Why did everyone hate Marty Fletcher?

[RAGINCAJUN98]

7. That death march looking jog Fletcher used to take down Cajundome Boulevard

That's funny

[UL_Cajuns]

"Marty Fletcher was an outsider."

Enough said.
Thats how things in Lafayette and at UL have been done for years. If your not in the good ole' boy network or don't know the right people, you will be pushed out or will not get the job.

We have to let the past go, and change the way things are done, if we ever want to be successful.

[UNOPrivatr]

I would be all for a return of Marty-ball to Lafayette...

[jllanclos]

_ Fletcher's teams were very bad on defense.

Also, right or wrong, a lot of people credit Pierre for recruiting the talent we had in those days. _

Yeah...but 103-101 man....come on now...that was exciting!!!

[MissingMandy]

_ I don't think people really "hated" Marty Fletcher. They just resented the fact that he only won 4 of 28 games against UNO. Those were generally key conference games and overshadowed non conference success. _

What year was that?

[Turbine]

Marty was from 1986-1997

Why does this thread remind me of "Back to the Future"

I didn't like or dislike Marty when he was here, I certainly didn't hate him, I liked high scoring games, but I was still neutral.

However when he came back to the Cajun Dome as coach of the Denver Pioneers and opened his shirt to reveal a Ragin' Cajuns T-Shirt underneath I became a fan for life.

[RaginFan2]

_ Marty was from 1986-1997

Why does this thread remind me of "Back to the Future"

I didn't like or dislike Marty when he was here, I certainly didn't hate him, I liked high scoring games, but I was still neutral.

However when he came back to the Cajun Dome as coach of the Denver Pioneers and opened his shirt to reveal a Ragin' Cajuns T-Shirt underneath I became a fan for life. _

That was classic!

[RaginFan2]

_ I would be all for a return of Marty-ball to Lafayette...

_

Hey, who let the blue guy in here???

[zephyr]

Marty's teams were far from disciplined and he never stressed half court D. He really never stressed half court offense either. Sure, we had some big crowds but we underachieved a lot back then as well. Marty was also not embraced by many here because he really did not allow himself to be. He kind of had an air about him that wasn't really outgoing towards not only media but to the general fan.

[California Cajun]

_ Let me count the ways


1. We never played any D
2. That shrill voice constanly yelling "Foul" at the refs
3. Tim Floyd always kicked our A**
4. The inability to operate in a half court set---stop the transition game and we were toast
5. Guns in the locker room (or so I heard)
6. The feeling that we always underachieved
7. That death march looking jog Fletcher used to take down Cajundome Boulevard
8. The man didn't communicate well with the local media

Reasons I miss Fletcher
1. We won a lot of games until those last couple of years
2. Butch Pierre was by his side
3. Big crowds that we don't see today
4. UMass ans Loyola-Marymount in front of packed houses on ESPN
5. Those UNO games
6. The talent level
7. Beer was only $4
8. Oklahoma _

I think you make some good points, but to me he didn't fit in with the culture. He tried to act extroverted but in reality was introverted. Fans felt like they couldn't communicate with him and didn't like his style of ball. They got frustrated and treated him like dirt. He would have been a better fit in the East, where guys with similar wisecracking demeanors like Jim Valvano, Lou Carnasecca, Dick Vitale, and Al McGuire were popular.

The reality is that Fletcher won at a school with limited resources in a state suffering from an oil depression. It was incumbent upon UL to either give him the PR assistance he needed or let him go, but they did neither. Instead they just hung him out to dry and kept renewing his contract. He was a working stiff just like you and me who carried his lunch pail to work and tried to make it through this old world being himself.

As a transplant who has taken up permanent residence here, I must say that I think the Fletcher experience was a contradiction to all the positive things I have known and experienced within the Cajun culture these past 37 years.

[DestinCajun]

_ I think you make some good points, but to me he didn't fit in with the culture. He tried to act extroverted but in reality was introverted. Fans felt like they couldn't communicate with him and didn't like his style of ball. They got frustrated and treated him like dirt. He would have been a better fit in the East, where guys with similar wisecracking demeanors like Jim Valvano, Lou Carnasecca, Dick Vitale, and Al McGuire were popular.

The reality is that Fletcher won at a school with limited resources in a state suffering from an oil depression. It was incumbent upon UL to either give him the PR assistance he needed or let him go, but they did neither. Instead they just hung him out to dry and kept renewing his contract. He was a working stiff just like you and me who carried his lunch pail to work and tried to make it through this old world being himself.

As a transplant who has taken up permanent residence here, I must say that I think the Fletcher experience was a contradiction to all the positive things I have known and experienced within the Cajun culture these past 37 years. _

Fletcher won 'cause he had "hosses".

[Cajunsmike]

_ I think you make some good points, but to me he didn't fit in with the culture. He tried to act extroverted but in reality was introverted. Fans felt like they couldn't communicate with him and didn't like his style of ball. They got frustrated and treated him like dirt. He would have been a better fit in the East, where guys with similar wisecracking demeanors like Jim Valvano, Lou Carnasecca, Dick Vitale, and Al McGuire were popular.

The reality is that Fletcher won at a school with limited resources in a state suffering from an oil depression. It was incumbent upon UL to either give him the PR assistance he needed or let him go, but they did neither. Instead they just hung him out to dry and kept renewing his contract. He was a working stiff just like you and me who carried his lunch pail to work and tried to make it through this old world being himself.

As a transplant who has taken up permanent residence here, I must say that I think the Fletcher experience was a contradiction to all the positive things I have known and experienced within the Cajun culture these past 37 years. _

You guys are making this too complicated. Marty's problem was simply that he struggled against UNO, an instate school that has less resources than we do. Many of those years we only played ten conference games so the 2 against the Privateers were extremely important. Of course no one else was beating Tim Floyd then either.