I can only speak for myself, but anytime I was around one of the directional schools, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of "Hey, this isn't a high school? Seriously?" LSU is no Harvard, but jeez, do they really have to put the ABC's on the classroom walls? And yes, I'm referring to a specific thing I saw at USL...oh, excuse me, the esteemed University of Louisiana, Lafayette. :rofl:
Trust me. Nobody here is threatened by the University of Sore Losers or any other small school in this state. They've recently changed their name, changed their DNS domain to louisiana.edu, so it seems like they have a superiority complex that just simply isn't warranted.
USL is simply USL to many of us, especially some of us that went there like me. I alkwys say USL out of habit and it fits better to me. I didn't mind the name change but I still do a double take everytime I see UL-L. I don't think LSU needs to schedule games with UL-L, it's not their job to put money into their football program and I do agree that whoever LSU were to choose to play the others would bitvch like crazy. It's a no win situation. There is some animosity and jealousy from the smaller schools for no other reason than LSU is the flagship university and others feel slighted and there is an attitude of snobbiness from some LSU people, it's a 2 way street. I think he was talking about regular students, not athletes.
A good question to raise here is why are there fans of the regional schools at all? If they're jealous of LSU, why not just go to LSU? It's not like the admissions standards are so high that only the truly elite can get in!? And FT's right, LSU fans are some of the least snobbish people on the planet.
I don't see any reason why LSU should be forced to play anyone that they don't wan to play. Would it help the state and/or the schools? I am sure it would. Should LSU be forced to? Not at all. It is LSU's choice. I really think that is the bottom line. I would love to stomp the crap out of ULM, ULL, and others but I don't see why we should be forced to do it.
I totally agree with this one... I don't care for Guilbeau's cynical / backhanded comments about LSU, but I too have to agree on this one. According to Radakovich, they contacted 30 Div. I-A schools by corresspondence and 15 others by phone and couldn't find an opponent, so they were forced to turn to the I-AA ranks. Well here's my beef with the AD: Why did Radakovich settle on Appalachian State a top I-AA program? When you've got the likes of McNeese, Northwestern State, Nicholls State - who've all been ranked in the Top 25 in I-AA in the past few years. Plus, Southern, Grambling and Southeastern Louisiana who all play I-AA football. If you read the article in the Tennessean about this, it stated that Appalachian State had to move a road-conference game with Elon to make this date happen. I guess none of the state schools could do that? Also, it seems that Judy Southard may have been instrumental in getting this done. The interim AD at App. State used to coach against Southard and they have remained friends. This is at least what the article inimated. I don't buy into Radakovich and Skip saying that if you play one you have to play all statement - total BS. As a taxpayer in this state, I believe that $400K that's going to fund Appalachian State's athletic programs should've been kept in state to help in funding one of the I-AA schools athletic programs, which are in dire need of funds.
The other obvious point is LSU has nothing to win/gain. When they thrash USL, Northwestern, Tech they are suppose to if they even let them in the game these guys think it's a moral victory.
For me it's not about forcing LSU to do anything. Radakovich and Skip said they were forced to go to the I-AA ranks because they couldn't find a Div. I-A opponent. Why couldn't they get a I-A opponent? Because of their own past screw ups in scheduling and letting schools out of contracts for basically peanuts. So, being that they forced themselves to look to the I-AA ranks then keep that money in state. My problem is that as a taxpayer in the state of Louisiana, I'd much prefer to see that $400K stay in state and go towards funding the athletic programs at a Louisiana university than sending it to Tennessee to fund Appalachian State.
And they've got so much to gain by beating Appalachian State, The Citadel, Western Carolina or Western Illinois? :dis:
