocker wanting to beryllium a fan. "And I knew precisely what helium was talking about."

Some things shouldn't beryllium done oregon said successful beforehand of a microphone. It's assemblage football, but it's inactive polite society.

Borné wrote to then-athletic manager Robert Brodhead expressing involvement successful the job. And for 8 agelong months, helium didn't get an answer. But then, 2 weeks earlier the commencement of the season, Brodhead's adjunct called him successful for an interview.

Brodhead had travel from Miami and was inactive getting a consciousness for Louisiana. His question to Borné was simple: "Can you pronounce these names?"

There was a database of Boudreauxes, Broussards and Heberts.

"Pronounce them?" Borné said. "I cognize their daddies."

He got the occupation connected the spot. The small lad who arrived by ferry 2 decades earlier, who saw the mist coming disconnected the stream and felt the glory of LSU football, had go the dependable of Tiger Stadium.

Ask immoderate cook, helium said, and what's astir arsenic important arsenic the ingredients is the cookware you navigator it in.

"That stadium is the cookware wherever LSU shot simmers and lives and scores and soars," helium said. "And that's wherefore it's truthful important -- the stadium itself. The stadium is alloy and concrete, but it has a life, it has a history, it has a presence, and it has a future."

With a position and a vocabulary similar that, of people Borné would bash much than accidental who caught which walk and who scored which touchdown. He'd adhd a small spice of his own.

BORNÉ SAID HE takes proposal from William Shakespeare. "The play," helium said, "is the thing." Anything that detracts from that shouldn't beryllium successful a PA person's portfolio.

He utilized to bash a straightforward mentation of the pregame upwind forecast, giving the temperature, humidity, upwind absorption and strength. Lastly, he'd supply the accidental of precipitation.

It wasn't successful the plan, helium swears, but 1 time successful the 1990s helium indispensable person thought of his Aunt Doris due to the fact that helium blurted retired astatine the end, "Chance of rain? Never."

He thought helium mightiness get an earful from fans for that. And helium did. But it wasn't the antagonistic reception helium expected. They loved the callback to the saying among LSU fans that "It ne'er rains successful Tiger Stadium" -- root story, unknown.

Speaking those words retired loud, Borné brought the contented further into the spotlight. He'll beryllium walking the aisles of the market store, minding his ain business, erstwhile a alien volition attack him, grinning. "Hey Dan," they'll say. "What's the accidental of rain?"

"Who knows wherefore these things drawback on?" helium said. "But now, I mean, you don't accidental it and they travel looking for you.

"Now, everybody screams it backmost to maine earlier I adjacent get to accidental it."

But that's not the lone infinitesimal wherever Borné has punched up the Tiger Stadium experience.

It was an day crippled -- again successful the 1990s erstwhile Borné was seemingly connected a rotation -- erstwhile the 3rd 4th ended and the set began to play its distinctive pregame song. The drum enactment got to enactment and past the horn conception got busy.

Buh-buh-buh-buh!

Caught up successful the moment, Borné noticed it was dusk and saw the grounds unit lowering the flag.

"And I conscionable looked astatine that," helium recalled, "and said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, the colors are being retired and the prima has recovered its location successful the Western sky. It is present Saturday nighttime successful Death Valley.'"

Again, that was not the plan. But it resonated. John Parker Wilson, successful the mediate of a game, noticed the absorption of fans. "The radical spell nuts," helium said.

More recently, Borné's interaction has travel into greater focus. Before Alabama and LSU instrumentality the tract -- arsenic has happened earlier each location crippled since 2010 -- Borné's words volition narrate a pregame video connected the scoreboard.

His final, ominous words -- "It's Saturday nighttime successful Death Valley" -- volition nonstop fans into a frenzy.

Borné called it a "mystical experience" erstwhile the prima sets connected Tiger Stadium.

He knows radical volition work this and telephone him crazy.

But, helium said, "The radical person been successful and felt it, they cognize what I'm talking about."

"Even to this day, it's bigger, it's brighter, it's louder," helium said. "There's this undercurrent of Halloween that astir drifts implicit the stadium from the West -- astir similar that fog erstwhile I was a kid."