Geaux Tigers!!

Yes, I am an unashamed LSU fan. Mr. Math Teacher and I were at LSU from 1985 to 1990 - we were present (but not together) at the 1988 game in which the cheering was strong enough to register as an earthquake on the geology departments seismograph. Since LSU was ranked #1 according to the AP poll this week, our family naturally had to watch the game. And, this week they played Florida. I grew up in Florida but have always been an LSU fan. When I was growing up, this meant that I was swimming against the tide. Tonight we had a little LSU football party with just our family - it's hard to find LSU fans around here! Ga'Hoole Girl didn't get really interested in the game until the very end. Wild Man, though, watched every second, giving running commentary.

And, what a game it was! Yes, LSU won, but they were never ahead until the last few minutes of the game. And the last minute was quite a nail-biter - hoping that Florida would not be able to pull a touchdown out under the pressure.

Mr. Math Teacher's would be very proud of Wild Man's enthusiasm. The last time that we saw Paw Paw was on a trip to Baton Rouge a few years ago. We went to LSU and saw Death Valley and Mike the Tiger V. It turned out that we were there on Mike's birthday and the local TV station was out doing a story. They interviewed PawPaw for the story because he remembered Mike I. The story aired that night, and we watched it in our hotel room. Paw Paw died the next night. It's really special for the kids that their last activity with their PawPaw was visiting LSU and Mike.

Another very interesting thing about this game is that the Florida quarterback was homeschooled through high school. Florida passed a law in 1996 that allows homeschoolers to participate in public school athletics. Tim Tebow played football in Florida and signed with the University of Florida after he graduated. He is a great quarterback and had us very worried tonight that he would help his Gators pull out a win. Thankfully, the Tigers held them off.

I hope that this kind of thing will give positive publicity to homeschooling. There are places where homeschoolers are not allowed participation in any athletics or other extracurricular activities. I'm not sure about the law in Wisconsin - Wild Man is still several years from high school. We have had Ga'Hoole Girl taking an art class at the local middle school and have been very happy with the outcome. It is unfortunate that some homeschool families are denied this possibility because the school systems are convinced that the system will be abused. In any case, it reflects well on his family and homeschooling that he is doing so well.