Interesting helmet....

[CajunNation]

That is not the fault of helmets or anything at all tied to sports. That is soley the fault of the administration for no effort at all when it comes to marketing and branding UL. They do not care what we are called and yes people are not informed when they refer to other schools and link them to ragin cajuns, but that is our own SID's fault along with the entire athletic department for not policing these blunders. We are the welfare program of athletics and hopefully thing will change, but I will be surprised if they do. So many changes need to happen that it will be a long slow road to go down.

You correctly criticise the administration for lack of marketing of UL, yet you say a helmet which doesn't proclaim UL or Louisiana is O.K.?

These 2 statements do not jive.

[cajun4life]

_ You correctly criticise the administration for lack of marketing of UL, yet you say a helmet which doesn't proclaim UL or Louisiana is O.K.?

These 2 statements do not jive. _

Ragin Cajuns is the only good thing we have when it comes to an athletic brand. That is why we use it on everything. Everything else we have is worthless, we cant even dictate what we want to be called i.e. UL-Laf, ULL, UL-L, UL-Lfy, or UL, we have OK'd all of these lables. Ragin Cajuns is our only ace in the deck so we stick with it.

[Sonsissymia]

_ Our current helmets are here to stay! They will not change and should not change. Enough said. _

reasonable minds can differ on this one; it's not a good helmet. any change short of having a big pepper on it would be a step in the right direction.

[CajunCharlie]

_ Our current helmets are here to stay! They will not change and should not change. Enough said. _

HOORAY!!! I hope you are correct!!!

[CajunNation]

Ragin Cajuns is the only good thing we have when it comes to an athletic brand. That is why we use it on everything. Everything else we have is worthless, we cant even dictate what we want to be called i.e. UL-Laf, ULL, UL-L, UL-Lfy, or UL, we have OK'd all of these lables. Ragin Cajuns is our only ace in the deck so we stick with it.

Are these uniforms worthless because they don't put Ragin Cajuns front and center?

This topic has been discussed on Scout:

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=345#s...&t=2186216&p=3

[Just1More]

_ Ragin Cajuns is the only good thing we have when it comes to an athletic brand. That is why we use it on everything. Everything else we have is worthless, we cant even dictate what we want to be called i.e. UL-Laf, ULL, UL-L, UL-Lfy, or UL, we have OK'd all of these lables. Ragin Cajuns is our only ace in the deck so we stick with it. _

I have to agree with you on this one. "Ragin Cajuns" is our more identifiable, recognizable, undisputed, marketable label in the offering. I totally agree that we couple it with UL and Louisiana on uniforms, merchandize, etc. But, it takes the lead.

I love democracy and getting ideas from the masses, but this forum makes me realize why we get stuck in the mud at every turn. And it makes me realize why our university goes hogwild over flaming vegetables and 80 assorted versions of our identity.

I'd sure like to see people get one thing absolutely "correct"... we are best known as the Ragin Cajuns... and that is the best and first identity, especially in athletics, to push. The UL and Louisiana should be a subtle addition... eventually, people put the two together.

It is called marketing and advertising... but I am an engineer by degree... so maybe in my world of things making very good sense... I'm unique among the confused swarm.

[Diapason]

I love democracy and getting ideas from the masses, but this forum makes me realize why we get stuck in the mud at every turn. And it makes me realize why our university goes hogwild over flaming vegetables and 80 assorted versions of our identity.

I'd sure like to see people get one thing absolutely "correct"... we are best known as the Ragin Cajuns... and that is the best and first identity, especially in athletics, to push. The UL and Louisiana should be a subtle addition... eventually, people put the two together.

It is called marketing and advertising... but I am an engineer by degree... so maybe in my world of things making very good sense... I'm unique among the confused swarm. _

Lady Cajuns

[CajunFun]

I love democracy and getting ideas from the masses, but this forum makes me realize why we get stuck in the mud at every turn. And it makes me realize why our university goes hogwild over flaming vegetables and 80 assorted versions of our identity.

I'd sure like to see people get one thing absolutely "correct"... we are best known as the Ragin Cajuns... and that is the best and first identity, especially in athletics, to push. The UL and Louisiana should be a subtle addition... eventually, people put the two together.

It is called marketing and advertising... but I am an engineer by degree... so maybe in my world of things making very good sense... I'm unique among the confused swarm.

This is partly addressed to your post, but actually it addresses ideas I've had for years. This isn't meant to be a criticism, but an invitation... it's a philosophical discussion, and strange as it sounds, University sports logos are an introduction to asking what a University is all about in the first place.

1) Is there a difference between marketing and advertising in a business, and a University?

2) Is getting "one thing absolutely 'correct'" at odds with everything a University stands for?

3) Are the "messiness of democracy and getting ideas from the masses" essential to what a University is all about?

4) Are the messiness of democracy [our government] and getting ideas from the masses [the free market and the first amendment] more efficient than all other approaches?

5) Finally, what would be the "mark" (pun intended) of a great university? Ohio State, who manage their logos like corporate Nazis, and allow very little diversity?

Or a University that allows supporters as wide a range of choices as possible, with the idea that a) supplying the "masses" with the "messiness" of choices will generate more money in the long run, and b) since the best ideas are the ones that people like, the best way to find out what people like, is to let them choose?

It's not an ethereal debate, not for me at least. My thoughts on sports logos were greatly molded by one t-shirt I saw. One of my classmates had gone to Berkeley, where he had played water polo (yes, he had the looks & physique, and yes, the girls drooled over him). Anyway, he had a t-shirt that one of those wild North Californians had designed, water dribbles & droplets spelling out "H20", with the word "Polo" underneath.

Nazi patrols would have never allowed that, and it was not only cool, it was (to my mind) exactly what we expect from a strong university: creativity, innovation, even whimsy. The University should express that in every facet of its being.

And let me give you an example closer to home: almost every school out there wants a "traditional" mascot. And so tigers, bulldogs and eagles dominate the landscape, particularly among the great unwashed masses of smaller schools. When we started to move to "Ragin' Cajuns" people complained bitterly, it was "weird," "parochial," "small time." I don't need to tell you about why those are exactly the reasons that "Ragin' Cajuns" was, and is, a good idea.

Well, the coolest nicknames are almost exclusively limited to the largest & "best" universities: Longhorns, Hawkeyes, Hoosiers, Razorbacks, Gators, Wolverines, Wolfpack, Hokies, Volunteers, Sun Devils (and yes, even Buckeyes, ostensibly from a more open-minded epoch at OSU).

Why do the best nicknames tend to belong to the best schools? Freedom of ideas. Creative environments. Open minds.

In a word, "messiness."

While the smaller schools tend toward the Nazi.

People generally aren't comfortable with the idea of letting the system be messy, because it is counter-intuitive. Our brains like what our brains can comprehend, and therefore, can control.

But the most efficient system, over and over again, has been proven to be the one that allows many minds to contribute-- i.e., democracy, the free market, and the University.

But if many minds are contributing to a solution, it seems obvious that there is no way one mind can comprehend-- nor efficiently control-- the whole system.

You can understand and control something-- a business, a University, a community, or even a child-- or you can gently guide it while letting it grow and excel on its own.

You can't do both. Just something to think about.

[Pup]

Lady Cajuns

cant afford to market ul and ragin cajuns at the same time





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[CajunNation]

I'd sure like to see people get one thing absolutely "correct"... we are best known as the Ragin Cajuns... and that is the best and first identity, especially in athletics, to push. The UL and Louisiana should be a subtle addition... eventually, people put the two together.

You don't know how wrong you are.

People do not link Ragin Cajuns with UL or Louisiana. This is especially true on a national scale.

It is a foolish thing to do by marketing a nickname so much more than the actual name of your university.

Show me an athletic schedule put out by any D1 university that lists their opponnents by their nickname. You won't.

People first learn your name, THEN your nickname. That is reality.

The next time you get frustrated because someone on TV or elsewhere in the media does not know what to call us or continually refers to us as Lafayette, LOOK IN THE MIRROR.

Because, we have no one to blame more than ourselves.