How the Pepper got its start... and was eventually sauteed

[Cajun90]

I'm not saying discard it.....It needs to be a part of your university logo/branding, etc. however, I don't think it would make for a good mascot. A Catahoula would definitely be unique & kids wouldn't run away from it. Besides, there is way too much Tri-fleur product out there......

I'm not advocating for a tri-fleur mascot and don't think anyone else is either. So let's separate the two issues. The logos and branding have been all over the place but let's just say that the general theme during the JD era involved attaching yellow flames to something.

I've been told that the new direction for logo's will be the fleur-de-lis with no yellow in sight. I didn't ask about a single vs. tri-fleur design but pretty sure we will see it as a single fleur-de-lis on a consistent basis. Name branding academically will be The University of Louisiana @ Lafayette. Athletic name branding will be Louisiana & Ragin Cajuns. I've heard nothing about a direction on the pepper as our "mascot or spirit leader".

[CajunFun]

For those of us who have been around a while we all have an honorary JD degree. Not that we asked for it.

For the record Aaron Martin will not be leading us down that same path and I hope you like the flower because we will be seeing more of it.

It's not that I mind it per se, just that it's another derivative design. Everybody's using it, we had the original and abandoned it to copy somebody who was probably aping us.

And so we look small-time.

The Bhagavad Gita says, "Better one's own path, though imperfect, than another's well made."

I hate it when we imitate other schools. We're a University.

Correct that. We're a University in one of the most interesting, innovative cultures in the US.

We should have our own designs and traditions. We should be building on what is unique about us, rather than looking at what the 'big boys' are doing.

When we first started using 'Ragin' Cajuns' a lot of the smaller-minded locals thought it was parochial, embarrassing, small-time. Said we should stick with Bulldogs, which is one of the most common mascots in the country.

Ragin' Cajuns didn't cost us a nickel, and now is regularly cited as one of the best nicknames in college sports.

When we first started working on University of Louisiana, people said they liked USL, it would confuse us with LSU, and we would never be like the 'big' schools.

Where would we be today it those people had prevailed?

[CajunRebel]

Did you tell Mr. Gita our mascot is the Ragin' Cajuns? If that's not our own path I don't know what is. I like the fleur de lis. When people see it they automatically think of Louisiana. And it's not a copy of the saints or any other team in the nation. The fleur de lis was a part of this culture well before the saints showed up.

[CajunFun]

Did you tell Mr. Gita our mascot is the Ragin' Cajuns? If that's not our own path I don't know what is. I like the fleur de lis. When people see it they automatically think of Louisiana. And it's not a copy of the saints or any other team in the nation. The fleur de lis was a part of this culture well before the saints showed up.

Click on the links in the 1st post.

Actually they think of the Saints. We look like mini-me Saints, like we don't have enough creativity to come up with our own stuff.

And no, it was not part of our culture. The triple fleurs were. The single fleur was not used until the Saints appeared, and they appeared after the Acadiana flag went through the Legislature and was published all over the state.

[Cajunrunner]

UL Cajuns....

the first words out of her mouth to me were "That hat is illegal" .

WTF? Should have been told to go to hell, though I suppose fortunately, you have more couth than that.

[Cajunrunner]

I remember being in school at the time of the whole mascot boondoggle (or at least the beginning of it). I asked a friend on SGA at the time why in bleep did we spend so much money designing a friggin mascot. Her explanation, if I remember correctly (I've slept since then), was that the first design was not what they wanted, so they paid again to get it right.

Seems to me you'd maybe make some sort of "down payment" then pay the rest after it's finished to your satisfaction.

Thanks for the full background story!

[Turbine]

I remember being in school at the time of the whole mascot boondoggle (or at least the beginning of it). I asked a friend on SGA at the time why in bleep did we spend so much money designing a friggin mascot. Her explanation, if I remember correctly (I've slept since then), was that the first design was not what they wanted, so they paid again to get it right.

Seems to me you'd maybe make some sort of "down payment" then pay the rest after it's finished to your satisfaction.

Thanks for the full background story!

When one gets "stuck on stupid" one one is incapable of discerning the difference between failed concept and failed design.

In this case a failed concept will take every penny you throw at it with no ROI.

[Turbine]

Did you tell Mr. Gita our mascot is the Ragin' Cajuns? If that's not our own path I don't know what is. I like the fleur de lis. When people see it they automatically think of Louisiana. And it's not a copy of the saints or any other team in the nation. The fleur de lis was a part of this culture well before the saints showed up.

Ragin' Cajuns is a moniker not a mascot. Though there is a way to make it so.

[Policarp]

My kids like the mascot......pretty sure the primary audience for a dude dressed into a cartoon like costume is kids, not adults.

that said........

Cost of creating the pepper was crazy. At what point did anyone say "this is stupid".

[Boomer]

They flashed the best mascots or nicknames of the conference on the screen of the Troy - Lamon game---yes we won--but were Louisiana - Lafayette!!! I used to work out during the Summer with my former High School teammate Pat Screen---we would talk about all kinds of things and the Ragin' Cajun nickname came up and he thought it was crazy---I disagreed---I was correct!!!!~

[cajunhawk]

The Fluer De Lis is so passe. It's being beaten into the ground by now. I'm all for something different. I know it's part of our heritage...but honestly it means very little to us. I say scrap it and leave it to be used on Ed Hardy shirts and women's home decorations. Because that is the majority of where it is used.

[axg8750]

The Fluer De Lis is so passe. It's being beaten into the ground by now. I'm all for something different. I know it's part of our heritage...but honestly it means very little to us. I say scrap it and leave it to be used on Ed Hardy shirts and women's home decorations. Because that is the majority of where it is used.

I aagree with this CajunHawk. Like CajunFun said we had our chance to grab the FDL and passed it up.