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[RaginScotsman]

I do agree with what Ray said in the story about moving the student tailgating. It effectively annexed the students from the rest of the tailgate population. You need to include them. At one point, they were on the Cajun Dome BLVD side of the field. I walked over there last game and it was a ghost town. Nothing on that side of the field. I get that the administration is shaking everything up, but that was a poor decision. You need to bring people together, not space them apart. That was one of the great things about Cajun field. You could just make laps around the outside and see everyone. If I were a student, I would not be into walking back and forth from the intramural field to Cajun field just to meet up with friends and family.

[Cajunsmike]

I do agree with what Ray said in the story about moving the student tailgating. It effectively annexed the students from the rest of the tailgate population. You need to include them. At one point, they were on the Cajun Dome BLVD side of the field. I walked over there last game and it was a ghost town. Nothing on that side of the field. I get that the administration is shaking everything up, but that was a poor decision. You need to bring people together, not space them apart. That was one of the great things about Cajun field. You could just make laps around the outside and see everyone. If I were a student, I would not be into walking back and forth from the intramural field to Cajun field just to meet up with friends and family.

From what I understand, consideration is being given to moving that group back next season. I believe more discussions with student groups are planned on this issue and others to make the best decision.

[ManAboutTown]

You just provided the answer. T-boy ain't giving up his duck lease. All of his disposable income is going to keeping his duck lease. A choice had to be made where he is going to spend his money and duck hunting wins out every time. Like it or not, Reality Check is right. Budgets got tightened and some things had to get cut. UL sports are feeling the pinch.

No he isn’t and neither are you. Keep pounding though.. at least it keeps y’all busy.

[Cajunfanatico]

From what I understand, consideration is being given to moving that group back next season. I believe more discussions with student groups are planned on this issue and others to make the best decision.

Second time you've mentioned meetings, or potential meetings, with the student groups to discuss gameday issues, Mike. I like what I'm hearing. Most problems in life arise out of poor communication and it sounds like our athletic department understands this and is actively trying to fix problems.

[CajunEXPRESS]

I keep seeing people complaining about the F Trump video but I ask what about the African American crowd that can't identify with being called a Cajun so that's a wash in my book. I feel until we get the butts in the seats that were already paid for by season ticket holders we shouldn't complain about the casual fan not showing up. I sit on the visitors side and I am disappointed every game I look across at the chair backs and half are empty. We need to take care of our own house before we invite others in it. The other problem is the parking put a product on the field that people will pay $10 to park and see along with quality out of conference competition. Just watch how our basket ball attendance goes down because of that same combination.

They identify easily with Fighting Irish, and the Siminoles at FSU. That’s really kind of a cop out. It’s really a shame some want to bring race into everything.

We’ve got a unique catchy name that we cannot even create a mascot for. It’s simply a great catchy slogan. If’n you can’t get on board it’s really about something else. The only black Irish I’ve ever seen is a fictional character on Ray Donavon.

[Oiler]

I won't speak for Bear, but what I believe he's getting at is that, within the G5 group, most insiders see a further separation or split with the "haves" moving up in prestige and earning power, and the "have nots" going in the opposite direction. Think of it as the creme rising to the top. Keep in mind too that earning power isn't necessarily an extrapolation of John Q Public sitting at the ballgame, TV and other media rights earnings could a significant part of any realignment.

There may even be a situation where some P5's get bounced down to our level and a few, very few, G5's move up. Some G5's, perhaps many, may just opt to go FCS.

Nobody knows for sure exactly what will happen, but things rarely stay static for long in this business and the idea is to position oneself to take maximum advantage of whatever opportunities may present themselves.

So I would ask, would you prefer having a shot at being part of the cream, or would you prefer to just be part of the bottom sediment? If the latter, you might consider seeking out Scott Farmer and following his career.

What is it exactly that will drive this “further separation or split”? Another question, who are you talking about when you say the “haves”? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see UL included in some realignment that would finally separate us from ULM and LaTech. I simply see no evidence of any of this being in the works.

[Penrod]

upset a big program and the casual fan will be back in force. problem is, and Napier hit it, we lost our pride. The crimes committed by players and the Eff trump video as well as the vacated wins polarized and drove people away. It's not as bad as after the Baldwin years, but winning isn't the only problem this time, it's about having pride and feeling like we're pulling for the "good guys". I mean, a huge reason why people don't like LSU here is we see how corrupt they are. The positive side is these kids seem like hard working good kids and I'm proud to say I'm pulling for them. The fans will come as Napier rebuilds...hopefully.

[Cajunfanatico]

They identify easily with Fighting Irish, and the Siminoles at FSU. That's really kind of a cop out. It's really a shame some want to bring race into everything.

We've got a unique catchy name that we cannot even create a mascot for. It's simply a great catchy slogan. If'n you can't get on board it's really about something else. The only black Irish I've ever seen is a fictional character on Ray Donavon.

Not to mention that "Cajun" describes far more than just a person. It's a way of life, food, festivals, and so much more. I can guarantee you that there's a world of difference between the average black family in Cajun country and the average black family in Mississippi. That difference is the result of living in the Cajun culture.

[Cajunfanatico]

What is it exactly that will drive this “further separation or split”? Another question, who are you talking about when you say the “haves”? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see UL included in some realignment that would finally separate us from ULM and LaTech. I simply see no evidence of any of this being in the works.

Basinbear is far more connected behind the scenes to the steps that are being taken by our program so I would hope he'd give you some details, even if it was via PM.

Having said that, I'll give you my opinion of how this might shake out. The "haves" would include those forward-looking programs who have invested in facilities and coaching staffs, and are doing everything possible to think outside the box as it relates to overall declining interest in college athletics. That's to say, programs that are not dead in the water, but actually increasing athletic budgets on a regular basis and growing their programs.

The driving factor of change, like always, will be money.

Those who have managed to cultivate an engaged fanbase that contributes to the sucess of the program are most likely to get the call to be a part of something bigger, something evolving, something new. Some believe that the P5 cartel (and the media who feeds and thereby controls them) will eventually be forced via monolopy-related lawsuits to share a greater portion of the pie. Only time will tell on that issue, but if they are forced to open up the cofers, there's a good chance they'll dictate the types of programs who will participate.

Some envision a new media package that involves top-quality G5 programs who have formed something of a scheduling alliance. The TV broadcast of a Ragin Cajun versus Houston game, for instance, would likely be far more attractive to a TV audience in our general area than Houston playing UConn or the Cajuns playing Coastal Carolina. That's just one example.

Now, Bear calls it the coming mother of all realignments. I have no idea if it'll be the type of realignment we've seen over the last 10 years or so, or something different, even unique. But most every professional at the G5 level today says that our current structure is unstable and unsustainable. Changes are coming and will be forced upon everyone.

Perhaps think of it as preparing for war. You don't know exactly when, or what will happen, but you damn well know you'd better be prepared.....better prepared than the competition. And while you can't prepare for every potential unforeseen circumstance, you've got a good idea of what it will take to win the war.

Hope that makes sense. While I'm certain change is coming, I don't know the exact nature of that change. But regardless of the type of realignment that takes place, those responding by mailing in a Powerpoint presentation of what they've accomplished will most certainly be pulling up the rear.

Fortunately, it looks like our admin has figured that one out.

[Cajunfanatico]

And here's CajunT's view of what we're discussing.

The P5 will eventually down size itself from the bottom programs in the major conferences because it creates more revenue for them with premium scheduling match ups to sell networks. The bottom of the P5 that will be purged will join in with the Top of the G5 to create their own separation with their own premium scheduling match ups to sell networks and on-line streaming. Everyone else that is left in the G5 will create their own regional conferences. You will have three levels of separation at that point.

We want to be at the top of the G5 and that should be our focus 5 year, 7 years to 10 years out. That is the best we can do short term and we better stay focused on that goal while increasing our budget and improving facilities.

[irokcj5]

I’ve read through this thread and find that everyone has an opinion on why there is no butts in the seats and those that don’t agree slam them for being stupid to think that. It would be I’ll advised to believe that the root causes for low turn out was not all that has been mentioned and more. People have lost interest because when hud came and looked like he was going to take us to the promise land, people were excited, then the product fizzled, and quite frankly was not even fun to watch when they won, then add the violations, video, and arrests, the pride was lost, so some people quit coming. We had and to some extent still have scary times in the oilfield and related business and people are choosy on where to spend there money, ticket prices going up, parking fees, restricted tailgating rules, student tailgating area moved, students uninterested in football, some fans don’t like the loud music or rap. And I’ll throw in another I’ve not heard much about. Our local KLFY and KATC tv news and there websites do nothing to pump Acadiana up. After our big win against stAte, the headline and 5 second video amounted to the Cajuns got lucky and squeaked by, now let’s talk LSU....unbelievable for local stations not giving Cajuns more airtime and trying to pump up fans. You’d think UL is a high school they way they cover the Cajun football team. So then Each of these is a cause for a certain amount of missing butts in seats. Add them all up and it comes up to 10-15k of missing fans. Bad news is, it’s goimg to take awhile to get them back, it’s definitely going to take getting a consistent winner and be contenders even in losses. That’s number one, and we’re going to have to address all of the other reasons. Good news is UL has an administration that can get this done. GEAUX CAJUNS!!!!

[Cajunsmike]

I’ve read through this thread and find that everyone has an opinion on why there is no butts in the seats and those that don’t agree slam them for being stupid to think that. It would be I’ll advised to believe that the root causes for low turn out was not all that has been mentioned and more. People have lost interest because when hud came and looked like he was going to take us to the promise land, people were excited, then the product fizzled, and quite frankly was not even fun to watch when they won, then add the violations, video, and arrests, the pride was lost, so some people quit coming. We had and to some extent still have scary times in the oilfield and related business and people are choosy on where to spend there money, ticket prices going up, parking fees, restricted tailgating rules, student tailgating area moved, students uninterested in football, some fans don’t like the loud music or rap. And I’ll throw in another I’ve not heard much about. Our local KLFY and KATC tv news and there websites do nothing to pump Acadiana up. After our big win against stAte, the headline and 5 second video amounted to the Cajuns got lucky and squeaked by, now let’s talk LSU....unbelievable for local stations not giving Cajuns more airtime and trying to pump up fans. You’d think UL is a high school they way they cover the Cajun football team. So then Each of these is a cause for a certain amount of missing butts in seats. Add them all up and it comes up to 10-15k of missing fans. Bad news is, it’s goimg to take awhile to get them back, it’s definitely going to take getting a consistent winner and be contenders even in losses. That’s number one, and we’re going to have to address all of the other reasons. Good news is UL has an administration that can get this done. GEAUX CAJUNS!!!!

Agree with much of this. Good post.