(2009) I'm the casual fan that has not been to Cajun Field in years

[zephyr]

_ looking back at this almost 2 year old thread I see the frustration I had just boiled over to the point of saying some pretty stupid things.

I wish I would have worded some of what I said a little different. I threw too many people under the bus in that 1st post. I was just tired of having the feeling that I cared more about the Cajuns then the administration.

All I wanted to see was effort.

I got to meet coach hud on Wednesday, and impressed would be an understatement.
Got my RCAF status, and would have got season tickets but they told me to call them Monday which you can bet im doing.

I cant wait to go to Cajun Field and Cajun Dome for every game.

And contrary to what some people may think judging by my 1st post 2 years ago, I do not expect miracles.

I dont require the Cajuns to win 8 games a year to get my support.

All they have to do is one simple thing. CARE!
Thats all I ever asked for.
I am not results oriented, im care oriented. As long as the administration at least pretends like they care about putting a good product out there, thats all I need.

I dont care if we go 0-12 or 0-30.

This will not stop my support.

At the time of starting this thread, I had the impression that the people in charge did not care one way or the other, and that rubbed me the wrong way.

Some other people held me to my literal statement that I have not been to a game in 10 years.

Looking back on it, it was not quite that long ago.
The last football game I went to was the last time we played Tech at home(before they deemed themselves too good for us.

The last basketball game I went to was Jessie Evans last season, not quite 10 years in both cases.


But I never missed a single game in the Nelson Stokley era, and very few games in the __ and JE era.

Me not caring was killing me.
I missed UL athletics being a big part of my life. Its like it was a 10 year hole in my life.

Im so glad I can support this program again, both with my attendance, and my money.


Fight on Cajuns fight on to victory for the red and white.
We will sing for triumph and victory for our team tonight.
We will feel the rage of the Cajuns so lets give a yell.
hussle up and bustle up and fight on to victory U OF L!

Hey I still remember the fight song!
Even though I think a missed a few words, I still have the jist of it.
I replaced USL with U of L for obvious reasons.


Cant wait to sing again.

GO LOUISIANA! _

Chop, glad to see your frame of mind and attitude have changed. However, I'd like mention a few things about that post. First, overall problem that most of us have with the "bandwagoners" is that they are great to have in good times but are often the first and loudest when offering their displeasure of a program due to a lack of positive results. This becomes particularly tough for many of the faithful fans to deal with who have stayed in the struggle so to speak in hopes of supporting a viable program.

It usually doesn't do much for someone's rep to especially post such negative comments about a program they haven't supported in person in years. If you do business with a company and are a valued customer for a long period of time, will you not get better rates, quicker response to problems and overall higher priority?

It's also very frustrating for the casual fan to assume that the same old same old is going on here without knowing the truth. Our new leadership is behind athletics and they've been putting a lot of money and resources into improving our image for several years now. When people still make general comments assuming the worst, they obviously have no intimate knowledge of who is in office now and what vision they truly have. It only hurts credibility of those who truly have not spent a minimal amount of time keeping up with the state of the program to only come here and bash it.

You are right though, this program does need people like you to generate more ticket sales, merchandise sales and overall interest and buzz in an area that is often preoccupied with LSU and what it is doing. Getting more people in the stands and seeing the improving product will hopefully trickle down when they bring others and those people bring others to get our atmosphere better. Notice I said "in the stands". You obviously had an issue with removing people from the parking lot when tailgating after the game has started. I know a few that do this. They believe they are supporting the university or team when doing this but in reality they are not. They are not spending money on tickets, they haven't spent money on the tailgating spot and usually, these are the people that were too cheap to even chip in and buy a dish or pay someone who's spot they used. This is another thread in itself but that person is not supporting what the new staff, players and administration is trying to do and that's build a winner. They are simply sitting idle until it happens for which then they will go to the stadium to often complain about gameday conditions.

OK, off my soapbox. However, it's good to see that you have evolved and have taken the time to see that the administration has done the same. The staff has obviously begun to generate a ton of activity and buzz and I think we are looking at an exciting future of cajun football and basketball. Hope to see you at the Dome or Cajun Field.

[Chop]

Hey ZEPH.

I would not call myself a bandwagon jumper.

As I said in the post that you quoted. I dont care if we go 0-12, it will not stop my support.
The win/loss records of the FB and BB programs is NOT the reason I quit going to the games roughly 10 years ago.

It was the attitude that kept me away.

As long as I see that the people in charge care about the direction im good to go.

My support is not based on wins and loses, its based on taking pride in your university.
I realize that UL does not have the ability to compete year to year with SEC or BIG 12 schools. Just show me that you care about your athletics as much as Troy or Western Kentucky.

Even the most loyal UL fan cannot dispute the fact that not all of UL's problems in the past 10 years were due to money.

This program was run very poorly to say the least.

When you have 1 person selling tickets in the ticket booth for a home game against your biggest rival and you cant even get your seat to the game till halftime when the stadium is only half full is a disgrace.

When you go to a game and they dont even have the chalk on the field thats a disgrace.

You do bring up a good point about some of the things that were going on in the background at the time of my 1st post post that I was not aware of at the time.

That is my oversight and lack of not knowledge in not knowing that the ball was rolling in the last few years to get the program back on track.



I will not be the 1st, 2nd, or 10th, or 599th person on this forum bashing the football team the 1st time they have a 4 game losing streak.

I look at the big picture.

I saw the big picture the other night.
I finally saw that fire to succeed as program on display that I have been looking for since I have been around USL since 1988.

You could not find a bigger supporter of USL from 88 to 2000 then me.
I would plan my entire week around Cajuns athletics. I would plan vacations around big road games, and I cant wait to do it again.

Fight on Cajuns!

[ATXCajun]

WOW!!!! It seems like you dont need us then.
Sorry for caring.

You don't need our approval. You could just choose to do the right thing instead of _____ing and moaning about the last ten years and your hurt feelings. Join RCAF, then post something like "Hey guys! Been away from the program for awhile because it was just too painful, but it looks like Hud has this thing rollin'!" I promise you would have gotten a different reception. We have all been disappointed with the pace of progress but it is here now. You can miss out if you want.


igeaux.mobi

[Chop]

_ You don't need our approval. You could just choose to do the right thing instead of _____ing and moaning about the last ten years and your hurt feelings. Join RCAF, then post something like "Hey guys! Been away from the program for awhile because it was just too painful, but it looks like Hud has this thing rollin'!" I promise you would have gotten a different reception. We have all been disappointed with the pace of progress but it is here now. You can miss out if you want.


igeaux.mobi _

You mean kinda like post #50

[nathancpike]

Is there any way to edit the name of this thread to avoid misunderstanding?

igeaux.mobi

[ATXCajun]

Marine, you are an alum in my book. Forgive those of us that use alumni out of context, and thank you for serving.




igeaux.mobi

[ATXCajun]

I just had an interesting thought. There are no casual fans. The group does not exist. "Fan" is short for "fanatic." "Casual fanatic" is an oxymoron. You're either a fan or you're not.

igeaux.mobi

[IHateLaState]

Look, for better or worse there are probably more "fans" like the OP than there are like us... die hards no matter what. While I would love 30k die hards... they dont exist right now...

The OP makes excellent points... I dont agree on the a&m@br point.. Under the surface they do a lot to make sure no other state school achieves excellence... But beyond that we (UL) DO need to be more fan friendly...

Much like the Saints, we do need to attract the bandwaggoners... Once hooked they will begin to become more ardent fans....and build the base

We have a new sheriff in town... he is doing all the right things... Now the admin.. assuming it is Scott Farmer... need to recognize the need to be more fan friendly...

Again analagous to the Saints.... Ole Tom was HORRIBLE with fan PR... When his granddaughter took over things changed.... that needs to happen here

OP... we want you.... maybe lighten your rhetoric... but come back

[ATXCajun]

I just had an interesting thought. There are no casual fans. The group does not exist. "Fan" is short for "fanatic." "Casual fanatic" is an oxymoron. You're either a fan or you're not.

So, why do the so-called casual fans come and go? I don't know. Maybe they are non fans that are exploring the possibilities. Maybe they are fans of something else, like popular culture or opinion, and follow the masses.
igeaux.mobi

[Cajun90]

I just had an interesting thought. There are no casual fans. The group does not exist. "Fan" is short for "fanatic." "Casual fanatic" is an oxymoron. You're either a fan or you're not.

So, why do the so-called casual fans come and go? I don't know. Maybe they are non fans that are exploring the possibilities. Maybe they are fans of something else, like popular culture or opinion, and follow the masses.
igeaux.mobi

Everybody needs to read the whole thread before replying. Especially POST #50.