UL's Logo Crisis

[MetryCajun]

_ Then it should be vigorously pursued through a complaint with our AD. In the meantime send the vendors a message and don't buy what is not appealing. _

Do you really think that would do any good? Walker does not strike me as the kind of guy who cares about stuff like this. As for not buying it, that may work for you and me, but I can bet you those hats will be worn around town. Seeing that hat makes me realize we are fighting a losing battle. As of now I think we should just embrace the second L and Lafayette and be done with this silly name issue.

[ULtimateCajun]

_ Do you really think that would do any good? Walker does not strike me as the kind of guy who cares about stuff like this. As for not buying it, that may work for you and me, but I can bet you those hats will be worn around town. Seeing that hat makes me realize we are fighting a losing battle. As of now I think we should just embrace the second L and Lafayette and be done with this silly name issue. _

I've sent numerous emails of concern and suggestions to the athletic dept. (Scott Farmer, Julie Dronet, David Walker) They don't seem to care. I give Scott a little credit because his hands are tied by David Walker. The other two in my opinion are just doing day to day work, they don't seem to care what anyone thinks or has to say. Busniness as usual.

[HoustonCajun]

_ Do you really think that would do any good? Walker does not strike me as the kind of guy who cares about stuff like this. As for not buying it, that may work for you and me, but I can bet you those hats will be worn around town. Seeing that hat makes me realize we are fighting a losing battle. As of now I think we should just embrace the second L and Lafayette and be done with this silly name issue. _

I respectfully disagree that this is silly. It is call branding and is critical to UL athletics. There is a reason that teams sport LOUISIANA on their jerseys, that we put LOUISIANA in the endzones of the stadium and on the press box, that we use LOUISIANA on Media Guides, Dr. S used this theme for homecoming "We are LOUISIANA", etc. For unknown reasons, we do this almost haphazardly as there is no consistency in how and when it is used and the Athletic Department won't answer any questions about it. I, for one, will NOT wear ANYTHING with Lafayette on it and do not want to be referenced athletically as a hypenated school. It is rediculous to have so many references as Louisiana's Ragin Cajuns, LOUISIANA, UL, UL L, UL LOUISIANA -Lafayette and U La La, with all of them being acceptable apparently except UL L and U La La.

Pick a name on how we are to be referred athletically and end it with that once and for all. Quit giving the media multiple options on what to call us and quit using all of those options ourselves within the athletic department.

SILLY - No. REDICULOUS - Yes.

[CajunProud]

_ Then it should be vigorously pursued through a complaint with our AD. In the meantime send the vendors a message and don't buy what is not appealing. _

I have sent several e-mails over the last couple of years, but have had no response until Scott Farmer replied a few months ago. I sat down and spoke with him about it and his hands are tied.

It's not as simple as not buying what is not appealing (which I don't). The point, is that if we ever expect to be recognized as UL Ragin Cajuns outside of Acadiana, the morons that are running the show need to get the s$!t out of their ears and get off their @ss_s and do something. Sorry to be so harsh, but someone has to tell it like it is.

[MetryCajun]

_ I respectfully disagree that this is silly. It is call branding and is critical to UL athletics. There is a reason that teams sport LOUISIANA on their jerseys, that we put LOUISIANA in the endzones of the stadium and on the press box, that we use LOUISIANA on Media Guides, Dr. S used this theme for homecoming "We are LOUISIANA", etc. For unknown reasons, we do this almost haphazardly as there is no consistency in how and when it is used and the Athletic Department won't answer any questions about it. I, for one, will NOT wear ANYTHING with Lafayette on it and do not want to be referenced athletically as a hypenated school. It is rediculous to have so many references as Louisiana's Ragin Cajuns, LOUISIANA, UL, UL L, UL LOUISIANA -Lafayette and U La La, with all of them being acceptable apparently except UL L and U La La.

Pick a name on how we are to be referred athletically and end it with that once and for all. Quit giving the media multiple options on what to call us and quit using all of those options ourselves within the athletic department.

SILLY - No. REDICULOUS - Yes. _

Like you I agree we should go by just one name and one abbreviation. Unfortunately, it has become painfully obvious that our University has neither the will nor the resources to go with just Louisiana. I think it would be better to embrace the second L and Lafayette over all of the rediculous names and acronyms we have now.
In the long run, I really don't think the name Louisiana Lafayette or UL_L would damage our University in the least.

[ULtimateCajun]

_ I respectfully disagree that this is silly. It is call branding and is critical to UL athletics. There is a reason that teams sport LOUISIANA on their jerseys, that we put LOUISIANA in the endzones of the stadium and on the press box, that we use LOUISIANA on Media Guides, Dr. S used this theme for homecoming "We are LOUISIANA", etc. For unknown reasons, we do this almost haphazardly as there is no consistency in how and when it is used and the Athletic Department won't answer any questions about it. I, for one, will NOT wear ANYTHING with Lafayette on it and do not want to be referenced athletically as a hypenated school. It is rediculous to have so many references as Louisiana's Ragin Cajuns, LOUISIANA, UL, UL L, UL LOUISIANA -Lafayette and U La La, with all of them being acceptable apparently except UL L and U La La.

Pick a name on how we are to be referred athletically and end it with that once and for all. Quit giving the media multiple options on what to call us and quit using all of those options ourselves within the athletic department.

SILLY - No. REDICULOUS - Yes. _

Spot on assessment. This is the one and only instance where the "just win and everything falls into place" motto does not fit. This is something that needs to be addressed before there can be any kind of success. What is an athletic program without a name. The longer this goes on the more abbreviations/hyphenated/butchered names we will be called. This is something that I’ve been very fired up about for the past 4 years and I have yet to get a straight answer as to why the athletic dept. will not send out a press release to every opponent we play, every national, regional, and local news outlet that we are to be called or known as ________. Period. This is what our abbreviation is _______. This is how we are referred to on scoreboards _______. Yes winning will get you respect but how will someone respect you if you don't have a name.

[rhineaux]

_ Then it should be vigorously pursued through a complaint with our AD. In the meantime send the vendors a message and don't buy what is not appealing. _

Almost every time I make a trip to Lafayette, I try to hit up Bell's or LA Hot Stuff or the Bookstore (which seldom happens because of their horrible hours), looking for something "appealing" and looking to spend some cash on. Every time that happens, I leave empty handed. I think the only things I've purchased in the last ~3 years were a $20 long sleeve T-shirt while tailgating because the temps were lower than I anticipated while preparing for the trip to town, and about 3 months ago, a $30 trailer hitch cover that was red with silver letters. Since installation of the hitch cover, the red outside has fallen off, and the letters cannot be deciphered from a distance greater than 3".

Not buying what is not appealing doesn't tell the vendors that Cajun fans don't like the crap they're making...it tells them that Cajun fans aren't out there. If there was a good selection to choose from, and a company put something out that was crap, which didn't sell, then they would know that the item was unpopular because that item's sales were far below everything else. However, almost all of it is crap because of a pepper that nobody's fond of, or because it's yellow or orange, or because of the Lafayette label, or just because of the quality in general. So, when they put out some new crap, and its crappy sales are on par with the crappy sales of all the other crap, the vendors don't know that we think its crap...they just think that we don't exist because none of it sells.

As far as pursuing the issue...even though many fan's have brought it up to various members of the administration, it's not their job to do so. This logo/licensing thing is only one of many issues at UL, with similar characteristics. The problem is that there are too many UL employees who have jobs and don't have careers. Until that changes, the school will not reach its full potential.

[Boomer]

_ Is it because the pelican "is not inherently interesting or inspiring"? (Actually, it is extremely interesting, IMHO.)

Or because it hasn't been properly marketed?

There is nothing inspiring about the Miami Ibis, the Oregon Ducks, the Minnesota Gophers, the OU conestoga wagon, the Stanford tree, or the Ohio State shrub (the buckeye).

But they have all been huge marketing successes. Schools have shown that any identity-- correction, any unique identity-- can work, if properly marketed. Tulane, as I have noted, changes mascots every few years... and then they don't do much to market them. (Did you, or any of us, ever hear anything about the Poseidon mascot, even though Tulane used it for several years??)

A gator isn't unique. It may be interesting. It may be inspiring. You can argue that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

It may be all of these things, but the point is immaterial. If we use any variation of a gator, we will always be viewed as nothing more than Florida copy-cats.

Let me remind you that in the '60's, there was a staunch group of supporters who fought actively against "Ragin' Cajuns", and wanted to keep the Bulldog. At that time, Bulldogs were cool (but generic) and Cajuns were most definitely not cool (but entirely unique).

By your argument, we should have kept what was cool and generic-- and interesting and inspiring-- not what was un-cool, uninspiring, but unique. By your argument, we should still be the Bulldogs.

And I don't think you believe that.

Now, the Catahoula hound is unique, and can be inspiring. But the breed is not widely recognized outside of Louisiana. Remember, Tennessee uses a dog as one of its marks. And I would bet you that less than half of the casual college football fans even know that a dog is one of UT's mascots.

And I feel quite confident that less than 1 in 10 of them can tell you what the breed is, or the connection to UT. (For some time, I assumed it was a Tennessee bloodhound. I was wrong, it's a blue tick hound.) Now, EXCEPT for its use at UT, were any of us aware that there WAS such a dog as the blue tick hound? Or much less that the breed came from Tennessee?

On the other hand, the brown pelican is unique, and strongly identified with Louisiana-- it's our state bird, it's on the Louisiana flag, it's on the Great Seal of Louisiana, it's on our US quarter, and it is our state's nickname.

So my point is the one I always take: we're here to build a University, not a sports program. The Brown Pelican isn't inspiring? The above examples show that this is not a salient concern.

It's unique. And it's the state bird. That mean it has great value, both from the point of identity, but much more, from the standpoint of political support. Because just like "UL" and "Ragin' Cajuns," it once again solidifies our identity as THE University of Louisiana.

If we are looking to build a University, not a football program, I can't see how we can pass up political points to be cool (but puzzling), or to be cool (but generic).

PS Just why DID you leave the pelican off of the CURRENT poll? _

Hey Fun I remember a pre La Tech game article when Rip Henderson said it would be partly cloudy with scattered bulldogs BTW Love being a Ragin' Cajun!!!!!

[CajunProud]

Quick story:

I was recently on vacation in Destin. I went to play tennis one day and wore a UL hat. The hat is red with interlocking UL in white. No Lafayette anywhere on the hat. When I walked into the pro-shop, the head pro saw my hat and asked if I went to the Univerisity of Louisville. I said no, Louisiana. He looked at me with a blank stare. I then said, "You know, Ragin Cajuns." He then smiled and said, "Oh yeah, I've heard of you guys."

[Boomer]

_ Check out this UL approved, licensed cap as sold on CBS Sports. This is about as bad as it gets and another example of UL's inconsistency in this whole thing and the horrible gear that is out there as a result. A lot of revenue left on the table by not licensing what we want and instead approving this kind of crap that no one will buy. _

Could it be that there is an insider plant to keep the stupid Lafayette going???? Why would we keep it up with nobody buying the stuff!!!!!