Geaux Cajuns

After a bittersweet weekend that included claiming a share of its first Sun Belt Conference title since 2005 and receiving their third straight R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl invite and seeing their school-record eight-game win streak snapped with a 31-28 loss to ULM, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns will be back in action this week._ The Cajuns will close the 2013 regular-season at South Alabama on Saturday, Dec. 7 beginning at 7:00 p.m. CST in Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. The game will be televised by the Ragin' Cajuns Network with Jeff Palermo, Scott Brazda & Jessica Poumaroux providing the commentary

RUSTON – Five Cajuns scored in double figures, including double-doubles by Shawn Long and Elfrid Payton along a career-high 22 points from Kasey Shepherd, as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns extended their win streak to four with a 89-80 victory over Louisiana Tech on Wednesday night in the Thomas Assembly Center.

The win snapped Louisiana Tech's 19-game home winning streak and dropped the Bulldogs to 6-2 on the year. The Cajuns, who never trailed in the contest, improved to 6-2 on the season.

"This was a great win against a good team in a tough place to play," Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin said. "We're coming together as a team nicely right now and we are getting production throughout the lineup.

"I came into the game thinking that we needed to win the battle of the 'three's, free's and T's and even though we had more turnovers than they did, I thought we came through. We shot the ball well from both the three-point and the free throw line, especially during crunch time, which helped us put the game away."

The performance was perhaps the best overall performance for the Cajuns, who led the game from start to finish, to snap an eight-game losing streak in Ruston and improve to 57-68 all-time against their neighbors to the north.

Despite missing extended time in the first half with a pair of fouls, Long scored 17 points and added 12 rebounds and three blocks while Payton, who drew heavy coverage by the Bulldog defense, added 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Shepherd and Xavian Rimmer each scored in double figures to lead a 40-point effort from the Cajuns bench.

"We've gotten great production from those two off the bench all season and tonight was no different," Marlin said. "They give us two strong offensive options to go to if (opposing) defenses are going to focus on stopping Elfrid."

Shepherd showed his quickness by continually beating his defender into the lane, going 8-for-10 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers. Rimmer, who had scored 41 points in his last two games, finished with 15 points, including a 7-for-8 performance from the free throw line.

Alex Hamilton led four Bulldogs in double figures with 17 points. Raheem Appleby added 13 points, Kenneth Smith 12 and Kenyon McNeil 11.

The Cajuns made their free throws down the stretch, going 11-for-13 from the stripe in the final 2:08 to help put the game away. Louisiana finished the night 22-for-30 from the line (.733) while Louisiana Tech managed just 12-for-22 shooting (.545).

It was a good shooting night all-around for the Cajuns, shooting .492 from the field (31-for-63), including a 15-for-27 effort in the second half (.556), and .417 from behind the 3-point line (5-for-12).

Despite being out-rebounded, 47-44, with most of the margin coming late in the first half with Long on the bench, the Cajuns held a 22-12 lead in second chance points.

The Bulldogs cut the lead to three points twice in the second half, the last coming on a pair of free throws by Appleby with 7:45 remaining that made it a 67-64 contest. But LaTech would go scoreless over the next five-plus minutes as five straight points by Payton, a pair layups by Shepherd and a free throw by Long pushed Louisiana's lead to 77-64 with 2:51 remaining.

Louisiana Tech made one final run late in the game, closing to 79-73 on a layup by McNeil with 1:04 remaining, but the Cajuns would answer as a pair of free throws by Rimmer and a dunk by Long pushed the lead to 83-73

The Cajuns needed 21 seconds to take a lead they would never relinquish as Hammond's Steven Wronkoski buried a 3-pointer for his only basket of the game.

The Bulldogs tied it at 3-3 on a basket inside by Appleby with 18:46 left in the half before Long scored twice inside to push the Cajuns lead to 7-3.

Leading 7-5, the Cajuns ran off six of the next seven points to extend the lead to 13-6 at the 14:47 mark. Long started the run with a dunk followed by baskets inside by Elridge Moore and Kevin Brown.

The teams traded baskets for the next five minutes. With Louisiana leading 23-19 with 9:50 left, the Cajuns ran off six straight on a pair of free throws by Rimmer and baskets inside by Payton and Shepherd to make it a 29-19 lead with 7:46 left.

The Cajuns played the final 8:32 of the first half without Long, who scored six points with six rebounds in the half, but his absence didn't hurt. He left the game with the Cajuns ahead by six and Louisiana took a 44-39 lead into the half.

The Cajuns will end a stretch that has had them play six of seven games on the road when they travel to Louisville, Ky., to face defending national champion Louisville on Saturday in 12 p.m. tipoff CST.

After facing Louisville, Louisiana will return home to play three of its next four games heading into the new year. The Cajuns will open their homestand on Dec. 14 against Houston in a 7:05 p.m. contest in the Cajundome.

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns return to the court this week,traveling north to Ruston to face Louisiana Tech on Wednesday, Dec. 4 beginning at 6:30 p.m. CST in the Thomas Assembly Center. The Cajuns (5-2) carry a three-game win streak into the contest after toppling 2013 NCAA Tournament participant Northwestern State, 105-74, on Nov. 27 in the Cajundome. The Cajuns bench came through against the Demons as Xavian Rimmer (20 points) and Kasey Shepherd (17) led a 54-point effort by the Louisiana reserves. Louisiana Tech is 5-1 on the year and carries a five-game win streak into Sunday's (Dec. 1) game at Jackson State. The Bulldogs were 21-7 last year, advancing to the second round of the NIT. This will be the 125th meeting between the two schools with Louisiana Tech owning a 68-56 lead.

PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: Louisiana is off to a 5-2 start in 2013-14, benefiting from the return of all five starters and a total of 10 lettermen from last year's squad that went 13-20, leading fourth-year head coach Bob Marlin to feel confident that the Cajuns are on a path to return to national prominence. The team is centered around the duo of point guard Elfrid Payton (20.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.4 apg, 2.9 spg) and forward Shawn Long (20.6 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 3.1 bpg), both of whom were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team this year. Long makes the move from center to power forward, his natural position, with newcomers J.J. Davenport (2.9, 3.4), a junior who played the last two seasons at New Mexico Junior College, and freshman Vieux Kande (0.4, 0.7), expected to see the majority of minutes at center. Elridge Moore (7.9, 5.3), who started as an undersized power forward last season, will move to small forward, with Steven Wronkoski (6.4, 3.1) starting on the wing. Bryant Mbamalu (13.8, 3.7 in 2012-13), who started 26 games as a wing guard last season, is out indefinitely with a foot injury in September. With Mbamalu out, junior Kevin Brown (6.3, 1.4), who is returning after missing most of last season with a broken foot, is expected to take over. Sophomore guard Kasey Shephard (4.7, 1.6) sees time off the bench this year with a trio of newcomers, junior Xavian Rimmer (7.7, 1.9 apg), and freshmen Hayward Register (3.5 ppg) and Luka Kamber (0.7 ppg) vying for time. Marlin is utilizing the depth and quickness by forcing an up-tempo game at both ends of the court by applying more defensive pressure. The Cajuns use their quickness and outside shooting ability to create a balanced offense, forcing opponents to cover the entire court.

LOUISIANA IN THE NCAA STATS: The Cajuns were featured prominetly when the first NCAA stats of the year were released on Monday (Nov. 25). Junior Elfrid Payton was 17th in steals (3.0), 24th in scoring (22.5) and 52nd in assists (5.5). Shawn Long is 14th in double-doubles (3) 23rd in rebounding (11.0), 28th in blocks (3.0) and 54th in scoring (20.3).

LONG STARTS YEAR ON A ROLL: Sophomore Shawn Long picked right up where he left off last spring, registering double-doubles in four of the first seven games to rank 14th nationally. He enters the Louisiana Tech game leading the Sun Belt in both rebounding (11.6) and offensive rebounding (7.1), ranked second in blocks (3.1) and offensive rebounds (4.4), third in scoring (20.3) and fifth in field goal percentage (.585).

LONG RECORDS QUICK DOUBLE-DOUBLES: After ranking sixth nationally last year with 18 double-doubles, sophomore Shawn Long has started the year with four double-doubles in the first seven games, achieving two before halftime. He scored 23 points with 14 rebounds in the season-opening win over Louisiana College. He needed just 18:07 to get his first double-double of the year, grabbing his 10th rebound of the night (to go with 14 points at the time) as part of an 18-point, 11-rebound effort in the first half.
Against Northwestern State on Nov. 26, Long had 16 points and 12 rebounds at halftime, accomplishing the double-double with 2:51 to play. He finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Long did not have a double-double by halftime during the 2012-13 season.

. . . AND PAYTON ADDS HIS FOURTH: Elfrid Payton also registered a double-double in the season opener, scoring 21 points with a career-high matching 10 assists for his fourth career double-double (and second point-assists double-double). Payton had them in back-to-back games at McNeese State (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Lamar (17/11) last year and came back to miss a triple-double by one rebound at FIU, scoring 13 points with nine rebounds and 10 assists.

LONG NAMED TOURNAMENT MVP: Sophomore forward Shawn Long was tabbed as the most valuable player of the EA Sports Maui on the Mainland after averaging 21.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in the two games, shooting .667 from the field (14-for-21) and .600 from three-point (3-for-5). He scored 24 points with a career-high matching 17 rebounds and five blocks in the opening round comeback win over Oakland and came back to score all 18 of his points in the second half in the title game vs. Coastal Carolina.

. . . AND LONG EARNS SECOND SUN BELT HONOR: Three weeks into the 2013-14 season, Shawn Long has already garnered a pair of Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week awards. Long earned the honor on Nov. 12 after scoring 23 points with 14 rebounds and four blocks in the season opener against Louisiana College. He came back on Nov. 26 to pick up the award again after being named the MVP of the EA Sports Maui on the Mainland.

CAJUNS SNAP ROAD STREAK: The win at Coastal Carolina on Nov, 24 snapped a 19-game road losing streak against non-conference opponents that dated back to the end of the 2009-10 season. The win did not come easy as the basketball gods toyed with the Cajuns, nearly allowing Coastal Carolina to rally back from 15 points down with 5:13 left before Louisiana escaped with a 73-69 win.

RIMMER EXPLODES: Cajuns head coach Bob Marlin has often pointed out that in order to win tournaments, players who normally have smaller roles need to step up to offset playing games on back-to-back days. Xavian Rimmer did so vs. Coastal Carolina, scoring a career-high 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the title game victory in the EA Sports Maui on the Mainland. Rimmer, who had scored 15 points with five rebounds and was two-for-eight from three-point in the first five games, went six-for-nine from three-point in the win.

. . . AGAIN: The 105-74 win over Northwestern State featured a 20-point scoring performance by Xavian Rimmer, his second 20-point effort in three days. Rimmer went six-for-nine from the field (five-for-seven from three-point) in 25 minutes of action.

CAJUNS SIGN THREE: The Louisiana coaching staff was busy this week, signing three players to national letters of intent during the early signing period. Signing with the Cajuns were:

Scott Plaisance (6-9, 210, F, New Orleans, La./Country Day): Was named the Louisiana Class 1A Player of the Year after averaging 15.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game and leading Country Day to a 26-11 record and the state title. Plaisance is rated the No. 6 player in Louisiana on the latest Times-Picayune Super 16.

Bryce Washington (6-6, 230, F, New Orleans, La./St. Augustine): Earned first team all-district 10-4A honors last year after averaging 13.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, helping lead his team to a 25-10 record. Ranked No. 13 on the Times-Picayune list of top players in Louisiana.

Johnathan Stove (6-4, 215, G-F, Baton Rouge, La./Christian Life Academy): First all-state choice after averaging 19.8 points as a junior. He was named to both the state Class A team and to the 11-man all-classes team by the Louisiana High School Basketball Coaches Association. A five-year regular, he played on state championship teams in both 8th & 10th grades and helped squad to a 27-6 record and the state semi-finals as a junior.

RAGIN' CAJUNS START THE NEXT 100 SEASONS: The Ragin' Cajuns have begun their 101st season of basketball. The first season was in 1911-12 when the Cajuns posted a 4-1 record. Louisiana has gone on to win 20 or more games 21 times since, entering the Northwestern State game with a 1,314-1,007 overall record. Louisiana did not have a team in either 1973-74 or 1974-75 because of NCAA sanctions. In the first 100 seasons, the Cajuns have advanced to postseason play 18 times, including 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, winning 16 conference titles. Eight Louisiana players have earned All-America honors with 96 being named all-conference.

PAYTON NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD PRESEASON TOP 50: Cajuns junior point guard Elfrid Payton earned a big preseason honor on Nov. 12 when he was named to the 2013-14 John R. Wooden Award preseason top 50 list by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Named after the legendary UCLA head coach, the Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation.

. . . AND MORE HONORS FOR PAYTON: Being selected to the Wooden Award list is the latest in a long list of preseason awards for Elfrid Payton. Earlier in the fall, Payton was named to the preseason watch list for the Bob Cousy Award, which is presented to the nation's top point guard by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. In addition, Payton was named to the Mid-Major All-America first team by NBCSports.com and to the Lou Henson All-America team, which honors the nation's top mid-major players and is presented by CollegeInsider.com.

PAYTON NEARS 1,000 POINT MARK: Averaging 20.3 points through the first seven games, junior guard Elfrid Payton is quickly closing in on the 1,000 point mark for his career. Payton enters the week with 895 points, needing 105 more to become the 40th player in school history to reach that plateau.

. . . AND LONG & MBAMALU ARE WITHIN REACH AS WELL: Elfrid Payton isn't the only Cajun closing in on the 1,000 point mark as senior Bryant Mbamalu (794) and sophomore Shawn Long (655) could each surpass the total this year. Mbamalu's quest for 1,000 will have to wait until he returns from a foot injury, but when he does, he will have just 206 points to go. Long scored 511 points last year and will need to equal his 15.5 points per game from last year to accomplish the feat.

PAYTON OPENS SEASON WTTH HOT HAND: Elfrid Payton started his junior campaign off on the right foot, scoring 20 points or more in each of the first five games before tallying just 13 on Nov. 24 vs. Coastal Carolina. Payton had 21 points in the opener vs. Louisiana College, 22 vs. McNeese State, 27 at Arkansas, 20 at Baylor and a career-high 32 vs.Oakland. He leads the team and ranks second in the Sun Belt averaging 22.5 points a game. Payton is the first Cajuns player to score 20 points or more in five straight games since Michael Allen scored 20 points or more in 12 straight games early in the 1993-94 season.

MAKING THE GRADE: One thing that head coach Bob Marlin has emphasized in his three seasons at Louisiana is the necessity that his players give 100-percent both on and off the court. This demand has led to positive results in the classroom. During the spring 2013 semester, the Ragin' Cajuns set a program record with a 2.904 grade point average for the team. It was the fifth time in six semesters that the team had a GPA of better than 2.50, which had never been done before. The last five semesters account for four of the top seven terms for the basketball team during that time.

PAYTON IS BACK ON TOP: It only took Elfrid Payton four games to move back on top of the Sun Belt leader board in both assists (5.4) and steals (2.9), two categories that he led in 2012-13. In seven games, Payton has handed out 38 assists and made 20 steals (3.0).

. . . AND IS ON PACE FOR ANOTHER 15, 5, 5 & 2: Elfrid Payton was the only player in Division I last year to average 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals a game last year and he has done it again through six games this season. Payton enters the week averaging 20.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.9 steals a game. Last year, he averaged 15.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals.

SIX GAMES TO BE TELEVISED: The Ragin' Cajuns will garner a little more attention nationally this year as six games will be televised during the regular season. The Nov. 12 game McNeese State vs. was televised throughout Louisiana by the Ragin' Cajuns Network. The Sun Belt Network will pick up home games vs. Texas State (Jan. 13) and South Alabama (March 2) and the road meeting with Georgia State (Feb. 22). The Nov. 17 contest at Baylor was featured on Fox Sports Southwest while the Dec. 7 game at defending national champion Louisville will be shown on ESPN3. In addition, the home games vs. WKU (Jan. 25) and Arkansas State (Feb. 15) could both be picked up by one of the ESPN channels.

WELCOME BACK KEVIN: The Louisiana College game marked the return to the court for Kevin Brown, who missed most of last season after suffering a foot injury in the eighth game of the year. Brown averaged 4.8 points and shot .421 from three-point (8-21) last year, scoring a career-high 14 points at Michigan State. In seven games, Brown is averaging 6.3 points and 1.4 rebounds a game, scoring six or more points five times, including a season-high nine at Baylor.

MOORE LIKES OPENERS: Elridge Moore must love season openers. After all, the senior forward had scored in double figures just four times in his first season with the Cajuns. Last November, Moore went six-for-seven from the floor en route to setting career highs for points (15) and steals (5) in the season-opening win over Oakland. In the 2013-14 opener vs. Louisiana College, Moore scored seven of his 11 points in the second half, going four-for-five from the field and making all three free throws. Last year, Moore went on to average 4.8 points and 3.7 rebounds a game, finishing second on the team with 33 steals and 51 assists and third with 17 blocks.

MOORE SETS CAREER HIGHS: Elridge Moore's confidence on the court was evident in the win over McNeese State on Nov. 13 when the senior set career highs for points (16) and rebounds (9), going 6-for-9 from the floor and making all four free throws. He added 10 points and eight rebounds at Arkansas, his third double-figure scoring effort of the year. In seven games, Moore is averaging 7.9 points and 5.3 rebounds a game, shooting .526 from the field (20-for-38) and .789 from the line (15-19).

HOW ELFRID SPENT HIS SUMMER: Elfrid Payton had quite a summer, traveling more than 40,000 miles to play 20 basketball games in three different countries as part of three different teams. The journey started with an eight-game, 18-day (May 11-28) tour of the Far East and China with Reach USA, during which he averaged 21.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.0 steals a game in helping Reach USA to a 4-2-1 record. After returning to the states, Payton headed to Colorado Springs, Colo. where he not only earned a spot on the USA Basketball U19 team for the FIBA World Championship (June 26-July 7) in Prague, Czech Republic, but a starting spot as well. Payton helped lead Team USA to a 9-0 record and the gold medal. One month later, Payton travelled with his Cajuns teammates to Spain, winning all four games during a goodwill tour.

. . . ALL BECAUSE OF A PASSPORT & CHRIS PAUL SAID NO: Elfrid Payton's emergence over the summer all happened because he was both denied admission to the Chris Paul Elite Gaurd Camp and went on a goodwill tour to China. With Payton playing in China and the Cajuns coaching staff trying in vane to get him an invite to the Paul camp, the coaches changed the focus to Team USA, which was interested in Louisiana's rising junior. When Bob Marlin spoke with Team USA head coach Billy Donovan, Donovan noted that the Payton could only attend the tryout if he already had a passport, which he had obtained in the weeks before leaving for China. Payton and his passport traveled to Colorado Springs for the tryout camp and the rest is history.

LOUISIANA TABBED FOR 4TH IN SBC POLL: With all five starters and a total of 10 lettermen back this season, the Ragin' Cajuns earned some respect from the Sun Belt Coaches when they were picked to finish in a fourth place tie with league newcomer Georgia State when the Sun Belt announced its annual preseason coaches poll on Oct. 30. Just 18 votes separated the top five teams with two-time tournament champion WKU getting the top nod with 91 points, including half of the 10 first place votes. South Alabama was second with 78 points, including two first place votes. Arkansas State was tabbed third with 74 points, one point ahead of both Louisiana (1 first place vote) and Georgia State (2), who each garnered 73 votes.

LONG & PAYTON NAMED TO ALL-SBC SQUAD: Junior guard Elfrid Payton and sophomore forward Shawn Long were rewarded for their hard work when the duo were two of five players named to the 2013-14 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference first team in a balloting conducted of the league's head coaches. South Alabama's Augustin Rubit, the only senior on the first team, earned preseason player of the year honors, while Georgia State's R.J. Hunter and WKU's T.J. Price were the other first team honorees. Payton averaged 15.9 points and 5.6 rebounds last year, leading the league in both assists (181) and steals (80). Long, the reigning SBC Freshman of the Year, averaged 15.5 points and 10.2 rebounds, leading all freshman nationally in rebounding.

LONG LED FRESHMEN IN REBOUNDING: With 10 or more rebounds in 11 of his last 15 games last spring, Shawn Long finished the 2012-13 season as the top freshman rebounder in the country. Long grabbed 337 rebounds in 33 games (10.2 rpg) to rank ahead of Binghamton's Jordan Reed (9.6). Long was 12th in rebounding overall.

JERRY FLAKE TO BE HONORED: Another number will be raised to the Cajundome rafters during the season when Jerry Flake (1965-69) has his number honored prior to the Houston game on Dec. 14. Over four decades after completing his career, Flake still ranks fifth in school history with 2,058 career points, averaging 19.2 points a game over the course of his career. Flake's number 20 will become the fifth retired jersey, joining Dwight "Bo" Lamar's No. 10, the No. 14 worn by Marvin Winkler, Andrew Toney's No. 24 and the No. 12 worn by Dean Church, which was retired in February, 2012.

CAJUNS BENEFIT FROM LATE FREE THROW SHOOTING: The free throw shooting by the Cajuns was at its best late in the game last year as Louisiana went 142-for-196 (.724) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Alan-Michael Thompson (15-16, .938), Shawn Long (21-28, .750) and Steven Wronkoski (14-19, .737) led the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .776 shooter (45-58), was 24-for-29 last year (.828). That is a considerable improvement from the .617 (121-196) that the Cajuns shot during the 2011-12 season.

GRIDER ENTERS HALL OF FAME: Cajun basketball alumnus Sydney Grider (1988-90) was one of four Louisiana athletic alumni to be inducted into the Louisiana Athletic Hall of Fame. Grider was joined by baseball standout Gene Bacque (1956-57), softball star Lynn Britton (1993-96) and football star Andy Martin (1979-82), bringing the number of Ragin' Cajuns alumni to 142. Grider, the most effective three-point shooter in school history, earned back-to-back first-team All-American South Conference honors as a junior and senior, averaging 23.5 points as a junior and leading the American South as a senior with a 25.5 average. In that senior year he hit 131-of-321 three-point tries, setting Cajun school records in both categories.

NEXT UP: The Cajuns remain on the road, playing at defending national champion Louisville on Saturday (Dec. 7) at 12:00 noon. Louisiana then returns home to host Houston on Dec. 14 and Centenary on Dec. 17.

First of all, this is my first post, so take an easy on me guys.... To give a little background on myself, I have only followed the Cajuns for the last 3 years or so. I am originally from Baton Rouge, grew up an LSU fan and now only cheer for UL and Im proud to do so as I attended my first UL game 3 years ago. I love everything about UL, the town, and Acadiana plus my GF goes to UL. I guess some would consider me a bandwagoner, however, I do not plan on jumping off the so called "wagon" as I have probably attended 30 plus UL athletic events between fball, basketball, and baseball in the last 2.5 years or so and find it really refreshing to see the momentum that has been created.

With that said, I know everything there is to know about the name issue as I have researched every ounce of the statutes and the history of the name situation as I became interested in the topic over the last 6 months or so. I have also been a constant reader of this board so know most of the boards and general consensus of the situation. I, like many, was very disturbed by the issue that we all know about Saturday. I have spent many battles with people from all over Louisiana telling anyone I can about what momentum UL has had an the name issues and why it is important plus why it is legal. However, to give a different side of things ( which is why I did not merge in case anyone was wondering) let's think about how far the Louisiana name has come. I can tell you that the fact that people have talked about this so much is a big deal and a proof that people know, even if they are mad. The 's was dropped from the logo. Tabby is writing about it. Fox Sports and other news sources slowly but surely using the reference. I see more and more Louisiana stuff being worn at game and on campus. Momentum is being made. Being an outsider, I can take my my rose colored UL glasses at times and look in a different perspective. Because of this, I know progress has been made, and I know progress will continue to be made. I have also asked many who know the Louisiana legislature and know how quickly laws can be adopted and changed and asked lawyer friends about the possibility of the "Univerisity of Louisiana" statute being changed to include the prohibited use of "Louisiana" for sports teams and I have been given many responses of "absolutely this can happen". All that needs to take place is a simple vote on a revision. So with that said, I personally do not believe this is a wave the white flag moment. I think it is a retreat temporarily to let people die down on the issue, and continue on the progress albeit slow progress that is taking shape without burning it all at once. A lot of pushing has been done by everyone involved including us fans. By the time this program gets to where it needs to go, I think the name will eventually be where we all want it to be. I do believe we deserve somewhat of an explanation and believe me I think that we need consistency, but I think there is a reason why what happened Saturday hapened. Sorry about the long post, but it was my first lol! Look forward to chatting with all of you! Geaux LOUISIANA!

And of course I'm not talking about on the field. I'm talking about the bigger picture of our branding, marketing and progressing as an athletic department and university as a whole. The fight to be called "Louisiana" is a worthy one, not only because of history back to 1984, but the fact that this university sits in the cleanest, most unique, most cultured and beautiful mid-sized city in the United States. The potential here is beyond the sky.

I'm there with my "Say My Name" sign--and I wasn't the only one. And yet, I suppose our administration--I mean, who else could it be?--makes us look foolish by not "saying our name" in our own house. Yes, I thought muzzling our own PA announcer in our own stadium was shameful. I could have overlooked the "Cajuns-Warhawks" score board but taken in tandem, it just added to my sadness.

Can someone please tell me that for President Savoie, AD Farmer and Martin Hall, that this was a temporary "discretion-is-the-better-part-of-valor" strategic retreat in preparation for a full charge? Is there a long-term strategy that I have missed? Please, someone educate me if that is true.

Otherwise, I've lost a lot of stomach for this fight, if our leadership is going to cut us off at the knees like they did Saturday night. Heck, I guess only a few of us on this board were really fighting it and all the stuff in the media over the last few weeks was illusory. If not, we sure threw it away in a bundle last night. And most students don't "get it." I talk to them every day. To them, the "Louisiana" thing was something we, in a good-natured way, play against with ULM for "bragging rights."

I guess the LSUAMBR people are right--I should "know my place." I am a native south Louisianian who was thrilled to return "home" for graduate school. I'll be leaving the city I've come to love and feel is the best place on earth in May, but I suppose I have to accept the fact that my graduate alma mater, the second largest university in the state with almost 20K students, is nothing more than what they say we are: a "directional" school who should just accept that the flagship is 50 miles east and be happy with crumbs from the table.

I was really motivated about leading the charge on Student Government towards getting a referendum for a student athletic fee of 50-100 dollars per semester put on the Spring election docket. The process would not have been easy; I was politicking behind the scenes trying to line up support from the College of Presidents to put it on the Senate floor and working on tentative strategies to get the student body to pass it like we got the student fees passed last year to help fund the Master Plan. Yes, somewhere in there the Board of Regents would have to sign off on it, but it would not get started without the students passing it. I was going to get in touch with the Athletic Department and get someone--hopefully our AD--to speak--passionately, I hope-- to the COP and the SGA senate, about the need for a consistent, non-variable source of funding. The approximately five million a year would have been a good start.

Maybe I'll feel motivated again in a few days and this is just temporary angst from last night. But right now, I just don't feel like leading it. Someone else will, I hope, and I know the "big picture" is bigger than any individuals in Martin Hall or on Reinhardt Drive. But we need to be led from the top. And whether they intended it this way or not, the message our administrative and athletic departments sent to us front-line troops last night with that surrender to those north Louisiana rednecks and this bush-league conference we are in is: "we're happy with what we have" and "we should know our place."

Now, the vultures in Monroe, Baton Rouge and everywhere else can look, laugh and say as we waved our signs: "Your own leadership doesn't believe that! You are who WE say you are." Why? Because our leadership, by caving last night, did what Richard Nixon said he did for his enemies with Watergate: "I gave them a sword." And our enemies surely did--and will do--what Nixon said his enemies did: " ... and they stuck it in with relish."

I guess what I thought was a widespread grass-roots surge to move forward, being realistically aware of long-term and short-term goals, was nothing more than we got ridiculously lucky to hire a football coach who came in and changed the culture, but who will be gone one day--and maybe soon. I wonder what Hud would say, if he shared his heart-of-hearts, about what happened last night regarding the surrender? Oh btw, I was in a meeting where we listened to candidates for a recently filled high administrative university post. I wish the recent hire well. I will admit, the hire lost me totally by saying, in so many words that: "we need to recognize who LSU is and who we are." The candidate then elaborated that "we are smaller and more nimble so we can make quicker adjustments." I'm probably dumb, but the message in a nutshell seemed to be "We need to recognize we're smaller than LSU." I dunno. That seems to be the culture, and there's only so much that Hud can do to change it off the football field.

But while I hope my feelings of futility right now are temporary and maybe someone educates me that what I feel was surrender is really short-term retreat, I've lost my stomach for this fight and just don't feel like the fight would be worth it for grass-roots student passage of an athletic fee. Don't let me paint a false picture--that can be accomplished from other sources, but this was a campaign I was excited about.

However, the message from Martin Hall and Reinhardt Drive seems to be to sheathe our swords, wave white flags and just accept what is handed down to us from Monroe, the Sunbelt, the media, Baton Rouge, the state legislature and on and on.

Hell, maybe this IS a fight we can't win.

But I ask again, hoping someone can tell me I'm wrong ... did we surrender last night?

comments here