I hope our (RP) resolution for 2024 would be "just the facts"!
I hope our (RP) resolution for 2024 would be "just the facts"!
Budget stopped us from being the best we could be and we were still able to have a lot of success under Robe in spite of and not because of Martin Hall. It's really amazing what some of our programs have accomplished.
That is why I have always thought we were a sleeping giant if only we had the proper resources. That started to happen and then it seems the rug has been pulled to a certain extent. Consecutive top 25 seasons for our football program (During Covid and beginning of NIL era was also horrible luck and a big contributor to the administration's reaction), pretty much the peak that we have seen and it did not bring immediate financial windfall so you are seeing the backlash from MH in my opinion.
With all that said I will also defend MH in saying that the Acadiana community and a way too large portion of our alumni takes UL for granted and does not appreciate what we have here in athletics so our administration would rather make sure we are the best we can be in academics while doing just enough to support athletics at times. We are a University who's mission is to educate first and foremost, sometimes that does not always benefit athletics when you are working within certain conditions & restraints in the state of Louisiana.
That's the unfortunate reality as I see it.
Local media backlash? They don't cover UL to begin with, and what they do cover is just B-roll bull****.
You act like we would lose our access to exclusive coverage and information.
If anything, the main risk is that any source providing information would apparently be banished to New Siberia
Wouldn't college athletics be better if money did not drive team success... why in the pros teams try to couple winning with managing spending and when they do they are lauded. Tampa rays, Oakland moneyball, etc... granted it is not foolproof, but those success stories are on the rise. Why is college different, is buying a title or getting the mothership to get you in to the playoff because you have the money really that enjoyable?
BIG PICTURE?
Where we are at now compared to our peers or former peers. Other than that SEC school 50 miles away no one else has it as good as us in this state.
Tulane is private so not really relevant to the discussion. Would we rather be LA Tech right now? Would we rather be ULM, Mcneese (former peer)? Every public university in our state is bleeding fan support and struggling. One even dropped its football program this year.
As frustrated as many of us are right now (rightfully!), it's still nice to see that big picture we are still in a good position if we commit to athletics, especially with the football stadium reno on the way.
A large percentage of athletic programs are struggling these days outside of a small number of schools that pump insane amounts of money into their programs or some unique situations like App State/JMU.
I'm not happy with alot of things (lack of marketing, fan/alumni outreach/gameday atmosphere, etc..) but big picture we are not in such a bad position as some would like to think. We are the clear #2 public university athletic program in this state and are in a better place than we were 20 years ago when the discussion was all about how to get into a better conference. Now the SBC is really where we need to be currently.
Just trying to be positive today!
Geaux Cajuns!
Man, if you only knew the depths of this. Not only can you not ask real questions, you better be willing to sing the company line like Patti LaBelle.
Quick recent story: We had multiple meetings with the SID office about getting Coach Des and Coach Kristi on prior to their seasons starting. Nothing big, maybe 30 min of unfiltered, long form interview, as we typically do. Keep in mind, this was during the final weeks of last football season. Both coaches WANTED to do the interviews and expressed so to the SID guys (confirmed this with Roberts and Des). Meetings went really well, they both expressed the need for non-traditional media coverage and had high praise for RR. A couple months go by, we contact SID for availability of coaches for the interview we discussed and we get crickets. When we pressed, we got some BS text message about 'it not being the right time.' We requested another meeting with SID office because this was a 180 from their attitude 6-7 weeks prior.
They proceed to tell us that because our Ragin Review twitter account posted a picture of the empty stadium for the Troy game and said, "Students, you're better than this..." that was "combative." So we didn't get to interview Des. Who still to this day wants to do content (beyond just the interview) with RR.
So as much as I still have real contempt for Jay for what he did behind the scenes to ruin relationships between RR and the SID office, I do get that he has to toe the company line. But there have been many that come through this market that refuse to bend the knee, like Dave.
An addendum to the Fossil story, the fan forum may not have been the RP, but the old obsolete Delphi board.
Unfortunately some of you believe I’m making this up, or dealing with a rumor I heard. Not the case she actually posted about the conversation she overheard, and was soon removed from her position in baseball.
As for the question about what the Fossil could do to hinder Robe? Get serious.
The girl was hired by Robe to organize fundraising efforts. She was too successful and the Fossil forced Robe to let her go.
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