https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/spo...709af.html

Starting with the beginning of this school year, all scholarship UL football players will be encouraged to be a minimal level $50 member of the Ragin' Cajun Athletic Foundation. The move will be optional for walk-on members of the squad.

How can it be both a "team rule" but also that players are "encouraged" to do it? Never seen anything like this before.

(08-16-2019 11:37 AM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/spo...709af.html

Starting with the beginning of this school year, all scholarship UL football players will be encouraged to be a minimal level $50 member of the Ragin' Cajun Athletic Foundation. The move will be optional for walk-on members of the squad.

How can it be both a "team rule" but also that players are "encouraged" to do it? Never seen anything like this before.

Shouldn't the pound of flesh that they pay in student athletic fees be enough?

So far, this is at the top of the leaderboard for most ridiculous thing in college athletics for this school year.

Quote:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns coach Billy Napier wants to see each of his players become dues-paying members of the school's booster club, asking his team to spend a minimum of $50 to join.

Quote:Napier said the memberships were "mandatory." The school, however, issued a statement Friday correcting that language, suggesting they were simply "strongly encouraged."

You're paying these guys nothing to bust their butts 60 hours a week to support the coaches' fat salaries and boost the egos of school administrators. The players don't even have money to buy a late night pizza or go out on a date, but who cares about that, right? Let's twist each of those players to shell out "a minimum of $50" for a frickin' booster club that is apparently so short on funds that the coaches decided to shake down their *unpaid amateur* football players for all of the few dollars each kid might have in his wallet.

So he’s forcing each scholarship player to donate $50 to the RCAF?

Yeah, there’s no way the players will take this guy seriously.

(08-16-2019 11:37 AM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/spo...709af.html

Starting with the beginning of this school year, all scholarship UL football players will be encouraged to be a minimal level $50 member of the Ragin' Cajun Athletic Foundation. The move will be optional for walk-on members of the squad.

How can it be both a "team rule" but also that players are "encouraged" to do it? Never seen anything like this before.

That is shameless pilfering of student athletes, IMO.

The page is 403'd for me. If this is still happening and true, it's stupid, especially with the Sun Belt having tighter competition than they did in years past. Is it really worth the negative recruiting? They must not have confidence that they can keep up with Georgia Southern and App State if this is what they're doing.

(08-16-2019 12:13 PM)Mav Wrote:  The page is 403'd for me. If this is still happening and true, it's stupid, especially with the Sun Belt having tighter competition than they did in years past. Is it really worth the negative recruiting? They must not have confidence that they can keep up with Georgia Southern and App State if this is what they're doing.

Read about it here if you can't click through to the other article: https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...ooster-fee

(08-16-2019 11:58 AM)Wedge Wrote:  So far, this is at the top of the leaderboard for most ridiculous thing in college athletics for this school year.

Quote:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns coach Billy Napier wants to see each of his players become dues-paying members of the school's booster club, asking his team to spend a minimum of $50 to join.

Quote:Napier said the memberships were "mandatory." The school, however, issued a statement Friday correcting that language, suggesting they were simply "strongly encouraged."

You're paying these guys nothing to bust their butts 60 hours a week to support the coaches' fat salaries and boost the egos of school administrators. The players don't even have money to buy a late night pizza or go out on a date, but who cares about that, right? Let's twist each of those players to shell out "a minimum of $50" for a frickin' booster club that is apparently so short on funds that the coaches decided to shake down their *unpaid amateur* football players for all of the few dollars each kid might have in his wallet.

Your being a little irrational.....

They absolutely get major benefits from being a student athlete....our society needs more of this sense of responsibility being expected from the school that gave them the opportunity.... 50...bucks is not a lot of money as an alumni.. this is a great move by UL having their future players stay engaged....this is great leadership

(08-16-2019 12:32 PM)pablowow Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 11:58 AM)Wedge Wrote:  So far, this is at the top of the leaderboard for most ridiculous thing in college athletics for this school year.

Quote:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns coach Billy Napier wants to see each of his players become dues-paying members of the school's booster club, asking his team to spend a minimum of $50 to join.

Quote:Napier said the memberships were "mandatory." The school, however, issued a statement Friday correcting that language, suggesting they were simply "strongly encouraged."

You're paying these guys nothing to bust their butts 60 hours a week to support the coaches' fat salaries and boost the egos of school administrators. The players don't even have money to buy a late night pizza or go out on a date, but who cares about that, right? Let's twist each of those players to shell out "a minimum of $50" for a frickin' booster club that is apparently so short on funds that the coaches decided to shake down their *unpaid amateur* football players for all of the few dollars each kid might have in his wallet.

Your being a little irrational.....

They absolutely get major benefits from being a student athlete....our society needs more of this sense of responsibility being expected from the school that gave them the opportunity.... 50...bucks is not a lot of money as an alumni.. this is a great move by UL having their future players stay engaged....this is great leadership

This applies to current players, not alumni. You know, the ones that spend Sunday nights hungry because the cafeteria's closed and they can't bring in any money to pay for a meal. $50 is absolutely a lot to them.

It'd be funny to see them try to enforce this on alums, though.

(08-16-2019 12:32 PM)pablowow Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 11:58 AM)Wedge Wrote:  So far, this is at the top of the leaderboard for most ridiculous thing in college athletics for this school year.

Quote:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns coach Billy Napier wants to see each of his players become dues-paying members of the school's booster club, asking his team to spend a minimum of $50 to join.

Quote:Napier said the memberships were "mandatory." The school, however, issued a statement Friday correcting that language, suggesting they were simply "strongly encouraged."

You're paying these guys nothing to bust their butts 60 hours a week to support the coaches' fat salaries and boost the egos of school administrators. The players don't even have money to buy a late night pizza or go out on a date, but who cares about that, right? Let's twist each of those players to shell out "a minimum of $50" for a frickin' booster club that is apparently so short on funds that the coaches decided to shake down their *unpaid amateur* football players for all of the few dollars each kid might have in his wallet.

Your being a little irrational.....

They absolutely get major benefits from being a student athlete....our society needs more of this sense of responsibility being expected from the school that gave them the opportunity.... 50...bucks is not a lot of money as an alumni.. this is a great move by UL having their future players stay engaged....this is great leadership

1) this fee is from current student-athletes, not the alumni
2) alumnus/a = singular, alumni/ae =plural; there is no such thing as "an alumni" to a school.

If there is no wording in their athletic scholarship that mandates players to pay an additional cost that goes directly into the athletic fund, it makes no difference if it is a team rule or not; such a "rule" cannot be enforced. It is probably why the article flips between word choices such as "team-rule" and "encourage" (of said rule).

(08-16-2019 12:32 PM)pablowow Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 11:58 AM)Wedge Wrote:  So far, this is at the top of the leaderboard for most ridiculous thing in college athletics for this school year.

Quote:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns coach Billy Napier wants to see each of his players become dues-paying members of the school's booster club, asking his team to spend a minimum of $50 to join.

Quote:Napier said the memberships were "mandatory." The school, however, issued a statement Friday correcting that language, suggesting they were simply "strongly encouraged."

You're paying these guys nothing to bust their butts 60 hours a week to support the coaches' fat salaries and boost the egos of school administrators. The players don't even have money to buy a late night pizza or go out on a date, but who cares about that, right? Let's twist each of those players to shell out "a minimum of $50" for a frickin' booster club that is apparently so short on funds that the coaches decided to shake down their *unpaid amateur* football players for all of the few dollars each kid might have in his wallet.

Your being a little irrational.....

They absolutely get major benefits from being a student athlete....our society needs more of this sense of responsibility being expected from the school that gave them the opportunity.... 50...bucks is not a lot of money as an alumni.. this is a great move by UL having their future players stay engaged....this is great leadership

They are players, not alumni. It is being forced on them, with pressure applied, to be sure. Forced "donorship" is not a good thing, no matter how you spin it.

To me, this is like the old time coal miner having the cost of his lamp oil and pick deducted from his pay, except in this case, there is no pay.

Its guys with lots of money trying to squeeze money from those that have little of it.

Disgraceful. Good job ULaLa.

Did someone in the athletic department seriously think that this was a good idea? Simply delusional

Quote:“Maggard also cleared up another detail from Wednesday’s press conference. In order for a football player to meet at $50 minimum gift, he would actually only need to give $25, because the university routinely matches the donation of faculty and school employees.”

(08-16-2019 02:00 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

Quote:“Maggard also cleared up another detail from Wednesday’s press conference. In order for a football player to meet at $50 minimum gift, he would actually only need to give $25, because the university routinely matches the donation of faculty and school employees.”

So ULL football student-athletes are now school employees, according to Maggard? This would be a fun twist.

(08-16-2019 01:22 PM)TerryD Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 12:32 PM)pablowow Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 11:58 AM)Wedge Wrote:  So far, this is at the top of the leaderboard for most ridiculous thing in college athletics for this school year.

Quote:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns coach Billy Napier wants to see each of his players become dues-paying members of the school's booster club, asking his team to spend a minimum of $50 to join.

Quote:Napier said the memberships were "mandatory." The school, however, issued a statement Friday correcting that language, suggesting they were simply "strongly encouraged."

You're paying these guys nothing to bust their butts 60 hours a week to support the coaches' fat salaries and boost the egos of school administrators. The players don't even have money to buy a late night pizza or go out on a date, but who cares about that, right? Let's twist each of those players to shell out "a minimum of $50" for a frickin' booster club that is apparently so short on funds that the coaches decided to shake down their *unpaid amateur* football players for all of the few dollars each kid might have in his wallet.

Your being a little irrational.....

They absolutely get major benefits from being a student athlete....our society needs more of this sense of responsibility being expected from the school that gave them the opportunity.... 50...bucks is not a lot of money as an alumni.. this is a great move by UL having their future players stay engaged....this is great leadership

They are players, not alumni. It is being forced on them, with pressure applied, to be sure. Forced "donorship" is not a good thing, no matter how you spin it.

To me, this is like the old time coal miner having the cost of his lamp oil and pick deducted from his pay, except in this case, there is no pay.

Its guys with lots of money trying to squeeze money from those that have little of it.

I’m obviously in the minority on this subject....but my daughter is a division 1 athlete and have a son that is not.... she absolutely has a lot of workload to the University for her scholarship.. but the amount of benefits she gets saves myself and my wife a lot.... (tuition, food, clothes,) many things... my son plays high level lacrosse for the University and works very hard... but we have to pay over( 3,000 plus tuition) for him to play the sport for the school... she certainly has more responsibility but they both work hard to represent the university....) I can assure you... all of those kids that are on full scholarship can find a way to start the process of supporting their university... because it is symbolic of the need to invest also in your school... believe me the football players at ULL are getting a tremendous benefit from that school... 5 bucks a month is a joke to cry from the mountaintops and cry poor me over this...

That’s a good way to get them started.

Down the road they might ask them to chip in for uniform and equipment costs. Maybe throw in a few bucks for the gasoline.

(08-16-2019 02:49 PM)pablowow Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 01:22 PM)TerryD Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 12:32 PM)pablowow Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 11:58 AM)Wedge Wrote:  So far, this is at the top of the leaderboard for most ridiculous thing in college athletics for this school year.

Quote:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns coach Billy Napier wants to see each of his players become dues-paying members of the school's booster club, asking his team to spend a minimum of $50 to join.

Quote:Napier said the memberships were "mandatory." The school, however, issued a statement Friday correcting that language, suggesting they were simply "strongly encouraged."

You're paying these guys nothing to bust their butts 60 hours a week to support the coaches' fat salaries and boost the egos of school administrators. The players don't even have money to buy a late night pizza or go out on a date, but who cares about that, right? Let's twist each of those players to shell out "a minimum of $50" for a frickin' booster club that is apparently so short on funds that the coaches decided to shake down their *unpaid amateur* football players for all of the few dollars each kid might have in his wallet.

Your being a little irrational.....

They absolutely get major benefits from being a student athlete....our society needs more of this sense of responsibility being expected from the school that gave them the opportunity.... 50...bucks is not a lot of money as an alumni.. this is a great move by UL having their future players stay engaged....this is great leadership

They are players, not alumni. It is being forced on them, with pressure applied, to be sure. Forced "donorship" is not a good thing, no matter how you spin it.

To me, this is like the old time coal miner having the cost of his lamp oil and pick deducted from his pay, except in this case, there is no pay.

Its guys with lots of money trying to squeeze money from those that have little of it.

I’m obviously in the minority on this subject....but my daughter is a division 1 athlete and have a son that is not.... she absolutely has a lot of workload to the University for her scholarship.. but the amount of benefits she gets saves myself and my wife a lot.... (tuition, food, clothes,) many things... my son plays high level lacrosse for the University and works very hard... but we have to pay over( 3,000 plus tuition) for him to play the sport for the school... she certainly has more responsibility but they both work hard to represent the university....) I can assure you... all of those kids that are on full scholarship can find a way to start the process of supporting their university... because it is symbolic of the need to invest also in your school... believe me the football players at ULL are getting a tremendous benefit from that school... 5 bucks a month is a joke to cry from the mountaintops and cry poor me over this...

Well, you can certainly feel that way. Nothing should prevent someone from choosing to donate to a university's athletic department. However, forcing anyone, let alone student-athletes, to donate is fundamentally wrong. Then it's no longer a donation, it is simply a fee.

The fact the university already came out to "clarify" the language says in itself the way it was communicated was incorrect and wrong. My guess is the school told the coach you cannot force anyone to donate as part of their scholarship.

(08-16-2019 03:13 PM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 02:49 PM)pablowow Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 01:22 PM)TerryD Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 12:32 PM)pablowow Wrote:  

(08-16-2019 11:58 AM)Wedge Wrote:  So far, this is at the top of the leaderboard for most ridiculous thing in college athletics for this school year.


You're paying these guys nothing to bust their butts 60 hours a week to support the coaches' fat salaries and boost the egos of school administrators. The players don't even have money to buy a late night pizza or go out on a date, but who cares about that, right? Let's twist each of those players to shell out "a minimum of $50" for a frickin' booster club that is apparently so short on funds that the coaches decided to shake down their *unpaid amateur* football players for all of the few dollars each kid might have in his wallet.

Your being a little irrational.....

They absolutely get major benefits from being a student athlete....our society needs more of this sense of responsibility being expected from the school that gave them the opportunity.... 50...bucks is not a lot of money as an alumni.. this is a great move by UL having their future players stay engaged....this is great leadership

They are players, not alumni. It is being forced on them, with pressure applied, to be sure. Forced "donorship" is not a good thing, no matter how you spin it.

To me, this is like the old time coal miner having the cost of his lamp oil and pick deducted from his pay, except in this case, there is no pay.

Its guys with lots of money trying to squeeze money from those that have little of it.

I’m obviously in the minority on this subject....but my daughter is a division 1 athlete and have a son that is not.... she absolutely has a lot of workload to the University for her scholarship.. but the amount of benefits she gets saves myself and my wife a lot.... (tuition, food, clothes,) many things... my son plays high level lacrosse for the University and works very hard... but we have to pay over( 3,000 plus tuition) for him to play the sport for the school... she certainly has more responsibility but they both work hard to represent the university....) I can assure you... all of those kids that are on full scholarship can find a way to start the process of supporting their university... because it is symbolic of the need to invest also in your school... believe me the football players at ULL are getting a tremendous benefit from that school... 5 bucks a month is a joke to cry from the mountaintops and cry poor me over this...

Well, you can certainly feel that way. Nothing should prevent someone from choosing to donate to a university's athletic department. However, forcing anyone, let alone student-athletes, to donate is fundamentally wrong. Then it's no longer a donation, it is simply a fee.

Yes, an incredibly Bush-League move by ULL. Callous and stupid.

(08-16-2019 11:58 AM)Wedge Wrote:  So far, this is at the top of the leaderboard for most ridiculous thing in college athletics for this school year.

Quote:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns coach Billy Napier wants to see each of his players become dues-paying members of the school's booster club, asking his team to spend a minimum of $50 to join.

Quote:Napier said the memberships were "mandatory." The school, however, issued a statement Friday correcting that language, suggesting they were simply "strongly encouraged."

You're paying these guys nothing to bust their butts 60 hours a week to support the coaches' fat salaries and boost the egos of school administrators. The players don't even have money to buy a late night pizza or go out on a date, but who cares about that, right? Let's twist each of those players to shell out "a minimum of $50" for a frickin' booster club that is apparently so short on funds that the coaches decided to shake down their *unpaid amateur* football players for all of the few dollars each kid might have in his wallet.

I don't buy the malarky that athletes go hungry. If an athlete is that poor he qualifies for the Pell Grants which pays him $500 each month, tax free. That will buy a lot of pizza.