What's THis? Eat Lafayette, Sport Baton Rouge

[NewsCopy]

The Lafayette Convention & Visitors Center presents "Eat Lafayette"

The rest of the story

Missing (unwritten story) on how it is not OK to drive out of Lafayette and Acadiana for sports when you should be supporting UL Athletics

Barring a crowd significantly higher than last Saturday's total, UL could fall below the NCAA's mandate of an average 15,000 attendance for Division I-A schools this weekend. Through five games, UL has totaled 76,282 in home football attendance, an average of 15,256 fans per game. The Cajuns need to draw 13,718 for Saturday's season finale against UL Monroe to reach the 15,000 mark, after last Saturday's announced crowd of 10,212. UL is not required to hit that mark this season to remain in I-A's good graces, since a school only needs to average 15,000 in actual or paid attendance once in a rolling two-year period. The Cajuns averaged 17,591 in five home games last year. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[El Sidonio]

For a moment there, I thought that the person who titled this thread had the same unpleasant experience as I did Tuesday at Subway on Ambassador across from the Mall. (This may have happened at other area Subways as well, but the one on ambassador is where I just so happened to walk into on Tuesday for lunch).

I get in there, and the employee helping me out is wearing some Subway/LSU shirt. I make my comments about it and move on. Well then I see that the supersize cups for upsizing your combo has LSU crap all over it. So not only were subway employees wearing a shirt supporting another school that is NOT EVEN IN OUR CITY, but the shirt and cups were officially endorsed by Subway. Needless to say I wrote a double letter, one to the corporate office and one to the individual restaurant. Ticks me off....................

And as far as attendance goes, eventually we will get better crowds if our success continues to grow steady like it is. And when we manage to get a rare big crowd for a home game, and manage to win that game instead of layin a big fat egg, we'll really start doin better.

God Bless

GEAUX UL RAGIN CAJUNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CajunProud]

I think what I am about to post is on topic, so instead of starting a new thread, I'll post here.

On my way home from work yesterday, I was listening to Jay Walker's show as I usually do. Not because I like the show (I usually disagree with what Jay has to say), but because other than this site, it is the only place I can get UL info. Anyway, somebody called in and was discussing with Jay the poor attendance at UL events (I think it was for football but could have been for all sports in general, but not sure b/c I came into the conversation mid stream). The caller made very good points about UL needing to reach out to the outlying communities more and suggested promotions such as free tickets and the like, similar to what the IceGators did. To my utter shock, Jay actually agreed with the caller and said, are you ready, "The University has done a poor job for a long time in promoting athletics to the surrounding areas." (not an exact quote, but close) I usually think of Jay as an appologist for the University, but I have to give him credit on this one.

However, Jay stopped short of making any suggestions on how to solve this problem. I don't blame him since he has no control over the situation, but I have a suggestion that I have been making for over a year now on this forum. I think the answer is that we need more money and better people who have energy and a love for UL in the marketing department. I know, I know, money is limited, we do what we can with what we have, blah blah blah blah........

Here are some ideas on raising money, marketing and just spreading the word in general. The main idea is to get rid of you know who. I'm not going to say his name, but he has been at the University since the age of the dinosaurs, he is a control freak........

It all starts with this person. If we had a VISIBLE private athletic foundation, we could raise money to promote and thereby raise awareness. Raise awareness and show that you care about the people and they will come to the games and give money to the University. The fact is, UL does a poor job of reaching out to it's alum and fan base in Lafayette. How many people actually know about this web site? How many people actually have the time to come to this web site or listen to Jay's show to get info on the Cajuns?

Yes, things are getting better, but for how long? Will things continue to get better, or will we move at such a snails pace that we will never get to the place that we all want to be? As unpopular as my view is on you know who, things have to change at that position for us to get to the ultimate goal.

[evangelinetiger]

For a moment there, I thought that the person who titled this thread had the same unpleasant experience as I did Tuesday at Subway on Ambassador across from the Mall. (This may have happened at other area Subways as well, but the one on ambassador is where I just so happened to walk into on Tuesday for lunch).

God you are a loser. You took the time to write a letter to subway's corp office over a shirt?

LSU is the STATE'S primary ath powerhouse. Just as Ohio State is or blah., blah., is name your state. Southwestern can't even put 20k at a home game. Just b/c a few militants support UL over LSU does not mean that the community does not. How many times and ways will take to prove to you nutjobs that UL does not have the same fan support as LSU anywhere in this state?

LSU is fighting for a ROSE BOWL birth and is number 5 in the country. ULL is fighting to make the Motor City bowl and is ranked 110.

Get your own house in order and then you may get some fan support.

I would love for a middle-aged nutjob to approach me at work and complain about an LSU shirt. I would have told you to get life and go _ck yourself.

[TGK4LSU]

I get in there, and the employee helping me out is wearing some Subway/LSU shirt. I make my comments about it and move on. Well then I see that the supersize cups for upsizing your combo has LSU crap all over it. So not only were subway employees wearing a shirt supporting another school that is NOT EVEN IN OUR CITY, but the shirt and cups were officially endorsed by Subway. Needless to say I wrote a double letter, one to the corporate office and one to the individual restaurant. Ticks me off....................

Wow, I feel your pain!! Can you believe that every place I go in Lafayette I see people wearing LSU crap and hardly any "UL" cool stuff? I really don't know what to do about this. Maybe we should get the city to pass an ordinace banning businesses from selling the stuff.

You guys just don't get it. This board can really get comical at times. Let me repeat myself, this is not North Korea where you can dictate what people want to buy, sell, love, prefer, read or say. LSU is the local favorite, get over it. The businesses and media in town know this and aren't going to change to to satisfy "the few, the proud, the naive" of local "UL" fans. I guess the low attendance is somehow LSU's fault, like everything else.

[Just1More]

I think what I am about to post is on topic, so instead of starting a new thread, I'll post here.

If we had a VISIBLE private athletic foundation, we could raise money to promote and thereby raise awareness. Raise awareness and show that you care about the people and they will come to the games and give money to the University.

You are hitting the nail on the proverbial head. I am happy that, in my estimation, we are moving in the right direction (and I am putting my money where my mouth is). But, the University and many fans are satisfied with this pace. We have to accelerate and blast forward in hopes of achieving a marginal gain. We will struggle against this "state" and only make minimal advances... but have to manage that ridiculous totalitarianism. Our only path is thru ourselves. Privatization in every supporting regard is the only way to achieve it. The people with control over the current purse-strings just want you and I to contribute more. I want the visibility to the community and a mania of support to follow. If anyone in charge does not think that can happen, they should author their own resignation.

[CajunProud]

You are hitting the nail on the proverbial head. I am happy that, in my estimation, we are moving in the right direction (and I am putting my money where my mouth is). But, the University and many fans are satisfied with this pace. We have to accelerate and blast forward in hopes of achieving a marginal gain. We will struggle against this "state" and only make minimal advances... but have to manage that ridiculous totalitarianism. Our only path is thru ourselves. Privatization in every supporting regard is the only way to achieve it. The people with control over the current purse-strings just want you and I to contribute more. I want the visibility to the community and a mania of support to follow. If anyone in charge does not think that can happen, they should author their own resignation.

Very nicely put.

While I do appreciate the progress that has been made over the last 4 to 5 years, it is simply not enough. There are untapped resources in this community (and ignored resources) that would be huge if only approached.

It is great that we can have this discussion, and I think most of the true UL supporters would tend to agree, however, complaining on this site only serves to frustrate me even more. With you know whos latest screw up a.k.a "The horse farm" I don't see how this community can not be completely incensed, but I guess it is the status quo, i.e. he has been here for years and what can we really do.

So I ask, as devoted alum and supporter of UL, what can we do to get new leadership in place? I am very serious when I ask this question, because I really don't know where to go or what to do. If anybody out there has a solution, please let me know.

[rhineaux]

You are hitting the nail on the proverbial head. I am happy that, in my estimation, we are moving in the right direction (and I am putting my money where my mouth is). But, the University and many fans are satisfied with this pace. We have to accelerate and blast forward in hopes of achieving a marginal gain. We will struggle against this "state" and only make minimal advances... but have to manage that ridiculous totalitarianism. Our only path is thru ourselves. Privatization in every supporting regard is the only way to achieve it. The people with control over the current purse-strings just want you and I to contribute more. I want the visibility to the community and a mania of support to follow. If anyone in charge does not think that can happen, they should author their own resignation.

Anyone know the REAL reason we don't have anything like the TAF here? Is it RA? Is it lack of initiative in the university? What? I don't know the first thing about what these funds are about and how they are started/run etc. But i do know we need one.

By the way, nice job to the folks (KDC?) doing the recycling for recruiting stuff at the main gate of the Stadium. It must be working because everytime i walk up those things are full, thus a lot of folks through their cans in the big dumpster. I'll try to remember to talk to you guys next year about getting a few more cans or whatever else may be needed to expand that effort. If you want to really increase your recycling amounts for the last game, there is some guy who goes through all the trash and gets all the cans after everyone leaves. i think he usually gets out there sometime in the middle of the night, i've seen him as early as midnight or so. wait for him to gather everything, sneak up on him, and frighten him with a bat, tire iron, or some other sort of peacemaker, and then take off with the loot.

[BabbForHeisman]

This might be the worst excuse for a newspaper article I have ever seen. Sorry Dan.

[MissingMandy]

This might be the worst excuse for a newspaper article I have ever seen. Sorry Dan.

Is the news on UL always so negative? Kind of worries me. In the comment section the players are referred to as the product that is not up to par. That in itself is just wrong. Has it gotten better here? I haven't read anything positive really. Perhaps that is part of the problem. Don't know. New to all of this.

[Pirogue]

Is the news on UL always so negative? Kind of worries me. In the comment section the players are referred to as the product that is not up to par. That in itself is just wrong. Has it gotten better here? I haven't read anything positive really. Perhaps that is part of the problem. Don't know. New to all of this.

Haven't seen the comments, but as for Dan... he's hoping to strike a nerve...
He was the SID for over a decade at UL, and he, like every other Cajun fan, wants fan support to be a little less finicky.

You will love the die hards in Lafayette...
Media is as Media does... toss in some internet commentary... you still have to make your own mind up.

I can speak for thousands of Cajun fans who will appreciate every bit of effort your son puts forth for our university.

GEAUX CAJUNS!
BEAT MONROE!

[Clutch0364]

Is the news on UL always so negative? Kind of worries me. In the comment section the players are referred to as the product that is not up to par. That in itself is just wrong. Has it gotten better here? I haven't read anything positive really. Perhaps that is part of the problem. Don't know. New to all of this.

No mam it isn't always so negative. That is a crap article and should be taken for what its worth.

On the boards sometimes we can be a little negative but its our place to let go of our frustrations so we don't do it anywhere else

[Turbine]

This might be the worst excuse for a newspaper article I have ever seen. Sorry Dan.

Since you graduated from UL last year and now work for NASA, I wanted to speak up for you.

I miss the UL sports articles you wrote in the Vermilion, they were always positive, had great angles and yes they made me want to go to the games. . . even more.

[Sonsissymia]

For a moment there, I thought that the person who titled this thread had the same unpleasant experience as I did Tuesday at Subway on Ambassador across from the Mall. (This may have happened at other area Subways as well, but the one on ambassador is where I just so happened to walk into on Tuesday for lunch).

I get in there, and the employee helping me out is wearing some Subway/LSU shirt. I make my comments about it and move on. Well then I see that the supersize cups for upsizing your combo has LSU crap all over it. So not only were subway employees wearing a shirt supporting another school that is NOT EVEN IN OUR CITY, but the shirt and cups were officially endorsed by Subway. Needless to say I wrote a double letter, one to the corporate office and one to the individual restaurant. Ticks me off....................

And as far as attendance goes, eventually we will get better crowds if our success continues to grow steady like it is. And when we manage to get a rare big crowd for a home game, and manage to win that game instead of layin a big fat egg, we'll really start doin better.

God Bless

GEAUX UL RAGIN CAJUNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

can i keep wearing my Saints stuff--i mean, they're not in the city.
before the "we're talking colleges, and lsu isn't in lafayette and ul is" posters come back, save your time. i understand. but this is La. and lsu is in La. and you have to be big enuff not to begrudge La. people from wearing/selling what the heck they want to wear/sell.

[Sonsissymia]

Is the news on UL always so negative? Kind of worries me. In the comment section the players are referred to as the product that is not up to par. That in itself is just wrong. Has it gotten better here? I haven't read anything positive really. Perhaps that is part of the problem. Don't know. New to all of this.

ma'am, i think you're the mom who has a son coming to play on a uellell scholarship--that is great, having a child playing d1 football must be a dream come true. i wish for him great things.

about the negativity. unfortunately, insofar as football goes, the school is at the bottom of the barrel. it is the only "charter member" of d1 never to be in a d1 bowl game. the program's signature win, i mean the one they are still talking and gushing about, was over a 6-6 team from a decade ago. assuming uellell and troy win this weekend, i think the team will be the only one with 7 wins in the whole country NOT in a bowl game this year [might be wrong on that, and i'll defer to the resident research analyst, turbine, to correct me]. in the computer rankings, there's d2 teams ahead of them. with a winning season in the balance, jay walker says on the radio there couldn't have been many more than 6,000 people in the stadium saturday--that's not a good basketball crowd.

these are facts that are hard to spin, and there's no way to avoid at least some negativity in relation to same.

but the program is seemingly on the upswing, and if they win this sat and have 7 wins, it surely is. the lsu and a&m games were not winnable, despite the fantasies you may have read of on this site. therefore, as regards the games that were really in contest, they went 7-3, an excellent result by any measure unless a fan got seduced by the pre-season publications and were just set on nothing but a conference championship/bowl guarantee.

i predict your son will play on championship teams, and get to bowl games.