Louisiana Governor Roasted LSU Over Blowout Loss to Alabama Amid Tiger Controversy

LSU's defeat at the hand of the Crimson Tide has lingered into the week.
LSU got blown out by Alabama on Saturday
LSU got blown out by Alabama on Saturday / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Alabama Crimson Tide marched into Baton Rouge this past weekend and blew the doors off the LSU Tigers. In front of a rocking home crowd on Saturday night, 'Bama smoked LSU, 42-13, and it is always difficult for fans to swallow such a brutal beatdown from a big rival.

That is true even when those fans are very important, as proved on Monday night by Louisiana governor Jeff Landry, who was quite involved in Saturday's affair. Landry roasted LSU while speaking to constituents at a "light-hearted" event called "Politics With a Punch" and addressed the live tiger controversy that surrounded the big rivalry matchup.

"Our tiger, our live tiger, unfortunately, disappointingly, was the only tiger who showed up Saturday," Landry said, per NOLA.com.

The jab is pretty funny (although it may come back to haunt Landry, no matter how light-hearted, when the election cycle comes around again). And, if you aren't in the loop, the whole live tiger fiasco is quite something.

The short version is that Landry called for a live tiger to attend the LSU-Alabama contest in an effort to revive an old school tradition. However, the tradition was nixed because the school's tiger at the time was traumatized by the noise and lights of fireworks. This did not stop Landry from pushing for it to happen again, but the caretakers of the school's current live tiger mascot, Mike VII, refused to allow his participation. So Landry imported another tiger from Florida to show up and act as the mascot for the day. The tiger was there to watch LSU get pummeled by its biggest rival, as were animal rights activists who showed up to protest Landry's decision outside the stadium.

A whirlwind of a weekend in Baton Rouge, to say the least.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.