Hey y'all! I just wanted give a few thoughts!
Again, the amount of support is amazing to see. Thank you CajunVic, Ragin, Turbine and many more of you for your vocal support of the character. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the poll. The data may not be perfect, but it is valuable data because you guys are some of the most diehard UL fans. The number of you is truly amazing. It is amazing not just as Al's creator but primarily as a UL fan myself. It's showing that the hunger within the fanbase is real and shared.
Albineaux might seem "divisive" to some because the passion is strong, the stakes are high, and this fandom's hunger grows bigger by the day. And I think we all know tensions can flare when someone gets in the way of a hungry Cajun lol.
In regards to his name: I've said this before, I'm fine with Albineaux not being called Albineaux in the final product. I actually think the university should ask the students for suggestions, and have a naming contest. I've actually played around with calling him other names. Fun ones I came up with were "Tee Baw," to reference the language of Acadiana that I'm sure some of you get. Having fans say "Mais Tee Baw" would be so funny to me. Another name could be "Ragin." Since the fans are the Cajuns, he could be just Ragin. And together they are the Ragin' Cajuns. That was fun to think of. Some people have suggested for first Cajun. That would be fine too, but whatever it is I think the students should have a say in it. You guys feel free to imagine other names if you so want. Like I said, make him yours!
I think it's important to continue to call him Albineaux until adoption because: 1) it limits confusion and 2) It stresses that he is NOT a white gator. He is a real animal that has been primarily exclusively found in Louisiana, and has all the origin and community connections I talked about.
In regards to a red gator: Take my word for it, it would not look as good as you think it will. Believe it or not, I researched which color gator would be best. Florida in the 1950's actually had an orange gator costume. It looked atrocious. That is why is so hard to find an image of it. They made sure that of that. Florida aside, a red costume would run into the same maintenance issues Cayenne had. The suit would have to get re-dyed every few years due to fading from the sun and washing of the costume. That's why a white costume would lean more towards saving the university some coin when it comes to upkeep. I do not envy the WKU Blob at all haha. Another point for a white colored gator is that most of UL's apparel is red. Red on red would not stand out as much as white on red. But you can keep your dreams alive! I just wanted to share my notes on that matter.
While we're on the topic of color, Albineaux would be such an easy addition for us. His only colors are the colors we put on everyday: Vermillion and white. In order for the University to sell us Cayenne, they had to introduce orange into our palette. And since orange and red clash, they had to prop up the secondary color grey. So that created a primary logo that still used today has Vermillion, white, black, grey, and orange. Only two of those are our official colors. Also, there's flames now, because "Louisiana hot?? And peppers are also hot???" The point isn't to speak ill of the dead, but I wanted y'all to see the amount of money, time, and extra effort the university was willing to put in a flawed idea (that they chose) and would only last for fifteen years.