Inside this August 2008 edition of the L Club Newsletter:


L Club Welcome

Dear L-Club Member,

I hope the summer has gone well for you and your family. I know the summer is about over with the return of the “back to school” displays and the popping of pads and the clang of weights.

I hope all of you enjoyed the The Letter, our magazine which was mailed to all “L-Clubbers” in May. That magazine was the last mass magazine we will mail. All L Clubbers will receive this e-newsletter which is scheduled to be sent to you prior to the kick-off of football and then prior to the tip-off of basketball. Our magazine, beginning with the fall edition, will be mailed to our dues paying members only.

In regards to our dues, we have had really good conversation with the Alumni Association Board of Directors and they have agreed to combine the dues efforts of our two groups. In the coming weeks, you will receive an new dues program introductory letter from me and it will include your opportunity to financially support your L Club and your Alumni Association at a slightly discounted rate! This has the potential to reduce mailings to both groups.

Your L Club is currently working on the following reunions:

Football—October 3-4, 2008—for Coach John David Crow’s players from 1976 to 1980
Baseball—October 3-4, 2008—for Coach Shake and the ULM Baseball alums
Tennis—October 17-18, 2008—both men’s and women’s teams, headed up by Phil Trahan

We need for those of you who played on the above teams/sports, to make sure your record is current. Please go to:
www.ulm.edu/alumni - update my information. This online form also has a spot for “additional news” and we need you to indicate the years you played in that block.

With the assistance of Adam Prendergast and Jeff Hendrix in the Sports Media Relations Department, we are updating the online list of Hall of Famers and will now include their year of induction. Also with their assistance, we hope to have the brief bio and photo of each Hall of Fame member available once you click on the Hall of Famer’s name. This information will be the same that is in the Hall of Fame program each year.

We are planning an expansion of the current Hall of Fame display to accommodate at least 60 additional new members. This new part of the display is currently in the planning stages but is could potentially be across from the current display next to the ticket window in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

I wanted to pass along some information to you that in the very near future, we will have available embroidered L-Club polo shirts, crew neck fleece tops and eventually caps exclusively for L-Club members. The embroidery will be the ULM with the Warhawk head emerging out of the L.

There will be a link on the L-Club Web site to the merchandise selection with photos of the items. Sorry about the model, I am sure your shirt will look a lot better! Ordering instructions will be on the L-Club web site along with payment options for these items.

One last item of business is the Athletic Foundation Membership Drive. Please join this organization at the level that you can. This organization serves a vital function to our entire Athletic Department and all of our teams need your continued support.

I look forward to seeing you at the Athletic Foundation dinner on Thursday, August 21 at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

Contact me if you have any questions or need any information at rwilliamson@ulm.edu.

Robert Williamson


Robert W. Williamson
L-Club President
(318) 342-1316
rwilliamson@ulm.edu





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All About You!

Big Reunions Coming Up

There are three big reunions coming up this fall. Two are scheduled for Oct. 3-4 (the ULL game)—the annual baseball get-together and the reunion of football players from the John David Crow era. A tennis reunion is set for Homecoming weekend Oct. 17-18 (the North Texas game).

Coach Jeff Schexnaider is spearheading the baseball reunion while Andy Snelling is the mover and shaker for the Crow reunion. A committee composed of Kirby Arceneaux, Robert Williamson, Jody Norman, Bill Weimer, Kenny Roberts, Jimmy Adams, Darwyn Anderson, Vic Minor, Robert Newman, Paul McElroy, Jim Whitehead, Coach Lou St. Amant, Mark Pickett and Tag Rome is helping with the Crow event.

Coach Crow is planning to be present for the reunion and early indications are that we will have a great turnout of players, coaches, managers and trainers. If you want more information, you can contact Andy by phone at (312) 316-1745 or by email at worldbk@bellsouth.net.

The Crow years were a time of great expectations and momentous events for ULM. One of the biggest events was the opening of what is now Malone Stadium in 1978 and this year is the stadium’s 30th anniversary. The first game in the new stadium was a 21-13 victory over Arkansas State on Sept. 16 and Kirby Arceneaux had the honor of scoring the first ULM touchdown in the stadium on a 73-yard run.

ULM went on to compile a 6-4-1 record that year, capping the season with an 18-0 blanking of Southland Conference champion Louisiana Tech before a record crowd of 16,500.

One of ULM’s greatest tennis players, Phil Trahan, is chairman of the tennis reunion. The reunion will include former members of both the ULM women’s team and the men’s squad. Before it was closed down for budget reasons in 2002, men’s tennis was the university’s most successful sport, winning 19 conference championships in three leagues and being nationally ranked six times.

Women’s tennis has also been a very successful program, being nationally ranked four times and going to the NCAA Tournament as recently as 2003. The girls have won eight conference titles, all in the Southland Conference.

Two of ULM’s most illustrious sports alumni, Ben Sheets (Baseball, 1997-99) and Breaux Greer (Track, 1995, 97-99), made news this year. Sheets, the Milwaukee Brewers’ star righthander, was selected to pitch in the All-Star game for the fourth time and was the National League starter. Greer, the reigning U.S. javelin champion, made the American Olympic team for the third time.

It was great to see former baseball all-American Larry Turner (Baseball, 1969-70) recently. Larry is retired from his insurance business but retains his interest in baseball. He’s jealous of the metal bats used by today’s college players and says, “I could have hit .400 with those bats.” You know, he probably could have.




Reunions of Football, Tennis and Baseball Teams Set This Fall

Reunions of some of ULM’s most significant and successful teams highlight the fall calendar of L Club events.

Football players from the John David Crow era will gather with their coach on campus Oct. 3-4 and be recognized at the game against Louisiana-Lafayette. Andy Snelling, a team manager during the 1976-80 period, is the chairman of the reunion committee.

The Oct. 3-4 weekend will also be the date for the annual Baseball Reunion arranged by Sun Belt Coach of the Year Jeff Schexnaider.

The homecoming game against North Texas on the weekend of Oct. 17-18 will highlight the Tennis Reunion for both the menʼs and womenʼs teams. One of the greatest ULM tennis players, Phil Trahan, is chairing this reunion with help from wife Karen Zimmerman Trahan.

The Crow era was a watershed period for ULM football and the athletics program in general. The 1978 team was the first to play in new Indian Stadium, now Malone Stadium, and snapped a string of seven losing seasons by compiling a 6-4-1 record highlighted by an 18-0 blanking of Southland Conference champion Louisiana Tech. In 1980, the then-Indians enjoyed an even better record, 7-4. These seasons kick started one of the most successful periods in ULM football history, climaxed by the 1987 national 1-AA championship.

Baseball has also been a very successful sport at ULM and Coach Schexnaiderʼs 2008 Warhawk team added the latest chapter by winning the league championship in its second year in Sun Belt competition. ULM baseball teams have won 12 championship in three different conferences, plus a national runnerup trophy in 1970.

ULM has produced all-Americans, championships, and national rankings in both menʼs and womenʼs tennis. Before being eliminated for budget reasons in 2002, menʼs tennis had won more conference titles than any other ULM sport, 19, while being nationally ranked six times. The womenʼs team went to the NCAA Tournament as late as 2006 and has won eight conference championships and ended the season nationally ranked four times



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Football expert picks Warhawks to win Sun Belt title

ULM doesn’t rate very high in the 2008 football preview magazines. Two publications (Lindy’s and Phil Steele) picked the Warhawks to finish in third place. Two others picked our team fifth and sixth.

I wouldn’t fret about this if I were you. The two magazines that picked our team low seem pretty confused. Athlon picked ULM fifth on page 48 but sixth on page 174. The other, Sporting News, predicted a sixth-place finish for the Warhawks but also rated us “Ascending,” which is pretty odd considering sixth place is three places lower than we finished last year.

But take heart, Warhawks Fans, somebody who knows more about ULM and the Sun Belt Conference than these magazines picks our team to win the league championship.

That’s me.

Here are the reasons I think ULM win finish in first place:

1—ULM has the most favorable schedule in the conference with both of the top rated teams, Florida Atlantic and Troy, playing the Warhawks in Malone Stadium and four SBC games in all at home.

2—The Warhawks have the best offensive skill players in the conference in senior Kinsmon Lancaster at quarterback, sensational sophomore Frank Goodin and four other speedsters at running back, and seniors LaGregory Sapp, Marty Humphrey and Zeek Zacharie and junior Darrell McNeal at the receiver positions.

3—The Warhawks come into 2008 with tremendous momentum after winning three straight and five of their last six games in 2007.

4—One of those 2007 wins was over Alabama, easily the most prestigious team beaten by a Sun Belt member in the conference’s seven-year history.

5—Another 2007 win was over SBC co-champion and New Orleans Bowl winner Florida Atlantic. It was the only conference loss suffered by FAU.

Now, just to be fair and balanced, here are the reasons ULM might not win the championship:

1—ULM plays the two top-rated teams, Florida Atlantic and Troy, in Malone Stadium.

2—ULM no longer has the best and most experienced offensive line in the conference.

3—Florida Atlantic has 20 starters returning from what was the SBC’s strongest team in 2007.

Now I’ll explain what seems to be the contradiction in the two No. 1 reasons listed above. Playing at home is supposed to be a big advantage but it hasn’t always been that way for ULM. Remember 2005, when the Warhawks finished in a three-way tie for first place in the Sun Belt? The two league losses ULM suffered both came at home, to Florida International and Louisiana Lafayette. Only twice has ULM had a winning record at home since joining the Sun Belt.

ULM will play FAU and Troy back-to-back Oct. 25 and Nov. 1. Other home games are Sept. 13 against Alabama A&M in the home opener, Louisiana Lafayette in the conference opener Oct. 4 and North Texas Oct. 18 in the homecoming contest.

The key to ULM’s success last year and the year before was its offensive line. The same five players started in both 2006 and 2007 but now two all-conference players, tackle Kyle Cunningham and center Adam Hill, have completed their eligibility after each starting 46 consecutive games. Three-year guard starter Patrick Avinger is also gone and fellow guard Aaron Schutz has been forced to give up football because of a chronic injury. This leaves only senior tackle Larry Shappley as a sure returning starter.

Offensive coordinator and line coach Steve Farmer and other assistants have recruited some promising young linemen over the past three years and there is the general feeling, shared by this writer, that the Warhawks will have another outstanding offensive line. Two ex-junior college stars, center Keating Helms (6-2, 300) and tackle Ryan Dercher (6-6, 295), are expected to fill two of the vacancies, and youngsters like Doug Stroud (6-6, 313), Justin Roberts (6-5, 291), Josh Andrews (6-5, 325), Kyle Kersten (6-4, 285), Andrew Stout (6-2, 290), Cade Burks (6-5, 285), Brett Thompson (6-3, 270) and Emmanuel Lockett (6-2, 325) insure that this will be another fine blocking line.

As for the skill positions, ULM has lost all-time leading rusher Calvin Dawson. Ordinarily, that would be a devastating blow, but running back is actually one of the strongest positions on the Warhawk team. Dawson’s backup, Frank Goodin, ran for 596 yards as a freshman last year and had a slightly higher average per rush than Dawson, while redshirt freshman Robert Williams (6-0, 197) was one of the stars of spring practice before suffering a broken leg. The Warhawks also signed three standout runners, Rodney Lovett (5-9, 195) from Ft. Scott, Kan., CC, and two high school burners, Louisiana sprint champ Luther Ambrose (5-9, 165) and Carl Elie (5-9, 195) from Florida.

Lovett, who has three years of eligibility left, ran for 1,328 yards and 12 scores at Ft. Scott and was honorable mention all-America. Elie ran for more than 1,200 yards and 19 TDs as a senior at Immokalee, Fla., High and was recruited by Wisconsin and West Virginia, among others. Ambrose, however, could be the pick of the litter. He ran for 1,360 yards and 20 touchdowns last fall despite missing some games with injuries and ESPN ranked him as one of the top 20 running backs in the country. Then he finished his career at St. James High by running the state’s fastest 100 meters along with winning the long jump and triple jump and anchoring the winning 400-meter relay team in the state meet. He has been clocked at 4.29 in the 40-yard dash and beat 2006’s top football recruit, Joe McKnight, now at Southern Cal, in the 100 in last year’s state meet.

Lancaster will be ULM’s main man at quarterback for the third straight year. The Shreveport senior almost doubled his TD pass production over 2006 and cut his interceptions by 29 percent while completing 174 of 294 throws for 1,866 yards, 13 scores and 10 interceptions last fall. He added 398 yards on the ground. Lancaster was one of the best clutch performers in the league, leading ULM to a No. 2 Sun Belt rating in red zone offense and No. 1 in third-down conversions.

McNeal, tight end Zacharie and Sapp ranked 1-2-3 in ULM receiving. McNeal had 54 catches—tied for ninth on the Warhawks’ all-time list--for 502 yards. Zacharie was the top scorer among the receivers with six touchdowns among 36 catches for 437 yards while Sapp pulled down 33 passes for 486 yards and three scores. There’s also Humphrey, one of the heroes of the Alabama game, plus junior J.C. McCoy and several promising redshirt freshmen.

ULM’s defense came on strong in the latter days of the season, particularly in the win over Alabama. The Warhawks were No. 1 in Sun Belt rushing defense and No. 3 in overall defense. Seven starters from that unit return this year, led by second team all-league players Greg James (6-1, 195) at free safety and Cardia Jackson (6-2, 228) at linebacker.

The graduation losses were concentrated at two positions, tackle and cornerback. ULM went to the Mississippi junior colleges for help at both places and signed three defensive tackles, all from Pearl River CC, and two backs. Alex Ford (6-1, 310), recruited by Alabama, among others, is considered the best of the new tackles. The other Pearl River products are Thomas Robinson (6-0, 285) and Aaron Williams (6-0, 300). DeMarcus Carmouche (6-5, 293) returns for his final season and ex-walkon Aaron Moore (5-10, 284) is an upward bound sophomore. True freshman Casey Narcisse (5-11, 287) will be a star someday, maybe this year.

At DE, the Warhawks have last year’s top four—Aaron Morgan (6-5, 215), Alaric Coleman (6-3, 250), Jameson Jordan (6-5, 235) and Travis Eickman (6-3, 230). Coleman led all linemen in tackles with 44 and Morgan had 34 including 6 ½ for losses. Redshirt freshman Troy Evans (6-1, 236) was one of the stars of the spring game with three sacks

ULM is deep at linebacker with Jackson, the 2007 tackle leader with 79, Josh Thomas (6-1, 195), who had 61, the highly promising redshirt freshman Ken Dorsey (6-0, 250), who had six tackles in the first game before going out for the season with an injury, Theo Smith (5-11, 200), who started two games as a true freshman, Chance Payne (6-2, 230), Jeremy Moll (6-1, 220) and redshirt C.C. Carpenter (6-0, 230).

There is also depth at the safety positions led by three starters. James and James Truxillo (6-1, 190) were regulars last year and Josh Thompson (6-1, 215) was second team all-Louisiana in 2006 before missing most of 2007 with injuries. He led the SBC in interceptions in 2006 with six and made 83 tackles.

Troy Giddens (6-0, 210), a former LSU Tiger who ended up at Copiah-Lincoln CC, can also be a factor at safety and is fast enough—he was the team’s fastest man in spring practice—to play corner as well. Another juco product, Otis Stamps (5-10, 175) of Hinds CC, made a strong bid for the starting job at one corner with a game-leading six tackles in the spring game. Redshirt freshman Nate Brown (5-10, 175) is the favorite on the other side while Alex Blake (5-11, 170) also factors in.

Junior Scott Love (6-0, 190) was the top punter in the SBC last year with a 42.1 average. The new kicker is redshirt freshman Radi Jabour, not as consistent as the departed Cole Wilson presently but capable of longer range.

You can check out the Warhawk's 2008 football schedule at ULMWarhawks.com



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Tailgate with the Warhawks!

Join fellow alumni and friends in the Grove and on the road as the Warhawks hit the field of play!

at Little Rock vs. Arkansas - September 6
We have a reserved tailgating spot which faces Markham Street (directly across from First Security Bank) – look for the ULM Alumni Tent. Please park either on the golf course (the best way to get to the golf course is to come down I-430 and get off at the Fair Park exit) or in the neighborhood across Markham Street (there is a fee to park in either location). Parking is not available at our tailgating location. Bring your lawn chair and join us for food, drink, and fun. PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY.

at Tulane - September 20
We have secured a block of rooms at the Hilton Riverside for only $99.00 per night! This rate ends on September 8. We will have a pre-game social at the Hilton from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. on September 20. Reserve your room today by calling (504) 556-3790 (code is ULM) or by accessing:
www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/MSYNHHH-ULM-20080919/index.jhtml

at Ole Miss - November 15
We have a tailgating spot reserved on the corner of University and Taylor – look for the ULM tent – more to come! Hotel space is very hard to find in Oxford so if you’re going to this game, book a room now!

Tickets for all of these games are on sale at the ULM Ticket Office – 318-342-3ULM – please buy your tickets from us!


Tailgating information - Home

Need more tailgating information? Contact the ULM Athletic Ticket Office at (318) 342-3ULM. Grove spots are reserved!

Grove Map - www.ulm.edu/alumni/ulmtailgatemap.pdf


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EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK: The Case of the “Elite” and the Non-Elite

Bob AndersonBy Bob Anderson

Most ULM fans, I think, reacted to the news that the university would no longer play Louisiana Tech in any sport except where games were already contracted with the attitude of “Good Riddance!”

I understand that attitude. I also understand those who view the severance of athletic relations with regret and perhaps even sadness.

The ULM-Tech games in football, basketball and baseball were not only big money makers but great fun when our team won and usually even fun if we lost. The rivalry gave each game, no matter what the sport, an extra edge. These were games that meant something, even if both teams were terrible.

But whatever your feelings about ULM’s move to quit playing Tech, it was bound to happen. For almost 30 years since Tech began trying to end the football series between the two schools, the only question was when all sports relationships would end.

For those young ULM fans who place the blame for all this squarely on Tech AD-Football Coach Derek Dooley, it’s time for a history lesson.

Dooley is just a guy who happened to be AD at a bad time. Yes, he made a bad choice of words but these were words and an attitude that he absorbed in the 20 months he’s been in Ruston. If you remember, when Dooley was first named football coach, somebody asked him about playing ULM. His reply at that time was something along the lines of “Sounds like a good idea. We’ll look into that.” His father, Vince Dooley, the former football coach and AD at Georgia, told ULM Coach Charlie Weatherbie that the two teams “ought to play each other.”

Dooley has since adopted the party line of hard-core Tech fans about ULM. Tech doesn’t want to play ULM because it is an “elite” college and ULM evidently is not. That is obviously also the line of the Tech Athletic Council and the school’s top officials.

When it was proposed in the early 1950’s that ULM, then a junior college, be elevated to senior college status, Tech officials were unhappy. A senior college only 30 miles away in a bigger city than Ruston would cost Tech some students and state appropriation. When the bill to turn Northeast Center of LSU into Northeast Louisiana State College came up in the state senate, there were only four votes against it. One of them was from the senator from Ruston.

Tech would not play Northeast in football until NLSC became a member of the Gulf States Conference in 1953. Tech quickly learned it had little to fear from Northeast because the scores of the first two games were 61-6 and 51-6. But in 1956, Northeast won in Monroe, 7-0, and the loss cost Tech the GSC championship.

Tech, however, continued to usually win the football game but in the late 1960’s Northeast won two in a row over Tech and three of five. These included the 1970 game, which was the final Gulf States Conference contest because Tech and Southwestern, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, were abandoning the GSC for the Southland Conference.

There was another major change at Tech. The Ruston school in 1968 moved into a revolutionary new stadium, “revolutionary” because it was the first big-time football facility for any state-supported college in Louisiana except for LSU. It seated 23,318, almost double the size of any other stadium at Louisiana’s traditional “state colleges.”

Northeast continued to play Tech during its years as an independent and lost seven straight, usually by big margins.

But in the 1970’s, two events combined to make the Northeast-Tech rivalry hot again. First was the naming in late 1975 of John David Crow as Northeast head football coach and AD. Crow was a big, big name, a North Louisiana native, only the second former Heisman Trophy winner to become a college coach, later a NFL star, and more recently an assistant coach with the San Diego Chargers. And he named a former Tech player and assistant coach, Pat Collins, to his staff.

The second event was the opening of a new football stadium at Northeast. Opened in 1978, the new facility was 133 feet high and seated 20,000 at that time. The hoopla accompanying Crow’s arrival and the building of the new stadium fired up the Northeast fan base like nothing before. The fire got even hotter on Nov. 18 when the Indians soundly whipped (18-0) a Tech team that had already won the Southland title and been invited to the Independence Bowl.

The victory over Tech was a watershed game, not only snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Bulldogs but giving Northeast its first winning season since 1970 and coming before a record crowd of 16,540. Two years later, the Indians beat LTU again, 19-14, to climax another winning season. But the fun had just begun for Northeast fans.

In 1981, Crow left to enter private business and was succeeded by Collins. The former Tech assistant led the Indians to a 35-0 rout of Tech at Ruston in his first season.

If Tech President Jay Taylor wasn’t already convinced, that 35-0 runaway confirmed his desire to get away from Northeast. Northeast had applied for admission to the Southland Conference and the application came to a vote in 1982. The Southland had to get a new member because Southwestern had withdrawn and league membership was down to only five, but Tech and Taylor were determined that the new member wouldn’t be NLU.

Tech had opposed NLU’s membership bid before but the Monroe media had not reported it. But Monroe Morning World Sports Editor Ted Lewis broke the story in a January 19, 1982, column. Under the pressure of public opinion and area political leaders after Lewis’ column, Taylor relented and voted for NLU. But it was an empty gesture since NLU already had enough support to get in the conference even without Tech’s vote.

With Northeast now in the Southland Conference with Tech, beating the Bulldogs was to become not a sometime thing for Indian fans but an annual occurrence. In his first seven years as coach, Collins would lead Northeast to six victories over Louisiana Tech including two blowouts in Tech’s stadium. The only Tech victory during this period was the 17-10 contest in 1982 when Tech’s winning touchdown pass went to an ineligible receiver, an oversight by the officials that Collins protested at the time and one that was thoroughly verified by the Monroe newspapers and television stations the following week. The disputed loss cost ULM the conference championship, giving it instead to Tech with a 6-0 record to ULM’s 5-1 mark.

In 1987, NLU opened the season with a 44-7 victory in Ruston and went on to finish 13-2 and win the NCAA Division 1-AA national championship—the first and still the only time a Louisiana team ever won that championship.

Tech had already announced its intention to leave the Southland Conference, which it did before the 1987 season, and move up to 1-A football. It became a 1-A independent in 1989.

Tech quit playing NLU after the 1991 season, even though there was another game, scheduled for Monroe, on the contract.

The question has often been asked, why does Tech refuse to play ULM? There has never been a satisfactory answer from Tech. Over the years the game developed into the best-attended on each team’s schedule. The biggest crowd to ever see a game in Aillet Stadium was the 1997 gathering of 28,714 to see the Bulldogs edge ULM, 17-16—an attendance record the Bulldogs urgently want to break Aug. 30 when they host Mississippi State. The last time the teams played in Ruston the attendance was 27,260 in 1999 and six other meeting in Aillet Stadium drew over 20,000.

Since the 1987 game, Tech has dominated the series. So if Tech draws its best crowd for ULM and wins most of the time, the question remains, why?

Tech’s latest answer, provided by Dooley, seems to be that Tech is “elite” and ULM is not. So is Central Arkansas, on last year’s Tech schedule, an “elite” opponent? Or Southeastern Louisiana, on the slate this fall?

Of course not. Among the most comical reasons put forth for Tech’s refusal to play the Warhawks is that the Bulldogs want to play stronger opponents than ULM and Tech’s league (Western Athletic Conference) is better than ULM’s (Sun Belt). If Tech is so hell bent on playing Southern Mississippi and other Conference USA teams, they could drop their 1-AA opponents like Central Arkansas and Southeastern.

Tech is tired of having to travel to Honolulu, San Jose, Fresno and other points far away from Ruston and wants desperately to get in Conference USA. But Southern Miss and the other CUSA teams know Tech’s record of conference hopping and its inflated view of its own importance. They obviously don’t want Tech and don’t need Tech or any other new member since they have 12 members now. Tech is a fine institution with a good academic and athletic tradition, but officials of many CUSA members have learned, as sports fans in our area have, that for numerous Tech fans and officials, Tech Pride has long ago descended into Tech Arrogance.

The answer to the “why?” question is, by a process of elimination, that hard-core Tech fans both hate and fear ULM. They hate ULM because it is close enough to Ruston to keep Tech from becoming the “LSU of North Louisiana” that it thinks it should be. They fear ULM because although Tech holds a big lead in the football series between the two schools, it has been more than a minor irritant and has often rained on the Tech parade. None of Tech’s other traditional Louisiana rivals ever beat the Bulldogs five games in a row as ULM did in the 1980’s or beaten them so thoroughly. It was embarrassing and threatened Tech’s dreams of becoming a big time power, of being as good as LSU. The success of John David Crow and Pat Collins, the national championship, the recent win over Alabama as well as ULM’s ascendancy for various periods in men’s and women’s basketball, in track, baseball and other sports has made Tech look upon its neighbor not as part of a fruitful rivalry such as the one enjoyed by North Carolina, Duke and North Carolina State —all within a few miles of each other—but as a pesky and sometimes dangerous adversary.

Too bad. ULM-Tech was a rivalry that attracted the interest of all of North Louisiana. People would come to that game that would not show up for any other game on either team’s schedule. Tech and ULM are the losers but the main losers are all the sports fans of our area.



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L Club Wrap Up

We hope you have enjoyed this "special" edition of the L Club online newsletter. Please feel free to send your comments and suggestions to rwilliamson@ulm.edu or call 866-Warhawk. Thanks for your continuing support of ULM and of the L Club. I look forward to seeing you on campus this year in support of our university.

Go Warhawks!

Robert Williamson


Robert Williamson
L Club President
(318) 342-1316
rwilliamson@ulm.edu



Don’t forget to check out the “Lost Members” link located at the top of this newsletter – help us locate these lost teammates. Send any information to me at rwilliamson@ulm.edu.


Watch your "snail" mail for our new dues program. The letter should arrive at your home within the next two weeks.