Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana.

And the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.

Coming up on Louisiana, the state we're in.

We're introducing the newest member of our team, and we'll be taking a look at the start of college football season.

All that in just a minute.

So stick around.

And.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Karen LeBlanc.

We'll bring you our big announcement in just a moment.

But first, a look at the news.

Registration for the next round of state grants to strengthen homes against storm damage opens later this month.

The state will hold a lottery to hand out grant money from Louisiana's fortified roofs.

Program applications open September 18th and close the 20th.

Now, instead of operating on a first come, first serve model, the state will randomly select 300 applicants to receive $10,000 each and grants.

The lottery is open to people in these states.

Coastal zone, which includes most of South Louisiana.

You can learn more and apply at LDI dot legal, forward slash, Fortify Homes and the matriarch of a New Orleans political family and former LPB Louisiana legend has passed away.

Sybil Haydel Morial she was a civil rights activist and the widow of New Orleans first black mayor, Dutch Morial.

She was also the mother of former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial.

She founded the Louisiana League of Good Government, which helped black people register to vote.

She championed an African American pavilion at the 1984 World's Fair and held numerous positions at Xavier University.

Sybil Haydel Morial was 91 years old.

Funeral services have not been announced at this point.

Well, now onto our big, big announcement.

Okay, so for many of you, he is a familiar face in sports news.

And for others of you, he might be a new face.

Well, we are so excited to welcome Victor.

How to our team a seasoned sports journalist.

Let me tell you a little will be joining us as a regular sports contributor.

And we're timing his introduction in tandem with LSU's first home game of the season this weekend.

Yay, Victor, it's great to be back with you.

Great to be back with you.

Yes, Karen and I spent two years together and a previous life here in the news business cutting our teeth together.

And it's great to be here with you and to be with everybody.

With LPB.

We certainly have a lot to talk about now with football season, but we all know the state of Louisiana is so good with sports, whether it's football, baseball, basketball, outdoor living, whether it's hunting, whether it's fishing, there's horse racing.

So many great stories throughout the state, and we look forward to bringing many of those to you right here on Lvb.

It will be a lot of fun indeed.

But yes, we have a lot of football.

Victor, for those that are not familiar with you, tell us a little bit about your sports background.

So I was I've been in Baton Rouge, since I transferred.

I played college basketball at Tulsa, transferred to LSU back in the late 80s and finished school there at LSU.

My wife and my four girls, I have a a sophomore in high school and identical triplet girls in middle school.

We are all here in Baton Rouge.

I've been living here since I came to LSU.

Back in 1989.

And, yeah, just kind of dabbling in the business, but covering sports, covering Saints, covering professional basketball with the then Hornets and now Pelicans, and certainly with LSU and many colleges around the school.

We are thrilled to have you here to expand our sports coverage.

All right.

So one of the big talkers this week, Governor Jeff Landry, is once again facing criticism for his handling of LSU sports.

The governor wants LSU to bring back the tradition of bringing its live Tiger mascot out on the field.

During home games.

Now, LSU stopped bringing Mike the Tiger to the field because of that, Marion said.

It stresses the Tigers and it jeopardizes their health.

And it does.

And I know the governor has had a lot to say about LSU sports and about college sports.

The current mascot for LSU, Mike the seventh, well, he's never attended the game inside a Tiger Stadium, instead staying in his enclosure on campus, which is, of course, very heavily visited during game days.

So far, LSU officials say they don't plan to bring back the tradition of bringing the Tiger back inside the stadium.

Meanwhile, teams from around the state are kicking off the football season.

Week one is on the books.

Week two is on its way this weekend.

LSU took on USC last weekend in Las Vegas.

A rough start and a tough loss for the Tigers.

But Saturday, the Tigers will have their home opener in Death Valley against Nicholls.

That kicks off at 630, and we will take a look at the schedule for other teams around the state in just a few minutes.

All right.

And so other big sports news.

Tiger Stadium celebrates its 100th birthday this year, kicking off the first home game with a sold out season tickets.

The Coliseum like stadium stands as a cultural icon and hallowed ground for Louisiana sports.

Here's a look back at death Valley and how it got its nickname and its claim to fame.

Chance of rain never happened on home game days.

Tiger Stadium becomes Louisiana's fifth most populated city, with more than 100,000 fans filling the stands as Tiger Stadium turns 100 years old.

Some things change and others remain constant.

The Golden Band from Tiger Land, whose fan base never falters regardless of wins or losses, fires up the crowd with a fight song.

At any given home game.

James Manassas sits in the press box named after his father.

Former LSU sports information director Paul Manassa.

Compiling and conveying stats to journalists.

As the interior public address announcer.

And my job is to help get the information to the computer people, but also to sort of, turn that chaos and synthesize it so that it can be, understood.

And I can announce it to everybody that's in the press box from 1969 until present.

I've missed one home game, and that was my freshman year of law school, because we were going to have our finals starting on Monday.

In the stands, you'll find LSU superfan Mike Cirillo cheering on the Tigers.

So far I've been to 502 consecutive games.

I haven't missed an LSU game since October of 83 and following game day.

You can read all about it in The Tiger Rag, owned by longtime sportswriter Jim Inkster.

I've been writing a column for Tiger Rag when we call ourselves the Bible of LSU sports for 40 years, and when I started in 1985 working for Steve Myers, I had no idea that in 2010 I would actually purchase the company.

But I have it now, and we remain the only sports publication of its kind devoted to LSU.

And we're proud of that.

And we always have things to write about.

Tigers Stadium embodies a loyal fan base that has endured for generations.

The iconic structure is a cultural, sports and social force in Louisiana.

Since 1924, the stadium has set the scene for many momentous events that are part of LSU legend and lore.

1959 Billy Cannon's famed Halloween night 89 yard run, the year LSU won the national championship, the 1988 earthquake game, where fans rocked the stadium cheering for LSU against Auburn with earth shaking energy that registered on the LSU Geology Department seismometer.

LSU wins or loses on this play.

It would appear.

Touchdown.

There's just so many unbelievable experiences and games, that everybody can share and everybody can remember together.

You've traveled all over the nation attending LSU games in different stadiums.

What makes Tiger Stadium so special in your mind?

Well, number one, it's the fans.

It's people from South Louisiana, LSU fans in particular.

You know we like to have a good time.

We we like to eat.

We like to drink.

We like to party.

Have a good time, laugh, enjoy life.

Mike Serio marked his 500th LSU game in 2023, a milestone on display.

Among the wall to wall memorabilia in his Po'boys and deli shop in New Orleans.

Mike has watched the LSU Tigers play in all types of stadiums and believes none compare to Death Valley.

What a lot of people say they criticize LSU.

Oh, we don't have enough bathrooms.

We don't have enough concession stands.

We don't have this and we don't have that.

And, you know, it's it's that's what makes a stadium unique.

You know, I don't think the Boston Red Sox are going to get rid of Fenway Park with the Green Monster.

You know, I don't think the Cubs are going to get rid of Wrigley Field with the Ivy.

The original Tiger Stadium was built in 1924 as the largest stadium in the south, with a seating capacity of 12,000.

Over the years, subsequent expansions included the 1936 construction of the north end zone structure with student dorms.

Today, 102,321 fans can fill the stands of Tiger Stadium.

And that makes it Tiger Stadium, the seventh largest stadium in the world and the second largest in the Southeastern Conference and only surpassed by a few hundred by Texas A&M.

Kyle Field.

The growth is unbelievable.

I mean, I remember going out there when you had no upper upper decks.

You know, it was everything was, you know, metal seats.

But it still had this because of the old nature of it.

It still had this aura about it and this mystique, and it just seem like this big edifice that was just an amazing place to wander around and be on.

Jim lived in Tiger Stadium as a student in the 1970s, when it housed dorm rooms.

I enrolled at LSU in the year of 1977, and my first game, LSU beat rice 77 to nothing, which is still the largest, point production for an LSU team in modern time.

It was in my first game and I'd never seen anything like it at that time.

The capacity was 68,000, but every seat was filled and I thought it was the greatest place on Earth.

Today the dorms are closed and the concrete openings in the Coliseum like structure are glassed in, but the painted numbers at every five yard line remain as a quirky relic from the mid 1940s that made it easier to call night games.

Another enduring feature, the open press box.

And I think one of the things with it being open is that the media, everybody that covers it, gets to hear the crowd.

Most of the stadiums, they're enclosed and so it doesn't have that sort of sound and they don't feel that.

But you also have the the stadium, the seats are so close to the field.

This isn't one of those stadiums where you have a track around it and you have all this other, you know, area around the field.

The fans are right on top of it.

Over the years, Tiger Stadium has hosted many notable non-sports events, including Billy Graham's five day televised religious crusade in 1970, attended by thousands.

The 1983 International Special Olympic Games are hereby open.

Good luck!

Special Olympics.

In 1983, Tiger Stadium staged the Special Olympics International Summer games opening ceremonies, a spectacle of famous names with the Parade of Nations.

In 1988, the stadium starred in the movie everybody's All-American.

I'm special.

Just as long as I keep making touchdowns.

Welcome to the big leagues, Golden boy.

Today, Tiger Stadium is considered among America's most treasured stadiums by the historic stadium caucus.

The mystique of Tiger Stadium, it's just different than most everyplace else.

As it stands today, the LSU Tigers can count for national titles in 1958, 2003, 2007 and 2019, with hopes for another championship season.

I think every coach at LSU is measured by those majestic seasons, and now if you win ten games and go to a bowl game and win it, that's not good enough.

People demand national championships.

And this is a pivotal year for Brian Kelly.

Will you be at every game?

You just insulted me.

Yes I will.

And it's just my passion and this kind of, you know, I want to keep the streak going.

From hashtags to headlines.

Here's what's trending this weekend.

It is football.

Football, football.

Okay.

LSU, whose first game in Vegas last weekend.

Mixed feelings about this.

A lot of self-induced penalties, which I feel like cost them the game.

Yeah.

You wish the Tigers were playing in the stadium.

You're looking at right behind.

It's a Tiger Stadium, but I have Allegiant Stadium.

It was a very well-played game for week one, highly anticipated with LSU and USC.

But to Karen's point, too many mistakes.

You can't have ten penalties for basically 100 yards and expect to win against a good team.

You score a touchdown.

You can't do a gun signal with your hands because that's going to get an unsportsmanlike.

Now you might say, look, that's just that's just silly.

Whatever.

Blow it off.

But you know what it is.

It's unsportsmanlike.

It cost you 15 yards.

You have to kick further back.

USC runs it back, and then they score a touchdown.

So it did hurt you in effect with with those kind of moves.

Those have to get better.

You have to clean that up.

And wow did Louisiana show up big.

And guys I mean social media was ablaze with all kinds of post and fact that like Mandalay Bay, they had trumpeters, LSU trumpeters randomly show up, some LSU fans playing, neck and neck, and two trumpets got pulled out of the sports book.

And we have unofficial reports because I wasn't there personally.

But Mandalay Bay ran out of not one, but two different styles of beers.

Not the first time we've heard that happen.

When LSU plays anywhere they travel, just like the Saints, Vegas is used to a lot of big things.

I'm not sure they were ready for what they got with the LSU fans making their way there and everybody in the sportsbook having a good time.

That's right.

Louisiana is good for business.

When we travel for the games and Allegiant Stadium, I think they had like the largest turnout for that stadium, like 64,000, just just under 64,000.

It was a record for attendance.

And I remember that is also the home to the Raiders.

That's right there.

Sets the bar a little lower than what you would think.

Again, Vegas with casinos and shows and everything else.

But yes, it set a stadium record there for a stadium that will be hosting the Super Bowl in just a few years.

But it goes back to your point of just how well LSU travels.

That was an easy trip for USC to make it, but when you had airlines making arrangements for direct flights to Vegas just for LSU fans, that gives you an idea of the demand.

You have some clout.

Now, of course, it's not just all about LSU football.

This coming weekend is a big weekend across Louisiana for college football.

Yeah, this is week two for college football and six of the nine big schools in Louisiana all playing home games this weekend.

Of course we're talking about LSU and they have a 630 kick Saturday night at home.

But Tulane will be at home against number 16 Kansas State.

That's one of the marquee games in the state.

Southern will be making its home opener on the bluff grounds at home against Tuskegee.

McNeese does travel into Texas.

They'll play at Texas A&M, Northwestern State at home.

So six of the nine big colleges all playing in the state of Louisiana this weekend for week two.

And we would be remiss without pointing out that this weekend also marks the first game of the season for the Saints.

Yes, NFL week one happens this weekend in the Saints will open at home against Carolina and former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.

Big game for the Saints.

Why it's week one.

But it's also against Carolina.

And that means it's a game in the division in the NFC South.

Saints have to get off to a good start and we hope they can do that Sunday afternoon.

Well we will be watching lots of football this weekend.

Super exciting and great to have you with all of your sports commentary and expertise this season, I appreciate it.

We're looking forward to spending a lot of sports so let's get back to the college game for just a moment.

And some big names and voices that, well, you're not going to hear them this season.

LSU fans will miss two familiar voices for at least part of the season.

Both Dan Borne, the Tiger Stadium PA and LSU Sports Radio color analyst Doug Morrow stepping back for health reasons this season, former LSU and NFL running back Jacob Hester will take more place behind the microphone in the LSU Tiger Radio Network microphones.

I sat down with Hester earlier to talk about the new job and how he feels about taking over for an icon.

Full disclosure A friend of mine, an old broadcast partner from an LSU TV show we did back in the day, Jacob Hester, the new color analyst for LSU football.

If you don't hear Jacob on radio, you're not trying the award winning OTB here in Baton Rouge and on many affiliates throughout the state of Louisiana, and you can find them on Sirius XM radio.

And now the color analyst on the LSU Sports Radio Network, Jacob, thanks for coming in.

Yeah, it's great to see you.

Absolutely.

Good to see you.

Had some good times together covering LSU a little bit of science.

And so it's fun to be back with you.

And I know this is your season with football season.

Let's talk about getting the job.

And I know this is the never the way you'd want to get.

So let me just start by asking you, how is Doug?

Have you talked to him?

Of course.

Doug Morrow's almost 50 years.

Yeah.

Doing this as an analyst, stepping back.

Which is why Jacob has the opportunity.

Have you had a chance to talk to him?

And how is he doing?

Yeah.

And, he's in good spirits, and I've had a chance to kind of text back and forth with him in an absolute legend.

You do anything for 50 years.

I mean, you're doing it right.

Otherwise they try to replace you.

But Doug was literally one of the best in sports in college football.

And so just like you said, this is not the way that I wanted to get the job.

You know, I'd done it before, but not consistently like this.

So not the way I wanted to get it done.

But Doug has been highly supportive throughout the entire process and from all, as we hope, Doug, we hope you get better from the surgery and we hope that you are feeling much better.

And we know you'll enjoy listening to Jacob like everybody else.

When you did get the call, what did it mean to know that you're coming back home?

You LSU fans know you're a player.

They're a national champion.

They're now to call the action back at the school where you started your college career and played your college career, what does that mean?

Yeah, when I started, you know, sports broadcasting like ten years ago when I got into sports media, it was a dream job of mine to maybe one day have the opportunity to do this.

And so growing up in Shreveport, like we didn't come down to Tiger Stadium, we didn't have a lot of extra money to come down to Tiger Stadium.

And so and every game wasn't on TV like it is now.

And so the Hester's we were LSU household.

But how we took in the game was listening to Jim and Doug Jr on the call.

And we we'd rally around the radio.

And so if you have told me when I was nine, ten years old that, hey, one day you listening to Jim and Doug, you'll be Doug, you'll have that seat in that spot in the press box.

I've said, there's no way I was the shyest kid in the world.

I wouldn't talk to anybody that didn't have the last name Hester.

But for me to have that opportunity, because that's the LSU football that I grew up on, that's the LSU football I fell in love with.

Was listening to Jim and Doug on the radio.

And so for me, just a surreal moment to get the call.

Even filling in one time in the Rose Bowl against UCLA a couple of years ago, just as a fill in that to me was the ultimate honor.

So to get the call to be the full time guy this year truly meant a lot to me.

Does it change the way you look at the game?

Obviously, for folks, if you don't know, Jacob had a career in the NFL as well.

So I know you know the game and it's one thing to watch it on TV and see it differently than everybody else.

But calling the game, does it change now the way you see the game?

Because you have to be you're the instant analyst.

You're telling everybody on the spot what happened.

I do like it because it is so fast.

It's fast paced and also like you have to tell them what happens in the moment, but also you have a partner in the booth, as you will know.

I mean the play by play, like he's got to set up the play.

So you're in, you're out, and there's no time to think about what you might have seen on the the play before.

So it's instant and it's like, hey, what did your eyes tell you?

You have to trust your eyes.

And as you know this better than anybody, the prep work that you do beforehand, it allows you to go with that fast pace.

And so I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I felt like the game was about ten minutes long in Las Vegas, even though, as we all know, it's 3.5 hours.

I don't want to let you go.

Before we talk about that, you do have one under your belt this year.

A very well-played game for week one.

Not the results Tiger fans wanted.

Now you're getting set for the home opener.

What did you see and what was your take away from the game in Vegas in the loss to USA?

Yeah, that was a very clean game.

It really was.

I mean, outside Garrett Smart's trying to make a play at the very end.

He has an interception.

But it was a clean game.

There were not a lot of turnovers or anything like that.

There were some penalties that kind of racked up against LSU, but there was a lot of good in the film.

You credit USC, they went and made the plays, the USC receivers, they were the game changing thing for me.

That led them to victory, and it wasn't like it was a year ago.

You watch that tape against Florida State a year ago.

There was a lot of bad on that tape.

There wasn't that.

Now you want to go win the game, you're LSU, but I think you can coach off this tape.

This is not a team that's just going to go away.

I think they'll be in it for the long haul.

They're going to beat some really good teams in the SEC, and sooner or later you got to find a way to win the opener.

You open up, by the way, at Clemson next year so it doesn't get any easier.

And also I've got to get a win in the booth I am oh and two right now a loss against UCLA a loss against USC.

I lived in Southern California long enough.

I paid enough taxes in California.

They could have thrown me a victory.

But so hopefully this is my home debut coming up.

I'd like to get a victory here.

Oh no.

The home opener is always exciting.

The kickoff is 630 Saturday night.

The LSU Sports Radio Network is on the air about 90 minutes beforehand, and you can listen to Jacob and Chris Blair, the voice of the Tigers on the LSU Sports Network, with LSU against Nicholls, 630 and Tiger Stadium Saturday night as Jacob goes for win number one.

Jacob, thanks for stopping by.

It's great to see you and good luck all year long.

Hoping to appreciate anything for you.

Thanks, Jacob.

I appreciate it.

Up next, I'm taking you on a tour of the Rock House, an architectural treasure in Natchitoches built by a free man of color during Louisiana's antebellum era.

A community wide effort to restore the home and move it to higher ground recently culminated with the reopening of the Rock House for public tours.

Let's go check it out.

Oh, Karen, welcome to the Kelly.

Rocket house has come in.

Well, thank you.

So very nice to meet.

Nice to meet you.

So the first question is, who is Mr. Kelly?

Mr. Kelly was a slave born in 1736, here in the Irish parish, state and activist parish, was a slave for 68 years.

He convinced his owner to sell him his freedom.

So I say 1798 Irish for you for $100.

And he immediately started building his house.

F the Calais built the rock house in 1803, 22 miles down the cane River lake, on unserved land between two plantations.

It sat there for 170 years before moving to the river banks in downtown Natchitoches.

The home is one of a few French Creole residents in existence, built by a free man of color during the time of slavery in Louisiana when you had to house.

How about finished in 1802, saved $100, went to a lady, owned a female slave.

He bought it.

Female slave.

Got her into his house.

He gave her her freedom to manumission.

So she was free moment.

She was free.

It was his wife.

So he bought his wife's freedom.

About eight years later, another female slave got her on, had ownership of her freedom, freed her.

It was his daughter.

The rock house set closer to the banks of the Cane Lake River until it flooded in 2016.

A community wide effort launched to raise funds for an adaptive restoration.

The architecture is French Creole post on sale.

Style restoration means you have the original plans and you revealed plans.

This house was built.

That poor man.

He had no original plans, no architect.

He just.

He and his friends built it.

So we had to figure out how I was built originally.

The walls are a mix of mud and moss, a method of construction called boot salvage.

The entire house is put together with pegs, not a single nail.

What happens is they put wooden slats in here.

They go out in the countryside and dig up clay, get moss, mix it up and put it on a slats and smooth it all out.

Now what you see on top of this is a lime wash, a lamb wash outside, it's a stop the bore.

Be some digging holes inside the house.

They'll fill these walls of black Swiss cheese.

The modest three room house has a central living room, a single bedroom for the entire family, and a guest quarters for Carl, his wife and his daughter living here.

And they lived here until about 1880, when he passed away and his daughter inheriting the building.

Karen, let's go to the third room in a house.

Which one is fine?

And we were never quite sure exactly what it was used for.

Now, what we're going to do is take this and turn it to store room for two.

We want to go back and fact all the tools are similar to our copies of that.

He used to build a house and put a sample in here for everybody to see outside.

Granite panels line a brick retaining wall with names of Rock House preservationists.

Donors etched on its faces drew over 2100 names.

And when we finish, that'll give us enough money to invest and off income forever.

That lets us take care of this house forever.

We don't have to beg anybody for money.

That's a good business plan.

And this is good.

We're honoring preservationist Ben.

Thank you so much.

I wish you well with your preservation efforts.

May that entire wall be filled with 2100 names.

With your help, we make it a lot of names there.

So thank you very much for being here.

We appreciate.

That's our show for this week.

Remember you can watch anything LPB anytime, wherever you are with our LPB app.

You can catch LPB news and public affairs shows as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook and on Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Karen LeBlanc and I'm Victor Howell.

Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

Support for Louisiana, the state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together, we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum.

Located in Jennings City Hall, the museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and by Visit Baton Rouge.

And the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.