LSU Watch Party @ The Cove

[southshore]

A new era.

[CatCam]

Well yes and I think this is actually a good thing.
IF (Big IF) we can get students interested in anything sports related on the campus, maybe we can get them interested in their own teams.

[WhyCantYouSpell]

I've tried to be generally positive about the takeover and rebranding.

But I kinda eye roll and  think the idea of actively promoting another Universities athletics program/football team is really weird/foreign.

I get that we're all "one happy family now" but do these watch parties exist on LSU campuses?

And while I think value in having events like this to foster community among LSU New Orleans students and alum, it's going to leave a bad taste in my mouth if they're just doing this for LSU football.

However, if they're doing this to foster that sense of community they damn well better do it for road games for our baseball and basketball programs respectively.....

that said I hope Clemson upsets.

[Steve]

Yeah I'm not a fan.

The more you make LSU (BR) feel like the New Orleans campus' team, the better chance somebody someday is gonna go "Wait... why do we have separate teams here?  LSU is the team representing all of us."

There is a definite clear positive to the LSU branding but beware.  Too much blending and too much identity melding is a fine line you don't want to cross.

[SECOER]

Yeah I'm not a fan.

The more you make LSU (BR) feel like the New Orleans campus' team, the better chance somebody someday is gonna go "Wait... why do we have separate teams here?  LSU is the team representing all of us."

There is a definite clear positive to the LSU branding but beware.  Too much blending and too much identity melding is a fine line you don't want to cross.

So I am going to give a different slant to this......we get the students there to watch a football game and give a look of how it feels to pull for something with "your school colors" and maybe it plants the seed for future discussions.     Look I am an optimist and realize this is the long game but it is better to start this with the students on campus now and build on it over time.   

As I student in the late 70's with no football team my date and I would attend the Green Wave games in the Superdome.    Not my university but it was local, we had some friends attending the games and we enjoyed the "after parties".     Maybe you build that type of momentum with the students on the Lakefront by watching "Big brother" and plant the seed that we should have our "own" team to pull for in the fall.    

Just my opinion.

[Steve]

So I am going to give a different slant to this......we get the students there to watch a football game and give a look of how it feels to pull for something with "your school colors" and maybe it plants the seed for future discussions.     Look I am an optimist and realize this is the long game but it is better to start this with the students on campus now and build on it over time.   

As I student in the late 70's with no football team my date and I would attend the Green Wave games in the Superdome.    Not my university but it was local, we had some friends attending the games and we enjoyed the "after parties".     Maybe you build that type of momentum with the students on the Lakefront by watching "Big brother" and plant the seed that we should have our "own" team to pull for in the fall.    

Just my opinion.

Yeah, I get it, I just think -- realistically -- the chances are much better that you're reinforcing an "LSU is our team" mindset that is already undoubtedly sort of there to begin with and exacerbated by the new branding.

The level of optimism that has to be there to think this kind of thing will plant a seed for LSU New Orleans football is quite impressive, and anything is possible, I suppose.  I just think it's kind of weird that in two months, OUR basketball team will be opening its season AGAINST the school they're holding a watch party for on OUR campus.  How many people in that watch party will be rooting for the Privateers on November 3?  Well okay, the correct answer is nobody will be watching or cares because only football matters in Louisiana, but I guess that was a rhetorical question.

Just don't say I didn't warn ya.  It's not really a big deal but it's also not great to be crossing that line.  You know I am a hardcore Privateer fan, so anything that makes it harder for EVEN ME to answer the question "So why exactly does the New Orleans campus need its own teams?" is not great.

[reduno]

I just hope its not indoctrination. I get that LSU saved us (we've been told that in the media non stop) and I TRULY believe there is overall good in this but I'm just not wanting to be a large part of the big brother is controlling us mindset yet. LIke steve, I'm a privateer and I went to UNO...changing the name doesn't change where I went to school, it just changes what the school is now, so its a lil harder for me to just 'sit there and take my medicine and be a good boy' right now.

There's PLENTY of good that has and can come out of this (not like we really have a choice) but I'm not ready to buy in that the LSU vaccine is going to cure everything. It might be the GFS forecast when the EURO model is more accurate. Time will tell. Not sure how much time I have to find out.

[WhyCantYouSpell]

Going to be honest, I remember when I was a student the cove promoted watch parties for LSU Football.

It's nothing really that new, just more jarring since we're now part of the system.

During the early 2000s, the amount of folks who supported LSU athletics drastically outweighed those who supported UNO. You could see it just in gear alone that people would wear on campus.

[SECOER]

Going to be honest, I remember when I was a student the cove promoted watch parties for LSU Football.

It's nothing really that new, just more jarring since we're now part of the system.

During the early 2000s, the amount of folks who supported LSU athletics drastically outweighed those who supported UNO. You could see it just in gear alone that people would wear on campus.

I served on the UNO Alumni Board and attended a retreat on a Saturday during football season.    I was shocked (Maybe shouldn't have been) but more than half of the board members wore "LSU gear" to the meeting.    I do not think more than 2 of them attended the Big Skool but those who wore the gear didn't even bat an eye.   

When I asked one of them about it they said....IF UNO had a football team they would have worn UNO Silver and Blue.     Thus when Nicklow came on board and had the town hall / survey I was a participant.     I sat in with a host of faculty and some community leaders.     When asked about the draw to UNO I told them is was the fact that is was a good school close to home and I could afford it.  

When they asked about pride in the school I said that there is none.    When asked why I told them the same thing the person told me at the Alumni Retreat.    There  was NOTHING to rally around.    I said the F word in front of all of them....they gasped in horror....but football is the magnet that keeps the alumni engaged.

[Steve]

Well, if it's something they've already been doing for years, it's even less of a big deal. A continuing symptom of an issue, perhaps, but not a new development.