Rabalais: ‘This train don’t stop here anymore’
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I wanted to write something profound today. Instead, I’ll just tell the story straight and keep it simple.
This is my final column for The Advocate. After this, there’s one more feature story later this week on LSU tight end Richard Dickson (I could tell he was impressed, ha!).
Then, that’s it. If you’re scoring at home, that’ll be 19 years between The Advocate and the late, great State-Times, a total of 7,460 bylines. That’s a good number to finish on. Like they said in “The Right Stuff,” the press likes a nice, round number.
I feel like an actor who has a successful series for many years then goes off to work on Broadway. Still working, but just harder to find for the general public (General public is an inside joke for Advocate assistant sports editor, Matt Randolph. Hey, I’m entitled, it’s my last column).
Starting Friday I’m working for a new ESPN-affiliated Web site covering LSU called TigerGumbo.com. No “launch date” yet (Internet term), but check your local listings in the days leading up to LSU’s season opener.
I also have a new book coming out next month on LSU football called “The Fighting Tigers, 1993-2008,” a sequel to the superb history of LSU’s first 100 years done by Times-Picayune columnist Peter Finney.
So, there’s a lot of exciting things going on my life. Some scary things, too. But overall, it’s for the best. Change is good, if overwhelming.
I feel like I’m walking into a room covered with ball bearings — Come on, guys, it’s all ball bearings these days (line filched from the movie “Fletch”) — trying to find the right path.
My job here has taken me on a lot of different paths over the years, from covering high schools to Southern to LSU to the Saints’ snowy trip to the NFC Championship game. In fact, I’ve missed just two LSU football games since 1992, one because of a kidney stone attack right before kickoff of the 2005 Capital One Bowl.
I’ve been from coast-to-coast and covered so many great events: BCS championship games, bowl games (including Super Bowl XXXVI in the Superdome), five College World Series, five Masters, seven Daytona 500s and four Final Fours.
I saw Warren Morris hit his home run to win the 1996 CWS and watched LSU win two football national titles, something I never thought I’d see back in 1992 when the Tigers went 2-9 in my first year on the beat.
Great memories. But, as with most things, it’s the people I’ll miss. I’ve had a lot of fine colleagues over the years, but no better group than the 15 people I now work with in sports. They deserve and I hope will have your continued readership in the years to come. All except William Weathers, who is leaving to work for my new rival, Rivals.com (just kidding, Bill).
Well, I’m out of time, out of room and out of here. As Elton John once sang, “This train don’t stop here anymore.”
Adieu.
This is my final column for The Advocate. After this, there’s one more feature story later this week on LSU tight end Richard Dickson (I could tell he was impressed, ha!).
Then, that’s it. If you’re scoring at home, that’ll be 19 years between The Advocate and the late, great State-Times, a total of 7,460 bylines. That’s a good number to finish on. Like they said in “The Right Stuff,” the press likes a nice, round number.
I feel like an actor who has a successful series for many years then goes off to work on Broadway. Still working, but just harder to find for the general public (General public is an inside joke for Advocate assistant sports editor, Matt Randolph. Hey, I’m entitled, it’s my last column).
Starting Friday I’m working for a new ESPN-affiliated Web site covering LSU called TigerGumbo.com. No “launch date” yet (Internet term), but check your local listings in the days leading up to LSU’s season opener.
I also have a new book coming out next month on LSU football called “The Fighting Tigers, 1993-2008,” a sequel to the superb history of LSU’s first 100 years done by Times-Picayune columnist Peter Finney.
So, there’s a lot of exciting things going on my life. Some scary things, too. But overall, it’s for the best. Change is good, if overwhelming.
I feel like I’m walking into a room covered with ball bearings — Come on, guys, it’s all ball bearings these days (line filched from the movie “Fletch”) — trying to find the right path.
My job here has taken me on a lot of different paths over the years, from covering high schools to Southern to LSU to the Saints’ snowy trip to the NFC Championship game. In fact, I’ve missed just two LSU football games since 1992, one because of a kidney stone attack right before kickoff of the 2005 Capital One Bowl.
I’ve been from coast-to-coast and covered so many great events: BCS championship games, bowl games (including Super Bowl XXXVI in the Superdome), five College World Series, five Masters, seven Daytona 500s and four Final Fours.
I saw Warren Morris hit his home run to win the 1996 CWS and watched LSU win two football national titles, something I never thought I’d see back in 1992 when the Tigers went 2-9 in my first year on the beat.
Great memories. But, as with most things, it’s the people I’ll miss. I’ve had a lot of fine colleagues over the years, but no better group than the 15 people I now work with in sports. They deserve and I hope will have your continued readership in the years to come. All except William Weathers, who is leaving to work for my new rival, Rivals.com (just kidding, Bill).
Well, I’m out of time, out of room and out of here. As Elton John once sang, “This train don’t stop here anymore.”
Adieu.
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