We don't have a parking problem.
We have a perception problem.
And perception is reality.
While I have absolutely no obligation to do so, I’m going to squelch these BS attendance in person accusations . . .
Commencing in mid 80’s when I moved back to Lafayette and took employment here for a period of about 5 or 6 years I had USL football season tickets. I regularly attended 5 or 6 home games a year. During that period I generally attended 1, maybe 2 tiger games a year if there were tickets available that did not conflict with my USL games . . .
In the late 80’s early 90’s I became a pretty avid duck hunter. In fact, I began guiding at a lodge in Little Cheniere on the weekends . . . Starting around that time, I usually attended a couple of Cajuns football games a year if I could get them in after the early teal season and before the big duck season. During that time until the mid 2000’s I attended no tiger games . . . starting the mid 2000’s (around the time Tim Tibow was at Florida) I attended 1 tiger game a year some years with the parents of one of my boy’s friends who had 6 tiger season tickets where he and his parents and a friend and his parents were invited to go to games together. I was good friends with the parents so I got first choice on the game . . . I did that for five years or so. To show how little interest I had in tiger games, one of the games we attended it was hot so I wore a shirt in my closet that I thought would be light and most comfortable . . . well the color of that shirt was royal blue and the tigers were playing Florida . . . Needless to say, I was harassed in a friendly manner all day long . . . Since then, I have not been to a tiger football game.
Around the time when Andrew Toney was a Cajun, I had basketball season tickets for a period of 5 or 6 years. I went to every home game during that period.
When the Tigue was renovated, I took the opportunity to acquire 4 season tickets in the grand stand which I still have. Absent conflict, I attend all those games and if I have a conflict I have several sets of friends that share my tickets for free. My tickets are used for every game. I used to have access to 6 tiger baseball tickets in the first row behind home plate. So on weekends before I got my Cajuns tickets I went to some tiger baseball games . . .
The point being that I have degrees from both universities but I have always been a Cajuns fan first and tiger fan if no conflict and convenient . . . I have not been to a tiger game in any sport in 5 or so years . . . I attend Cajun games every year . . .
I pretty much watch on TV every football game, men and women basketball game, baseball game and softball game that I am unable to attend live . . .
I am off a few years . . . I was attending those games with my godfather who was teaching upper maths at USL. His wife taught at my school so I would come to Lafayette with her on game nights. I attended USL 80 to 82. My season tickets would have been starting 86 87. Since my stroke about May 2021 lots of these dates run into each other.
I've gone back and re-read some of the thread, and I think this pretty much sums up lafman1's perspective.
Here we are making arguments on the fan base bearing some of the expense of the athletic program (beyond the simple of purchase of a ticket) by employing a tool such as the RCAF.
Lafman1, IMHO, has laid the blame at the feet of the RCAF suggesting it has chased people away, when in fact you can attend a game simply by purchasing a ticket.you don't have to be a member of the RCAF and you can park across the street from Cajun Field for free.
Likewise, when presented with a few benefits of the RCAF he either doesn't accept the answer (dismissing the nutrition program) or conflates issues (CMD's salary with the available pool of money for assistants) or what the definition of a "problem with parking" is (I admit we need more cars in the parking lot as this should reflect butts in the seats, but there is available, convenient parking folks can utilize.but these are two different issues which he either doesn't recognize or doesn't want to acknowledge).
I think this statement right here that he doesn't think players should get stipends speaks volumes for his perspective.if we apply his standard that "players in scholarship shouldn’t receive any stipend/payments, etc." which (correct me if I'm wrong) is an expense borne by the RCAF, we couldn't compete at the FBS level.
T asked the question if he felt we should simply go back to FBS status. At least Lafman1 said this would be an extreme measure but this might be the only direction we can go (aside from joining ULM at the bottom of the food chain.)
I'm not willing to go in this direction. I'd hope other folks would feel the same way.
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