2005 NewOrleans Bowl USM-31 ASU-19

[ShowDog]

Second Wind: Attendance key element for N.O. Bowl
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

A caller on a local sports-talk radio show this week lamented the fact that the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun football team didn't get a deserved spot in the relocated New Orleans Bowl.

He went on to say he wasn't attending Tuesday's clash at UL's Cajun Field, since he was a long-time Cajun backer and didn't want to support either Arkansas State or Southern Mississippi.

He just doesn't get it, and now there's a fear that many others who claim allegiance to the UL athletic program don't get it, either.

Perhaps they don't understand how important it is to the local university, and specifically the Cajun football program, for fans to buy tickets, come to the game and do everything they can to make this a success.
It's important for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is to show that Lafayette can support a major athletic event. And it is major.

It's the year's first bowl game, meaning a national television audience that's been having three weeks of college football withdrawals will tune in. The New Orleans Bowl annually has one of the higher television ratings among the non-New Year's games because it's first up on the schedule.

Bowl executive director Billy Ferrante said that game attendance would give groups and organizations - not just athletic ones - an indication of how Lafayette stacks up when it comes to hosting events.

There's no guarantee that the Louisiana Superdome and the city of New Orleans will be back in business at this time next year, and the sponsoring Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation may have to find an alternative site once again.

A good showing by local patrons could mean a return for 2006.

The Sun Belt Conference doesn't get a lot of chances to showcase itself to a true national audience. Arkansas State may be a 17-point underdog to the Golden Eagles, but if the Indians can at least make a statement it would reflect well on the conference as a whole.

But more importantly, for the league's sake, the bowl needs good support and good attendance to remain viable. The New Orleans Bowl provides the Sun Belt with a guaranteed postseason spot for its winner, a huge thing for a still-new league.

The NCAA has put attendance requirements on all bowl games, and that organization may not exempt this game even though it's been hurricane-ravaged and relocated. Attendance last year was solid at 27,000-plus, but we live in a what-have-you-drawn-lately world.

The Silicon Valley game, which included Sun Belt member Troy last year, was flushed this year after poor attendance.

That doesn't need to happen here, just for reputation's sake.

Yes, the Sun Belt screwed up when it didn't leave itself some flexibility in determining bowl-game participation. Yes, if the league did its tie-breaker like it does its other sports, breaking stalemates first and then letting bowl-eligibility work itself out, the Cajuns would be playing Tuesday and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

It didn't happen. UL had its chances. Close, but no cigar. Deal with it, and don't let that stop you from supporting this game. There's a more important reason for those wearing Cajun passions on their red-and-white sleeves to turn out.

Suppose UL goes 7-5, 8-4, even 9-3 next year, but doesn't win the Sun Belt title. At that point, the league office starts peddling the Cajuns for a spot in another bowl game.

The primary concern - maybe the only concern - for every non-BCS bowl is how well fans travel to support their team. Let's say the Motor City Bowl is looking to fill an open slot, much like this year when it took Memphis, and is considering UL.

How long do you think that consideration lasts when they look at this year's New Orleans Bowl attendance, and sees that local fans didn't support this game in the Cajuns' home stadium? That they wouldn't drive across town?

Solve that problem before it happens. Show up Tuesday. It really does mean something if you do.


Originally published December 15, 2005

Well thought out post.

[Cajun Express]

Yesterday I had an opportunity to be near Lafayette, so I went to the Cajun Dome to pay for my baseball tickets. Mrs. Express had additional items that she felt could only be found at the Acadiana Mall. I decided to cut though the stadium parking lot thus avoiding some congestion at Johnson. To my great surprise I found ASU in a huddle on our sacred practice field. After the huddle they kind of did what can only be described as a dance.

Visions of the pain caused by our basketball teams victory dance on Diddle invaded my mind. What else could I do? Like any good Hilltopper I too became too enraged to contain myself and flung a H20 bottle towards the offending team. Unfortunately it was empty and went only 5 feet. Coming to my senses I picked up the bottle, but felt I had scored a great moral victory in preserving our field as sacred.

[RaginFan2]

Yesterday I had an opportunity to be near Lafayette, so I went to the Cajun Dome to pay for my baseball tickets. Mrs. Express had additional items that she felt could only be found at the Acadiana Mall. I decided to cut though the stadium parking lot thus avoiding some congestion at Johnson. To my great surprise I found ASU in a huddle on our sacred practice field. After the huddle they kind of did what can only be described as a dance.

Visions of the pain caused by our basketball teams victory dance on Diddle invaded my mind. What else could I do? Like any good Hilltopper I too became too enraged to contain myself and flung a H20 bottle towards the offending team. Unfortunately it was empty and went only 5 feet. Coming to my senses I picked up the bottle, but felt I had scored a great moral victory in preserving our field as sacred.

Good job, Express! I "feel your pain"! "Sacred" practice field???

[locoguano]

Thats what happens when you blow a huge lead to a team.. they take your spot... WIN.. its as simple as that..

[Cajun Express]

Thats what happens when you blow a huge lead to a team.. they take your spot... WIN.. its as simple as that ms08: ..

:

It is only a joke if you get the joke, sorry you missed it entirely. See Hilltopper Haven, Dancin Cajun Thugs:confused: :confused: :confused:

I was in fact not at all upset with ASU. Hope they can put it on the Screaming Eagles, err Golden Eagles.:

[NewsCopy]

NEW ORLEANS BOWL
WHEN Tuesday WHERE Cajun Field ; Lafayette, La. TEAMS Arkansas State, Sun Belt Conference champion, vs. Southern Mississippi KICKOFF 7 p. m. TELEVISION ESPN TICKETS $ 40 adults, $ 20 Arkansas State students with valid ID. Can be ordered at the Convocation Center box office on campus or by calling (870 ) 972-2781 or 888-ASUFANS between 8 a. m.-5 p. m. weekdays. Student ID must be presented at game.

LAFAYETTE, La. — People have been calling it the “N. O. Bowl,” but the last thing New Orleans Bowl organizers would settle for was no bowl.

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall Aug. 29 to batter New Orleans and the Louisiana Superdome — the New Orleans Bowl’s home the previous four years — it was clear the game would not kick off the bowl season in the Crescent City as it had annually since 2001.

But there was never much doubt the game would go on.

“I’m not sure if there was ever an overwhelming sense that there would not be a game,” said Jay Cicero, president and chief executive of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation. “I knew that we had a series of things, starting with obviously Hurricane Katrina knocking out the Superdome, I think we knew the next day we weren’t going to be hosting the New Orleans Bowl there.”

The New Orleans Bowl has featured the Sun Belt Conference champion against a team from Conference USA since its debut.

By the time Arkansas State clinched its first Sun Belt title at North Texas on Nov. 26, the New Orleans Bowl had been relocated 134 miles west on Interstate 10 to Lafayette, La. Arkansas State will play Southern Mississippi at Cajun Field at 7 p. m. Tuesday, with the game broadcast on ESPN.

“As soon as we could communicate with each other, as soon as we could find each other, the question was not are we going to play the game but where are we going to play the game,” New Orleans Bowl executive director Billy Ferranti said.

The Indians arrived in Lafayette on Friday morning and were greeted by a Zydeco band and a welcoming group that presented the players with New Orleans Bowl beaded necklaces. Then the team went to Cajun Field to practice in cold, blustery conditions.

“It was a good workout,” Arkansas State Coach Steve Roberts said.

The New Orleans Bowl’s directors explored post-Katrina options that included playing the game somewhere in Texas or in Memphis, and Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium was even floated as a possibility. But the New Orleans Bowl’s regional influence made it clear early on that it would have to be played in Louisiana.

“Our first priority was to keep it in Louisiana altogether,” Cicero said. “And when you narrow down the possibilities outside New Orleans it was either Shreveport, Lafayette or Baton Rogue.”

Shreveport’s Independence Stadium is already the home of the Dec. 30 Independence Bowl, and Cicero said the city likely wouldn’t support two bowl games, meaning an economic disaster for one of them. Baton Rouge and 92, 400-seat Tiger Stadium, home of the LSU Tigers, was simply too big, Cicero said.

“Putting our event in a 92, 000-seat stadium is something that would not go over well,” Cicero said. “So when we started talking to the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, their president, Dr. Ray Authement, and the athletic department and staff about their enthusiasm and their willingness to help, their hospitality, their willingness to offer the support necessary to make this work, that was the real key for us deciding to go there.”

Lafayette and 31, 000-seat Cajun Field were seen as a desirable combination of facilities and locale. The city, with a population of about 110, 000, will offer the Louisiana ambiance that includes food, music and entertainment and give Lafayette a chance to put its best foot forward.

In addition to hosting the game and putting on special events for the players that include goodwill visits to a local hospital and a night of — what else ? — bowling.

The words “at Lafayette” have been added to the New Orleans Bowl logo displayed locally and on the 50-yard line at Cajun Field and ESPN is expected to show various aspects of life in Lafayette in its cutaways during the broadcast. “It’s my opinion that in Louisiana, Lafayette is probably the city that has as much cultural diversity as New Orleans does,” Ferranti said. The transition hasn’t been easy. The New Orleans Bowl lost its title sponsor, Wyndham hotels, because of the move, and didn’t get a replacement. “You can’t really approach a company in October for an event

1 that’s happening 2 / 2, three months later,” Cicero said. “With a large, sixfigure ask, you can’t do that. It’s just a financial hit that we’re having to absorb to keep the game going.” The cost of the game is close to $ 2. 5 million while the economic impact on Lafayette is estimated at between $ 10-15 million, with an estimated $ 6 million spent on lodging and the rest spent in the local community. There was some nail-biting over whether or not Lafayette would have the hotel space to house a bowl game because of the refugees displaced by Katrina and FEMA workers needing a place to stay, but apparently the lodging will be adequate, Cicero said.

Now it’s just a matter of getting people to the game.

Cicero said late in the week that advance ticket sales were close to 15, 000. He was hoping for a late run on local sales and some solid drive-in support from Southern Miss, which is close to four hours away in Hattiesburg, Miss.

When the NCAA tried to mandate a 15, 000 average home attendance for NCAA Division IA membership a few years ago, it also imposed a 25, 000 average for bowl games.

That may be a tough goal to reach, Cicero said, but at least the New Orleans Bowl has a regional matchup between Arkansas State and Southern Miss. That’s better for attendance than the some of the other possibilities available before the Sun Belt Conference realigned with a solid Southern look the past two years, Cicero said.

“Why is 25, 000 a magical figure ?” he said. “Fortunately we’ve been able to meet those figures.... What if we’d had Idaho and Cincinnati and you had 6, 000 people in the stands ?”

Southern Miss is the defending New Orleans Bowl champion after beating North Texas 31-10 last year while Arkansas State is making its first bowl trip since joining the NCAA Division I-A ranks in 1992. The Indians, for one, are happy to be making the trip to Lafayette. NEW ORLEANS BOWL

INDIANS ITINERARY TODAY Practice, bowling outing at Acadania Lanes, 5-7 p. m. SUNDAY Practice, selected athletes visit Women’s and Children’s hospital to deliver gifts and visit with patients, 1-3 p. m. MONDAY Practice, milk and cookies with the Indians, 10-10 : 30 p. m. Lafayette Holiday Inn FAST FACTS Arkansas State is making its first bowl appearance since the 1970 Pecan Bowl.... The Indians, 6-5, have posted their second winning season at the NCAA Division I-A level. Arkansas State was 6-4 under John Bobo in 1995.... Arkansas State moved up from I-AA to I-A in 1992.... The New Orleans Bowl was relocated from New Orleans to Lafayette this year because of damage to the Louisiana Superdome caused by Hurricane Katrina.

“Obviously we feel for all of the Gulf Coast and everything that has occurred,” Roberts said. “We’re excited about going to Lafayette and playing in the New Orleans Bowl. It would be great to go to New Orleans, but that’s not possible now. Lafayette is a great city that will provide our football team with a lot of fun. So there’s no disappointment there.”

The rest of the story

BY TODD TRAUB

[ATXCajun]

Good job, Express! I "feel your pain"! "Sacred" practice field???

Yeah, sacred pratice field would be a reach even for Aggies.

[NewsCopy]

Local fans attending Tuesday's New Orleans Bowl may not recognize Cajun Field ... at least, not the field surface. Bright green grass even in mid-December, including a distinctive "striping" at 5-yard intervals, and paints and colors not seen at normal University of Louisiana games are combining to create a stunning venue for Arkansas State and Southern Mississippi to meet in Tuesday's first bowl game of the college season. "It's something different that people haven't seen here," said Anthony Babineaux, who heads up the UL athletic complex's grounds crew along with his assistant baseball coaching duties. "We've probably put a month's worth of work in preparing the surface." The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, sponsor of the game, authorized Babineaux and UL grounds director John Broderick to bring in outside help for the field's preparation. The two groups have combined their efforts this week, after the regular UL crew did the "ground" work over the past month. "Fields look different for bowl games than regular-season college games," said New Orleans Bowl Executive Director Billy Ferrante. "This is a perfect example. It looks really good." The biggest difference is the planting of rye grass on the field, a process that began in early November and was repeated right after the Ragin' Cajuns' last home game. A total of 1,200 pounds of rye seed was used on the surface. "Normally since the season ends in early November, we can push the Bermuda with fertilizers and it's good through the season," Babineaux said. "With this in December, we needed the rye. "We put 600 or 700 pounds down right before the last game (Nov. 12) and let the players pound it in for us, and that started coming up a couple of weeks later. We came back with 500 more pounds between the hashes and on the edges." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Arkansas State's Indians held a 90-minute practice session Sunday morning, their third practice since arriving Friday. Following practice and a team lunch at Prejean's Restaurant, 11 members of the Indian squad visited Women's and Children's Hospital, following a visit there by a USM player delegation Sunday morning. "This is what it's all about," said ASU linebacker Elias Ellis during a visit to the hospital's pediatrics ward. "This is great." Ellis and teammates Nick Noce, Tyrell Johnson, Khayyam Burns, Levi Dejohnette, Antonio Warren, Cody Brown, Shermar Bracey, Eric Neihouse, Lance Martin, Myron Anderson and Devrett Wade wore game jerseys and delivered ASU souvenirs to the patients' rooms while visiting with the children and their parents. The trip was part of the bowl's community outreach program. "Everyone in Lafayette has been great to us since we got here," said Noce. "People come up to us everywhere and congratulate us and wish us well." The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

Southern Mississippi held its first New Orleans Bowl practice in Lafayette on Sunday afternoon, only a few hours after the final members of the squad arrived in town to prepare for Tuesday's contest at Cajun Field. Most of the squad arrived in town Saturday, but several Golden Eagle players stayed in Hattiesburg to wrap up final exams and take part in graduation exercises and recruiting activities before departing early Sunday morning. "It's been pretty hectic," said USM junior defensive back Jasper Faulk, the only Lafayette native on either bowl team. "It's been a crazy few days." Hectic could define the Eagles' entire season, one disrupted by Hurricane Katrina's effects including the team's relocation to Memphis for a week and the postponement of the season opener against Tulane. "We've overcome a lot of adversity," said senior quarterback Dustin Almond, who has started most of the last four years. The rest of the story