LA Sports Hall induction was fitting tribute to Tony Robichaux
Most attending Saturday’s 2022 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Natchitoches already knew of Tony Robichaux’s legendary example as a college baseball coach.
Some may have been introduced to it by the four-minute video narrated by Lyn Rollins and then an interview with his oldest son Justin.
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<!-- Most attending Saturday’s 2022 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Natchitoches already knew of Tony Robichaux’s legendary example as a college baseball coach.
Some may have been introduced to it by the four-minute video narrated by Lyn Rollins and then an interview with his oldest son Justin.
Those impatiently watching the clock for the ceremony to end don’t realize how hard it would have been to keep that interview session to six minutes if Robichaux himself was there to accept the honor.
The platform to teach and instruct would have been too much for him to resist.
“His presence needs to be felt for all time,” former UL pitcher Phil Devey said on the video. “At the school particularly, for every player that comes through that baseball field, they need to learn about him and care about him and listen to his message because it was so natural for all of us. That’s the effect that a true mentor has. It’s life-saving. It lives with you forever.
“It would be selfish of us to try to keep his teachings and his message just within us.”
Robichaux is the only college baseball coach to be the all-time winningest coach at two programs in the same state, making him a Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer in every way.
There were a few passing mentions of his record win total, regional and super regional appearances and College World Series campaign, but the primary focus was on the “servant leadership” that molded his career.
Robichaux would have approved of that approach.
“He was a transformational type of guy,” Justin Robichaux said. “He didn’t really seek a transaction from you as a player. He wanted to grow you and mentor you.”
It wasn’t just something he thought was a good idea. It was an all-the-time thing for Robichaux.
His eldest son told a story about getting a call from his father at 2 a.m. his sophomore season during a road trip at Middle Tennessee.
The technologically-challenged coach just needed his son to get a DVD to play on his computer.
“It was John C. Maxwell’s 21 essential laws of leadership at 2 o’clock in the morning,” Justin said. “His resiliency and constant perfectionist approach to bettering himself is something that I’ll always respect.”
But we were also reminded Saturday that his weighty larger-than-life lessons weren’t the only thing Robichaux would have enjoyed about the induction ceremony.
He would have admired the crafty way master of ceremonies and Distinguished Service Award inductee Teddy Allen escaped a few procedural glitches in the script with his uncanny humor.
“What I loved most about Coach was his personality and his wit,” UL coach Matt Deggs said. “He was funny and a master storyteller. He could laugh and he could laugh at himself.”
After all, it’s not that you’ve fallen that’s important, but how you pick yourself up.
For those unfamiliar with Robichaux’s rise to prominence in the college baseball world, the interview fittingly alluded to his rocky climb as well.
Just two years after finishing his playing career at McNeese after starting it at UL, Robichaux was leading the Cowboys to an NCAA regional win over the Cajuns in 1988 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
He and his wife Colleen weren’t making much money in those early days. They literally built the program, before a similar chore of resurrecting a probation-torn UL program in 1995.
“They got the electricity cut off more times than they wanted,” Justin joked.
But it only made the future coaching icon more resolved to press on.
His children were reminded throughout the weekend the value of “Seeing that first hand as a child — the grind, the amount of sacrifices every day — just going to work every day for something that you believe in.”
Colleen said it was a great experience to both relay her story and also hear the inspiring stories of the fellow inductees during their stay.
“It’s been great,” she said. “You know about it, but you don’t really understand how special it is until you get there and get to talk to all the other inductees.”
In 2000, the hard climb all seemed worth it when Robichaux brought the Cajuns to Omaha.
“It’s words you can’t describe,” Colleen said. “To see how hard he had worked since he was at McNeese — how much of our lives then were cleaning the bathrooms and getting the field read — to get to that ultimate point, I remember getting off the plane and saying, ‘Wow, I want to come back here.’ It’s a feeling you can’t express. To see him get that accomplishment was a great feeling.”
But even more significant was Robichaux entering the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame this weekend. He had multiple chances to leave the Cajuns and even the state during his career, but never wavered.
“He deserved this,” Colleen said. “It’s been a great weekend. It’s really a good thing for Tony.
“I just wish he was here.” -->
