They Call Us Louisiana Ragin Cajuns

[Hammer58]

Sun Belt office sent a form to each university asking how they want to be named. We obviously know what we want to be called.

ESPN's policy is to cause as little confusion as possible. Because Louisville has been UL for a longer period of time, ESPN will not use UL for us when it may make people think of Louisville. ESPN has used three different things to tag us as ULL, etc. There is a paragraph in the UL System that requires member institutions to use the "at" tag in any references to the university, and that includes athletics. I will put that paragraph in this post. ESPN has checked the Sun Belt site, which currently uses ULL, etc., and decided that since the conference uses it, that's another reason to use it. The third thing is either a misunderstanding on their part or they don't read after the first paragraph. Our media relations department sends "Proper Use of the University's Name" to any network that broadcasts our games. That document says it is ok to use UL Lafayette as a first reference, but then goes on to say what should be used thereafter. ESPN has taken that correspondence and used ULL, etc. without changing.

I cannot say what the university is doing to show that it's ok for ESPN to use UL or Louisiana ( I don't know what documents are being sent), but I don't see any penalties that can be applied to ESPN for doing what they want. The Sun Belt is taking care of the name fiasco on their end. Media relations will re-emphasize the extent of the document we send to media outlets, including ESPN, of what we should be called. Like I said, I don't think anything can be done in time for the regional, but by football season, everything should be resolved.

http://www.ulsystem.net/assets/docs/...e_policies.pdf

C. The use of the two-letter University of Louisiana abbreviation, “UL,” and/or the
phrase “U of L” are prohibited by the university or any of its affiliated organizations
(alumni associations, development foundations, bookstores, etc.). For academic,
public relations, athletic, as well as other purposes not specified, the use of the
University of Louisiana abbreviation must always include the abbreviation for the
municipal location of the institution. For example, ULR is appropriate for University
of Louisiana at Rayne.

Easy, just tell those dumb ____ers to use Louisiana in reference to us.

Feel free to quote me. It's one easy sentence rather than the multiple paragraphs you used.

[HoustonCajun]

What about ULa?

That would work if we were the University of Louisiana at Acadiana. Too bad our leader at the time didn't think this whole name thing thru back in 2000.

[CajunNation]

Easy, just tell those dumb ____ers to use Louisiana in reference to us.

Feel free to quote me. It's one easy sentence rather than the multiple paragraphs you used.

Yep.

Louisiana is the only way to go here.

In answering the question, "What to call us", the only answer to use here is, Louisiana.

In this regard, and in light of what was posted earlier in reference to UL usage not being done by ESPN and the SBC, the fans and the local media bear as much responsibility for the current fiasco as does ESPN and the SBC.

Most of us use UL. I think we now know that is a non starter with the conference and ESPN.

We should all refer to our university simply as Louisiana.

Also, Louisiana should become the primary branding element on athletic gear sold to the public.

[CAJUNJUDO]

That would work if we were the University of Louisiana at Acadiana. Too bad our leader at the time didn't think this whole name thing thru back in 2000.

Not necessarily, you have to look at it as the abbreviation of the state of Louisiana.

Georgia = GA --> UGA
Louisiana = LA --> ULA

[CAJUNJUDO]

ESPN's policy is to cause as little confusion as possible. Because Louisville has been UL for a longer period of time, ESPN will not use UL for us when it may make people think of Louisville.

I call BS. I've seen ESPN refer to Louisiville as "U of L" and "LOU"

[wcd35]

That's a good reason to just use an "L" to reference Louisiana. Without the "U" added, we don't have to have the city tag. That's why use of just Louisiana is not in violation.

Think of how many schools just use the singular letter to reference themselves, I.e. "T" Texas, "M" Michigan, ""F" Florida, "N" Nebraska, etc.

Those schools use those letters on hats but that's not how they are identified by most people, not by a single letter. Texas can be UT, Michigan is UM, etc but really most of those are just called by their state name. You cant just put L or T or M in the little score box in the top of your screen, its too vague and no one would know who is playing.

Mainly we need to figure out an abbreviated version of Louisiana that we want to use and stick with it. If UL is never going to work, then something else has to be done. LOU is usually Louisville also. I would suggest just LA. There's UCLA, but if thats the closest, there's not much confusion to me.

[wcd35]

http://www.ulsystem.net/assets/docs/...e_policies.pdf

C. The use of the two-letter University of Louisiana abbreviation, “UL,” and/or the
phrase “U of L” are prohibited by the university or any of its affiliated organizations
(alumni associations, development foundations, bookstores, etc.). For academic,
public relations, athletic, as well as other purposes not specified, the use of the
University of Louisiana abbreviation must always include the abbreviation for the
municipal location of the institution. For example, ULR is appropriate for University
of Louisiana at Rayne.

Doesnt Turbine always say "ULL" is not legal (maybe I'm confusing it with another name abbr.) In this case the UL System policy states that if you are using UL you have to include the final L.

[Hammer58]

I call BS. I've seen ESPN refer to Louisiville as "U of L" and "LOU"

Of course it's bull____. Many schools share the same initials that mean different thing and it doesn't cause confusion and world calamity. Texas and Tennessee can both be referred to as UT and it doesn't cause the collapse of civilization.

[GeauxCajuns]

my take on it. we should be Louisiana only. If we would go 100% forward with Louisinana, UL would eventually happen. If Louisiana sticks and what we are known as nationally, everytime someone would go to a shortened version, the only thing that would come out of their Mouths would be UL. if we are called Louisiana, and people know we are a university then i would see the same thing as i see with Texas (UT) or Florida (UF). Texas and FLorida solely use their state names and other people shorten it with UT or UF. thats just my opinion and the way i think UL would eventually catch on.

[CajunNation]

Not necessarily, you have to look at it as the abbreviation of the state of Louisiana.

Georgia = GA --> UGA
Louisiana = LA --> ULA

another one I've seen...

Virginia + VA --> UVA

You may be right. If we need some sort of abbreviation for media purposes ULA would be a nice compromise.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Easy, just tell those dumb ____ers to use Louisiana in reference to us.

Feel free to quote me. It's one easy sentence rather than the multiple paragraphs you used.

They(ESPN) already use Louisana with regards to Louisiana College located In Pineville.

[MelRock]

Well what most people do not know that University of Kansas use KU to not be confused with UK University of Kentucky.

"The University of Kansas
www.ku.edu/‎"

I would prefer a big "L" on shirts rather than the UL Lafayette.