Alden Report Released by University of Louisiana Athletics

[Oiler]

I hate to rain on anybody's parade, but the timing of this report couldn't be any worse. It has come out just in time to see the oilfield completely shut down while the entire world heads into recession. The Great State of Louisiana is also completely broke at this time. It also comes out just as the P5 conferences are imposing the cost of pay for play on all of us.

Not to beat a dead horse, but we needed to have acted on the information in this report 15-20 years ago. As usual, our timing is a day late, and a dollar short.

We'll be doing well if we can just maintain the status quo over the next few years.

[CajunRebel]

I hate to rain on anybody's parade, but the timing of this report couldn't be any worse. It has come out just in time to see the oilfield completely shut down while the entire world heads into recession. The Great State of Louisiana is also completely broke at this time. It also comes out just as the P5 conferences are imposing the cost of pay for play on all of us.

Not to beat a dead horse, but we needed to have acted on the information in this report 15-20 years ago. As usual, our timing is a day late, and a dollar short.

We'll be doing well if we can just maintain the status quo over the next few years.

You couldn't be any more wrong Oiler. Despite the downturn, we've managed to have a great fundraising year by focusing on the many people and businesses that haven't been affected by the downturn. And since so little of our budget comes from the Great State of Louisiana, we're in better shape than most to weather a budget crunch. We've increased our budget every year for the last 5 years despite losing tons of State funding.

As for the timing, well, we can't change the past. And there's there's no better time than the present to improve our future. You can't worry about the missed oppourtunities of 15 years ago. And what happened 15 years ago won't stop us from doing what we need to do today.

[CajunRed]

Oh..ok...so let's just give up and send Alden on his way. It's over.

BS. We didn't do it 15 years ago. We have the report in hand NOW. The best time to act is NOW. Let's do it.

[basinbear]

Either we act and react now.....now....or its too late. There is no other way to put this. Mike Alden knows this, others in the business know this and now TJOE knows this. He has now been informed by a professional that he hired for this specific purpose. No, we can't worry about the past except we continued to ignore over a 25 year period what was going on around us (realignment). Our track record is worrisome.

[Just1More]

I hate to rain on anybody's parade, but the timing of this report couldn't be any worse. It has come out just in time to see the oilfield completely shut down while the entire world heads into recession. The Great State of Louisiana is also completely broke at this time. It also comes out just as the P5 conferences are imposing the cost of pay for play on all of us.

Not to beat a dead horse, but we needed to have acted on the information in this report 15-20 years ago. As usual, our timing is a day late, and a dollar short.

We'll be doing well if we can just maintain the status quo over the next few years.

I completely disagree. The constructs required to be put in place need to be in place when the oil economy returns. Everyone in this state is being pinched right now. Many are more vulnerable than UL. Just from a regional perspective, making a move to put these recommendations in place, will advance us immeasurably. When do you work the soil, fertilize and plant seeds? While its raining? In the middle of a harvest? No. It's time for UL to launch. When the oil boosters kick in later, we'll blaze a massive trail. We have things going for us athletically. Our master plan for facilities is underway. RCAF and our athletic programs are moving in the right direction. We are way better off than many others. But if we fail to take advantage of what we have available, it's going to shrink down to a poor base to work with.

As for student athletic fees, our administration needs to go with the recommendations of the assessment. If it's how our competitor universities are funding athletics to a significant advantage, we must tap into it. I'd work it up over a few years to the eventual target fee. But it is long overdue. And I could care less about the nonparticipating student opinion. They get the advantages of what athletic prowess lends the entire university, whether they participate or not.

[Stabil123]

I completely disagree. The constructs required to be put in place need to be in place when the oil economy returns. Everyone in this state is being pinched right now. Many are more vulnerable than UL. Just from a regional perspective, making a move to put these recommendations in place, will advance us immeasurably. When do you work the soil, fertilize and plant seeds? While its raining? In the middle of a harvest? No. It's time for UL to launch. When the oil boosters kick in later, we'll blaze a massive trail. We have things going for us athletically. Our master plan for facilities is underway. RCAF and our athletic programs are moving in the right direction. We are way better off than many others. But if we fail to take advantage of what we have available, it's going to shrink down to a poor base to work with.

As for student athletic fees, our administration needs to go with the recommendations of the assessment. If it's how our competitor universities are funding athletics to a significant advantage, we must tap into it. I'd work it up over a few years to the eventual target fee. But it is long overdue. And I could care less about the nonparticipating student opinion. They get the advantages of what athletic prowess lends the entire university, whether they participate or not.

Correct, 1/2 full glass as opposed to 1/2 empty glass, regarding student fees why let the nuts run the asylum, that should be a parental decision and or the person paying the bill, and there is no doubt that the oil patch will rebound, and that there's definitely better days ahead. Great post.

[Cajunrunner]

Boy, this is definitely a Ragin Pagin thread. A 79 page document that validates, corroborates, and cements what we've all said needed to happen to further our program for years, crafted by outside professionals that have taken a good look at us with a critical eye and made suggestions that will get us there if implemented, and half the posts about it are folks btching about the name.

Never change, you guys.

Bingo.

[Cajunrunner]

One of the competitor's questionnaire mentioned misspelled words on the cajundome jumbotron. I'm glad that was mentioned because when I see that kind of stuff my blood boils. It's amateur and so embarrassing.

Yeah, I think that frightened me more than anything else in that report. Playing right into the "dumb Cajuns"/Waterboy stereotype with stupid ____ like that.

[Cajunrunner]

Oh..ok...so let's just give up and send Alden on his way. It's over.

BS. We didn't do it 15 years ago. We have the report in hand NOW. The best time to act is NOW. Let's do it.

Yep. The Ray Brothers didn't give enough ____s about athletics to even have request such a report. Or if they had, they would have just hired some of their good ole boy buddies.

Ray Authement seemed to despise athletics so much, he robably would read this report and try to do the exact opposite to kill off the energy as fast as possible.

[zephyr]

As someone that has paid a number of fees that TOPS doesn't pay as a parent and continue to do so at this time, it needs to be discussed. I don't argue that the climate is not right today, but when will it be in the future? For too long, our students and parents have paid much cheaper tuition then most other state university students and college students in our region. At some point the fee needs to be addressed and allowed to go to vote. If it does not pass, then students should be charged the public cost for tickets to all sporting events period. Its all part of raising athletic revenue.

Didn't we bring student fees to a vote some years back but it was shot down by the students vote?

[CajunFan83]

Serious question.. Does anyone think that the current leadership in the athletic department can successfully implement this plan? I'm guessing the part that wasn't released had a review of organizational structures as well as its capabilities.

[cajun4life]

Didn't we bring student fees to a vote some years back but it was shot down by the students vote?

We have never brought student athletic fees to a vote. La Tech, ULM and UNO has and it has failed every time.

They way to get it to pass is to present it as a credit hour fee not a total per semester fee. An athletic fee of $12/credit hour is all we need for full time students and $9/credit hour for part time students. That's just over $5 million a year. Couple that with the full 3% transfer and we get to $30 million next year.

[cajun4life]

Serious question.. Does anyone think that the current leadership in the athletic department can successfully implement this plan? I'm guessing the part that wasn't released had a review of organizational structures as well as its capabilities.

Simple answer....NO

[CajunFan83]

Simple answer....NO

I'm in agreement. Is it fair to say until that is changed then the rest of this doesn't matter?

[Cajun90]

...and there is no doubt that the oil patch will rebound, and that there's definitely better days ahead.

Been in the business over twenty years and this one is different. This is the first time in the history of O&G that we have a supply side issue stacked on top of a demand side problem. Geopolitics can often cause sudden changes in our industry and we need to hope something happens in this area because from an economics standpoint I don't think we are close to an end.

[LaCajunsFan]

Correct, 1/2 full glass as opposed to 1/2 empty glass, regarding student fees why let the nuts run the asylum, that should be a parental decision and or the person paying the bill, and there is no doubt that the oil patch will rebound, and that there's definitely better days ahead. Great post.

Agreed. There will always be those pessimistic souls who see only bad things and spout nothing but negativity; the trick is to not let them bring the rest of us down with them.

Sure, we coulda/shoulda done things better, and a long time ago.....but the fact is we did not. Doesn't mean we shouldn't start doing the right thing now.

[GeauxCajuns]

Simple answer....NO

i agree with it in sense that we cant do it with "current" leadership. one thing i read throughout the report is that we need to beef up our staff on all fronts. 8 of 10 schools in the survey had 12-15 people solely responsible for brand protection / promotion. i think our whole marketing staff is like 3 people pulled in different directions. we need to grow support staff as well as the fundraising staff, and thats going to take money. i hope they can see that it needs to be an investment and not look at it as a cost incurred. its going to take spending money to make money and that is the decision that i think everyone on here is waiting to see if it is made or not.

[HoustonCajun]

The University of Louisiana reached out to former Missouri athletic director Mike Alden several months ago, asking him to perform a wide-ranging analysis of the school's athletic programs and the revenue they bring in. On Monday,...

The rest of the story
THE Advocate

Luke, you didn't mention Alden's branding recommendations and our use of LOUISIANA. It is time for the Advocate's Acadiana Edition to step up in support of LOUISIANA and not avoid the subject altogether with continued use of Louisiana-Lafayette.

[CajunRed]

Luke, you didn't mention Alden's branding recommendations and our use of LOUISIANA. It is time for the Advocate's Acadiana Edition to step up in support of LOUISIANA and not avoid the subject altogether with continued use of Louisiana-Lafayette.

That is why I don't read the Advocate.

[Stabil123]

All the indicators are depicting that we're close to the bottom, Saudi's losing $14 billion a month, the shale plays were adding serious quantities to production every month, but those rigs are stacked, and the production decreases have not shown up yet, More than likely we'll see a slow recovery by the end of the year. That said, if we have such a large surplus why are we still importing 8 million barrels a day from the Middle East? Unfortunately , any players with large debt will probably not survive, especially the independent shale players.