Yes. I don't tailgate. I try to relax around the house on the morning of the game and then head to campus about three hours before kickoff. Usually I stop by the marketing office and pick up the production book for that day's game, then head up to the Press Box.
The activities that are going on at most LSU tailgate parties would likely impair my ability to call the game in a lucid manner, if you know what I mean. I try to eat a light meal and get ready to start the announcements.
What is the first announcement you make before a football game?
"Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen. This is Dan Borne'. On behalf of Louisiana State University and the LSU Athletic Department, welcome to Tiger Stadium for tonight's Southeastern Conference football game between the (Rebels of the University of Mississippi) and your Fighting Tigers of LSU."
And we go from there...
Do you have to embellish your voice at all or do you just speak naturally?
Not really. A million bucks of equipment would make Donald Duck sound pretty decent!
Has a big play ever altered your ability to make a call absent from emotion?
You don't get caught up in the emotion of the game. You can't. Shakespeare said it better than I can: "The play's the thing." You work hard to make sure the information you give is timely and accurate.
What has been the most memorable game in your tenure as the PA announcer?
That would have to be the Auburn game after 9/11. The game had been moved to the end of the season, and as it turned out, the winner of that game was going to represent the Western Division at the SEC Championship game.
It was a hard-fought game, but when it became apparent that LSU was going to win, dozens of marshals, troopers, and deputies lined up in front of the student section to prevent them from rushing the field.
With just a few minutes left in the game, I noticed a mass exodus from the student section. This was strange because the students are always the first to arrive in Tiger Stadium and the last to leave. I was looking through my binoculars and couldn't figure out why they were leaving right before a big win like that.
Well, a few moments later I noticed a horde of heads bobbing up and down in the field level portal in the northeast corner of the stadium, which is on the other side of the field from the student section. Apparently, the students just collectively decided to find another way onto the field.
Well, the clock expired, and without a marshal in sight of the northeast portal, the now relocated LSU student section stormed the field and tore down the goal posts.
We're not a military school for nothing! I remember thinking that old General Troy Middleton would be proud of these kids; when there is an obstacle in your way and you can't go through it, find a way to go around it!
What was it like announcing at the famous LSU vs. Auburn "Earthquake" game of 1988?
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