The Book: Lady Cajuns 2005-06 basketball season

[derf]

or how about being a true UL fan and going to both. How insulting is this whole situation. You have to be kidding. This is why UL has a history of being looked at as one of thoes schools that just can't get over the hump. YOu know I used to have season tickets to LSU years ago and even when they were pretty bad the fans still attended. Now that I am here in Lafayette home of the Ragin Cajuns I attend every event that I can. Sid I know deep down inside you are hurt. So am I. I haven't missed a basketball game in Lafayette( or a tournament) in 8 yrs, and it is hard to see OUR TEAM playing this way but to suggest that we, for lack of a better term, boycott OUR TEAM for a lackluster season is just plain wrong. This is not New Orleans. WE should and WILL support OUR TEAM no matter what.

[El Sidonio]

Derf,

I understand where you're coming from, which is why i said in my original post that we shouldn't permanently boycott the men's games. BUT, it is sad when the men's team, which is defining the essence of crappy basketball play, gets 6 times the attendance of the women's team which is defining the essence of solid excellent basketball play. Again, we should support our team no matter what, but what does it say to the outside world, and to everyone else when we give more support to a very bad men's team over an excellent women's team?

Just my 3 cents

God Bless
Geaux Cajuns

p.s.- besides, if we always support the men's team with huge crowds, etc.. even when they don't deserve it, then what incentive does that give them to do better? There's a logical reason why attendance goes down when the W-L ratio does.

[derf]

if you think that pedople not showing up to their games is gonna make them play better, then you have a skewed veiw of support. Look, there are many things which keep the fans from comming out in droves for the women's games. The biggest is that the Earl K. is one of the most fan-unfriendly places for veiwing college sports. I go anyway, but the point is that people can go to the dome and feel like they are at a college sporting event, while long feels like a small highschool gym. Secondly, if you do some research on it you'll find that the support gap between men's and women's sports in college is not a rare occurance. I agree its sad but not uncommon. The great thing that this university does is it doesn't schedule Men's and Women's home games on the same day that often. And, when it does happen they both play at the dome. This is so everyone can come to both games.
And I don't hear you complaining that our really good baseball team consistantly outdraws our GREAT softball team.
Give it a rest Sid, you don't abandon your team because they are struggling. PERIOD. No matter how long the time period.

that's my dime

[BrockMeaux]

if you think that pedople not showing up to their games is gonna make them play better, then you have a skewed veiw of support. Look, there are many things which keep the fans from comming out in droves for the women's games. The biggest is that the Earl K. is one of the most fan-unfriendly places for veiwing college sports. I go anyway, but the point is that people can go to the dome and feel like they are at a college sporting event, while long feels like a small highschool gym. Secondly, if you do some research on it you'll find that the support gap between men's and women's sports in college is not a rare occurance. I agree its sad but not uncommon. The great thing that this university does is it doesn't schedule Men's and Women's home games on the same day that often. And, when it does happen they both play at the dome. This is so everyone can come to both games.
And I don't hear you complaining that our really good baseball team

[El Sidonio]

if you think that pedople not showing up to their games is gonna make them play better, then you have a skewed veiw of support. Look, there are many things which keep the fans from comming out in droves for the women's games. The biggest is that the Earl K. is one of the most fan-unfriendly places for veiwing college sports. I go anyway, but the point is that people can go to the dome and feel like they are at a college sporting event, while long feels like a small highschool gym. Secondly, if you do some research on it you'll find that the support gap between men's and women's sports in college is not a rare occurance. I agree its sad but not uncommon. The great thing that this university does is it doesn't schedule Men's and Women's home games on the same day that often. And, when it does happen they both play at the dome. This is so everyone can come to both games.
And I don't hear you complaining that our really good baseball team consistantly outdraws our GREAT softball team.
Give it a rest Sid, you don't abandon your team because they are struggling. PERIOD. No matter how long the time period.

that's my dime

I'd give it a rest if I didn't care, but I do, so I can't. Again, I support the notion that permanently abandoning the team is not good, but temporarily it is, as hard as that is for you to understand. While this may not be true at all times and all places, I really feel like our women deserve the support better than our men. And since people in the town and university find it hard to support multiple programs, I say, support the women's team, they deserve it.

Also, I never said that not going to men's games would make them play better. That what you ASSumed. What I said was that the way they're playing right now doesn't deserve the level of support it's getting. Again, you never answered my question about what it says when we support a HORRIBLE men's team more than an EXCELLENT women's team that really deserves it. I still stand by my point that if the men's team/staff sees that we are willing to support less than excellence, they'll be better off than if they see a full crowd even when they play crappy.

As far as the atmosphere at Long versus the Cajundome, I agree to an extent. The Cajundome is a more professional place to play. But until we get crowds of greater than 7k at the Dome, Blackham and Long will always be better places to play. They are more intimidating to opponents because of the closeness of the fans, and the magnification of noise levels. In reference to the women's team, would you rather their crowds of 500 look and sound really good in Long, or look pathetic and insulting at the huge Dome?

In regards to your comment about baseball, versus softball, that's a whole different story. What I mean is that, both baseball and softball are good (softball is consistently "better") but they BOTH play hard and usually have solid fundamentals. That is the difference. While the baseball team is usually not at as high a level of success as the softball team, they work hard to earn our support. Men's basketball right now (not sure for how long) is absolutely horrible. It'd deserve more support if the record was horrible but they actually played like they knew how to play, or if they played with solid fundamentals. But, the way they're playing right now deserves no support save for the fact that we love them because they're a part of our university.

To make another analogy, when a university is promoting itself to a prospective student, you never heard them say "well this program is mediocre, but we love our university so we support it anyways and you should too!". While support of the whole university is always there, they usually try and emphasize the better respected higher ranked programs, and for good reason.

In the end, I could go on all day, and some of you might agree with me and some of you might not. Either way, I think I've said enough. What I hope happens is that our men's team gets back to where it needs to be.

God Bless
Geaux Cajuns

[NewsCopy]

Since few lives are ever lived free of speed bumps - or speed lumps, as they are known in the Saints streets area - success usually has as much to do with how you react to adversity as how you behave when life is easy. The Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women got embarrassed at home by North Texas on Jan. 7, not just bidding farewell to a 22-game home win streak but landing with a 70-47 thud. The road ahead looked rough - five straight games away from Earl K. Long Gym, starting with South Alabama in Mobile, and seven of eight on the road in Sun Belt Conference play. They could have dwelled on the loss to UNT. They could have folded and let the unreasonable league slate get to them. They could have lost for a fourth straight time under J. Kelley Hall in Mobile, where something always seems to happen to snatch a win away from UL. But that's not what happened. The Cajuns refused to lose at USA last Thursday, emerging with a 60-56 victory that re-energized their campaign. Then - and just as importantly - Hall's squad climbed all over Troy University for an 81-69 triumph sparked by a career-high 35 points from New Iberia's Onna Charles. Suddenly, the Cajuns are 13-3 overall and 3-1 in Sun Belt play, right back in the thick of the chase for the West Division title they won a year ago. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[CajunAmos]

Since they typically play the same teams (one at home and one away), you don't ever have to choose between them. Womens individual game tickets are $6 at the gate, and season tickets are $35. With six home games remaining, that will still save you a buck.

[BirdofParadise]

I'd give it a rest if I didn't care, but I do, so I can't. Again, I support the notion that permanently abandoning the team is not good, but temporarily it is, as hard as that is for you to understand. While this may not be true at all times and all places, I really feel like our women deserve the support better than our men. And since people in the town and university find it hard to support multiple programs, I say, support the women's team, they deserve it.

Also, I never said that not going to men's games would make them play better. That what you ASSumed. What I said was that the way they're playing right now doesn't deserve the level of support it's getting. Again, you never answered my question about what it says when we support a HORRIBLE men's team more than an EXCELLENT women's team that really deserves it. I still stand by my point that if the men's team/staff sees that we are willing to support less than excellence, they'll be better off than if they see a full crowd even when they play crappy.

As far as the atmosphere at Long versus the Cajundome, I agree to an extent. The Cajundome is a more professional place to play. But until we get crowds of greater than 7k at the Dome, Blackham and Long will always be better places to play. They are more intimidating to opponents because of the closeness of the fans, and the magnification of noise levels. In reference to the women's team, would you rather their crowds of 500 look and sound really good in Long, or look pathetic and insulting at the huge Dome?

In regards to your comment about baseball, versus softball, that's a whole different story. What I mean is that, both baseball and softball are good (softball is consistently "better") but they BOTH play hard and usually have solid fundamentals. That is the difference. While the baseball team is usually not at as high a level of success as the softball team, they work hard to earn our support. Men's basketball right now (not sure for how long) is absolutely horrible. It'd deserve more support if the record was horrible but they actually played like they knew how to play, or if they played with solid fundamentals. But, the way they're playing right now deserves no support save for the fact that we love them because they're a part of our university.

To make another analogy, when a university is promoting itself to a prospective student, you never heard them say "well this program is mediocre, but we love our university so we support it anyways and you should too!". While support of the whole university is always there, they usually try and emphasize the better respected higher ranked programs, and for good reason.

In the end, I could go on all day, and some of you might agree with me and some of you might not. Either way, I think I've said enough. What I hope happens is that our men's team gets back to where it needs to be.

God Bless
Geaux Cajuns

The best part about any post you made here in this thread is the part where you say that you've said enough.

You NEVER stop supporting a Cajun team if you're a Cajun fan. Not for ONE MINUTE.

[NewsCopy]

Coaches are, by nature, a cautious lot. So it was no surprise to hear the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women's coach J. Kelley Hall describe last week's road trip into Alabama as simply "a good weekend" on Monday. The Cajuns beat South Alabama 60-56 last Thursday in Mobile, a place where they had lost in their last three visits by a total of 8 points. They then won on Saturday by 81-69 at Troy University, Hall's alma mater, which turned him down after a job interview four years ago. On top of that, the two victories improved the Cajuns to 13-3 and 3-1, returning them to a tie atop the Sun Belt Conference West Division. Good weekend? You could say that. "We got the North Texas game back," Hall said, referring to a 70-47 home loss to UNT on Jan. 7. "We're back in a tie for first. This team is still a work in progress, and I think it may have taken that (UNT) game to wake us up. "After North Texas, they realized they do need to listen in practice." The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Now that the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women are in the thick of another Sun Belt Conference basketball race, it's time to bring the campaign into sharper focus. Coach J. Kelley Hall and his staff did that last week, deciding which players would carry the load and tinkering with the team's attack to best fit the personnel. The result was a pair of road wins at South Alabama and Troy University, improving the Cajuns to 13-3 and 3-1 in league play. "When you play your non-conference games, you find out who your best players are - what they can do, what they give you," Hall said. "Then you try to get it down to a seven or eight-person rotation. We're at seven right now." Yolanda Jones, Onna Charles, Alicia McDaniel, Sonora Edwards and senior point guard Ashley Blanche are the UL starters, joined by senior center Sherita Anderson and guard Janenne Colbert. The others have their roles, but Hall will attack the rest of the Sun Belt campaign with those seven. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Tuesday was a long day for Onna Charles. That was the day the University of Louisiana began the spring semester and it wasn't easy to jump back into the routine of classes for the sophomore from New Iberia. This is also an intense week of practice for Charles and her teammates on the Ragin' Cajun women's basketball squad, which adds to the challenge. "It's not easy," Charles said. "We've had a long break, so we've been able to stay up late, sleep and get up at noon, if we want to, for a 2 o'clock practice. "Some of us have classes that started at 8. I was yawning in class today. The day is actually very long. You have to go to sleep earlier and get back to normal, and that takes a couple of days. "In that first week you get used to your classes. We're already in chapter one in one of my classes." "I actually think it helps the players to get back into a routine," assistant coach Bill Damuth said. "It helps them to be in class." The Cajuns don't play again until a Saturday visit to Miami to play Florida International, and coach J. Kelley Hall is using the opportunity to work his team. "We're going hard (for) three days this week," Hall said. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

It's hard not to circle Jan. 28 on the calendar. Obviously, that's the only home game for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women for the rest of this month, and the sole chance to see UL at Earl K. Long Gym until Feb. 9. Coach J. Kelley Hall's squad is in the middle of a brutal road swing, with the closest away game next Monday at UNO. But there's an added punch to the Jan. 28 contest, with the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers coming to town. WKU's Tiffany Porter-Talbert was named the Preseason Player of the Year in the league, a logical follow-up to her being named the Player of the Year for the 2005 season with 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for the East Division champions. She's currently at 16.1 points and 8.4 rebounds for a WKU squad that is 11-5 overall but 1-2 in league play, while teammate Crystal Kelly's 21.2-point average paces SBC scorers. As a junior college transfer, UL's Yolanda Jones was nowhere to be seen on the preseason list. But she was also coming from national junior college champion Trinity Valley and she had credentials. It's becoming apparent that Jones will be a force to be reckoned with in the Sun Belt race, as well as in individual awards handed out at season's end. The rest of the story Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com