Editor's note: A version of this story was presented before the semifinal round of the World Series Men's College. It has been updated to reflect LSU advancing in the Championship series against Coastal Carolina.
Omaha, Neb.-The peak time hits different when you tow a 30-foot long tiger.
There is no anger on the road, drives 15 mph, and there is no hurry to get anywhere, to the streets and around the streets near Charles Schwab Field, home of the Men's College World Series.
Zane Greene worked with her phone in the passenger seat on Tuesday night, took advantage of the screen and began a playlist that launched more than four speakers on the back. “LSU Errame” was the first song, and Greene's uncle, Jacob Stone, directed the 15,000 -pound -pound fiberglass tiger around the traffic. A man in a Jeep was accompanied by his side and rolled through his window.
“Surely it's striking,” he told them.
Mardi Gras Mike, a tribute to LSU's pet, is a creation of Kern Studios. Fitz Kern, CEO of the company that produces most floats in Mardi Gras, was inspired to make the flotation after watching the Tiger Walk before the LSU-Ole soccer game of the past fall. I wanted to create something that LSU fans could meet.
“We wanted Mardi Gras Mike Canalize the spirit of LSU fans,” said Kern, “and the spirit of Louisiana.”
The float was presented last week at the Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when fans sent the LSU baseball team to McWs to Omaha. From there, Mardi Gras Mike made a trip of more than 900 miles to Omaha that was related on social networks. There was a mike snapshot at the Arrowhead stadium, home of the Kansas City bosses, and a small troll photo of the float parked in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at the Arkansas football stadium.
The Razorbs, Rivals of the SEC, were the first opponent of LSU in the MCWs. LSU won that game 4-1. Again they were the opponent of the Tigers in a dramatic semifinal victory 6-5 Wednesday. Now LSU will face Coastal Carolina on Saturday (7 pm et, ESPN) to start the best championship series.
Fitz Kern expected his Tigers to survive until this weekend to be able to join the fun in Omaha. He was left behind to help celebrate his daughter's third birthday. LSU did its share on Tuesday, surpassing UCLA 9-5 in a winning support game. While LSU fans celebrated near the east side of the stadium, Stone stopped the float on the street. For a moment, it was a house scene: fans dancing and taking photos with the tiger growling. Then, a police officer who worked in traffic gave him a severe warning to advance.
It was Stone's first day at work. Leon's farmer, Iowa, who sometimes helps Kern Studios during Mardi Gras, received a call on Monday asking if he was available to work at the MCWs. Stone and Greene were exercising in the field until after 1 a.m., but they got up at 6 in the morning on Tuesday to drive 2 hours and 40 minutes to Omaha.
They didn't know they would lead Mardi Gras Mike until Tuesday morning. The pilots who replaced sent them a playlist, mainly LSU struggle songs plus “Eye of the Tiger” and Creedence Clearwater Revival “Born on the Bayou”, and ran them along the route a couple of times. Then they went to the airport.
The rain was in the forecast on Tuesday at Iowa center-south, so Stone and Greene had planned to sit inside seeing Westerns anyway. Because they spend most of their time feeding their cows and balancing hay, none of them is interested in university baseball or sports in general.
They seemed baffled by the thousands of people around them who rise and fall on the trajectory of a baseball. However, in mid -afternoon, Greene was collecting jargon and hand signals.
“Many people throw the 'L',” he said, “what I think meant 'loser'. But they are LSU fans.”
Wherever they were, people grabbed their phones and took photos and videos. LSU's fans shouted, pointed out, jumped and nodded, as if they had seen an old friend. A guy with a firefighter's hat seemed to jump into the truck.
The only negative feedback Greene and Stone experienced, at least in the first eight hours of the day, there were a few thumbs of opposite fans.
Around 6 pm, the float headed south, through the old market, and diners sitting in courtyards lifted their glasses and cheered. Then Mardi Gras Mike made another trip to the Embassy Suites, the team of the team for the tigers, while random people shouted: “Tigres!”
Almost everyone smiled when the float passed.
“This is Mardi Gras too,” Stone said. “Everyone is happy.
“How many people can this do in their lives?”
