Tulane University, located only a few miles from the border of St. Charles Parish, has always been one of the best four-year colleges and graduate schools in the nation. And in the mid-1900s, it’s stadium on Willow Street was the scene of some of the best college football in the land.
It became the site of the annual Sugar Bowl, where two of the nation’s top teams usually faced off, and also hosted some Super Bowls. Some of the country’s best players tipped their helmets as they finished their games in the 82,000-seat structure.
It was a great place to watch a football game as a spectator, but then things changed at Tulane. Somewhere from the back halls of the ivy-laced structures on the beautiful campus came the message that football should be de-emphasized in the college program. Why? Reasons were not given, but it happened.
Of course, we could hear many a roar from that judgment, not only from the unhappy Tulane fans but also from the eager Tigers upriver who were exalted over the decision.
The de-emphasis led to the Tulane Green Wave dropping out of the Southeastern Conference and joining a smaller one. A winning season became non-existent even though the team’s competition became weaker.
Adding to the downgrade of the school’s football program was the tearing down of the original Tulane stadium, which had become somewhat decayed. The team also began playing their home games at the Superdome in downtown New Orleans. Taking football off the college campus led to the further demise of the program and lowered the spirit of the students, many of which quit going to the games.
Then, university backers became disenchanted with the almost empty stadium game after game and started a movement to bring football back to the Tulane campus. Money started rolling in for construction of a new stadium there. Plans and work on such a structure started and it was used for the first time against Georgia Tech this past weekend.
Adding to the awakening of the spirit was the hiring of Curtis Johnson two years ago from the New Orleans Saints staff as the Greenies head coach. And the team ended up with a winning season.
Though the Green Wave lost to Georgia Tech on Saturday, its young team showed lots of talent and we look forward to Tulane picking up wins during the season to at least equal its 7-6 record last year.
There is hope in the air around Willow Street.
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