GREAT Article!!!!!!!!!!!

[tylerdawg]

Building to an average crowd of 25,000 over a three year period in North Louisiana is an easy problem to overcome.

All of or problems are easily fixed if alumni would do a better job of trying to organize support, rather than gripe about the lack of support.

I see more positive signs every week of our alumni trying to get involved. The alumni who will get off their ass and start doing something to support our University will see the fruit of their labor in 2-3 years....it doesn't have to be just monetary support. The alumni association needs people to volunteer to help recruit high school kids to our university.....all that takes is a phone call to say I will help and then spend the time to help. Why don't you make the phone call?

[PawDawg]

I saw something that slightly resembled a plan. Ronny atleast has a goal. He should publicize his compaign to get 15,000 people to give $200. I definitly think its attainable.

Exactly 03. The plan would have probably been publised if Ronny had been allowed but we can't have all these "lofty" expectations floating around out there. All the "anti-Tech" crowd would have more negative ammo if it doesn't happen. This is thinking like a politician (Oakes and Reneau) vs. a business person (Ronny and many other "small time" donors).

At least Jim is finally stating publicly that we need to market. We'll see but I ain't holdin' my breath. What a novel idea of trying to capture the market from Sheveport to Vicksburg and South Arkansas. Do we still have a product to market?

[TechsasDawg]

...All of our (sic) problems are easily fixed if alumni would do a better job of trying to organize support, rather than gripe about the lack of support.

I see more positive signs every week of our alumni trying to get involved. The alumni who will get off their ass and start doing something to support our University will see the fruit of their labor in 2-3 years....it doesn't have to be just monetary support. The alumni association needs people to volunteer to help recruit high school kids to our university.....all that takes is a phone call to say I will help and then spend the time to help. Why don't you make the phone call?

Right on, Tylerdawg! You notice how quite it gets on this board when you actually ask people to do something besides bitch? Maybe you can stir them up a bit. One guy has already organized the re-painting of the wide border around the upper ring of the TAC. Unfortunately, nobody from this board is involved. Hopefully, we will all do better.

TD
~~

[HogDawg]

All of you guys would be SHOCKED at how quickly Louisiana Tech's fortunes would turn around if we could just beat Fresno St., Boise St. and Hawaii in football this year. Do that, and we absolutely STEAMROLL over everybody else in the WAC.

Guys, Louisiana Tech hasn't "won" anything of note in a long time. It's time to do some WINNING. We desperately need an 8-3 year and a WAC football title. That by itself will motivate the alumni and cause many of our problems to disipate. A 2004 WAC football title would also serve to motivate the rest of our athletic teams on campus.

Right now, everybody should just FORGET about CUSA and all the BULLSHIT swirling around it. We should concentrate 100% of our efforts on WINNING A WAC FOOTBALL TITLE. Do that, and I promise you, THEY WILL COME!

HD

[Bigdog13]

HD,

I completely agree and will go a little further in saying that if we beat Hawaii, BSU and FSU last year (all very close & winnable games) we would have beaten Rice and Tulsa as well. We'd have gone to a bowl and be in much better shape right now.

The thing that scares everyone is that all three of those winnable games were decided by poor coaching choices. Then those early losses ruined the kids attitude and we lost our heart.

Lets hope Moats success takes a lot of choices out of Bicks hands and this new DC can make some strides on the other side of the ball.

But like you said before Winning Matters.

[VS]

damn oledawg that's depressing,though not so much untrue.The only benefit I see us having over ull is that we really can capitalize on N.Louisiana because it is a little far to travel to an LSU game.Even Ulala graduates are in Baton rouge on Saturday night.It doesn't matter if you're in an urban setting when your urban supports another urban.Tech can gain some ground on the Shreveport market.

s

Get the football back to where it was in the late 1990s and the market won't matter- see the invite to Marshall. While this round tech football was better than UTEP or the sunbelts, it wasn't particularly good. The market can be overcome.

I think your competition is likely to be FIU or FAU -whichever one is going 1A. ULL's market, while bigger than ruston, isn't good and they've never had a football team.
Sorry you didn't get the nod but Hog is right- win football games- it will do wonders.

[Edward_Longshanks]

Two things I want to know:

1.What is our share of WAC revenue once the Fresno/Hawaii alliance takes their larger cut?

2.When the Texas programs depart, what will be the cost to transport our teams out west?

The revenue share disparity is impressive. But what will it be if/when the MWC wannabees start taking what once was our equal share as a conference member?

While we had regional programs in the WAC, it was clearly an advantage. The travel costs were barely over the same price paid as a Belt member. Now that those regional rivals will be completely absent, and in consideration of inflated fuel prices, what will it cost us to remain in this conference? It isn't going to remain at the $900,000 zone.

Those are the numbers we need to know...and those are the numbers we're not getting from this article.

[Brad]

Some prominent doctors in Monroe who are still friends with GIannini told me that Giannini told them that La Tech will never be in CUSA as long as he is at USM. He says that he will always remember that La tech was a prick to NLU and USL when tech joined the WAC. Giannini will push ULL through before LTU

Well if he keeps pulling the crap at USM like he did at ULM, he won't be there long.

BTW: Was he at ULM when Tech joined the WAC. I thought Alford was in control.

[RealityCheck]

Two things I want to know:

1.What is our share of WAC revenue once the Fresno/Hawaii alliance takes their larger cut?.

Based on WAC revenue sharing currently and most likely to remain in effect, the "Fresno/Hawaii alliance" will not get a larger cut. If a slightly larger cut is allocated to schools making TV appearances, Tech will not be at a great disadvantage.

EL, you need to stop misquoting the Fresno Bee article--no changes in revenue sharing have been approved.

2.When the Texas programs depart, what will be the cost to transport our teams out west?

Only football, men's basketball, baseball, women's basketball, women's volleyball, softball, and starting in 2005 women's soccer must travel on a regular basis to other WAC campuses for regular season play.

Utah State adds a flight trip. SMU leaving removes a bus round-trip. Rice and Tulsa both leaving removes a round trip with one bus leg and two flight legs for both basketball teams and volleyball. As the WAC stands today for 2005 that would leave travel costs not that much more than now.

If Idaho joins that would add one more western stop that would increase costs, but many on this board have overexaggerated the difference over current costs even if Idaho is asked to join.

[bustle]

I think your competition is likely to be FIU or FAU -whichever one is going 1A. ULL's market, while bigger than ruston, isn't good and they've never had a football team.>>>>

Tell us everything you know about UL, and the Lafayette market.....

Tell us everything you know about whats happening at UL.

You sound like a fountain of knowledge, please enlighten us VS.

LOL!!

[arkstfan]

The travel costs were barely over the same price paid as a Belt member.

Left unsaid in the article is that Tech as an independent in that final Sun Belt year traveled to Hawaii in football and had only four home games, so travel was inflated that season.

[BlueRaiderPride]

The 2 main things I see from this article are:

1. What a blow it was to not get in C-USA (Guess we already knew this)
2. What an awful conference the SunBelt is.

Definitely the "Caught between a rock and a hard place" applies here. However, if these numbers are accurate, it does make sense to stay in the WAC at least for a couple of years. If we were talking saving several hundred thousand dollars a year , the Sun Belt might be a better option ,but these numbers seem to be a wash at best.

Travel costs will go up a little in 2005 but maybe not too much. Assuming UTEP and NMSU trips to be about the same price, the only increase would be trips to Utah State for all teams. If Idaho is added that would be still more. We really need UNT instead of Idaho.

The numbers apparently were so good in fact, that Mr. Oakes decided to use a particular year where La Tech did NOT travel to Hawaii or Boise in football and had regional away games against Louisaina-Lafayette and LSU and home game in Shreveport against Miami, FL!!

I want Mr. Oakes to show us your travel expenses during a season where your team does not play SMU, Rice, or Tulsa and has Utah State, New Mexico State, and Idaho added to the schedule instead! Let's see a year where San Jose State is included YEARLY seemingly as La Tech has managed to avoid trips to the West Coast as of late. Oh, and let's add that trip to Hawaii!!

You can do anything with numbers, and Mr. Oakes is apparently trying to fool alot of people.

Come back in say 2006 when La Tech will likely have San Jose State, Boise State, and Hawaii on the road and one or two of either Utah State, New Mexico State, and Idaho on the road as well.

I suppose La Tech will be scheduling more body bag games against SEC teams since they'll be paying a crap-load in traveling expenses in the all-Western WAC.

Oh, and just so you know why I'm including Idaho, early indications from Karl Benson and Wright Waters suggest Idaho IS WAC-bound and UNT and UL-Lafayette are NOT leaving the Sun Belt!!

[BlueRaiderPride]

I think your competition is likely to be FIU or FAU -whichever one is going 1A. ULL's market, while bigger than ruston, isn't good and they've never had a football team.
Sorry you didn't get the nod but Hog is right- win football games- it will do wonders.

Florida Atlantic and Florida International are BOTH going 1-A and either one or both would deliver markets that could make up for the possible loss of Central Florida to the Big East.

Middle Tennessee State will also be a threat to La Tech's shot at CUSA IF Memphis winds up in the Big East with Central Florida, East Carolina, and Marshall as is rumored.

[sportkid]

You Belters need to lighten up. You guys aren't joining the WAC. We aren't joining the Sun Belt. Good luck and get gone.


SK

By the way Blue Raider. The state of Hawaii covers most of the travel costs associated with a game on the island.

[OsageJ]

Good luck in the WAC. BWAHAHAHAHA!