TSPOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

[Mean Gene]

Heck, if we are going to do that, let's just invite Lisa Leslie. Wonder what Cheryl Ford is planning to do after the WNBA?

Now THAT has possibilites since Karl is so involved w/the men's program!!

[Dawgfan71227]

I don't know what is going on, but Brooke's name is still on her office door. Scott's name has been removed from his. It may not mean anything, though. I haven't had the chance to ask anyone I know that may be in the know.

[DrumDawg]

i was told brooke is leaving

[Dawgfan71227]

We have all been told that.... Just wondering exactly what is going on in the Office.

[champion110]

We have all been told that.... Just wondering exactly what is going on in the Office.

Exactly. Plus, she is still up on latechsports.com as a coach. Joni and Scott are not.

[odumonarch]

You must not know Louisiana Tech very well. I could see your point if the Techsters had never been in the elite of the WBB world. At one point, the Techsters could wipe the floor with any team and that includes Tennessee and Pat summit. Anything other than a return to that type of success is a failure. So, how could you say that I should not expect us to recruit against the elite coaches when at one point we were not only doing so but outrecruiting them?? Louisiana Tech has just as much rich tradition to fall back on at Tennessee and Connecticut. I expect the Techsters to be fighting for #1 seeds in the tournament and for national championships. Building a program just to be able to defeat the Louisvilles, Middle Tennessees, and Temple is not even worth the time. That may be ODU's goal but I sure as hell hope it is not ours.

I actually do know the history of La Tech very well. I've followed ODU women's basketball since the late 1970's when ODU was on top of the sport. I remember the great ODU vs La Tech battles very well.

If you think anything other than La Tech being a dynasty is a failure...then you are setting yourself up for failure. The sport has changed greatly since the 1970's and 1980's. Heck, the sport has changed greatly in the last 5 years! More schools are pumping a ton of money into women's basketball now and it's hard for smaller schools (with much smaller budgets) to keep up.

I love that La Tech fans still dream big. I (and many other ODU fans) do to. I would love to see ODU return to #1 and win national titles on a regular basis. In my heart, I think it could happen. But it's just much, much, MUCH harder now than it was 5, 10, 25 years ago. A midmajor hasn't made the Final Four since 2001 (Jackie Stiles and SW Mizzou St). A midmajor hasn't won the national title since La Tech in 1988. History and tradition are great but today's high school kids weren't alive in 1988 (or 1985 when ODU last won a title). A high school junior was in 7th grade the last time La Tech advanced to the Sweet 16 (2004).

These football schools have bigger and better facilities. Arenas with all the bells and whistles, fancy lockerrooms and player lounges, modern weight training equipment and medical treatment facilities, spacious meeting rooms with all the latest technology for scouting. They play in leagues with better competition and TV packages. They have big travel budgets to play anyhere and travel by comfortable charter planes. They have big recruiting budgets for their coaches to travel (by charter plane) to any place in the world to recruit anyone. They can work the system to their advantages (they don't need to play midmajors) and get preferable NCAA seeding (ODU went 31-5, RPI #8, 4 top 25 wins and yet only got a #5 seed).

How does La Tech or ODU compete with that? You have to have a smart hard working coaching staff who can use their resources wisely. They recruit the best players they can and develop them into a team that can beat the elite teams. Then you hope you can keep that coaching staff happy before a football school buys them away. ODU has that with Wendy Larry and La Tech had that with Leon Barmore. Hopefully Spoon can bring that back to La Tech.

Thanks Champ. I don't let things I read on the Internet bother me. I enjoy this board and I'll try to stick around during the season. I hope ODU and La Tech play each other in the future!

[barkinloud]

I actually do know the history of La Tech very well. I've followed ODU women's basketball since the late 1970's when ODU was on top of the sport. I remember the great ODU vs La Tech battles very well.

If you think anything other than La Tech being a dynasty is a failure...then you are setting yourself up for failure. The sport has changed greatly since the 1970's and 1980's. Heck, the sport has changed greatly in the last 5 years! More schools are pumping a ton of money into women's basketball now and it's hard for smaller schools (with much smaller budgets) to keep up.

I love that La Tech fans still dream big. I (and many other ODU fans) do to. I would love to see ODU return to #1 and win national titles on a regular basis. In my heart, I think it could happen. But it's just much, much, MUCH harder now than it was 5, 10, 25 years ago. A midmajor hasn't made the Final Four since 2001 (Jackie Stiles and SW Mizzou St). A midmajor hasn't won the national title since La Tech in 1988. History and tradition are great but today's high school kids weren't alive in 1988 (or 1985 when ODU last won a title). A high school junior was in 7th grade the last time La Tech advanced to the Sweet 16 (2004).

These football schools have bigger and better facilities. Arenas with all the bells and whistles, fancy lockerrooms and player lounges, modern weight training equipment and medical treatment facilities, spacious meeting rooms with all the latest technology for scouting. They play in leagues with better competition and TV packages. They have big travel budgets to play anyhere and travel by comfortable charter planes. They have big recruiting budgets for their coaches to travel (by charter plane) to any place in the world to recruit anyone. They can work the system to their advantages (they don't need to play midmajors) and get preferable NCAA seeding (ODU went 31-5, RPI #8, 4 top 25 wins and yet only got a #5 seed).

How does La Tech or ODU compete with that? You have to have a smart hard working coaching staff who can use their resources wisely. They recruit the best players they can and develop them into a team that can beat the elite teams. Then you hope you can keep that coaching staff happy before a football school buys them away. ODU has that with Wendy Larry and La Tech had that with Leon Barmore. Hopefully Spoon can bring that back to La Tech.

Thanks Champ. I don't let things I read on the Internet bother me. I enjoy this board and I'll try to stick around during the season. I hope ODU and La Tech play each other in the future!

Why don't you tell me what champ was talking about as far as me being offensive or rude in my post to you? I didn't see it. I simply responded to you and said that anything other than La. Tech competing at the highest level is mediocre. What harm is in that. And don't tell me anything about tone because that is not something you can know.

[odumonarch]

I wasn't offended by your post, Barkinloud. You brought up an interesting idea and I tried to address it point by point. No harm, no foul.

My "thanks" to Champ was for the warm welcome to the boards. I guess I could've made that more clear. But like you mentioned, tone is sometimes hard to interpret on the Internet.

[Dawgfan71227]

Don't get a tone on the board dammit!!

[champion110]

Don't get a tone on the board dammit!!

Yeah, there are WAY too many tones already.