They’ve Given Up

[JMV JustMyView]

No. I’m not gonna grin and bear it while watching friends and family who have been fans anywhere from 5-50 years step away from Cajun athletics because of how disconnected from this fanbase the university/athletic department have become. They are NOT working to restrengthen those connections.

They are very good about running folks off.

[SMD7636]

Dr. Maggard had a drive coupled with a talented team in the beginning. It’s like the energy in the athletic department has shifted since Dr. Maggard was “promoted” to his new title. Something changed?

We started seeing less financial resources dedicated to running athletics. Coach Kristi Gray and Matt Deggs were the last stellar hires. Since then we’ve hired cheap, young, less experienced coaches and administrators. They just don’t get it and seem to be passive aggressive towards the fans. You don’t replace Nico Yantko’s talent if you don’t hire it!

[Swamp]

Disheartening? It's worse than that. What airing this out does is terribly hurt those who have been working SO FRICKIN' HARD to overcome the problems stated by MAT and others. A certain segment of our fan base does this over and over again.

Again, quit griping and go to work. Airing this out publicly does ZERO in a POSITIVE sense for coaches, players, donors, and others who are working their butts off for our university. There are people who are seriously contributing TIME, EFFORT, and more importantly FINANCES here at LOUISIANA. This hurts their efforts.

This has happened ad nauseum for the entire history of Louisiana athletics. I tried that. Others have tried. It has done nothing positive, ever. Robe did not whine. He never did.

That's right. Robe was a true Acadian. Win. That's what Robe did. Quitters never win. Winners never quit.

Airing grievances accomplishes what? Earn a position of Strength and make it happen. DJT ring a bell?

[Swamp]

Bingo!!!

Right! Let the ship sink!!! Yee haw!

[ManAboutTown]

Disheartening? It's worse than that. What airing this out does is terribly hurt those who have been working SO FRICKIN' HARD to overcome the problems stated by MAT and others. A certain segment of our fan base does this over and over again.

Again, quit griping and go to work. Airing this out publicly does ZERO in a POSITIVE sense for coaches, players, donors, and others who are working their butts off for our university. There are people who are seriously contributing TIME, EFFORT, and more importantly FINANCES here at LOUISIANA. This hurts their efforts.

This has happened ad nauseum for the entire history of Louisiana athletics. I tried that. Others have tried. It has done nothing positive, ever. Robe did not whine. He never did.

Trust me, I thought about this for a while before I posted. I told the guys months ago that I’d be leaving RR. We actually discussed this at length. The conclusion was that if long time die-hards started walking away (which is happening in droves) and being vocal about it, maybe it would wake up the right people in the admin offices. I have been one of Bryan Maggard’s biggest defenders here, but I just can’t anymore. Between the 3 of us, we’ve had plenty of talks about a multitude of issues with BM. We used to get straight answers from the guy. Now, mostly passive aggressive, flippant lip service. If he even addresses things at all.

I’ll go into more detail on the show but that’s 1 of MANY things I’ve experienced over the last few years dealing with these people.

Again, I’m not staging a mutiny. I’m not trying to influence anyone to do anything. I’m simply stating my position.

[jaxmc1023]

They are very good about running folks off.

During the time after I graduated and before the wife and I had kids (2008-2016), we would routinely go to Cajun Field with the sole intention of tailgating. We would bounce around from one spot to another, visiting and catching up with people, drinking some cold beers... Sometimes we'd go to the game if we got handed tickets. Sometimes if enough people said they were going in, we'd pick up a family four pack of tickets ($40), and then find two more people to give the second pair to. The gameday experience was no different than, say, Festival Acadiens or any of the other 200 festivals this city pulls off without issue.

The challenge for UL was always: "how do we get the 40k+ people in the parking lot to come into the actual game?". It was routine to have 25k in the stadium watching UL, and another 10-15k in the parking lot drinking and watching LSU in their truck bed. But the problem seemed simple enough.. We have enough people to fill this stadium standing outside, we just have to get them in.

Then, after a year or two of success with Hud, the university tries 'clean up' the tailgate experience so they can charge more for it. Moving people out of the spots they've had for a decade so those spots could now be "premium spots".. Charging 3-4x more for new spots. Cracking down on music, on food, on parking personal vehicles.. Campus police go from writing MIPs in the student section during the game, to handing out tickets to students in the parking lot. What used to be a 'gameday festival', was turned into "we'll just meet you by the door 10-15 minutes before kickoff", and the 40k people outside were gone.

What the university and some fans just don't want to admit, is that college football gameday is not a 'family friendly' event any more than say Festival International or Mardi Gras. Kids are of course welcome, but they're going to hear foul language, they're going to see Uncle Kevin get drunk and yell at other teams' fans, they're going to see 18-20 year olds drinking. Whatever the number of people is that say "we won't go to UL game because we don't want our kids around that", there are five people that would love to bring their families and enjoy a day of shooting the ____ outside the stadium. Then the university will be back to figuring out how to get the people outside to buy tickets, but at least you got them off the couch.

You walk through the tailgate area now and it's anything BUT Ragin' or Cajun. If you want to fill Cajun Field, you need to fill the parking lot first.

[Million$Mullet]

Well I took some time off from the board and came back for the start of the football season. All I can say is WOW.....It looks like I will be going back into my little hole on the beach for the next few weeks.

[UL_Cajuns]

Well I took some time off from the board and came back for the start of the football season. All I can say is WOW.....It looks like I will be going back into my little hole on the beach for the next few weeks.

Lol. Better off. The negativity is unreal.
Stay positive Cajun Nation!
Geaux Cajuns!

[cajunref]

BM has become/fallen into the Martin Hall cult since his new title of VP. We need change at the very top to change the "culture "..

[Swamp]

BM has become/fallen into the Martin Hall cult since his new title of VP. We need change ar the very top to change the "culture "..

Drain the Swamp

[JMV JustMyView]

During the time after I graduated and before the wife and I had kids (2008-2016), we would routinely go to Cajun Field with the sole intention of tailgating. We would bounce around from one spot to another, visiting and catching up with people, drinking some cold beers... Sometimes we'd go to the game if we got handed tickets. Sometimes if enough people said they were going in, we'd pick up a family four pack of tickets ($40), and then find two more people to give the second pair to. The gameday experience was no different than, say, Festival Acadiens or any of the other 200 festivals this city pulls off without issue.

The challenge for UL was always: "how do we get the 40k+ people in the parking lot to come into the actual game?". It was routine to have 25k in the stadium watching UL, and another 10-15k in the parking lot drinking and watching LSU in their truck bed. But the problem seemed simple enough.. We have enough people to fill this stadium standing outside, we just have to get them in.

Then, after a year or two of success with Hud, the university tries 'clean up' the tailgate experience so they can charge more for it. Moving people out of the spots they've had for a decade so those spots could now be "premium spots".. Charging 3-4x more for new spots. Cracking down on music, on food, on parking personal vehicles.. Campus police go from writing MIPs in the student section during the game, to handing out tickets to students in the parking lot. What used to be a 'gameday festival', was turned into "we'll just meet you by the door 10-15 minutes before kickoff", and the 40k people outside were gone.

What the university and some fans just don't want to admit, is that college football gameday is not a 'family friendly' event any more than say Festival International or Mardi Gras. Kids are of course welcome, but they're going to hear foul language, they're going to see Uncle Kevin get drunk and yell at other teams' fans, they're going to see 18-20 year olds drinking. Whatever the number of people is that say "we won't go to UL game because we don't want our kids around that", there are five people that would love to bring their families and enjoy a day of shooting the ____ outside the stadium. Then the university will be back to figuring out how to get the people outside to buy tickets, but at least you got them off the couch.

You walk through the tailgate area now and it's anything BUT Ragin' or Cajun. If you want to fill Cajun Field, you need to fill the parking lot first.

Excellent post.

[JMV JustMyView]

Well I took some time off from the board and came back for the start of the football season. All I can say is WOW.....It looks like I will be going back into my little hole on the beach for the next few weeks.

Did you stay off of all the boards?