Monroe @ UL

[RedTails]

I had a blast. Someone needs to dust off that old Cajun Chicken costume and bring em' on out to all of our athletic events.

[Cajunsmike]

_ Bryant & J.J. are special. Can't wait until next season when everyone on the roster will be this hard working.
I was at a Top 28 Blue Coats meeting in the Cajundome a few months ago, and Gerald had Coach Brock Morris come talk to us. Coach Morris told us about a conversation he had with Jay Bilas when he was considering whether he should take the job here or not. Bilas told him he should take the job because this basketball program had the opportunity to become the "Gonzaga of the South." Whether you agree or disagree with Bilas on anything, remember, this was stated in a private conversation, so Bilas had nothing to gain by getting Morris over here. One thing I will say about Bilas, he appears to be one of the more hard working "talking heads" at ESPN. He does his research on schools, he seems to be well prepared whenever he is asked about any school. So, for him to say anything that positive about our school, encourages me and makes me believe that there is respect for our program on a national level.
That said, I believe there are two things this program needs to achieve such a lofty status: time and money. Time for Coach Marlin to recruit good players, time to win ball games, time to win championships, time to get into the NCAA tournament, time to win games in the NCAA tournament, time to make runs deep into the NCAA tournament...time.
Money to recruit top flight players, money to improve facilities, money to reward our coaches for success...money.
We have goals, we have dreams, just as most other schools do. We seem to have many of the tools in place to reach our goals, achieve our dreams. We just need to work together to accomplish them. _

Note many of the folks who attended the basketball reunion said they want to help our program return to prominence. Those comments were reported in this morning's article by Kevin Foote. That encourages me as much as anything that occured last night. We need to find a way to bottle last night's atmosphere and share it with any basketball recruits we are pursuing. There are some young men out there that have an opportunity to recreate something special here. By the way, I encourage all to find a copy of the sports section in today's Daily Advertiser. Great job by that team in covering the events of yesterday and last night.

[cajun67]

_ Note many of the folks who attended the basketball reunion said they want to help our program return to prominence. Those comments were reported in this morning's article by Kevin Foote. That encourages me as much as anything that occured last night. We need to find a way to bottle last night's atmosphere and share it with any basketball recruits we are pursuing. There are some young men out there that have an opportunity to recreate something special here. By the way, I encourage all to find a copy of the sports section in today's Daily Advertiser. Great job by that team in covering the events of yesterday and last night. _

As Jay reported on radio, our AD wrote "Perfect" on a sheet of paper after game. Except for Coach Ship not being physically able to attend game, it was perfect. Marlin got to deliver game ball to Shipley's home - he said he really wanted to win this game for Coach. For me, my highlights were:
1. Being able to thank Payton Townsend for being a really nice guy on campus as in talking to plain old students (grad student, even) between classes. Will have to wait to do same with Marvin Winkler.
2. Getting to chat and visit again with Coaches Paschal and Hatfield. Both are top class.
3. Seeing old friend Dean Church and visiting again.
4. Meeting CJ Scheuffens, Bobby Andrews. Classy guys.
5. Spending time with Graylin Warner. The smile and drive are still there.
6. Having my wife get to meet Jay Walker and learning that he has a face and does stand up. She has only seen the back of his head seated at the courtside table at the Cajundome. I think Jay got a kick out of that.
and best of all 7. watching fans get to have a lot of fun, cheering for our present team and cheering the past players, coaches, staff and the voices of our Bulldog/Cajuns.
I guess it was perfect.