Lamar or La-Monroe?

[UNLV]

Which would you choose?

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/hs/article/Central-s-Mitchell-gets-another-offer-4567535.php

[Alpha Wolf]

I would love to see him play with his brother at Lamar but he'll probably be utilized better if he goes to La-Monroe...

[LUSportsFan]

Don't know what position was offered.  Rivals free site is listing him as Safety.  There are a lot of safeties on the UL-M roster.

It's a hard choice.  I'd hate to have to make it.  In addition to the athletics, there are a lot of things to consider like academics, near home and family or away from home, etc.  I don't think there are any right or wrong decisions.  The biggest factor is how much the individual does on his/her own to take advantage of the opportunity once the choice is made.  The individual's actions and personal drive dictate whether a choice is right or wrong.

[skipmeister]

Lamar needs someone like him! I'd wish we would be in the Sunbelt so that we would be reunited with ULM!

[UNLV]

Nothing hard about this.
ULM will play Baylor
Lamar will play Bacone
ULM will play on ESPN
Lamar will play on 560 klvi
ULM is FBS
Lamar is where you go when you can't get in a FBS.

[skipmeister]

Like said, someone needs to step up either the AD or the head football coach to stop scheduling NAIA/Division II/III schools. We are tired of seeing them often on the schedules! Where's Northern Iowa? If I were the AD, I would with schools for making scheduling agreements.

[LUSportsFan]

ULM is playing Baylor in Waco.  Lamar is playing Louisiana Tech in Ruston.
ULM is playing Oklahoma in Norman.  Lamar is playing Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
ULM is playing Grambling in Monroe.  Lamar is playing Grambling at their place.

ULM has five home games vs our six.  One of theirs is against Georgia State (conference).  They had one win last year and three the year before.  Another is against Tulane (OOC).  Tulane won 2 games last year and one game the year before.  That really is exciting.

Once we get into the conference portion of the schedule, the home game line up is against some pretty good competition (UCA, SFA, McNeese) and Nicholls.  There are a few teams on our lineup that I can get more excited about than Tulane.

I'd like to see us move to FBS and I'd like to see us move to schedule only D-I's in FCS, but every team we play is not Bacone.

[UNLV]

ULM played  Baylor in Monroe. This year is a return trip. C'mon, stop playing with facts, like a politician, as to cover up for Lamar's stupidity.

Wow, SFA and UCA is on Lamar schedule. ULL, a former Lamar conference mate, played Okie st in Lafayette.
GAWD, I can't believe you said UCA and SFA. I'll give you Mcneese. But that is the mentality at Lamar. Lamar can never and should never think it could be equal or above SFA, SHSU, and Mcneese. Tied to the hip. However I bet those schools don't find Lamar attractive on the schedule or willing to stay  behind just to be in conference with Lamar. What a shiftless low self-esteem mentality.

Let me ask the forum a question. There was a time when Lamar was playing the highest level in football while Texas st...SWT... was playing DII football. Fast forward to today. Texas st is playing at the highest level while Lamar is playing jv. Who is was the wiser?

[UNLV]

I was a student at Lamar when Lamar dropped football. There was little to no student outrage. No community outrage. Just mindless minions following ever Lamar stupid move. I felt alone then as do I now.
This community with all the talent deserve better than a FCS in the SLC. Lamar is a disappointment with no community respect. And everyone is ok with that.

[LUSportsFan]

[quote name="UNLV" post="1410856" timestamp="1370389721"]
ULM played  Baylor in Monroe. This year is a return trip. C'mon, stop playing with facts, like a politician, as to cover up for Lamar's stupidity.

Wow, SFA and UCA is on Lamar schedule. ULL, a former Lamar conference mate, played Okie st in Lafayette.
GAWD, I can't believe you said UCA and SFA. I'll give you Mcneese. But that is the mentality at Lamar. Lamar can never and should never think it could be equal or above SFA, SHSU, and Mcneese. Tied to the hip. However I bet those schools don't find Lamar attractive on the schedule or willing to stay  behind just to be in conference with Lamar. What a shiftless low self-esteem mentality.

Let me ask the forum a question. There was a time when Lamar was playing the highest level in football while Texas st...SWT... was playing DII football. Fast forward to today. Texas st is playing at the highest level while Lamar is playing jv. Who is was the wiser?
[/quote]

Not playing with the facts.  Sounds like you may be though.  We didn't play Bacone last year.  All I was doing was comparing the two schedules for the same year which I thought the "Bacone" post was doing.

I understand the point being made and agree with it for the most part, but comparing a marque home game for ULM last year with a "warm up" game on Lamar's schedule this year is not the way to do it.

Your point could have been a lot stronger if you had compared last year's schedule for the two teams.

ULM playing then ranked #8 Arkansas and defeating them in overtime at a designated "home" game in Little Rock.
ULM playing Auburn and losing in overtime.
ULM playing Baylor at home and losing 47-42.
and so on

Arkansas and Auburn ended up with disappointing seasons last year, but Auburn wasn't too far removed from a National Championship and Arkansas was on the rise until Petrino messed up.  Baylor ended up with a decent season.

As far as UCA, SFA, and McNeese, I'm not saying stay joined to the hip.  I was just saying that compared to last year's home schedule, overall this one is more appealing to me.  UCA was #8 FCS last year in the TSN poll and #10 in the Coaches poll.  McNeese is a traditional rival.  SFA had a disappointing season last year, but are usually pretty good at our current level.

I think it was a mistake to leave the Sun Belt.  I think it was a mistake to drop football.  I want our fans to be energized and expect the best and not settle for the status quo or worse.

As to the last question that was asked, what about Boise State?  In 1968, the same year Lamar moved to Division I, Boise State moved from a two year junior college to a four year college.  We had a great opportunity back then, but had some disappointing seasons and lost fan support.  Support came back with a bang during the Larry Kennan years, but fell off drastically after that.  One thing we need to do is increase the number of core rain or shine supporters.  We do really well as far as support when things are good, but poorly when things fall off.  I know its more fun to back a winner, but an increased show of support during the lean years can accelerate improvement.  If we want to move to an FBS conference, we need to do things that positively differentiate us from the other candidates.  I think that's where the supporters and fans can have a big impact.  I think we already have most of the "squares filled".  We as supporters need to show that a move up would make financial sense.  We need to demonstrate that we are not going to drop our support when things get tough.

I see a lot of folks that appear to have the "It can't happen here." type of attitude in a lot of stuff.  I just wonder "Why not".  There are more advantages here than there are a lot of places that have successfully made big jumps.  We just need to recognize the advantages we have, have the drive, and then start using those advantages.

[LUSportsFan]

[quote name="UNLV" post="1410859" timestamp="1370390993"]
I was a student at Lamar when Lamar dropped football. There was little to no student outrage. No community outrage. Just mindless minions following ever Lamar stupid move. I felt alone then as do I now.
This community with all the talent deserve better than a FCS in the SLC. Lamar is a disappointment with no community respect. And everyone is ok with that.
[/quote]

I was a little ahead of you.  A season ticket holder from 1975 when I moved back in the area, I was transferred to Lafayette in late '88 and watched LU and then USL in Lafayette in '89.  We played a competitive game against a Ragin Cajun team lead by Brian Mitchell, a Washington Redskins Ring of Fame honoree.  The whole game, I was thinking what a shame it was for LU to drop football and how stupid the decision was.

I actually think the fans and supporters were lied to back then.  The spin then was that we would put all the money saved on football and work to become a basketball power.  Basketball wasn't too far away from the GREAT years then so it was a logical sell.  We all know how that turned out.  I just hope we are back on the right track now.

[UNLV]

Lamar has screwed itself again. It took 20 years for Lamar and fans to figure out dropping football was a screw-up. Stupid people in powerful positions. Words can't describe by disappointment in Lamar, again.
The SLC being a bottom conference will never attract the talent to bring back the glory days of Lamar in basketball. Think about the last 15 years in the SLC. Lamar was never able to dominate the slc or win a commissioners cup. The next 20 years will be a repeat of those years. Failure after failure. And when Lamar do break through to win a NCAA trip, it will be using SLC talent level which mean at best a 16 seed...1 and done. Lamar will never grow in the depleted slc. The SBC still would like a school around Houston. The second choice would be SHSU. And SHSU will get their duckies in line and will get a SBC invite. I bet any of you any amount of money SHSU will not say no, we rather stay in a conference with Lamar, Incarnate Word, and Nicholls st. Oral Roberts is already making moves for a MVC move. No, the SBC is no basketball powerhouse however the potential is there. There is no potential in the slc being anything more than a play-in conference in MBB. As for football, I expect another losing year from our HIGHEST paided slc football coach. Yes, we should beat Bacone and Oklahoma panhandle st. Our non-conference home games, wow, exciting.

Definition of shiftless (adj)
Bing Dictionary
shift·less [ shíftləss ] 
lacking ambition: unwilling to make the effort to be successful or do something properly
inefficient: lacking the abilities or knowledge required to do something successfully or properly