I would like to thank everyone of you who for all that you have done for our family. Thank you for sharing in my son's graduation and giving him a memory he will never forget. I cant tell you how incredible that experience was. Thank you for embracing him and sharing this great university and your dedication to the football players. So many of you came up to both my husband and I and thanked us for our son, it was you that gave us the gift. He will never forget this experience.
As far as the game goes.....wow.
I agree with Supercajun71 1000%.
Does ESPN refer to Long Horns as the University of Texas at Austin or the Crimson Tide as the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa??? The answer is NO!
We are by far the second largest public college in the state and second only to LSU in student population. To give you all a little perspective, our student body is bigger than Mississippi St., Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Miami, and the same size as the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa also known as the Crimson Tide. We are the Ragin Cajuns and we ARE the University of Louisiana... PERIOD!!!!! It is time to put the regional nonsense to rest. No more ULL or ULaLa or even Lafayette.
We are NOT a regional small college and we haven't been since the old SLI days.
I've been surfing but, can't seem to find the complete game stats. Does anyone have a good website for that?
Sue, wecare so grateful that Kyle chose to commit to UL. We know he had other very good options but he came here to UL. I'm so glad he and the other seniors get to go out on such a high note.
The years have flown by, it seems just yesterday that we were first getting to know you and your family. Although Kyle will no longer be playing we hope you, Stu and Kyle will still come back for games and stop by the Eauxk for a visit.
Here's the boxscore from ESPN.
http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=313510309
Actually UL's payout was $500,000 of tickets and $50,000 upfront payment. Any tickets sold through the university after the $500,000 is split 50/50 between the university and the bowl. If the average cost of a ticket was $50 then the total gross to UL on the 8000 tickets was $200,000 so I think a close estimate would be $700,000. So a profit of about $400,000.
Set out on Friday at noon for New Orleans. Decided to take Highway 90 all the way to the Westbank Expressway to avoid any congestion and the Huey Long Bridge. Missed the turn off...got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic right before the Huey Long Bridge...I noticed in my rear view mirror that a delivery truck seemed to not be slowing down...boom fender bender. Sounded bad...nothing more than a scuff. Guy got out of the vehicle and said(I'm not joking)..."Sorry about that man, I fell asleep". It was at that point that my wife exploded and was slinging expletives at the guy. After corralling her in the car, I told the guy not to worry about it and apologized for my wife's outburst. Crisis averted. On to New Orleans. Checked in at Hotel Monteleone and was quickly aware that I was out of my element. Lots of suits, evening gowns, sweater vests and slacks. I'm more of a jeans, t-shirt and a ball cap kind of guy but hey...my money is green too. Nice place...service was excellent. Room was nice.
Got settled, made a quick drink and headed out for Deanie's on Iberville. Got the $52 seafood platter to share with a buddy of mine...we barely made a dent even with my wife helping us a bit. Good food, but I don't think I will go back next time I'm in New Orleans, rather try something else. Dropped off leftovers at the hotel and headed to the Old Absinthe House. Always wanted to try Absinthe. Girl at the bar said it was $22 for a glass. I was expecting her to come back with only one glass...she came back with 3 instead. My buddy couldn't stomach the stuff, my wife soldiered further but still barely touched the stuff. That left me to polish off 3 of those things. And for $70...I finished every drop. Big mistake. I'm a big guy and I can handle almost anything(Jagermeister always agrees with me), but this stuff knocked me on my ___. After I did this it was a blurry memory of bar hopping into several bars with music and me swaying in the corner trying to stay upright. Barely made it to midnight. Had to retreat into the hotel for the night. Made my wife miserable due to the feeling that the room was constantly spinning and I was moaning like a Druid. Didn't puke...don't know how I didn't. Lesson learned. Absinthe is the devil.
Next morning I felt like a bag of ____. Went to The Famous Gumbo Pot for a beast Omelet to consume and counter attack my stomach's current awful condition. After that it was off too the Rouse's Tailgate Party. That was a fun time, got to talk with Tom Voinche. Two massive thumbs up to Rouse's for putting on a fun party. Met up with a gaggle of buddies and we all decided it would be smart to hit Walk-On's on Poydras and fuel up on food before the game. We had a group of 16...they laughed when we asked how long it would be for a group of 16. Broke us up into 4 tables of 4. Food was good...got the Stuffed Burger...hit the spot. After this our group of 16 got split up and we headed towards Champion's Square...I'm not a Saints fan...but the place is impressive. Kudos to them. They deserve it. The amount of people here was staggering. It was wall to wall people, and as we hiked up the stairs to the Gate C entrance there seemed to be more people the higher we went. I turned to a buddy of mine and predicted...43K. He was skeptical.
Got inside the Superdome at 6 PM. Was greeted by the familiar "Yum Yum...Come get you some!!!" Buddy and his fiance took a pic with the Cotton Candy man. After unleashing the bladder beast I made it to my seats to watch all the pregame happenings. Sat in Section 155 Row 13. Good seats. The only complaint was that we had no depth perception. 10 yard runs looked like 1 yard runs. Watching the dome fill up with red was magical. I wish someone would do a time lapse from 6 PM to 8 PM. The section I was in was a spattering of students and non-students. Awful mix. Students like to stand...non-students don't. I can swing both ways here. I understand that standing at a football game should be expected...but as I age I see the value in sitting down to watch a game instead of standing. Lot's of NOPD running around trying to keep people from standing. One guy was yanked by his collar by a NOPD officer and the back of his head hit the chair. Guy was concussed and had to be helped by EMT's. Don't know what made the officer do that so I won't speculate.
For our ref crew being from the Big-12...you would expect something different than the garden variety idiocy we see in the Sun Belt on Saturday night. It seems these striped devils are the same anyway you slice em. The dome looks good. Does anyone know why the upper chairs have a strange color pattern? Our passing game is really, really good. We will miss LedariusGreen next year...but man are we loaded at WR. Seeing Qyen at LB, I realize what the staff is doing...Alonzo Harris is good...really good. If Qyen can produce at LB, a spot we may need him at next year, go ahead and do it. Only losing one offensive lineman will make this offense even better next year.
A disturbing trend I see in college football is the lack of Holding calls. You see holding on every play. You see blatant, no doubt in your mind holding calls also. The latter should be called 100% of the time...they didn't. I liked our Run defense...and hated our pass defense. Soft zone coverage gives me the gout. Ronnie Hillman...just another top shelf back we shut down. It's amazing that Hud being a rookie FBS head coach can get away with mismanaging time outs in the second half like he did and still come out smelling like roses.
The last SDSU drive was like watching a slow rolling car headed for another car...and no way to stop it. The 4th and 2 Pass Interference call was iffy, but was prolly the right call. They seemed to call it on SDSU only when Battery could have been charged on them. While ours where iffy but in no way slam dunks. Oh well. Watching SDSU score that TD was a sock to the gut. I had been on cloud nine all game long...and with 35 ____ing seconds left in the game...crashing back to earth at high speeds. But I felt something...I don't know what it was, I just felt like...it's not done yet. Maybe it was the ULM game, maybe it was clairvoyance. Who knows. But when we got far enough to make it a 55 yard field goal...I was certain it would be good. Then...____!!!!!...false start....NO!!!! What??? Illegal Spinning...is this a bazaar in Istanbul? When they showed the replay on the big screen...I knew what they did. Thanks for confusing us all refs.
50 yards...Baer can do it. He has done it before. It's up...oh my god it is tumbling like a wounded duck...did they block it...no wait...its...its...good!!!!! No flags...no flags...holy ____ing ____...holy ____ing ____...holy ____ing ____!!!! That was a moment in my life I will never forget. Ever. One of few...but one I will never let go of. Magical. No other way to describe it. I got worried when Hud said he had an announcement...but thankfully it had nothing to do with his job, but more about Dwight "Bill" Bentley getting an invite to the Senior Bowl. Congrats Bill, you earned it. MVP...can't argue with it. Gauthier torched SDSU. All night long. He did it with the low snaps. He made passes that made me baffled at how he did it. Broadway learning from Gauthier for a year is going to give SBC coaches night terrors. So proud of this team. They don't quit. They just keep fighting. And they are now the 2011 New Orleans Bowl champs...they put on a show for both ESPN, the state of Louisiana, the city of New Orleans...and the bowls at large. Pick us...and we will bring the wood...and fans.
Leaving the Superdome was a massive contingent of exuberant Cajun fans who wanted to party like it's 1999. I feared for Bourbon Street. My wife got a pic of the massive throngs of people coming down the ramp onto Poydras... ridiculous. Thought about a taxi...Monteleone is far from where I was...but I was jacked up on New Orleans bowl elation adrenaline Mountain Dew...decided to huff it. When we got to Common I realized why a taxi was a good idea. It was cold, dark, and far. I'm fat...and out of shape. And the adrenaline ran out like a Prius with a AA battery in it. Made it...rested for a couple of minutes and had to peel myself off the bed...I was gassed...but tonight is too special to just clock out and get some rest...gut it out fatty. Got motivated, ignored the pain in my feet and went to Bourbon. That place was electric. Around the Bourbon Street Blues Company it was almost impossible to move. We ended up grabbing some Hand Grenades and ending up at Huge ___ Beers. It was the only place that was kind of empty and had booze. And they did have Huge ___ Beers.
Left from there feeling like I was 21 again, decided it was time to hit Razzoo. Place was packed. Met someone there...Tyrell Fenroy. He took a picture with my wife who works at the office of the UL team doctors and I asked him what's his drink..."Crown and Coke". I came back with a double Crown and Coke...and told him, "Bobby Rainey is a ____ing _____." He seemed to like that. Stayed at Razzoo's until 4 AM. I was feeling ultra good. A complete 180 from the night before. We retired to the hotel, and my wife took my place as the one who couldn't stop the room from spinning. Woke up around 8 in the morning with a charlie horse in my calf...it was like an alarm clock from my legs that reminded me its not normal for me to walk many miles in a single day and that I should have drank more water. The wife had a tougher time getting up then I did. We both felt like we had been through the meat grinder.
Before we left New Orleans we dropped by Mother's. I'm glad I did. Hit the spot. Gave me the fuel I needed to get us back home in one piece. Regardless of how I felt, I didn't want this trip to end. This was fun. A lot of fun. This is what we have been missing out on. I feel like a sheltered child. And now I want more. I wanna do this every year. Hopefully, with Hud sticking around another year minimum, we can possibly build enough forward momentum that we can expect to have a grand time every year at a bowl game. How quickly times have changed. I remember how it felt last year, and every year before that. They always felt incomplete. Now I know what a complete season feels like.
Good game guys, here are pictures from the game:
http://mkchang.photoshelter.com/gall...000_plRl2bSO3o
Enjoy!
Michael Chang
Don't forget to subtract Hud's bonuses Also keep in mind that you left out quite a few expenses. Hotels for a week... meals...
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