2008 Bowl Season Louisiana Snubbed by Indi Bowl

[rcarte3]

_ The is already a Lafayette University. _

Yes I know. V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y FOR YOU I said change the name to THE UNIVERSITY OF LAFAYETTE.

[DestinCajun]

_ First of all, I would take ULA like Georgia (UGA) and Virginia (UVA) use. Secondly, almost every major university has the city tag, but doesn't use it athletically, e.g. Texas at Austin, Nebraska Lincoln, North Carolina Chapel Hill, California Berkeley, Wisconsin Madison, Minnesota Twin Cities, Nevada Reno, etc. I don't care that we are the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Just call us Louisiana, athletically. Thirdly, all of the other schools you mentioned have directional names, not hyphenated names. I would rather have been the University of South Louisiana (USL) than continue to fight the U LA LA and Louisiana-Lafayette image. The only hyphenated schools that have a positive image are the ones that have great acronyms and are in good conferences, like UCLA, UNLV, UTEP and UAB. NOBODY calls UCLA California-Los Angeles. And, as for as another post that we can't be UL because Louisville is UL, that is preposterous. There are 3 OSUs, Ohio State, Oregon State and Oklahoma State. There are 2 UTs, Texas and Tennessee, there are several UMs, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Montana, Maryland. So, why are we the only team that can't be called UL, just because only one other schools uses that? And, in fact, they don't use UL, they use U of L or just L.

I agree, we win 7 and we are in no matter what our name is. But, we didn't win 7 and could have been selected with a 6-6 record. We weren't and I believe our name had something to do with it as did our conference affiliation and worthless commissioner. _

The name got us. I've been waiting for someone to blame "Baton Rouge".

[SportsFan]

HOUSTONCAJUN...

Good points on the name issue. One other reason the acronyms you noted work for them is because they have been in use for many, many years. Perhaps if Louisiana-Lafayette had begun using ULL from day one, that acronym would be more familiar around the country. Remember, most people know a university from the ESPN bottom line scoreboard. I know that sounds stupid, but really, when you watch the scores roll by, do you ever question who's playing who? Rarely, because you are used to the lettering you see. And, they use UL for Louisville. ULL could only be one school. And, keeping USL (dropping "western") would have put the university way ahead in national recognition by the average fan. And the average fan knows UL as Louisville. Adding a third letter, whether L or A would greatly help. Using ULL doesn't mean you can't still use Louisiana. And, I understand the next question coming along..."why don't they just call us Louisiana?" Don't know. But i"ll bet it would be easier to get "them" to say ULL. or even ULA. Monroe doesn't fight the battle. They want to be called ULM.

[SportsFan]

I see the second L has been dropped in most of the previous post. Use your imagination.

[RaginFan2]

_ Yeah but you went 20 minutes....I went ALMOST 3 hours thinking we were in a bowl!!!!!! I had no clue what was going on, b/c my cell phone had died and I was not at home to log on from there. _

OK, OK, you win the "suffering bowl"! Your "almost 3 hours" trumps my 20 minutes. Geez!

[MetryCajun]

_ Yes I know. V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y FOR YOU I said change the name to THE UNIVERSITY OF LAFAYETTE. _

Even more slowly. BOTH universities would be called Lafayette by the casual fan. Can you imagine the confusion?

[Damon]

How in the world did this become a flippin name argument? Give that stuff a rest.

We didn't win 7, we're butthurt over not being selected, and we're starting to realize the national perception of both the school and conference.

It sucks for the kids and fans, but the most we can do is email the figureheads involved and try harder next year.

AGAIN, THIS AIN'T ABOUT THE STINKIN NAME!

[CajunZ1]

We didn't win 7, we're butthurt over not being selected, and we're starting to realize the national perception of both the school and conference.

This is the hardest part for me. Deep down I knew our perception sucked, but to see it thrown so obviously in our face is pretty tough.

[Cajun90]

I am not saying that Tim Brando did. What I am gathering from that is the NIU fans would need to stay longer than UL fans. You would probably have some UL fans staying one night but some NIU fans would need 2 nights. What is it from Lafayette a 3 hour at most drive to Shreveport? I bet up to half the UL fans would drive back home after the game. Granted 2 BCS teams don't promise a profit but that is the perception of the bowl committees. At least one team away means more fans in hotels. I am not saying they are correct just that is the perception. It is about money not for the bowl but for the hotels, shops, and resturants. I relative of mine works in government in New Orleans and he has told me deep down the hotels don't like it much when LSU is in the Sugar Bowl because their fans don't rent many rooms because LSU is so close by.

I just don't think the math works out to favor NIU. I have no doubt that the Cajuns bring a minimum of 15,000 to that game. NIU averaged a little over 18K per game this season and I think they will do well to bring 3K to the game. Half of that 15K (based on your idea that 1/2 drive back that night) is a lot more than all 3K from NIU.


UL -- Distance isn't a problem (200 miles and three hours in the car). Flying isn't a concern. Timing isn't as big an issue for most fans either because most are within driving distance to the game. To this point Lafayette and Louisiana in general have weathered the financial crisis better than most and the economy will not be at the forefront of many Cajun fans decision making.

As for the Cajun fans fleeing the game immediately after the final horn I doubt that will be true. Sure some will make the drive back home but I seriously doubt that many will want to be on the road that late. This game more than likely does not conclude until after 10:00 P.M. and realistically you aren't back to Lafayette (most of the fan base) until probably 3:00 A.M.

I'll be trying to find out in the coming weeks what the NIU ticket sells are like. My bet is that this is probably the final time we see the Independence Bowl played.

[HoustonCajun]

_ I disagree.

They have had some successes in sports (as have we). But we left them behind long ago.

Because our foundation-- academics, fundraising, attendance, facilities, research, campuses, enrollment, grants, national categories and rankings, the things a University EXISTS for-- are far, far ahead of Tech's.

This is a setback. For those of us who seriously study UL and her history, the past 110 years have seen setback after setback after setback. But through each one of them, somehow UL rises again: stronger, bigger, and better than before.

To everything there is a season. Everyone, EVERYONE, has good days and bad days. Last year LSU won the NC, this year they're crying in their tomato-based gumbo.

The good times don't define you. The bad times do.

That is, the bad times, and how you handle them... _

If UL is head and shoulders above LA Tech, it remains the best kept secret in the state and the nation, and within the UL System. Whose fault is that? Tech gets the notoriety and separation where it is most visible, athletics. It is time for UL to understand that and capitalize on it. Going the cheap way out in the SBC will never help our cause. I think Dr. S knows that athletics is UL's "window to the world". It will be interesting now to see how he utilizes that. I think the bowl game would have been a great time to introduce the RCAF and the facility improvements while everyone was gung ho on UL football. Unfortunately, the tide has turned. I want to see how we capitalize on this and rally our troops in support so this doesn't happen again.