Timeout on UL projects, for now

[Cajunsmike]

"Construction of a basketball practice court if the current one is relocated from the football-focused Leon Moncla Indoor Practice Facility"

I think this is a great idea.

This would allow for the new "much larger" weight room to be created in current structure. Which would still be utilized by the basketball team and all other sports programs, without the athletes feeling like they were trespassing through football territory to get there.

I would spend any money intended for a new basketball practice venue, on making Blackham a great depth perception place to practice.

I would also give the basketball program complete control of Blackham and is use dates as a way of raising funds for the program.

Basketball leaders want a new practice court to be built adjacent to and connected to the Dome. There are a lot of reasons for this One benefit would be access to the showers and locker rooms of the Dome. They don't have those now at Leon Moncla. Another major benefit would be the ability to practice on the dome floor more frequently. Also, the Dome needs to be configured to make it more basketball friendly. Filling in the area behind the goals and moving as many people as possible to the lower level would provide a cozier atmosphere and more of a true homecourt advantage. Doing all this of course is a multimillion dollar endeavor. There are no plans to use Blackham for basketball at this time. In fact a deal may be in the works for that facility to be used in a non athletic fashion.

[ULGrad@HOU]

Also, the Dome needs to be configured to make it more basketball friendly. Filling in the area behind the goals and moving as many people as possible to the lower level would provide a cozier atmosphere and more of a true homecourt advantage.

Good idea, is this a dream or is there any effort, talking with the city about making this happen?

[Boomer]

Basketball leaders want a new practice court to be built adjacent to and connected to the Dome. There are a lot of reasons for this One benefit would be access to the showers and locker rooms of the Dome. They don't have those now at Leon Moncla. Another major benefit would be the ability to practice on the dome floor more frequently. Also, the Dome needs to be configured to make it more basketball friendly. Filling in the area behind the goals and moving as many people as possible to the lower level would provide a cozier atmosphere and more of a true homecourt advantage. Doing all this of course is a multimillion dollar endeavor. There are no plans to use Blackham for basketball at this time. In fact a deal may be in the works for that facility to be used in a non athletic fashion.

-------Are you saying that they do not have showers and a locker room on the Moncla for Basketball????----They do--but they need the deal at the Dome!!!

[Turbine]

Basketball leaders want a new practice court to be built adjacent to and connected to the Dome. There are a lot of reasons for this One benefit would be access to the showers and locker rooms of the Dome. They don't have those now at Leon Moncla. Another major benefit would be the ability to practice on the dome floor more frequently. Also, the Dome needs to be configured to make it more basketball friendly. Filling in the area behind the goals and moving as many people as possible to the lower level would provide a cozier atmosphere and more of a true homecourt advantage. Doing all this of course is a multimillion dollar endeavor. There are no plans to use Blackham for basketball at this time. In fact a deal may be in the works for that facility to be used in a non athletic fashion.

I like this, long term.

My idea can be implemented tomorrow, or as soon as a soft pad floor can be installed.

I want basketball to get the funds Blackham generates from being leased as a sound stage 9 months out of the year.

[Just1More]

and all it took were some people to speak up that they werent satisfied, not just sit back and stay quiet

You damn right!

[Turbine]

I talked to Kevin Figaro about showers at Blackham, he said they used to bus to the athletic complex to shower after games.

As a temp measure to get the BB court converted to a weight room before summer and still have a place to practice BB (at Blackham) they could get one of these: Mobile Shower Trailer for Sale.

[CajunRed]

It should NEVER have taken all of this (angry fan base.conference realignment snafu) for "the powers that be" to realize they were not focused and committed to "a plan". But.the good to come out of this is that they are getting there now.

[ULvictory]

Results will come if a commitment is made and I think now that the commitment is coming from the President and RCAF board members. The fans are there and stand ready to tender the initiative with $??

[Hammer58]

Results will come if a commitment is made and I think now that the commitment is coming from the President and RCAF board members. The fans are there and stand ready to tender the initiative with $??

This President is going to have to prove his commitment to continue to get money from this fan and it's going to take a lot more than words and empty promises on his part. I am in Missouri mode now.Show me.

For starter's let's see what how he distributes the pain on the next round of budget cuts. In fact, if he wants to send an immediate message he could go back and rescind his $1.5 MM cut to athletics and distribute that more equitably.

[Zeebart21]

Results will come if a commitment is made and I think now that the commitment is coming from the President and RCAF board members. The fans are there and stand ready to tender the initiative with $??

Brother I admire everything you have done for UL I am just a low level guy on the totem pole.I gotta tell you, Im gonna have to see some things happen before I buy in again. There are alot of low level guys lie me that feel the same.

Z

[USL1970]

The master plan is certainly needed, but that is just an excuse for lack of or poor performance.

The foundation for expansion of athletics buidls on a sound financial foundation. Nothing effective has been done to establish a sound financial foundation - even after all the years.

Regardless of the greatness of this master plan, without the financial strength to execute the plan, it will be largely worthless.

I am however, pleased that at least we will have a public document.

[Bandwagon King]

The master plan is certainly needed, but that is just an excuse for lack of or poor performance.

The foundation for expansion of athletics buidls on a sound financial foundation. Nothing effective has been done to establish a sound financial foundation - even after all the years.

Regardless of the greatness of this master plan, without the financial strength to execute the plan, it will be largely worthless.

I am however, pleased that at least we will have a public document.

This represents the time old question, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Without the financial support the plan will be ineffective. But without the plan & the marketing of the plan to the allumni & fan base with a great amount of dedication by the administration, there will be NO SUPPORT. The sooner the administration gets this the better off they will be. I have been supporting the university this time around for a little over a year. In that year I have now just topped the 5 grand mark in support & ticket purchases. If this administration gets it's act togeher & proves that they are serious about ahtletics there is potentially another couple of thousand people such as myself. Without that proof, they stand to lose a huge chunk of the people they now have, much less a potential pool of unmined support. Without this support this school will continue to stagnate on the rocks of life's unfulfilled potential. This would be a disgrace to those in leadership. WE NEED A PLAN!

[Turbine]

That means a temporary delay on intended major improvements to baseball, track and field/soccer and other facilities, including 40-plus-year-old Cajun Field — home of coach Mark Hudspeth's Ragin' Cajuns football team. Now, none of those .

The rest of the story

The Advertiser is worthless on archives (link not accurate) but something similar (to fit the situation) should have been said 6 weeks ago.