bluedog,
I hate to hear this. My best wishes go out to this young man. I saw this article on the flu bug hitting Grambling as well. Both schools will just have to overcome and put their best foot forward for the classic.
GSU wants same routine for Bayou Classic week
As several Tigers fight flu bug, team starts prep work for year's 'biggest' game.
Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
November 24, 2003
GRAMBLING - They move practices to Eddie Robinson Stadium.
But Grambling State coaches try not to alter their routine in anticipation of the annual game against Southern - despite the glitz and the history and the long bye week that precedes it.
"We're not changing anything," GSU coach Doug Williams said. "We know each other too well."
The 30th Bayou Classic, broadcast nationally on NBC, is Saturday at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Grambling State is undefeated in Southwestern Athletic Conference play, while Southern has one SWAC loss.
"Emotion is always going to play a part," said GSU offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Melvin Spears, "in a game of this magnitude."
But rarely more so than this year, it would seem: The winner of the game advances to face Alabama State in the SWAC Championship game two weeks later in Birmingham, Ala.
"This is what we want, though," Spears said. "This is what we are after. I think the players are going to rise to the occasion."
That a fourth-straight championship berth is at stake only adds another layer of intrigue in the onion of pressure, expectation and rivalry that surrounds this game.
"You've got some fans who would rather be 1-10, if you won the Bayou Classic. But I don't think that way - and I try to make sure none of the coaches think that way," Williams said. "Our goal is to get to Birmingham. It just so happens that, this year, the Bayou Classic is the only way we can get there."
This is the first bye week of three this season where Grambling State isn't coming off a loss. GSU fell to San Jose State and McNeese State in out-of-conference play.
"When you lose, you want to jump right back into it," senior receiver Tramon Douglas said. "Sitting out, though, it helps your team with injuries."
More particularly, in the case of Grambling State, it helps with illness: Nine different players have missed practice since the Nov. 15 win over Savannah State because of a stampeding flu bug.
Spears said some starters are likely to miss out on conditioning while they try to get well.
"It's going to stagnate you a little, with respect to preparation," Spears said. "But I'm not particularly worried about it. Michael Jordan put up 50 one night with the flu. When it comes to crunch time, they've got to be ready to go."
That's because, once again, a long season finishes with a flourish in New Orleans. The big-game atmosphere holds true, whether the Bayou Classic has championship implications or not: Last season, Southern entered the game at 5-6, but still easily defeated the defending SWAC champions.
In fact, Grambling has gone 1-for-5 in the Bayou Classic since Williams took over for Robinson - even while the Tigers have won a trio of conference titles. Southern now has a one-game edge since its founding in 1974.
"I don't get caught up in that one-game syndrome," Williams said. "If I did, we might not have won the SWAC championship last year after we lost the Bayou Classic."
Coaches think a year that included not just every SWAC team, but also the nation's No. 1 Division I-AA school - McNeese State - will be a crucible for success this year. The season started with a national television audience for that first-in-the-nation opener against San Jose State on ESPN2.
"We communicated to our guys that week in and week out, you're going to play a big game," Spears said. "I think the fact that we've had such a tough schedule will make them much more fit for the Bayou Classic."
?The News-Star
November 24, 2003
