Tireless Research Finds Mike Chambers
Locker Room
By Bud Johnson Phot by Matt Deville
Robert Carnes.
56 LSU Alumni Magazine | Spring 2012
Robert Carnes solved a major mystery this year. Over time, LSU had lost contact with a key figure of its colorful past – the late Mike Chambers, the man responsible for securing a live tiger mascot in 1936. Chambers, the popular team trainer of that period, had his name bestowed on LSU’s Tiger. But no one seemed to know what had happened to Chambers. In the eyes of Tiger sports history buffs, Carnes, a fourteen-year veteran of the LSU Alumni Association, provided a major service. He uncovered the facts about Chambers, who played a significant role in Tiger history. After Chambers left LSU in 1938 for UCLA, what happened to him? Whatever happened to the man who had the idea of bringing a real tiger to Tiger Stadium? Maybe Carnes’ master’s degree in archeology from Northwestern State University helped in this ten-year search. Maybe it was his stubborn streak. Carnes had been on the trail of Chambers since 2001. He did everything but excavate the Indian Mounds in pursuit of information. If he didn’t quiz you about this puzzle, consider yourself lucky. No one urged him to make this search. Not the Alumni Association. Not the Athletics Department. Not the Andonie Sports Museum, where he is curator. The project was not a part of his daily responsibilities. But every time he had a spare moment, Carnes would search the Internet. His curiosity became an obsession. He ran into one blind alley after another. Illinois, where Chambers played football with the great Red Grange, was no help. Ditto for the Los Angeles Times. What happened to Mike Chambers? Anyone else would have taken up whittling. Not Carnes. Each discouragement seemed to make him more determined. He asked everyone, some several times, for suggestions or assistance in his search. So relentless was Carnes that co-workers walked in another direction when they saw him coming. Years passed. The file marked Mike Chambers on Carnes’ desk had little new information. He persisted. Finally, he found a helpful source -- David Baker of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, the man responsible for the care and feeding of our Big Cat. “Dr. Baker put me in touch with Mike Chambers’ grandson, Jeffrey Michael Lien,” Carnes says. “I called Jeffrey, and he filled in all the blanks. He gave me Mike’s entire history after LSU – his Navy service in World War II, his other jobs in sports, when and where he died. I was on a high for weeks.” Georgia Bradford of the Registrar’s office confirmed that Mike Chambers graduated from LSU in 1938. “He seemed perfectly qualified for the LSU Sports Hall of Fame,” Carnes said. “And that said, we have nominated him for the Hall of Fame.”