It wasn’t difficult to find Alabama fans in Louisiana last week, but some fans, like Alabama alumnus Tyler Cummings, weren’t just in the state to party and watch the game. Some live there.
Cummings graduated from the University of Alabama in December 2001 with a major in English and a minor in computer science. He’s lived in Louisiana since he graduated but said that neither being surrounded by purple and gold nor dating an LSU graduate and fan has changed the team he roots for. “Obviously, my loyalties lie with Alabama,” Cummings said. “I do pull for LSU when they aren’t playing Bama, and especially when they play Auburn. The loyalty hasn’t been hard to maintain. I think that once you graduate from college, no matter where you are, your loyalties will always lie with that school.” Julie Burst, Cummings’ girlfriend, graduated from LSU in 2006 with a degree in mass communications and agreed that loyalties to her school overcame the pressures associated with dating a fan of a different team. “Of course my loyalty lies with my alma mater,” Burst said. “My veins bleed purple and gold, and I grew up tailgating on LSU’s campus even though I am not a Baton Rouge native. My time at LSU was wonderful, both academically and socially, and I have such pride in our state’s university.” The couple said that they keep it mostly civil, despite fierce fanhood for their football teams. “We keep the peace for most of the year, except when play each other of course. Toughest day for the household,” Burst said. “We somehow find a way to keep the peace and pull for the SEC, but I have to admit, the game in Tuscaloosa was tough! He wore his colors proudly, as did I, and it was an experience for sure, walking around campus hand-in-hand.” The couple said that the rivalry was intense but entertaining. “We are both very passionate and loyal fans on each side and are very protective of our teams,” Burst said. “It’s the South at its best. Bring to the table top-rated defenses and/or offenses, depending on the year, and you have a clash of the titans in the making.” It isn’t just the two schools and their history; the rivalry now centers around one man. “I think the rivalry was greatly fueled when Bama hired Saban,” Cummings added. “He became public enemy No. 1 here overnight. I remember when they had a bonfire and burned a dummy dressed up like Coach Saban.” “Coach Saban definitely intensifies the rivalry, no doubt,” Burst agreed. “There are a few LSU fans that admire Saban for the great coach that he is and the legacy he had at LSU, which I can identify with, but there will always be a bitter taste in our mouths to see him leave the NFL and go back to not only college football, but also another team in the SEC West. Our rematches over the last few years have not only been against the Bama team, but Saban himself.”
Even after UA’s decisive shutout Monday, the couple remained friendly and were able to make the division caused by their loyalties to their teams seem insignificant.
Cummings said the game didn’t put too much strain on his interactions with Burst, and the best thing it accomplished was to silence hecklers at his place of work, whose cries of “Tiger Bait” have been blissfully absent since Monday night.
“I was in awe after the game; it was definitely Bama’s best defensive game of the year,” Cummings said. “Julie was pretty annoyed with the game, but she was a great sport and waited until after the third quarter before she left the living room and went to bed.”
“The experience was gut-wrenching,” Burst said. “Tyler can attest that there were many shouts from my side of the couch and fits of frustration.”
Burst said, however, that Cummings stayed civil, even during the Tide’s dominance, and avoided negative commentary about LSU’s performance and concentrated on UA’s efforts for a touchdown.
“I decided to call it a night towards the end of the fourth quarter and sent out a few congrats texts to friends who are Bama fans,” Burst said. “As hard as it was to witness, LSU did not deserve to win that game with our performance. Bama showed up when it mattered.”
“I may like to forget the loss on Monday,” Burst said, “but I am still proud of our team and our accomplishments in 2011. After all, it will make one heck of a rematch in Tiger Stadium this fall!”
