Coach’s Corner

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun softball program will be playing in a beautiful new stadium in 2011. Co-head coach Michael Lotief gives his thoughts, in this week's addition on Coach's Corner, below.

OUR FRONT PORCH IS LOOKING PRETTY GOOD – CAJUNS ARE MOVING FORWARD by Michael Lotief

I know there have been a lot of questions about the completion date of the new softball stadium.  First of all, I think we all need to acknowledge, “THE NEW STADIUM IS GOING TO BE AWESOME. IT IS VERY IMPRESSIVE. WE ARE GOING TO ENJOY THIS PLACE FOR YEARS AND YEARS TO COME”!

I have been to over 200 softball stadiums throughout the country, and OURS is going to rank among the best.  IMO, this stadium will be one of the nicest facilities in the entire country!

At the outset and before we get into the details, I think it is imperative that we recognize our gratitude to so many – especially the University of Louisiana Administration (Dr. Savoie) and the UL Athletic Department (David Walker, Scott Farmer) for making the financial commitment (over $2 million dollars) to build such a wonderful facility; for their expertise in overseeing the design of the stadium and navigating it through the political process in tough economic times; for their vision and their love of this University and the softball program; and for their commitment to excellence and progress and continuing to move OUR UNIVERSITY forward.

Dr. Savoie said that athletics is the FRONT PORCH of the University.  Our FRONT PORCH is starting to look pretty good. Because of our administration, we will have 1500 seats under roof, the team will have a new locker room (3,000 square feet), there are plans for a new hitting facility, and we were able to add luxury boxes and a stadium club for our fans instead of just having a press box only.  We are getting the most “bang for our buck”.  The decisions made by this administration were wise and insured that this facility will be 1^st class for generations to come.   THANK YOU! 

And, we thank all of the local vendors and companies for the “special deals” (a complete listing to come later), the UL alumni, the UL student body, all the former players and their families, all of the former coaches and support staff; and most of all, the

RAGIN CAJUNS fans for all of their support and prayers and love throughout the past 25 years.  THANK-YOU!

That's how this program was built - for all those years, CAJUN SOFTBALL FANS have been optimistic never pessimistic; they have been believers never whiners; they were always thankful for the opportunities versus just sitting around looking for somebody to blame; and they always made do - whether it was using port-o-lets in the 80s or walking to Bourgeios Hall in the 90s to go to the bathroom or even last year sitting in the outfield. YOU have always SUPPORTED the SOFTBALL PROGRAM and THE UNIVERSITY and done whatever it takes - buying raffle tickets or hosting fundraisers or packing your own concessions. And now that we are on the verge of the GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT in the program's history - this new stadium will cement the LEGACY and the FUTURE of the softball program forever – it’s time to celebrate and be proud!

Everybody who bought season tickets this year will be sitting in their seats THIS season. We will have a bathroom facility ready for opening day. The concession stand will be ready. The ticket booth will be ready. The locker room is close to completion. The press box/suite is built and is getting closer and closer to being ready, but still has some finishing work to do.

I was told that the top or cover for the stadium probably will not be on until the middle of the season (the earliest would be the third playing home date at Lamson Field which will be March 15; and the suites at the top are a work in progress but are on the same timetable). 

But for most of our fans, the stadium will be ready and you will be in your seats.  NO LAWN CHAIRS. NO PORT-O-LETS. NO OUTFIELD BLEACHERS unless that is where you enjoy sitting (not bad seats either, by the way).

PROGRESS sometimes comes too slow and often times inconveniences some; as Martin Luther King said, “if you can't run, walk; if you can't walk, crawl but no matter what - just keep moving forward”. KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

I understand that many of us would prefer to sprint, but I don't mind crawling - as long as we are moving forward. I am thankful for PROGRESS. I remember the early days of the softball program - we crawled for many years and I consider what is going on now as sprinting - but hopefully, no matter what your perspective is, we should all see and acknowledge PROGRESS.  And no matter what inconveniences we are 

caused, hopefully we are wise enough to be appreciative and thankful for OUR PROGRESS.

I could not help but smile as I sat in the bleachers last week watching the team scrimmage - I had to keep pinching myself and as I looked around; I kept saying, "WOW, I can't believe how AWESOME this stadium is" and "WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY". PROGRESS is a good thing!!! A real good thing!!!  THANK-YOU ALL!

OUR FRONT PORCH is looking pretty good!  Not only are our facilities getting a serious upgrade, but also you can sense the momentum in the community.  Coach Marlin’s persistence is starting to pay-off and Coach Hudspeth’s enthusiasm is contagious. And SOFTBALL and BASEBALL are ready to go!

 Look around campus – progress is everywhere: new campus apartments being built, new student union with all the modern amenities coming, new and refurbished class buildings already completed, new parking garage on the way, new name tags on all the buildings and the campus “looks so good” – this University is on the move both in athletics and academics.  It is an exciting time to be proud to be a RAGIN CAJUN!  The CAJUNS are moving forward! 

PRACTICE NOTES:  Ashley Brignac is close to 100% and has been pitching intra-squad scrimmages; she is still on a pitch count.  Taryn Broussard and Gabby Bridges, who both had appendectomy surgeries, are back at full strength and are also both taking repetitions at 1^st Base.  Christina Hamilton (Rosepine HS) and Shelbee Rodgers (Central HS), both freshmen pitchers, have shown promise in the scrimmages, but both will go through some “growing pains” during the season.  Courtney Hollier, transfer from LSU, did not get her release and will have to redshirt this year, but is allowed to practice and work out with the team.  Nerissa Myers (Soph.) will start at SS and bat lead-off.  Christi Orgeron has proven that she can be a true utility player by taking repetitions at catcher, 1B, 3B, 2B, RF and still is swinging a “big” bat, probably in the 3 hole.  More scoop and insight coming in next week’s blog.  Opening day is Friday, February 11, 2011 at Lamson Field. 

Are you ready for some softball?   Visit our softball fan page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Ragin-Cajuns-Softball-Fan-Page/141642419230558, get game recaps at http://www.ragincajuns.com, listen to the “stinking genius” on www.espn1420.com, and read our coach’s corner blog every week right here on www.espn1420.   GEAUX CAJUNS!