University of Louisiana Snubbed

[Cajunsmike]

maybe it has changed, but there was a time recently that a 1a team could use a 1aa win toward bowl eligibility only once every 4 years, or some term similar to that.

You can count one 1AA (or FCS if you like) win every year now.

[NewsCopy]

UL's Bowl Agreement

Bowl Agreement Announcement

Sun Belt Statement

[NewsCopy]

  For most of Sunday afternoon, Rickey Bustle sat in his office waiting for a history-making phone call. UL's head football coach learned later that night that history would have to wait.

The Cajuns (6-6 overall) were not among the 68 teams invited to play in the 34 available bowl games. The snub extended the program's postseason drought to 38 years.

"I was disappointed for our football team," Bustle said in his first public comments on the issue. "I thought our football team deserved a chance to play in a bowl game."

The rest of the story

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • December 9, 2008

[DestinCajun]

_ I don't think NIU sends any more than 1000 to the game. We used to play them when we were in the Big West and they did not draw very well then. It is simply too far away and Shreveport not enough of a destination city for their fans to travel. _

If there was a MAIN reason for the Independence Bowl to pick UL this is it - simple dollars and cents economics.

We would have bought far more tickets than No Ill. will and we would have used far more hotel and motel rooms in the area not to mention far more visits to (what they call) restaurants and their casinos up there. As an example, I'da taken a party of 7 for 2 days.

I also believe a UL LATEX match up would have been of more interest to the local sports fans as well - an old fashion North La. vs. South La. skatfest.

LATEX could play Northwestern St. or Evangel in Shreveport and draw more than LATEX vs. NIU will.

[jllanclos]

_ You can count one 1AA (or FCS if you like) win every year now. _

This needs to be our number one priority going forward: to schedule 1 bottom-feeder D-1AA team every year. This is the secret to the MAC's success. Isn't this obvious?

[NewsCopy]

  BATON ROUGE - Lafayette legislators are questioning the Independence Bowl's selection of Northern Illinois when it could have selected the University of Louisiana and drawn a larger crowd to an in-state rivalry against Louisiana Tech.

"It's a slap in the face to our university and to Louisiana taxpayers," said Sen. Mike Michot, R-Lafayette.

"The Independence Bowl receives state funds and when it has the opportunity, like this year, it should invite state schools."

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Mike Hasten • mhasten@gannett.com • December 10, 2008

[DestinCajun]

""The Independence Bowl receives state funds and when it has the opportunity, like this year, it should invite state schools."


Ringadingdingy. It's why it was created in the first place.

[HoustonCajun]

_ ""The Independence Bowl receives state funds and when it has the opportunity, like this year, it should invite state schools."


Ringadingdingy. It's why it was created in the first place. _

Nice to see our State Legislators rallying around UL. In a strange way, our getting snubbed might help turn things around in Lafayette and get people to support UL like they have never done in the past.

[Arkstfan]

The theory when government funds tourist attractions is to bring visitors, preferrably from out-of-state but if it can keep in-state residents from taking dollars to other states then that is good.

Northern Illinois will do well to bring a 1,000 fans. Each of those fans will have to spend in excess of $8,000 each in Shreveport/Bossier to recover the state's investment. If you count trapped dollars, ie. Tech fans spending in Louisiana rather than elsewhere and it attracts a total of 28,000 (20,000 Tech, 1,000 NIU, 7,000 local) each fan still has to spend $320.53 per person. If you aren't staying in a hotel that's a hard number to hit.

By contrast the Cajuns or Red Wolves would have easily brought 10,000, most would have been in hotel rooms and reduced the recovery point to $242.57 per person. With hotels generally requiring a three day stay, that number is very easy to hit.

More importantly it exposes a group of people to the region who logically are targets to become repeat visitors, especially the Arkansas crowd who tends to visit Mississippi for its casino experience rather than north Louisiana despite very similar drive times in central Arkansas.

[cajunfan96]

_ _

Damm Right! It's not ok. It's time UL stops getting @#$&!!!!

[HOUCajun]

_ The theory when government funds tourist attractions is to bring visitors, preferrably from out-of-state but if it can keep in-state residents from taking dollars to other states then that is good.

Northern Illinois will do well to bring a 1,000 fans. Each of those fans will have to spend in excess of $8,000 each in Shreveport/Bossier to recover the state's investment. If you count trapped dollars, ie. Tech fans spending in Louisiana rather than elsewhere and it attracts a total of 28,000 (20,000 Tech, 1,000 NIU, 7,000 local) each fan still has to spend $320.53 per person. If you aren't staying in a hotel that's a hard number to hit.

By contrast the Cajuns or Red Wolves would have easily brought 10,000, most would have been in hotel rooms and reduced the recovery point to $242.57 per person. With hotels generally requiring a three day stay, that number is very easy to hit.

More importantly it exposes a group of people to the region who logically are targets to become repeat visitors, especially the Arkansas crowd who tends to visit Mississippi for its casino experience rather than north Louisiana despite very similar drive times in central Arkansas. _

I had a room reserved at Harrah's. It was only for 1 night but it was around $180 +tax. I'm sure my 2 days there would have cost me around $500 plus gambling losses. If the family would have decided to come it would have been closer to $1000. Oh well.

[NewsCopy]

  The decision to ignore the UL Ragin' Cajuns when picking teams for the Independence Bowl proves what I have long said. The bowl game is in Shreveport, right? Shreveport is a fair to middling town but has more of a Texas flavor than does Lafayette and other great municipalities. Long ago, someone advocated trading Shreveport to Texas for Port Arthur. What a great idea, then and now.

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Randolph M. Alfred