We were one of the first universities in the south (maybe the first if you do not count UNO) to desegregate under Joel Fletcher. This Baldwin debacle does not give an accurate image of the university today AT ALL. I sure hope we win this one...
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We were one of the first universities in the south (maybe the first if you do not count UNO) to desegregate under Joel Fletcher. This Baldwin debacle does not give an accurate image of the university today AT ALL. I sure hope we win this one...
That depends if we get a judge appointed by a conservative or a liberal.Quote:
Originally Posted by trd1282
Elections matter.
We were also the only division 1A university to have a minority head coach in both basketball and football.Quote:
Originally Posted by trd1282
I'd much rather see UL pay $2 mil to lawyers to avoid having to pay 1 more freaking PENNY to Jerry Baldwin!Quote:
Originally Posted by ULtimateCajun
Jerry Baldwin owes ME money for the years of depressing football I had to witness (err, didn't witness, but it was his fault that I didn't go to games).
Totally agree with that, i'd rather pay a lawyer 2 mill than Baldwin but with our budget overall, 2 million is 2 million. But i'd still rather not pay that idiot...er....pastor anymore money for a bogus suit. Man this gets under my skin. I have no respect for anyone trying to get a buck for not working for it. This guy is a skum bag! Period.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rebel02
Had lunch with a UL fan the other day and during the conversation my friend said, "that Jerry Baldwin was one of the best coaches UL ever had. In the three years as coach, he allowed me to upgrade my season tickets, TWICE."
Quote:
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The decision that left so many UL basketball fans patiently waiting for the past few weeks was finally announced on Friday afternoon.
In case you missed it, head men's basketball coach Robert Lee and head women's basketball Errol Rogers will return next season. The announcement ended a two-week evaluation process for both programs by athletic director David Walker.
News of the move was first reported noon Friday at theadvertiser.com. Within minutes of the report, portions of a frustrated fan base voiced their views on the radio and various online message boards. On one message board, some fans even put together a petition for Walker's removal as athletic director before it was taken down.
About three hours after the initial report, the university released a statement about the decision.
Some fans recognized that the men's basketball team is at a crossroads.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20090322/SPORTS/903220315/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • March 22, 2009
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While Lee led UL to the NCAA Tournament in his first year in 2004-05, he is 50-75 in five years at the school. (His on-court record is 67-83, but the program had to vacate 17 wins, eight losses, the league tourney title and NCAA Tournament berth in that first year.) This season the team went 10-20 as injuries resulted in a lack of team chemistry and consistency.
The Cajuns, who won the Sun Belt's West Division co-championship in 2007-08, have now lost the past three years in the first-round of the conference tournament. They've gone four years without a winning record for the first time since 1953-57.
In addition to those on-court results, there are other concerns for men's basketball.
The team has perfect scores the past two years on the Academic Progress Rate, which measures how well schools retain student-athletes, keep them academically eligible and eventually graduate them.
But previous academic issues for men's basketball resulted in a reduction of scholarships and allowed practice hours per week. APR scores also judged over a multi-year period, so the program remains in the historical penalty phase of the NCAA's structure.
If the program continues to fall short of the required APR scores, every Cajun athletic team would face a ban from postseason play.
There's also the fact that Lee has one year remaining on his two-year contract extension that pays him $175,000 annually, signed last spring after UL won the divisional co-championship. And don't forget that the average attendance this season at the Cajundome was the lowest in 24 years at the facility. The average home attendance has dropped from 4,795 in 2006-07 to 2,871 this season.
"I believe that in this business you're one year away from a lot of longevity and a year away from being out of the business," Lee said. "We can't worry about contracts. We've got to continue to do the right things and believe that good things will happen in the future."
Now I don't always agree with the decisions made this administration, but in this case I think they made the right call. Under normal circumstances Lee is likely gone. But this is far from normal. The entire athletic program is another misstep or two away from being made an example by NCAA.
Like I wrote two weeks ago, the university faced a lose-lose situation for men's basketball from a publicity standpoint. (While Rogers is 11-49 in two years with the women's team, he still has two years left on a contract paying him $98,800 annually. Even with that record, it's tough to justify buying out a coach from a non-revenue-producing sport as the university continues to face budget cuts.)
So what could the Cajuns do?
You could buy out your coach and risk losing players via transfer, which would have a negative effect on the team's APR. Ultimately, a low APR score would result in every team - even the nationally ranked softball program - from being ineligible for postseason play.
How fans would react if that happened? My thought is there would have been a lot of second-guessing back to this situation and wishing that the university took the lesser risk.
Walker didn't worry about trying to please everyone. He's paid to make tough decisions - popular or not. In this case, he tried to protect the entire athletic program.
Or you could bring back your coach for the final year of his contract to lead a team that is expected to return all but one player next season. That would keep stability at the top for the rest of the semester and going into the summer and prevent a slew of player departures, which is common following coaching change. And if things start to go sour next season you can immediately begin looking for a possible replacement.
It doesn't sound like money was a major issue in this decision. Multiple sources close to the athletic department told The Daily Advertiser that there was money available to buy out Lee's final year. Walker just decided not to take the bigger risk.
If the administration does it right, the money that could have been used for a buyout this year could be used to sweeten a deal for the next coach if the on-court struggles continue next season.
In a worst-case scenario, the men's basketball team could suffer another losing season in 2009-10. But that's a better alternative than the other worst-case scenario - watching every Cajun athletic team get banned from the postseason because of men's basketball.
There are two sides to this issue. One side says they will continue buying season tickets and supporting the team - with or without Lee. The other claims they will no longer attend games or support the team until Lee is gone. It will be interesting to see whether a successful 2009-10 season will change their minds.
Some hear all the facts and simply disagree with the decision. Others just want to give their opinion because they consider some - or possibly all - of the facts to be nothing but excuses.
Regardless of your opinion, a logical person cannot argue that the university failed to look at all sides of the situation. You just happen to disagree with the final decision.
We'll see who made the right decision this time next year.
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Josh, respectfully, you are wrong, this is an AIG bailout plain and simple. A new coach would have retained 100% of the players.Quote:
Regardless of your opinion, a logical person cannot argue that the university failed to look at all sides of the situation. You just happen to disagree with the final decision.
We'll see who made the right decision this time next year.
Lee is the culprit and Walker is billing him as the hero.
For 2005-06 Robert Lee willingly sent the APR down into the 600's a score so low that even if followed by 3 perfect years, cant get you back to the required 925.
Why didn't he put Rhett Hebert on scholarship, a huge boost to APR, instead he kicks him off the team.
AIG: All I Got
Wow! What a big smelly full of flies pile of you know what. You fire a bad coach that is pretty simple. Give him a few years but then get rid of him if things don't turn around. UL is not serious about sports.
The sound of local media circling the wagons, or wagon.
Parrott you have turned into a spin doctor for the university, journalistic integrity out of the damn window. This is very upsetting.
Answer these questions:
1-did walker have influence on lee's changing course after his second year?
2-did lee (walker) knowingly put the entire athletic department in jeopardy, when they chose this path?
3-what is the guaranty that these players won't leave the program if lee stays?
4-why did it take so long to make this decision?
5-How many games will give lee a new contract?
6-what does Lotief, Robe, and Bustle think about a bunch of 19 & 20 year old basketball players having this much influence over their teams postseason future.
7-How does walker think this decision will negatively impact the RCAF kickoff?
Not to mention... They are acting like that by retaining Lee we are assured to avoid the APR hit, but the worse case scenerio is retaining Lee and players transfering and still enduring the APR fiasco! Why can't anyone else see this as a very real possibility? If and when this happens the University adm. will look far worse than they already do!Quote:
Originally Posted by Turbine
This APR thing is far from over and by retaining Lee it is not an absolute remedy. This university & athletic department continues to treat the symptoms of the disease and ignore the real cancers!
Josh, can you or someone in the media pound on this very real issue. Jay, the news channels, & now the newspaper are now ignoring this very likely scenerio.