Tulane Fans Celebrate 2nd American Championship in Four Years
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The Tulane Green Wave finished off North Texas 34-21 to claim their 2nd American Conference championship in four years.
Before post-game interviews were held on field, Tulane fans jumped from the raised stands and stormed the turf Friday night to celebrate the victory, and celebrate they did. as the stands emptied.
Fans watched fireworks go off in the South end zone as those exiting the field called out the "Green Wave" chant filing out of Yulman Stadium.
We caught up with some Tulane faithful, including life-long Wave fan Tim White, who stood enjoying the revelry from the advantage of the raised platforms provided by the stands.
"I sit across from here," White said pointing to the stands by the press box. "When we beat Duke (in September at Yulman), I jumped out the stands, like the students. When I landed, my legs went out from under me and I tumbled a few times. I was sore for a couple of weeks."
Ah, to be young again.
"I've been following Tulane since the Superdome days," White said, grinning from ear-to-ear the entire time. "Very few wins (in the Dome), sparse crowds."
A complete turnaround from what White saw Friday night in Yulman.
"Very different," White said nodding. "I can get used to this winning, though."
The atmosphere Friday night felt electric. The student section was packed from top to bottom as part of the almost 24-thousand fans in attendance.
"The student section was on fire tonight," White continued. "They had a good time."
A steady drizzle started falling about an hour into the game and continued through part of the third quarter. That didn't keep people away, and actually made things even more special.
"I thought tonight was a fantastic atmosphere," White told us, continuing to grin. "The rain we had, everything. I thought everything was fantastic."
As fans continued to file off the Yulman Stadium turf, Tulanians found their way to their own places to continue their celebration in ways only New Orleanians can.
With the American Conference championship now under its belt, the Tulane football team awaits where it will be posted for its first-ever College Football Playoff position. The Green Wave will learn its opponent when the first round of the playoff seedings are announced on Sunday, Dec. 7, starting at 11 a.m.
As of this writing, Tulane will be matched up against Oregon or Ole Miss. Either way, the Wave will be traveling for that first round game, held the weekend of December 19th and 20th, playing either in Eugene, Oregon or Oxford, Mississippi.
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.