{"id":642611,"date":"2026-05-14T12:27:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T12:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/642611\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T12:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T12:27:18","slug":"graduation-admiration-from-a-damn-proud-lsu-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/642611\/","title":{"rendered":"Graduation admiration from a damn-proud LSU dad"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thirteen years ago, I wrote a column to express my admiration for the Texas A&M ring and what it represents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That admiration continues today. Had I attended A&M and earned a ring, I would\u2019ve been damn proud to wear it.<\/p>\n

Alas, I knew I\u2019d never wear the ring. However, I hoped that someday I\u2019d purchase one for my then nine-year-old son, Quinn.<\/p>\n

I thought it was inevitable.<\/p>\n

When I started working at TexAgs in 2012, Quinn adopted the Aggies as his favorite team.<\/p>\n

His first college football game was A&M\u2019s blowout of South Carolina State in 2012<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He idolized Johnny Manziel. He loved Ben Malena. He got his picture taken with Ryan Swope and Spencer Nealy.<\/p>\n

However, his fandom wasn\u2019t always positive. In November of that year, he was reprimanded for taunting his third-grade teacher. Turns out Mrs. McAllister was an Alabama grad.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

TexAgs<\/p>\n

Years later, Quinn served three seasons as a Texas A&M basketball\u00a0ball boy.<\/p>\n

It was assumed he\u2019d eventually attend Texas A&M.<\/p>\n

But ensuing years brought change. In just over a year, he transformed from a pudgy 5-foot-10 freshman to a muscular 6-foot-5 junior.<\/p>\n

His sense of sarcasm grew, too.<\/p>\n

Once, I could do no wrong in his eyes. During a heartfelt discussion, I warned him that someday he\u2019d ignore my advice and think I didn\u2019t know anything.<\/p>\n

His response: \u201cYeah, Dad. Today\u2019s the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wise ass.<\/p>\n

By the time Quinn graduated from College Station High School, he had no plans to attend A&M. He was eager to experience life elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Of course, I objected. Staying close to home would be a wiser decision.<\/p>\n

Alas, my wife, Irma, disagreed. She\u2019d left Los Fresnos to attend Cal-Berkeley. She encouraged his wanderlust.<\/p>\n

Staying home, though, would be cheaper. No out-of-state tuition. My argument fell on deaf ears.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

TexAgs<\/p>\n

He applied to several Southeastern Conference schools. Acceptance letters and scholarship offers came rolling in.<\/p>\n

Arkansas made sense. Texas residents were not charged out-of-state tuition. He again ignored my advice. He didn\u2019t even apply there.<\/p>\n

Tennessee\u2019s tuition was too expensive. So, too, were Georgia and Florida.<\/p>\n

However, Mississippi State offered a scholarship package that \u2014 along with the money his mother and I had saved for his education \u2014 would enable him to, at least theoretically, finish college with no debt.<\/p>\n

He reluctantly agreed to go there. But about an hour later, he approached me in the kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cDad,\u201d he said, \u201cI don\u2019t want to go to Mississippi State.\u201d<\/p>\n

I stared sternly into my son\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuinn,\u201d I said, \u201cI\u2019ve been to every town in the SEC. I\u2019ve been to Starkville on numerous occasions. I cannot offer a rebuttal.\u201d<\/p>\n

LSU offered a generous scholarship package. So, the family visited Baton Rouge. During lunch at Elsie\u2019s Plate & Pie, he announced his decision to attend LSU.<\/p>\n

The wife immediately went shopping for LSU gear. Not me. I swore never to wear purple and gold until he graduates.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

TexAgs<\/p>\n

I was immensely proud and totally disgusted. I was even more disgusted when Quinn joined a fraternity.<\/p>\n

Turns out those ATO frat boys weren\u2019t so bad.<\/p>\n

About a dozen of them converged on my house in 2022 for the LSU-A&M football game.<\/p>\n

They warmed up for the game by consuming alarming amounts of Fireball, Busch Apple and Michelob Ultra and talking trash to me.<\/p>\n

LSU had already won the SEC West. They asked if I thought a win over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game would get LSU into the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou still have to beat A&M,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Eyes rolled. Laughter followed. They reminded me that A&M was 4-7.\u00a0LSU was ranked fifth and had beaten Alabama. The mere suggestion of an A&M win was preposterous.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo SEC road game can be taken for granted,\u201d I warned. \u201cA&M has talent. If you think LSU can just show up and win, you may be disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quinn interjected: \u201cGuys, you\u2019ll have to excuse my father. He\u2019s senile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wise ass.<\/p>\n

As you know, Devon Achane rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-23 A&M victory. I planned to gloat heavily, but they were all so broken. Instead, I urged them to just focus on winning the SEC championship.<\/p>\n

Of course, LSU did not.<\/p>\n

The next year, the game was in Baton Rouge. I visited the frat house before the A&M-LSU game. The frat rats knew I was a Heisman Trophy voter. They cross-examined me on how I might vote.<\/p>\n

LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, of course.<\/p>\n

From there, I seemed to gain favor with them and some of their parents.<\/p>\n

One father, a Texas alum, once approached Quinn to say: \u201cI know who your dad is. He\u2019s OK, but I hate that Liucci guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

TexAgs<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t hate me, but they sure liked to taunt me.<\/p>\n

Like last spring, before A&M faced LSU in the SEC Baseball Tournament.<\/p>\n

The frat boys bragged about how LSU\u2019s powerful lineup would abuse A&M\u2019s pitchers.<\/p>\n

I retorted: \u201cWell, if A&M falls behind, they could just bring in Marcel Reed.\u201d<\/p>\n

A chorus of groans followed. Apparently, the memory of Reed coming off the sideline to lead A&M to another 38-23 football victory earlier that year was still painful.<\/p>\n

But it probably wasn\u2019t nearly as painful as A&M\u2019s 49-25 drubbing of LSU at Death Valley last season.<\/p>\n

Quinn avoided me that night. He just sent a series of vulgar text messages expressing his intense hatred of Brian Kelly.<\/p>\n

I laughed. A lot. I texted that A&M was 3-1 vs. LSU with Quinn as a student. Rich Aggies, I suggested, might chip in to pay him to stay for grad school.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not in his plan. He starts his career in August in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

First, though, he graduates on Friday night with a degree in finance.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be the first Buchanan in my line to earn a college degree. I didn\u2019t attend college. Neither did my brother, sister, father\u00a0nor mother. Nor did my grandparents.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m immensely proud and not even a little bit disgusted.<\/p>\n

Sure, I would have rather spent a few thousand dollars on an A&M class ring. Instead, I bought a $25 purple-and-gold T-shirt that says \u201cLSU dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be damned proud to wear it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thirteen years ago, I wrote a column to express my admiration for the Texas A&M ring and what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[133378,277583,13958,2967,54639,8897,402,277580,7147,2356,46822,2808,399,681,15358,14543,14765,7086,27333,398,396,397,155492,277581,277579,277578,99,2219,120318,7084,133377,277582],"class_list":["post-642611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-10-25-2025","tag-11-26-2022","tag-13958","tag-2967","tag-54639","tag-arkansas","tag-basketball","tag-ben-malena","tag-brian-kelly","tag-california","tag-devon-achane","tag-florida","tag-football","tag-georgia","tag-jayden-daniels","tag-johnny-manziel","tag-lsu","tag-marcel-reed","tag-mississippi-state","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-olin-buchanan","tag-quinn-buchanan","tag-ryan-swope","tag-spencer-nealy","tag-sports","tag-tennessee","tag-texags","tag-texas-am","tag-texas-am-at-lsu-football","tag-texas-am-vs-lsu-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}