14,945

[HoustonCajun]

I know several. I also know quite a few people who have moved away from the lafayette area as a direct result of the extended downturn

it is what it is.

Why is this always a problem for Lafayette and Acadiana? I don't hear similar complaints coming out of Baton Rouge. People will spend money, be it the movies, an LSU game or a UL game. We need to give them a reason(s) to focus on UL. Winning, better competition, and better game time atmosphere with great student support will move them back to Cajun Field and to the CajunDome. Everything else needed is being put into place.

[Cajunsmike]

Why is this always a problem for Lafayette and Acadiana? I don't hear similar complaints coming out of Baton Rouge. People will spend money, be it the movies, an LSU game or a UL game. We need to give them a reason(s) to focus on UL. Winning, better competition, and better game time atmosphere with great student support will move them back to Cajun Field and to the CajunDome. Everything else needed is being put into place.

Baton Rouge is part of the downstream aspect of the industry with their refineries and plants. Those entities have very few people that need to move as the industry cycles move. Usually, they progress when things go south for upstream. Lafayette is the service hub of the offshore industry with few producing companies remaining. Offshore right now simply can't compete with the shale plays in West Texas and New Mexico. Those projects are simply more economical than anything on water. Of course you continue to produce existing wells for years after they are drilled but the work to maintain those does not require as much manpower as bringing new finds online. Also, in the last two years Chevron, Stone, and McMoran have basically closed up shop in Lafayette which has had much more of an impact than the average person recognizes.

[facelessjonmoon]

Why is this always a problem for Lafayette and Acadiana? I don't hear similar complaints coming out of Baton Rouge. People will spend money, be it the movies, an LSU game or a UL game. We need to give them a reason(s) to focus on UL. Winning, better competition, and better game time atmosphere with great student support will move them back to Cajun Field and to the CajunDome. Everything else needed is being put into place.

The Lafayette and Baton Rouge economies are very different.

Upstream vs Downstream are 2 totally different animals

[ManAboutTown]

You guys keep asking the question why attendance is so poor but refuse to listen to the answer or just don't like the answer that you are getting. Props to the local kids for doing what they did this past weekend. The reality is that things like that don't happen too often with Cajun football. You, MAT and the rest of your ilk talk about "purging" Cajun football of casual fans and all that the Cajuns have to do is win on a consistent basis and the fans will fill the stadium. Let's say that the Cajuns go on a 4 year run where they win the Sun Belt each year. Do you think that that will be enough to draw an additional 25,000 fans to Cajun Field on a consistent basis for every home game? Where are these fans going to come from? What your seeing now attendance wise for football is the reality of things as the way it will be from now on. The attendance might jump up a few thousand per game depending on who the Cajuns are playing. But unless oil gets back up to $100/barrel again and drilling in the Gulf kicks off again big time, this the reality for football no matter how many "professionals" you have running things.

Wrong again Lotief.

[RaginScotsman]

I do agree with what Ray said in the story about moving the student tailgating. It effectively annexed the students from the rest of the tailgate population. You need to include them. At one point, they were on the Cajun Dome BLVD side of the field. I walked over there last game and it was a ghost town. Nothing on that side of the field. I get that the administration is shaking everything up, but that was a poor decision. You need to bring people together, not space them apart. That was one of the great things about Cajun field. You could just make laps around the outside and see everyone. If I were a student, I would not be into walking back and forth from the intramural field to Cajun field just to meet up with friends and family.

[Cajunsmike]

I do agree with what Ray said in the story about moving the student tailgating. It effectively annexed the students from the rest of the tailgate population. You need to include them. At one point, they were on the Cajun Dome BLVD side of the field. I walked over there last game and it was a ghost town. Nothing on that side of the field. I get that the administration is shaking everything up, but that was a poor decision. You need to bring people together, not space them apart. That was one of the great things about Cajun field. You could just make laps around the outside and see everyone. If I were a student, I would not be into walking back and forth from the intramural field to Cajun field just to meet up with friends and family.

From what I understand, consideration is being given to moving that group back next season. I believe more discussions with student groups are planned on this issue and others to make the best decision.

[ManAboutTown]

You just provided the answer. T-boy ain't giving up his duck lease. All of his disposable income is going to keeping his duck lease. A choice had to be made where he is going to spend his money and duck hunting wins out every time. Like it or not, Reality Check is right. Budgets got tightened and some things had to get cut. UL sports are feeling the pinch.

No he isn’t and neither are you. Keep pounding though.. at least it keeps y’all busy.

[Cajunfanatico]

From what I understand, consideration is being given to moving that group back next season. I believe more discussions with student groups are planned on this issue and others to make the best decision.

Second time you've mentioned meetings, or potential meetings, with the student groups to discuss gameday issues, Mike. I like what I'm hearing. Most problems in life arise out of poor communication and it sounds like our athletic department understands this and is actively trying to fix problems.

[CajunEXPRESS]

I keep seeing people complaining about the F Trump video but I ask what about the African American crowd that can't identify with being called a Cajun so that's a wash in my book. I feel until we get the butts in the seats that were already paid for by season ticket holders we shouldn't complain about the casual fan not showing up. I sit on the visitors side and I am disappointed every game I look across at the chair backs and half are empty. We need to take care of our own house before we invite others in it. The other problem is the parking put a product on the field that people will pay $10 to park and see along with quality out of conference competition. Just watch how our basket ball attendance goes down because of that same combination.

They identify easily with Fighting Irish, and the Siminoles at FSU. That’s really kind of a cop out. It’s really a shame some want to bring race into everything.

We’ve got a unique catchy name that we cannot even create a mascot for. It’s simply a great catchy slogan. If’n you can’t get on board it’s really about something else. The only black Irish I’ve ever seen is a fictional character on Ray Donavon.

[Oiler]

I won't speak for Bear, but what I believe he's getting at is that, within the G5 group, most insiders see a further separation or split with the "haves" moving up in prestige and earning power, and the "have nots" going in the opposite direction. Think of it as the creme rising to the top. Keep in mind too that earning power isn't necessarily an extrapolation of John Q Public sitting at the ballgame, TV and other media rights earnings could a significant part of any realignment.

There may even be a situation where some P5's get bounced down to our level and a few, very few, G5's move up. Some G5's, perhaps many, may just opt to go FCS.

Nobody knows for sure exactly what will happen, but things rarely stay static for long in this business and the idea is to position oneself to take maximum advantage of whatever opportunities may present themselves.

So I would ask, would you prefer having a shot at being part of the cream, or would you prefer to just be part of the bottom sediment? If the latter, you might consider seeking out Scott Farmer and following his career.

What is it exactly that will drive this “further separation or split”? Another question, who are you talking about when you say the “haves”? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see UL included in some realignment that would finally separate us from ULM and LaTech. I simply see no evidence of any of this being in the works.