(05-30-2014 11:02 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(05-30-2014 05:29 PM)Thegoldstandard Wrote:  Here is a pretty good indication of why they are not.

Manage a regional then royally screw up the tickets.
http://www.sportswatch.com/commentary-se...ette-joke/

So... the NCAA allows the local team to offer tickets to their fan base first. School takes that opportunity. The fan base buys all the tickets.

This is somehow royally screwing up?

If the Cajuns get eliminated I doubt most Cajun fans will hold on to their tickets and they probably will be available widely on the secondary market.

That's like saying AState is screwing up its facility plan because they keep redoing the plans because more money shows up (press box is on third set of blueprints).

Where's 10th at to tell you that's what happens when you have good support.

That's what happens when you have good support.

On radio today someone pointed out that La Laf could seat only 3,700 for baseball. Bush league.

(06-01-2014 06:35 PM)westwolf Wrote:  

(06-01-2014 09:08 AM)chess Wrote:  One of the thoughts that immediately came to mind is that C-USA teams will need out of conference games, too. When a conference mops every team with a similar athletic budget and success, how does this help?

Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, UTSA, Middle Tennessee, and UAB can benefit by playing Louisiana without having the school as a conference mate.

La Laf lacks the necessities.

What necessities are those? Louisiana is adding seats to our football stadium in 2 phases. Phase 1 will be completed by August 1 and will increase seating to 38,000. And, we we begin construction in July on a $30M building that will house weight room, locker rooms, meeting rooms, coaches offices, etc. Phase 2 will be a couple of years after that is completed and will enlarge the stadium to 50,000 with suites, executive offices, restaurant, ticket office and store to sell Cajun gear. We already have an Indoor Practice facility. We just built a new softball park that is among the finest in the country. We are building a new baseball stadium after next year and major renovations to our T&F and Soccer facility. Basketball plays in a 12,000 seat arena that is currently having a $25M renovation. Total expenditures over $150M.

Baseball is #1 in the country and hosting a super regional. So far, we are 5-1 vs SEC this year. Baseball stadium holds almost 4,000 and is #12 in the country in attendance. The atmosphere is top 10 in the country. Our new stadium will seat 7,500. Softball just went to the WCWS for the 6th time and hosted a super regional sweeping Arizona. Football has won 10 games 3 years in a row and won 3 straight bowl games beating SDSU, ECU and Tulane. And our best team to date will be this year. We had over 45,000 fans at the N.O. Bowl and dominated Tulane in attendance in their own city. Basketball won over 20 games, went to the NCAA's and we had the national defensive player of the year who will be a 1st round draft pick this year.

We have over a $20M budget this year and rapidly growing. Our Ragin Cajun Athletic Fund (RCAF) is growing dramatically. Lafayette is now the 3rd largest city and fastest growing city in Louisiana, not to mention the most affluent. The Greater Lafayette area is over 600,000 people, so we are a sizable market.

Just because a school is in a market doesn't mean that it controls the market or even has much of a presence in that market. IMO, that is where CUSA made their mistake with the conference additions by not selecting Louisiana and Ark State.

(06-03-2014 07:04 PM)westwolf Wrote:  On radio today someone pointed out that La Laf could seat only 3,700 for baseball. Bush league.

Louisiana seats just under 4,000 and has 3,500 season ticket holders. Our attendance is #12 in the country. Our atmosphere is among the best in the country and many schools try unsuccessfully to imitate tie it. We will have a new 7,500 seat stadium within 2 years. Watch the Super Regional games this weekend vs. Ole Miss and see if you still think we are bush league.

BTW, if 4,000 seats makes us bush league, what does that say for the following schools:

Rutgers - 1,500
USF - 3,200
UCF - 3,600
Boston College - 1,000
Duke - 2,000
GA Tech - 4,157
NC State - 3,000
Ohio State - 4,450
TCU - 4,500
Oregon - 4,000
Missouri - 3,031

(05-30-2014 05:29 PM)Thegoldstandard Wrote:  Here is a pretty good indication of why they are not.

Manage a regional then royally screw up the tickets.
http://www.sportswatch.com/commentary-se...ette-joke/

That article is bull....we sent every school in the Regional 200 tickets...SOP...same as LSU did to us last year....don't believe everything you read

(06-03-2014 07:04 PM)westwolf Wrote:  On radio today someone pointed out that La Laf could seat only 3,700 for baseball. Bush league.

As of June 2nd we are 10th in attendance in the country and ranked #1 in the Nation...your statement is Bush league

(06-03-2014 08:36 PM)HoustonCajun Wrote:  

(06-01-2014 06:35 PM)westwolf Wrote:  

(06-01-2014 09:08 AM)chess Wrote:  One of the thoughts that immediately came to mind is that C-USA teams will need out of conference games, too. When a conference mops every team with a similar athletic budget and success, how does this help?

Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, UTSA, Middle Tennessee, and UAB can benefit by playing Louisiana without having the school as a conference mate.

La Laf lacks the necessities.

What necessities are those? Louisiana is adding seats to our football stadium in 2 phases. Phase 1 will be completed by August 1 and will increase seating to 38,000. And, we we begin construction in July on a $30M building that will house weight room, locker rooms, meeting rooms, coaches offices, etc. Phase 2 will be a couple of years after that is completed and will enlarge the stadium to 50,000 with suites, executive offices, restaurant, ticket office and store to sell Cajun gear. We already have an Indoor Practice facility. We just built a new softball park that is among the finest in the country. We are building a new baseball stadium after next year and major renovations to our T&F and Soccer facility. Basketball plays in a 12,000 seat arena that is currently having a $25M renovation. Total expenditures over $150M.

Baseball is #1 in the country and hosting a super regional. So far, we are 5-1 vs SEC this year. Baseball stadium holds almost 4,000 and is #12 in the country in attendance. The atmosphere is top 10 in the country. Our new stadium will seat 7,500. Softball just went to the WCWS for the 6th time and hosted a super regional sweeping Arizona. Football has won 10 games 3 years in a row and won 3 straight bowl games beating SDSU, ECU and Tulane. And our best team to date will be this year. We had over 45,000 fans at the N.O. Bowl and dominated Tulane in attendance in their own city. Basketball won over 20 games, went to the NCAA's and we had the national defensive player of the year who will be a 1st round draft pick this year.

We have over a $20M budget this year and rapidly growing. Our Ragin Cajun Athletic Fund (RCAF) is growing dramatically. Lafayette is now the 3rd largest city and fastest growing city in Louisiana, not to mention the most affluent. The Greater Lafayette area is over 600,000 people, so we are a sizable market.

Just because a school is in a market doesn't mean that it controls the market or even has much of a presence in that market. IMO, that is where CUSA made their mistake with the conference additions by not selecting Louisiana and Ark State.

If CUSA had known the rules of the game were going to change on them at the start of realignment I'm sure they would have gone a different direction, and their lineup of schools would be different today.

Some teams and conferences were able to change course and go in a different direction, but CUSA stayed the course , which is why they were the worse non-aq conference in football the last two years, and likely to be the worse G5 Conference in football.

The SBC, the best non-aq conference last year, and I think #2 the year before, really just got lucky because they had to wait on the Conferences ahead of them to make their moves.

Not only did the SBC keep their best football teams (all small market), they were able to add Georgia Southern and Appalachian State (again small markets, good football), who are much better adds in the new playoff era than any of the schools that left as far as football. Don't think you will find many, if any, SBC fans that would swap them for any of the programs that left.

The SBC did make one CUSA type addition in Georgia State ( big market, bad football).

(06-04-2014 07:37 AM)Seminole Indian Wrote:  

(06-03-2014 08:36 PM)HoustonCajun Wrote:  

(06-01-2014 06:35 PM)westwolf Wrote:  

(06-01-2014 09:08 AM)chess Wrote:  One of the thoughts that immediately came to mind is that C-USA teams will need out of conference games, too. When a conference mops every team with a similar athletic budget and success, how does this help?

Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, UTSA, Middle Tennessee, and UAB can benefit by playing Louisiana without having the school as a conference mate.

La Laf lacks the necessities.

What necessities are those? Louisiana is adding seats to our football stadium in 2 phases. Phase 1 will be completed by August 1 and will increase seating to 38,000. And, we we begin construction in July on a $30M building that will house weight room, locker rooms, meeting rooms, coaches offices, etc. Phase 2 will be a couple of years after that is completed and will enlarge the stadium to 50,000 with suites, executive offices, restaurant, ticket office and store to sell Cajun gear. We already have an Indoor Practice facility. We just built a new softball park that is among the finest in the country. We are building a new baseball stadium after next year and major renovations to our T&F and Soccer facility. Basketball plays in a 12,000 seat arena that is currently having a $25M renovation. Total expenditures over $150M.

Baseball is #1 in the country and hosting a super regional. So far, we are 5-1 vs SEC this year. Baseball stadium holds almost 4,000 and is #12 in the country in attendance. The atmosphere is top 10 in the country. Our new stadium will seat 7,500. Softball just went to the WCWS for the 6th time and hosted a super regional sweeping Arizona. Football has won 10 games 3 years in a row and won 3 straight bowl games beating SDSU, ECU and Tulane. And our best team to date will be this year. We had over 45,000 fans at the N.O. Bowl and dominated Tulane in attendance in their own city. Basketball won over 20 games, went to the NCAA's and we had the national defensive player of the year who will be a 1st round draft pick this year.

We have over a $20M budget this year and rapidly growing. Our Ragin Cajun Athletic Fund (RCAF) is growing dramatically. Lafayette is now the 3rd largest city and fastest growing city in Louisiana, not to mention the most affluent. The Greater Lafayette area is over 600,000 people, so we are a sizable market.

Just because a school is in a market doesn't mean that it controls the market or even has much of a presence in that market. IMO, that is where CUSA made their mistake with the conference additions by not selecting Louisiana and Ark State.

If CUSA had known the rules of the game were going to change on them at the start of realignment I'm sure they would have gone a different direction, and their lineup of schools would be different today.

Some teams and conferences were able to change course and go in a different direction, but CUSA stayed the course , which is why they were the worse non-aq conference in football the last two years, and likely to be the worse G5 Conference in football.

The SBC, the best non-aq conference last year, and I think #2 the year before, really just got lucky because they had to wait on the Conferences ahead of them to make their moves.

Not only did the SBC keep their best football teams (all small market), they were able to add Georgia Southern and Appalachian State (again small markets, good football), who are much better adds in the new playoff era than any of the schools that left as far as football. Don't think you will find many, if any, SBC fans that would swap them for any of the programs that left.

The SBC did make one CUSA type addition in Georgia State ( big market, bad football).

While I think C-USA would have been smart to invite both ASU and ULL, I don't think any of the other additions were bad risks. Charlotte, building a new program from scratch, might be a risk but they seem to have money and fan support. I do think we will be glad they were added before long and I think their basketball is going to be quite good and we have the added bonus of a very good market. FIU has had good football in the past and given their location for recruiting, both FIU and FAU have plenty of upside. UTSA, another new program, is already showing that they were a great add for football plus they are in a very good recruiting area and have good fan support. UNT is back to it's winning ways in football and was another positive add. LTU has had plenty of success over the years in football and basketball. They were a good add. ODU, a move up to be sure, but a great add with a market plus what looks like good football and basketball programs. Football has a waiting list for season tickets. They are going to be proven as a good choice. WKU and MT both have had success in football and basketball. Both good adds. Add to that the success that Marshall and Rice have had recently, the history of USM as a winning football program (except for the last 2 years) and that leaves you with UTEP and UAB needing vast improvement in football but both bring pretty good basketball. Looking at C-USA from top to bottom I see plenty of upside to the future in the major sports and a good mix of big, medium and small markets. The moves made by the conference were a gamble on the future and it looks to me like it has a great chance of paying off, that is until either the AAC or MWC need additions.

Inviting ULL and ASU would be another plus even if the conference becomes a 16 school league. I see no reason to put the Sun Belt down, they have proven to be good on the football field and have taken their own risks in adding Idaho, NMSU, plus a few move ups of their own.

(06-03-2014 07:04 PM)westwolf Wrote:  On radio today someone pointed out that La Laf could seat only 3,700 for baseball. Bush league.

Right because there are so many schools that average 3000 or more in attendance

(06-04-2014 08:24 AM)MinerInWisconsin Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 07:37 AM)Seminole Indian Wrote:  

(06-03-2014 08:36 PM)HoustonCajun Wrote:  

(06-01-2014 06:35 PM)westwolf Wrote:  

(06-01-2014 09:08 AM)chess Wrote:  One of the thoughts that immediately came to mind is that C-USA teams will need out of conference games, too. When a conference mops every team with a similar athletic budget and success, how does this help?

Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, UTSA, Middle Tennessee, and UAB can benefit by playing Louisiana without having the school as a conference mate.

La Laf lacks the necessities.

What necessities are those? Louisiana is adding seats to our football stadium in 2 phases. Phase 1 will be completed by August 1 and will increase seating to 38,000. And, we we begin construction in July on a $30M building that will house weight room, locker rooms, meeting rooms, coaches offices, etc. Phase 2 will be a couple of years after that is completed and will enlarge the stadium to 50,000 with suites, executive offices, restaurant, ticket office and store to sell Cajun gear. We already have an Indoor Practice facility. We just built a new softball park that is among the finest in the country. We are building a new baseball stadium after next year and major renovations to our T&F and Soccer facility. Basketball plays in a 12,000 seat arena that is currently having a $25M renovation. Total expenditures over $150M.

Baseball is #1 in the country and hosting a super regional. So far, we are 5-1 vs SEC this year. Baseball stadium holds almost 4,000 and is #12 in the country in attendance. The atmosphere is top 10 in the country. Our new stadium will seat 7,500. Softball just went to the WCWS for the 6th time and hosted a super regional sweeping Arizona. Football has won 10 games 3 years in a row and won 3 straight bowl games beating SDSU, ECU and Tulane. And our best team to date will be this year. We had over 45,000 fans at the N.O. Bowl and dominated Tulane in attendance in their own city. Basketball won over 20 games, went to the NCAA's and we had the national defensive player of the year who will be a 1st round draft pick this year.

We have over a $20M budget this year and rapidly growing. Our Ragin Cajun Athletic Fund (RCAF) is growing dramatically. Lafayette is now the 3rd largest city and fastest growing city in Louisiana, not to mention the most affluent. The Greater Lafayette area is over 600,000 people, so we are a sizable market.

Just because a school is in a market doesn't mean that it controls the market or even has much of a presence in that market. IMO, that is where CUSA made their mistake with the conference additions by not selecting Louisiana and Ark State.

If CUSA had known the rules of the game were going to change on them at the start of realignment I'm sure they would have gone a different direction, and their lineup of schools would be different today.

Some teams and conferences were able to change course and go in a different direction, but CUSA stayed the course , which is why they were the worse non-aq conference in football the last two years, and likely to be the worse G5 Conference in football.

The SBC, the best non-aq conference last year, and I think #2 the year before, really just got lucky because they had to wait on the Conferences ahead of them to make their moves.

Not only did the SBC keep their best football teams (all small market), they were able to add Georgia Southern and Appalachian State (again small markets, good football), who are much better adds in the new playoff era than any of the schools that left as far as football. Don't think you will find many, if any, SBC fans that would swap them for any of the programs that left.

The SBC did make one CUSA type addition in Georgia State ( big market, bad football).

While I think C-USA would have been smart to invite both ASU and ULL, I don't think any of the other additions were bad risks. Charlotte, building a new program from scratch, might be a risk but they seem to have money and fan support. I do think we will be glad they were added before long and I think their basketball is going to be quite good and we have the added bonus of a very good market. FIU has had good football in the past and given their location for recruiting, both FIU and FAU have plenty of upside. UTSA, another new program, is already showing that they were a great add for football plus they are in a very good recruiting area and have good fan support. UNT is back to it's winning ways in football and was another positive add. LTU has had plenty of success over the years in football and basketball. They were a good add. ODU, a move up to be sure, but a great add with a market plus what looks like good football and basketball programs. Football has a waiting list for season tickets. They are going to be proven as a good choice. WKU and MT both have had success in football and basketball. Both good adds. Add to that the success that Marshall and Rice have had recently, the history of USM as a winning football program (except for the last 2 years) and that leaves you with UTEP and UAB needing vast improvement in football but both bring pretty good basketball. Looking at C-USA from top to bottom I see plenty of upside to the future in the major sports and a good mix of big, medium and small markets. The moves made by the conference were a gamble on the future and it looks to me like it has a great chance of paying off, that is until either the AAC or MWC need additions.

Inviting ULL and ASU would be another plus even if the conference becomes a 16 school league. I see no reason to put the Sun Belt down, they have proven to be good on the football field and have taken their own risks in adding Idaho, NMSU, plus a few move ups of their own.

Not that familiar with the non-SBS additions to CUSA but all the SBC additions seem to be good fits for CUSA, and are solid additions.

By any measure CUSA is a better conference than the SBC today, but the difference between the two should be minimal in a few years.

SBC is just ended up being better in football (really not a nickel's difference, between any of the 4 non-aq's last year, but the AAC might have a little separation from the other P5's this year), and football is what this has all been about.

(06-04-2014 08:43 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(06-03-2014 07:04 PM)westwolf Wrote:  On radio today someone pointed out that La Laf could seat only 3,700 for baseball. Bush league.

Right because there are so many schools that average 3000 or more in attendance

^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^

Averaging 1000-1500 fans a game for baseball puts you squarely in the top 50 in attendance. Averaging 3000 a game puts you in the top 20.

(06-03-2014 07:04 PM)westwolf Wrote:  On radio today someone pointed out that La Laf could seat only 3,700 for baseball. Bush league.

Thanks for the laugh, clown.

NCSUx Wolpfack
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doak_Field

Quote:Capacity 3,000 (2,500 chairback seats)

^^^Now THAT is Bush League.^^^
http://deadspin.com/5540998/wolpfack-typ...-efic-pail

Within the next 2 years, we'll bring the Tigue up to around 5,000 seats with a brand new grand stand. The athletic master plan called for around 7,000.

Really wouldn't want to go above 4,500 though. Love the atmosphere at the Tigue. Really does suck around regional time if we're lucky enough to make the tournament and even host, but I think they can get creative and figure out how to include some standing room only areas in the future. Wonderful problem to have though!

We love us some baseball.

(06-04-2014 03:50 PM)Complacent Cajun Wrote:  Within the next 2 years, we'll bring the Tigue up to around 5,000 seats with a brand new grand stand. The athletic master plan called for around 7,000.

Really wouldn't want to go above 4,500 though. Love the atmosphere at the Tigue. Really does suck around regional time if we're lucky enough to make the tournament and even host, but I think they can get creative and figure out how to include some standing room only areas in the future. Wonderful problem to have though!

Yeah, once the grandstand is finished and the current 1st base and 3rd base stands are extended to the grandstand, you could install patios behind the top of the 1st base and 3rd base stands, and when extended seating was required have terraces available to be temporarily installed on the patios. You could also have footings installed to support temporary terraces on the outfield side of the 3rd base stand ... the tennis courts mean there is no space for a permanent stands there, but it would give the flexibility to expand seating capacity when special circumstances warranted it.

(06-04-2014 09:42 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 08:43 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(06-03-2014 07:04 PM)westwolf Wrote:  On radio today someone pointed out that La Laf could seat only 3,700 for baseball. Bush league.

Right because there are so many schools that average 3000 or more in attendance

^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^

Averaging 1000-1500 fans a game for baseball puts you squarely in the top 50 in attendance. Averaging 3000 a game puts you in the top 20.

We have 3,500 season ticket holders and our avg. attendance is now in the top 10. No one has been able to duplicate the unique atmosphere at "The Tigue". You will see it on display in this week's Super Regional vs. Mississippi on ESPN 2. Yes it is older and needs renovations which it will have in a year or so. But, so does Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago. Sometimes, the ambiance makes up the difference.