Not as Excited...

[CajunFun]

I am a little nervous about the game against TN Thursday. We have a good shot at pulling off the win.

But it slowly dawned on me that I'm not as excited as I would have been 20+ years ago.

When I was a student, not many people knew who we were. Over the years, I've seen or listened to a lot of debacles. In the 2-9 1999 football season, I attended every game, home & away, and I didn't fly with the team once (which included a game at Wazoo). I was at the Arkansas game where one of the best field-goal kickers we ever had missed 3 attempts, any one of which would have won the game... only to find out he had been hiding a sprained ankle. I was at the 1990 NCAA baseball regional, when we had never won a regional game, were up 10-2 over USM... and ran out of pitching, lost it 14-10. The next year I was at the 1991 NCAA baseball regional at State, made most of our games in one of the wildest tournaments I have ever seen, where if our final batter had not swung at a ball in the dirt, we might have advanced to Omaha. I could go on for a long time. I have sat through more beatdowns and humiliations that I care to remember.

But what I realized today is that, 20 or 30 years ago, a win over an SEC team in the Tournament would have been monumental.

Today, it would be very good. But over the years, we have moved up, and people know who we are. More importantly, we know who we are. A win Thursday would be a nice step forward.

But only a step.

We've come a long way.

[Turbine]

Nice.

Spot on Joe

[zephyr]

Well I'm excited enough for both of us so you are covered. I can't wait for this game.

[AirBill]

I don't know, man. Paschal's teams in the late 70s and early 80s were as good as any midlevel SEC team, if not better. People, especially basketball people, knew who we were. We weren't that far removed from being highly ranked in the early 70s, Andrew Toney had made Blackham rock again, and when we beat Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in the Great Alaska Shootout, it made waves.

This article has been shared here previously, but it bears repeating:

https://vault.si.com/vault/1981/12/2...-bayou-classic

Right now, we're just a Sun Belt team, a one-bid league that no one expects will make any waves. Beating Tennessee would be more of a shocker to the rest of the basketball world than it would when we beat Oklahoma back in '91.

[Turbine]

I was already listening (on a pocket radio under the covers) to The Great Alaskan Shoot out. Still I feel like I started paying closer attention to the Cajuns after they defeated Georgetown.

Probably in part due to the national press.

[CajunNation]

Some of my favorite memories of my Dad were listening to those Paschal teams on the radio with him.

[cajundiehard]

Same. Don Allen and Bo Lamar... felt like I was there. I used to keep a scorebook as I listened to the games when I was a kid in the early 80's. But only the Cajuns stats.

[ZoomZoom]

I was already listening (on a pocket radio under the covers) to The Great Alaskan Shoot out. Still I feel like I started paying closer attention to the Cajuns after they defeated Georgetown.

Probably in part due to the national press.

Had a nice crowd at the airport when they got home from Alaska. One of the most electric moments in Cajun athletics I’ve ever been at. Absolutely, at that moment, a big time program feeling.

[jaxmc1023]

A win Thursday would be a nice step forward.

But only a step.

We've come a long way.

Only a step? For the basketball team? You serious?

The last 25 years of this program could be summed up with "remember that time we almost..."

Finally winning one would cement our status as "team that could sneak up on you out of the 1-bid sunbelt"

[fanof71]

I was already listening (on a pocket radio under the covers) to The Great Alaskan Shoot out. Still I feel like I started paying closer attention to the Cajuns after they defeated Georgetown.

Probably in part due to the national press.

I can remember listening to that game in my car in the Gentry's parking lot, running back to the bar at time outs for another cold one...Good Times

[Swamp]

https://vault.si.com/vault/1981/12/2...-bayou-classic

That is one good article. All need to read it.

Let's F'n Geaux.

[Swamp]

I don't know, man. Paschal's teams in the late 70s and early 80s were as good as any midlevel SEC team, if not better. People, especially basketball people, knew who we were. We weren't that far removed from being highly ranked in the early 70s, Andrew Toney had made Blackham rock again, and when we beat Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in the Great Alaska Shootout, it made waves.

This article has been shared here previously, but it bears repeating:

https://vault.si.com/vault/1981/12/2...-bayou-classic

Right now, we're just a Sun Belt team, a one-bid league that no one expects will make any waves. Beating Tennessee would be more of a shocker to the rest of the basketball world than it would when we beat Oklahoma back in '91.

Read this article that AirBill posted.