I think Holtz knows even Tommy boy would have a hard time keeping his head if we lost to a Louisiana in football. Even when we haven't been stellar, we've dominated ULLL under Holtz.Originally Posted by glm47
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I think Holtz knows even Tommy boy would have a hard time keeping his head if we lost to a Louisiana in football. Even when we haven't been stellar, we've dominated ULLL under Holtz.
Yes, I was venting the story is click bait to keep the football conversation from dying.
A lot of what I said was hyperbole and extreme to make a point. I travel frequently across the state and in the south. Yes outside of LA, we are viewed slightly above the rest. We are more often than not viewed as a good football program from a poor state with no market. All of those things are facts. We struggle mightily with image and public relations in-state. I can't tell you the countless negative reactions I have received from folks across the state for having a tech hat on. A large portion of the state hates our guts. A large portion of that is jealousy from regional rivals but a healthy portion is self inflicted. We have no major city to anchor us and thus no market. Our relationship with Monroe, Shreveport and Alexandria runs from tepid to non-existent. Winning on the field has helped us overcome so much, but we have failed miserably from a media relations point of view.
A large portion of the state has tried its damnedest to screw us over for 100 years. I couldn't care less what they think.
The in state feelings are very old. Even when I was growing up in the 50s everyone hated Tech. Very few from my home town ever went there unless it was for engineering. If they changed majors they normally transferred to Northwestern (only 28 miles away) as opposed to the people more local to Ruston who would stay. Most of the people around my home town went to Northwestern to begin with. A few went to LSU. The rest were LSU fans no matter where they went. Tech was always smaller at first so maybe we were a little elitist.
Was "normally" an intentional pun? If so, EXCELLENT.
For those that may not know, Northwestern was named Louisiana Normal College its first 60 years.
For those going into teaching it was. Almost all of our teachers went to Northwestern or Louisiana Normal. Our science teacher actually went to SLI but got his MS and PHD from Northwestern. One thing he learned down there was how to make a great gumbo which he served the Science Club several times.Was "normally" an intentional pun? If so, EXCELLENT.
For those that may not know, Northwestern was named Louisiana Normal College its first 60 years.
A large part of the old generation teachers I had growing up were Northwestern St. grads but that shifted to NLU as the older ones started to retire.
Last edited by KSDAWG; 02-03-2019 at 10:15 PM. Reason: misspelled word.
I wear my Tech hat most of the time when I travel and I've never once had anyone approach me with anything negative about Tech. On the contrary, I've had many. many people say something positive about us when they see Louisiana Tech on my hat. I like to wear my it when I travel because I often run into other Tech alums in airports all over. I've run into fellow alums in airports such as Vancouver, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, as well as many others. I once ran into a Tech grad on a train in Paris, France. We'd have never made a connection but for my wearing my Tech hat. On another trip, I met the Tech graduate who was the pilot of the United jetliner I was boarding.
Anyway, my experience with people around our state is like this: ULM and ULL fans hate us, though the average citizen in Monroe and Lafayette are fairly indifferent to us. LSU people respect us much more than they respect ULL and ULM, but they still think of us as far beneath them. New Orleans, Lake Charles, and Hammond people are totally indifferent to us, and Shreveport people are LSU, Dallas Cowboy, and New Orleans Saints fans, though none of those teams give a rat's rear end about anything going on in Shreveport. So, all in all, I think we're positioned in the minds of most people within our state about where I'd expect us to be. I travel across this state regularly, and I do not see any evidence that a large portion of our state hates our guts.
I have never had any negative responses outside of Louisiana with the exception of an occasional mustard buzzard fan ribbing me about rivalry in Dixie. But for the most part you just covered the entire state and found no group that was pro Tech. We do not appeal to the average Louisiana Sports fan. We are either disliked or ignored which are both bad for business. Winning the hearts and minds of everyday people in our state should be a major priority if we ever want to see a large tv contract again. I love how folks think a couple of billboards claiming ownership of Shreveport or Monroe are gonna do the trick. Its piss poor leadership coupled with horrible marketing.
Anyway, my experience with people around our state is like this: ULM and ULL fans hate us, though the average citizen in Monroe and Lafayette are fairly indifferent to us. LSU people respect us much more than they respect ULL and ULM, but they still think of us as far beneath them. New Orleans, Lake Charles, and Hammond people are totally indifferent to us, and Shreveport people are LSU, Dallas Cowboy, and New Orleans Saints fans, though none of those teams give a rat's rear end about anything going on in Shreveport. So, all in all, I think we're positioned in the minds of most people within our state about where I'd expect us to be. I travel across this state regularly, and I do not see any evidence that a large portion of our state hates our guts.
Last edited by DocMarvin362; 02-04-2019 at 08:58 AM.
I ran into a Mustard Buzzard fan in Fort Worth the day before the Armed Forces Bowl. He and his wife/girl friend were both decked out in their garb...which is why I knew which school they supported. I was sporting my Tech gear. And he and I started chatting while his woman and mine, surveyed the goods in a women's clothing boutique. He was very respectful of Tech, had nothing but good things to say. I threw a few compliments back his way. Finally I asked him if he was going to the game. He grinned and said, "I like Louisiana Tech...but not that much." Hah! fair enough.
LSU is the ONLY school in Louisiana that has any kind of a statewide following. It's always been this way, and it always will be. No slick marketing campaign would or could ever change this fact. It's like Clint once said, "a man's gotta know his limitations". What you're wanting for La Tech, while an admirable ambition, is never going to happen. Take my advice, learn to enjoy Tech athletics for what it is. I beat my head against the wall for years trying to will us to another level, and it simply doesn't work.
I want us to be like Texas Tech is next door. They don't have the following of a Texas or aTm, but they do have a good base statewide.
As an alum of Tech and as an alum of an SEC school, I perfectly understand the limitations that we face. I do try and enjoy Tech for what we are and for the most part always have, however we have reached the point in the evolution of college sports where we either adapt or fade away. This whole thing got started with me stating I would prefer a smaller regional conference where we could actually discuss games with other fans and travel would be easier. I am perfectly ok with who we are on the field, i just want to be better funded and more appealing to folks in state.
Our Athletic Director needs to do a better job.
I don't think I could agree more with this statement.
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