So.. What Did I Miss?

[ExecutiveCajun]

It is scary how much we align. I have the same sentiments about Ms Dronet as I have known her from almost before she was born.

I also feel the same about the other guy. I have not known him since before he was born and darn happy about that.

i wonder if we align on the actual problem in that office? mat is on the trail

[Lafitte the Pirate]

Soooo…back to the topic. Anyone have ideas on engaging with the Office of Communications and Marketing on this issue? Would a collective effort from the fanbase send more of a message?

Don’t know the answer. I would start with Eric Maron. Be here forever and have not learned a dam thing. A yes man!!

[Bandwagon King]

UL Victory is a first class guy. Just curious why you would think he would be interested in that job?

Because it is a job only a man like he could fulfill the right way. I have heard a LOT discussed on here about no one comes because no one asks. No one joins because no one asks. No one gives because no one asks. There are three distinct times in my times following UL I have gotten personally involved in going that extra mile for the school. In all three cases someone had the burden for the program to ask. One was Gerald Hebert who asked me on a few occasions if I would mind helping out, or invited me to certain functions which I appreciated & did what was asked of me.

One was Cajun T right at the start of the Hud era & the other was T-Boy who sought me out to help the program. On each of those occasions, I was not only glad to assist in what little way I could, I was honored & felt proud to be of service to the school. Nobody is perfect, but all three of these people care deeply about UL & all of them want the school to be as successful as possible. And when I se Gerry, I know how much his mom & dad love UL & I know he was brought up in an environment where he got a double whammy of that passion.

I also see a young man I admire because from everything I see he not only has the passion to be that guy. He has the humility & the intelligence. He is young, but deeply understands the schools needs & weaknesses as well as it's strengths & it's impact in the community as a whole. He has seen the failures & the successes & he understands people. I would support a guy like Gerry. I would personally do all I could within reason to help him do the mundane things that need to be done, but might not have the personnel to accomplish. Gerald Hebert was a lot like Gerry. The problem is when Gerald asked me to assist & the wanted to reward my help by inviting me to a function, the people who were alumni looked down on me as though I was an unwelcome stranger. But that wasn't Gerald's fault.

I have heard a lot of fun made of LSU fans who have never attended the school, yet buy the gear, pluck down big cash & make that trip 50 miles only to have to park 5 miles away & deal with 3hour long traffic jams coming home at two in the morning from a game which ended at 10:30 the ight before.

But those fans are the life's blood of that program. And without them LSU is just UBR. It isn't the 6 figure donations that make that school successful. It's the tens of thousands of fans across the state & the region that buy pay per view & all of the insane amount of useless crap to push their name forward that allows that school to buyout one guy for 17 million the guarantee the next guy 100 million just to act like they know something more than the rest of us do.

UL needs those kinds of people if they are ever going to achieve the kind of sustainable success that I know just about every poster on this forum has always hoped for. And Gerry is the kind of guy who can bond with those people & make them feel like they are part of building something of strength to be proud of for the whole Acadiana community. That is the type of person I envision being the next head of the RCAF. I see a guy that has the ability to take the RCAF out of the grasps of those who out of their ignorant misguided arrogance hold the school back from it's true potential & give it directly to the whole Acadiana area to share in it's hopes & it's potential achievements for all the people of Louisiana to be proud of.

[ManAboutTown]

This is the exact reason that Josh, Gerry and Nick should be able to interview coaches on the pod. Josh has balls and will ask all the hard hitting questions. The athletic department needs to get critical feedback from the fans investing time, money and efforts into the department.

While I appreciate the sentiment, this is not the goal of the podcast talking to our coaches. The reason we want to talk to our coaches is because we have a platform that can allow our fans to interact with our coaches in a totally different way than traditional media. When fans feel connected to the people that are leading our teams, they are usually more inclined to stay involved. See Mark Hudspeth. What we do is get to know the person, more so than the coach. We're never going to put a coach in a "gotcha" situation.

And I don't think I ask "hard hitting" questions. I think we just ask the questions that our supporters want asked.

[ManAboutTown]

Because it is a job only a man like he could fulfill the right way. I have heard a LOT discussed on here about no one comes because no one asks. No one joins because no one asks. No one gives because no one asks. There are three distinct times in my times following UL I have gotten personally involved in going that extra mile for the school. In all three cases someone had the burden for the program to ask. One was Gerald Hebert who asked me on a few occasions if I would mind helping out, or invited me to certain functions which I appreciated & did what was asked of me.

One was Cajun T right at the start of the Hud era & the other was T-Boy who sought me out to help the program. On each of those occasions, I was not only glad to assist in what little way I could, I was honored & felt proud to be of service to the school. Nobody is perfect, but all three of these people care deeply about UL & all of them want the school to be as successful as possible. And when I se Gerry, I know how much his mom & dad love UL & I know he was brought up in an environment where he got a double whammy of that passion.

I also see a young man I admire because from everything I see he not only has the passion to be that guy. He has the humility & the intelligence. He is young, but deeply understands the schools needs & weaknesses as well as it's strengths & it's impact in the community as a whole. He has seen the failures & the successes & he understands people. I would support a guy like Gerry. I would personally do all I could within reason to help him do the mundane things that need to be done, but might not have the personnel to accomplish. Gerald Hebert was a lot like Gerry. The problem is when Gerald asked me to assist & the wanted to reward my help by inviting me to a function, the people who were alumni looked down on me as though I was an unwelcome stranger. But that wasn't Gerald's fault.

I have heard a lot of fun made of LSU fans who have never attended the school, yet buy the gear, pluck down big cash & make that trip 50 miles only to have to park 5 miles away & deal with 3hour long traffic jams coming home at two in the morning from a game which ended at 10:30 the ight before.

But those fans are the life's blood of that program. And without them LSU is just UBR. It isn't the 6 figure donations that make that school successful. It's the tens of thousands of fans across the state & the region that buy pay per view & all of the insane amount of useless crap to push their name forward that allows that school to buyout one guy for 17 million the guarantee the next guy 100 million just to act like they know something more than the rest of us do.

UL needs those kinds of people if they are ever going to achieve the kind of sustainable success that I know just about every poster on this forum has always hoped for. And Gerry is the kind of guy who can bond with those people & make them feel like they are part of building something of strength to be proud of for the whole Acadiana community. That is the type of person I envision being the next head of the RCAF. I see a guy that has the ability to take the RCAF out of the grasps of those who out of their ignorant misguided arrogance hold the school back from it's true potential & give it directly to the whole Acadiana area to share in it's hopes & it's potential achievements for all the people of Louisiana to be proud of.

Great post and very accurate. Something that isn't talked about enough is how certain people in the administration and their theories on how to run an athletics program have run off the kind of supporter that would go out and be passionate enough to promote on their own time. People like you that articulate their thoughts and can influence others to come to the games, watch the games, be part of the fanbase, etc. People like the RR guys who have literally been fought tooth and nail since the podcast started, because "that's not how we do things here." People like the students that get lathered up and fired up during games, only to be told how to act in the stands, then carry their asses to BR because they don't treat them like The Barney Show. People that stand and clap and cheer on the home side of the stadium, only to be told to sit down and be quiet by "die hard fans." Businesses that want to make licensed apparel only to be told they can't, or if they do, they will pay up to the point that it doesn't even make business since to create the clothing in the first place. People that want to give money, but can get a return phone call about TG spaces or large donations. People that want to develop an entertainment district around the complex but get told no because the University doesn't want to "lose control" of the land around CF.

We alienate the very people that can light this program on fire. And it's done intentionally.

[CajunVic]

WOW

[fanof71]

Can we get some sort of clue on who this person is in Communications and Marketing? Title? Initials? We know its a female, so that rules out Eric M.

[BabbForHeisman]

Great post and very accurate. Something that isn't talked about enough is how certain people in the administration and their theories on how to run an athletics program have run off the kind of supporter that would go out and be passionate enough to promote on their own time. People like you that articulate their thoughts and can influence others to come to the games, watch the games, be part of the fanbase, etc. People like the RR guys who have literally been fought tooth and nail since the podcast started, because "that's not how we do things here." People like the students that get lathered up and fired up during games, only to be told how to act in the stands, then carry their asses to BR because they don't treat them like The Barney Show. People that stand and clap and cheer on the home side of the stadium, only to be told to sit down and be quiet by "die hard fans." Businesses that want to make licensed apparel only to be told they can't, or if they do, they will pay up to the point that it doesn't even make business since to create the clothing in the first place. People that want to give money, but can get a return phone call about TG spaces or large donations. People that want to develop an entertainment district around the complex but get told no because the University doesn't want to "lose control" of the land around CF.

We alienate the very people that can light this program on fire. And it's done intentionally.

One thing I would add to your list: Alumni that live in areas other that Lafayette, who want to stay connected to the university and grow strong alumni connections wherever they are, but have no direct path to doing so.

[Bandwagon King]

One thing I would add to your list: Alumni that live in areas other that Lafayette, who want to stay connected to the university and grow strong alumni connections wherever they are, but have no direct path to doing so.

It is exactly these types of situations as well as others that a person like Gerry would be great at directing their energy to building a strong fan base throughout the whole region & not just the twenty city blocks surrounding the school.

[Airden]

The University NEEDS a brick and mortar "Red Zone Sports" store at the athletic complex. With a _____load of LOUISIANA, CAJUNS, RAGIN CAJUNS merchandise. NOTHING with Lafayette on it. Keep that crap on the main campus for those that want to support education with the institution's name.

Also, at "Red Zone Sports" sell gameday tickets and parking THERE too! Get a shirt, get a hat, get your tickets, get a game day parking pass, etc, etc.

And for Pete's sake.... GET RID of the Barnes and Noble, corporate level BS! That was the biggest mistake!

[Airden]

Can we get some sort of clue on who this person is in Communications and Marketing? Title? Initials? We know its a female, so that rules out Eric M.

Eric lives 4 houses from me. I need to go drink a few beers with him and offer some advice.

[Airden]

Can we get some sort of clue on who this person is in Communications and Marketing? Title? Initials? We know its a female, so that rules out Eric M.