2013 Staking a Claim for Louisiana

[CajunRebel]

Let's get something straight here. Right now, the official name of our university is the Univeristy of Louisiana at Lafayette. This is what we call ourselves everywhere that doesn't involve football. And when it does involve football most people still call us Louisiana-Lafayette anyway. Are you really happy with this?????? Do you think this is somehow going to magically change one day????? Do you think the LSUs and ULMs of the world are going to stop caring about this????? The situation we're in today is completely unacceptable and I don't know why people like you are okay with it.

It's about trying to get our rightful name with a solution that will get our opponents on our side. I don't know what the answer is but we've got to shoot for something better than the status quo. What we're doing is not working and we've got to come up with a different strategy.

[cajunhawk]

Just to clarify the Joe Davis thing and his tweet this week.

Davis, you may or may not remember, was part of the Sun Belt Network. At the time, WW was commissioner and he was very vocal in making sure we were not called anything we wanted to be called.

Like everyone else (including most of you,) Davis is going to listen to whoever writes the check.

He (incorrectly) assumed the policy still held true, which was why he used it exclusively. The conference this week clarified its stance.

So Davis wasn't (intentionally) throwing anyone under the bus. ESPN will use whatever a school is known by on a national basis.

UAB used to be called Alabama at Birmingham. But they pounded UAB to where that's how they're known as. And, ESPN uses it.

That's the best example that comes to my incredibly tired mind.

Get some rest Jaybird...double Tuesday night traveling has got to wear on you. Got a long weekend and a home stretch.

[Turbine]

Just to clarify the Joe Davis thing and his tweet this week.

Davis, you may or may not remember, was part of the Sun Belt Network. At the time, WW was commissioner and he was very vocal in making sure we were not called anything we wanted to be called.

Like everyone else (including most of you,) Davis is going to listen to whoever writes the check.

He (incorrectly) assumed the policy still held true, which was why he used it exclusively. The conference this week clarified its stance.

So Davis wasn't (intentionally) throwing anyone under the bus. ESPN will use whatever a school is known by on a national basis.

UAB used to be called Alabama at Birmingham. But they pounded UAB to where that's how they're known as. And, ESPN uses it.

That's the best example that comes to my incredibly tired mind.

Good game Jay.

[CajunFun]

I really don't care much about the whole name thing.

But F____ Monroe. Sit home while we're bowling, you bunch of sour-pusses. Same for the Technecks.

You mispelled 'Teckneck'.



Poor ULM, they really are the victims here. We started this whole thing, and they have taken the high road all along.

[CajunRebel]

Rebel is a bad name, should be CajunAppeasement

See above.

I don't want us to be called the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Something needs to change. We don't have to bow down to ULM, we just have to come up with a solution that they can live with so we can peruse our own goals.

[tdncz]

I think this is my final post on this issue.

In MY opinion:
we have two choices:
1. Carry on the way we have in all regards and continue to ask and influence media outlets to call us "Louisiana" or "UL". This, I think will eventually come back to haunt us because I honestly believe we will face an eventual amendment to the 1998 law initiated by a coalition of Northern LA, BR, and NOLA legislators for the reasons previously discussed.


2. Double down and full-court press this issue even harder (if that is at all possible) to speed up this transformation where it gets to a point (quickly) where ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS, etc are calling us Louisiana for ALL sports. This would make it much more difficult in the court of public opinion (the most important thing to any politician since this = votes) to change us back.
Again, as a lifetime supporter of UL and Louisiana, I am concerned

[Duggie35]

We need to get together with them and come up with a solution we can both agree on, because as things stand today neither school is happy.

We are happy! They are the ones that seem to have a problem.

[CajunNation]

Is it just me?

Am I the only one who thinks we should have one branding initiative above all others. WE ARE LOUISIANA.

There should be T-shirts available in every outlet we can think of which have in big, bold, block lettering, WE ARE LOUISIANA.

The shirts most worn at football games should read WE ARE LOUISIANA.

There should be signage everywhere around the athletic complex which reads WE ARE LOUISIANA.

The athletic buses should read WE ARE LOUISIANA.

The equipment trailers should read WE ARE LOUISIANA.

There should be a WE ARE LOUISIANA chant by the cheerleaders and the fans many times during all sporting events.

etc. etc. etc.

[CajunAmos]

Let's get something straight here. Right now, the official name of our university is the Univeristy of Louisiana at Lafayette. This is what we call ourselves everywhere that doesn't involve football. And when it does involve football most people still call us Louisiana-Lafayette anyway. Are you really happy with this?????? Do you think this is somehow going to magically change one day????? Do you think the LSUs and ULMs of the world are going to stop caring about this????? The situation we're in today is completely unacceptable and I don't know why people like you are okay with it.

It's about trying to get our rightful name with a solution that will get our opponents on our side. I don't know what the answer is but we've got to shoot for something better than the status quo. What we're doing is not working and we've got to come up with a different strategy.

I have to wonder whats their ultimate goal. I don't see this as anything other than finding any method to knock down others to make yourself appear better. Without LSUA&M in the mix, which had to legislate the "flagship" status to have anyone agree, it is the Louisiana educational system equivalent of the lowest common denominator. I think you're wrong if you believe any of the universities in this state would agree to anything that would help (or just not hinder) UL from being the best they can be academically or athletically.

Here's my thought. We have new construction going on all over campus with the student union, dorms, parking towers, speculating on new land purchases, increasing academic standards without losing enrollment, continuing progress in national academic circles. All of this without the 125M athletic master plan. Other universities around the state don't see any way that they can do what we are doing, and they are scared.

I don't see any way any of them would be willing to negotiate anything. We just need to keep on keeping on.

[CajunFun]

Let's get something straight here. Right now, the official name of our university is the Univeristy of Louisiana at Lafayette. This is what we call ourselves everywhere that doesn't involve football. And when it does involve football most people still call us Louisiana-Lafayette anyway. Are you really happy with this?????? Do you think this is somehow going to magically change one day????? Do you think the LSUs and ULMs of the world are going to stop caring about this????? The situation we're in today is completely unacceptable and I don't know why people like you are okay with it.

It's about trying to get our rightful name with a solution that will get our opponents on our side. I don't know what the answer is but we've got to shoot for something better than the status quo. What we're doing is not working and we've got to come up with a different strategy.

Oh, that's an easy one.

As soon as we are in a conference without ULM (and preferably without Teck, though that may take longer), it's over. The conference members will want us called The University of Louisiana because it sells more tickets.

When that happens, the media will also call us The University of Louisiana.

After that, what LSU or ULM or Teck thinks amounts to bupkus.