I have been seeing a lot of dissention lately concerning the LFL and wanted to give my opinion.
First and foremost, I feel like the LFL is the best, most recognizable thing we have going at our university. Yes, even better than the cowbell (which are basically the only two traditions we have). We created this atmosphere and tradition literally from the ground up. Started organically by a few backing trucks up to the outfield fences, and grew it to what it is today. There is nothing better than watching smoke billow across the field on a gameday, and the atmosphere is second to none. It’s a tailgate within the stadium, and to my knowledge we are the only ones that have anything like this.
I can remember going to games as a kid with my dad, sitting in the stands, and watching the LFL as much as watching the game. It was just “cool”, and it was cool that it was “ours”. When I got to State (2000), my friends and I would go out there on cold Tuesday night games and would sit in empty lounges and just watch the games and enjoy the company. We were never rowdy, never destructive, and always respectful knowing that it wasn’t our spot. It was just Mississippi State baseball, close friends, and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. After college I was fortunate enough to have a friend that had a LFL. I was lucky enough to be able to go to a handful of series a year, but made sure to never abuse the ability to sit out there. I would bring food to cook, beer to drink, and always made sure that I wasn’t crowding them out in any way or overstaying my welcome (only went to a few SBW games because I knew that would be there busiest weekend).
I have since moved out of MS and have only been to one weekend series in the new Dude, but the LFL remains a point of pride for me when talking to people (mostly Florida and GA fans) about the atmosphere that is Mississippi State baseball. It has always reminded me of the Alabama song “Cheap Seats”, and while it is no longer “cheap” to be out there, it remains unique and solely ours. I feel like as a fan base that we are cutting our noses off to spite our face in complaining about the LFL. It is the one thing that I feel like the university has managed correctly, in allowing it to remain essentially what its always been, while also bringing it “up to code”. The feeding of the opposing team and fans has been going on out there for as long as I can remember, and I personally don’t want that to go away. It is a great way for us to show off what we have to people who have zero knowledge of it.
Losing sucks, and I know that when losing everything takes a beating, but this truly is one of, if not the best thing we have going at the university and nationally. It would be an absolute shame to get rid of the LFL as we know it just because we have fans that take the attitude of “if I cant experience it, then I don’t want anybody to experience it”. My hope/wish is that we as a fan base can come together on this and fully appreciate what we have. While not everybody can experience it, it is still ours. It is and should be a point of pride for all of us. You can’t talk about college baseball and not talk about Mississippi State baseball in part because of the stadium and the LFL. Even when we suck we have something that we can all be proud of. Of course I would rather be winning, but since I have no control over that, I am glad to still have something that we can all be proud of.
First and foremost, I feel like the LFL is the best, most recognizable thing we have going at our university. Yes, even better than the cowbell (which are basically the only two traditions we have). We created this atmosphere and tradition literally from the ground up. Started organically by a few backing trucks up to the outfield fences, and grew it to what it is today. There is nothing better than watching smoke billow across the field on a gameday, and the atmosphere is second to none. It’s a tailgate within the stadium, and to my knowledge we are the only ones that have anything like this.
I can remember going to games as a kid with my dad, sitting in the stands, and watching the LFL as much as watching the game. It was just “cool”, and it was cool that it was “ours”. When I got to State (2000), my friends and I would go out there on cold Tuesday night games and would sit in empty lounges and just watch the games and enjoy the company. We were never rowdy, never destructive, and always respectful knowing that it wasn’t our spot. It was just Mississippi State baseball, close friends, and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. After college I was fortunate enough to have a friend that had a LFL. I was lucky enough to be able to go to a handful of series a year, but made sure to never abuse the ability to sit out there. I would bring food to cook, beer to drink, and always made sure that I wasn’t crowding them out in any way or overstaying my welcome (only went to a few SBW games because I knew that would be there busiest weekend).
I have since moved out of MS and have only been to one weekend series in the new Dude, but the LFL remains a point of pride for me when talking to people (mostly Florida and GA fans) about the atmosphere that is Mississippi State baseball. It has always reminded me of the Alabama song “Cheap Seats”, and while it is no longer “cheap” to be out there, it remains unique and solely ours. I feel like as a fan base that we are cutting our noses off to spite our face in complaining about the LFL. It is the one thing that I feel like the university has managed correctly, in allowing it to remain essentially what its always been, while also bringing it “up to code”. The feeding of the opposing team and fans has been going on out there for as long as I can remember, and I personally don’t want that to go away. It is a great way for us to show off what we have to people who have zero knowledge of it.
Losing sucks, and I know that when losing everything takes a beating, but this truly is one of, if not the best thing we have going at the university and nationally. It would be an absolute shame to get rid of the LFL as we know it just because we have fans that take the attitude of “if I cant experience it, then I don’t want anybody to experience it”. My hope/wish is that we as a fan base can come together on this and fully appreciate what we have. While not everybody can experience it, it is still ours. It is and should be a point of pride for all of us. You can’t talk about college baseball and not talk about Mississippi State baseball in part because of the stadium and the LFL. Even when we suck we have something that we can all be proud of. Of course I would rather be winning, but since I have no control over that, I am glad to still have something that we can all be proud of.
