Noted scribe Bill Shakespeare, who some believe covered Man United in the 16^th century, wrote it and many of us hacks since have adapted it.

“Now is the winter of our discontent …”

It’s hardly winter in the 318, but compared to the weeks-long oven we’re finally escaping, it’s not far off. My brother Monty, who turned 61 Sunday and presumably is wiser for it, said it feels like fall now. Next Saturday, it will be.

Owner of three degrees from Louisiana Tech, each in a different discipline, he’s smarter than the average bear, or in this case, older brother. Among his many talents – forestry, computer programming, nursing – he evaded exposure to Shakespeare. I did not. Woe is me? Well, that was first biblical. Back to Bill.

Discontent? Plenty to go around checking on the football on display to date at Grambling, Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State.

Not so much for Centenary, but they’re not officially started yet. The fledgling Gents held their own early in scrimmages against established Division III programs Millsaps and East Texas Baptist, and have toyed with a couple of similar start-up programs in full exhibition games over the past couple Saturdays.

It foreshadows a dramatic uptick along Kings Highway next fall when the games count. It’s already a nice enrollment spike for Centenary, which was the real purpose of restarting football for the first time since before any of us knew where Pearl Harbor was.

“The dogs bark at me as I halt before them …”

It feels that way at Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs won their opener in the final minute over Conference USA visitor FIU. But they lost Saturday night, after a thrilling rally in the closing minutes, when the leaky Tech defense could not stop just departed CUSA pal North Texas.

That was the fourth one-possession loss in Sonny Cumbie’s first 15 games in Ruston. Two of them came in overtime.

“Oh, I am fortune’s fool!”

That one’s not just for unkind cuts bumming Bulldogs. It’s as grim as the end of Romeo and Juliet along Chaplin’s Lake on the NSU campus.

An 0-3 start was plausible. FCS teams on average win one of every 20 matchups with FBS foes, and the Demons opened at UL-Lafayette and Tech. They were not embarrassed either time. Not particularly close, but far from hopeless or inept.

The home opener against another ancient rival, Stephen F. Austin, looked to be on even footing. It quickly wasn’t. The Lumberjacks looked Paul Bunyan-esque ripping open a 21-0 lead seven minutes in – not that they did a lot on their own to that point, but the Demons made it easy.

This was not the same competitive level that Northwestern carried through its first two games. Not that Brad Laird’s team didn’t play hard, but it performed poorly, and after the 41-7 rotten egg was laid, he tersely sounded just as he did following last year’s 47-21 thrashing from Grambling at Independence Stadium.

In the best-timed open date imaginable, Laird will be taking roll to see who can be counted on.

“Everyone’s got to look in the mirror, coaches included, and make sure everybody’s doing their job. We’ll make sure those who are going to stay doing their job will be with us moving forward,” he said.

The Demons did find their footing last fall, and went into the last two weeks playing for at least a share of the Southland Conference title and a playoff berth. Didn’t get either, but did get hope for 2023. Current status, though:

“Have no delight to pass away the time, unless to spy my shadow in the sun …”

Over at Grambling, throw out the understandable massacre in the visit to pick up $780,000 and showcase the World Famed Tiger Marching Band at LSU. An opening loss against Howard, and Saturday’s less than impressive cruise by designated win Florida Memorial, left Hue Jackson pondering the G-Men’s defense.

“I am determined to prove a villain…”

Grambling gave up 445 yards of offense, 233 rushing, and 22 points to the NAIA’s Lions of Florida Memorial — a program that resumed football after a 64-year hiatus in 2021, going 6-21 since.

“Dive, thoughts, down to my soul …”

The Tigers start Southwestern Athletic Conference play this Saturday. Good news? It’s at home in Eddie Robinson Memorial Stadium. Better? It’s against Texas Southern, 0-3 after a 59-7 beatdown at Rice.

If the G-Men don’t get that one, then Jackson couldn’t be blamed for taking quite a few sips of his own branded tequila, Grand Leyenda – he’s a partner and Chief Strategic Officer. “The tequila takes on golden hue … “ is really, truly a promotional line from the brand’s website. I kid you not.

A parting piece of insight from The Bard, for Bulldogs, Demons and Tigers: 

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves.”

September games don’t define a season. Hopefully. 

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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NATCHITOCHES – The answer to the problem is Bigfoot.

Or maybe, it’s a totem pole. Or just a very big log, inscribed with school logos.

But that’s not really the solution in the “Chief Caddo” controversy swirling around the Northwestern State-Stephen F. Austin football rivalry to be renewed this evening at Turpin Stadium.

The problem, for shocked supporters including a horde of angry former Northwestern State players and alumni, is two-fold: 1) sorting through the why’s and who’s behind the sudden Wednesday announcement of the cancellation of the 62-year-old trophy tradition, and 2) what now?

The 7-foot-6, 320-pound wooden Indian statue, claimed by the winner of each football matchup between the schools, stands somewhere in storage on the SFA campus in Nacogdoches, its future unknown. Not long ago it was proudly displayed in the Lumberjacks’ athletic fieldhouse, and was relocated to their basketball arena when Northwestern visited.

But now it’s statue-non grata. Both university presidents issued a statement Wednesday formally shelving the “Chief” because of sensitivity to understandable concerns from some Native Americans, and outlining a vague path about “ongoing discussions about how best to commemorate this nearly century-old rivalry.”

What was left unsaid was exactly when the decision was reached, who was consulted to make it (obviously not players, coaches and alumni who were invested in the tradition for decades, from the widespread firestorm on social media and over coffee or cocktails), and any timeline to move forward with purpose.

When and who was involved is at best cryptic. It didn’t happen when Dr. Chris Maggio was NSU’s president, despite a polite but firm November 2020 letter of complaint to both schools requesting the end of the trophy exchange – not the tradition — from the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma chairwoman Tamara M. French.  It didn’t happen after an April 2021 resolution passed by the NSU Student Government Association later endorsed by the Faculty Senate.

Then the axe was grinding. After many years of shreds of occasional complaints to officials at NSU and SFA, in the aftermath of the social upheaval movement in the summer of 2020, the letter from French was followed a few months later by the SGA and Faculty Senate resolutions – not university policy, just their recommendations, but worthy of note.

Maggio surprisingly retired late that spring, and current NSU president Dr. Marcus Jones took over Nov. 8, 2021. At some point after that, apparently in conjunction with leadership across Toledo Bend, a decision was made. Unpopular, to be sure. But only a small circle of people knew, and whoever did used the ostrich approach. 

It wasn’t announced. Not when the Demons’ 2023 schedule was released with SFA on it. Not by SFA, whose football coach, Colby Carthel, made it clear Thursday what he thinks of the situation.

“There were rumors they (NSU) were going to turn him into wood chips or whatever for lawn landscaping, but that wasn’t going to happen on our watch,” he told Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel reporter Nathan Hague. “So he is secured out of public sight and will not be played for again, unfortunately for a lot of folks.”

All summer long, NSU fans inquired about the presumed upcoming “Battle for Chief Caddo” – after all, it was a fixture for decades — but got no answers. Finally with game day near, a five-sentence statement from the presidents confirmed the Chief was DOA.

“The main issue ex-players have with this decision is the fact it feels like it was done in the dark,” said a Facebook post by former NSU receiver and SFA assistant coach David Groman, a leader in the “Demon Brothers” support group of former players.

“It would have been nice, as an ex-NSU player and an ex-SFA coach, to be able to let the Caddo Nation know the honor and respect we had for the Chief. To let them know we never recognized this as a ‘cigar store Indian.’

“We would have heard from them the objections they have with the representation of the Chief. Maybe we could have come to an agreement to change … him, a better visual representation. Maybe not,” Groman wrote Thursday. “Maybe they could have heard the respect in our voices. Maybe not.

“I can say it was an honor to fight for Chief Caddo, but I can not say I was honoring Caddo Nation if they didn’t feel the same.”

Why this justifiable, albeit painful move wasn’t made public just after the 2023 schedule was released is puzzling and disappointing. That would have allowed months for a new trophy to be developed, one that did the same things the Chief Caddo trophy was created to do – recognize the historic relationship between the two oldest communities in their respective states, and the Native American influence that made their existence possible.

Saturday’s game could have been a celebration of a new tradition. Now the teams don’t meet until 2025. That leaves plenty of time for deliberation – and hopefully this time, collaboration past a small circle. Build some buy-in. Develop a wonderful new tradition. Fold in service activities by both schools to involve and benefit nearby Native Americans. Add some educational components. And a nice, new prize – hopefully one that is still the biggest in all the sports world. Why change that?

The “antiquated” Chief, thought to be reasonably historically accurate when Logansport wood carver Harold Green developed him in 1960-61, was due for an upgrade. Our society has made much progress since then. There are no longer two water fountains or segregated schools. Women and minorities have greatly enhanced standing in today’s America. It’s not perfect. It never will be, but it can always be better. Maybe over the long haul, this change helps, after it understandably inflamed angry emotions from blindsided Demons and Lumberjacks this week.

There’s one more twist. The Chief probably isn’t SFA’s to keep. Former Demons center Tyler Rapp points out the 2019 Lumberjacks had to forfeit nine games, including their 32-20 NSU win, because of rampant academic compliance shortcomings. SFA had to remove basketball conference championship banners, NCAA Tournament marks and other tokens of competitive success from that period.

Even the SFA record book cites results were vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions. So the Chief might have one more journey back to Louisiana, if justice prevails – if somebody will, as the NSU fight song ends, “fight for dear ole Demon land.” 

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

NATCHITOCHES – When the football teams from Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin meet for the first time in four seasons Saturday evening at Turpin Stadium, they’ll play without the largest trophy in sports at stake, lacking the regional and national fanfare accompanying the rivalry for six decades.

Officials from both universities decided to retire a wooden statue known as “Chief Caddo” which has gone to the winner of the NSU-SFA football game since 1961. At 7-foot-6, 320 pounds, the “Chief” was the biggest physical prize globally in sports, not just college football.

They said in an announcement late Wednesday afternoon a decision on “how best to commemorate the rivalry” will be determined by a combination of students, athletic staff and the two university presidents.

For much of the historic “Chief Caddo” series, the schools were in the same conference, first the Gulf Star (1983-86) and then the Southland (1987-2021), and during that time the NSU-SFA football game concluded the regular season schedule just before Thanksgiving each year.

As the “Battle for Chief Caddo” was staged on the same weekend as other storied college football rivalries, such as Ohio State-Michigan, Harvard-Yale and other time-honored series, it garnered coverage from national media and was nearly uniformly featured on ESPN’s popular GameDay Saturday morning show.

Northwestern president Dr. Marcus Jones and Stephen F. Austin interim president Gina Oglesbee issued a brief joint statement announcing the decision Wednesday afternoon through their respective athletic media relations offices. Subsequent rampant posters on social media decried the move, although others offered differing perspectives.

The statue and the name “Chief Caddo” have been retired since the last football meeting in 2019, the schools’ leaders said, although there was no public acknowledgement of that decision until Wednesday’s statement. A letter dated November 16, 2020 from Tamara M. Francis, chairman of The Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, and an April 19, 2021 NSU Student Government Association resolution both requested the tradition be discontinued. It was unclear when exactly the decision was reached.

Stephen F. Austin won the 2019 meeting in Natchitoches, and therefore retained the trophy until the next matchup, which was expected to be the next November until the COVID-19 pandemic struck and few colleges – SFA yes, NSU no – played football that fall. The following spring, SFA withdrew from the Southland Conference to join the Western Athletic Conference, and the rivalry game was off the schedule.

Former NSU athletic director Greg Burke and his SFA counterpart, Ryan Ivey, later agreed to resume the series with a 2023 game in Natchitoches and a 2025 meeting in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Officials at SFA last week told Chris Mycoskie of ESPN+ that the statue is no longer on display and said it is in storage. The future of the statue is uncertain.

A combination of factors led to the statue being retired, including sensitivity to the region’s Native American population, along with the NCAA’s emphasis on eliminating mascots and traditions which some may consider demeaning. The issue quietly drew serious consideration just over a decade ago, during the administration of NSU’s longest-serving president, Dr. Randy Webb.

A couple of nearby universities, Arkansas State and UL Monroe, jettisoned Indian mascots during that time. Prominent professional sports franchises in the NFL (the former Washington Redskins) and Major League Baseball (formerly the Cleveland Indians) have adopted new brands. However, other pro teams (Atlanta Braves) and colleges (Florida State Seminoles) have not.

In 1960, the “Chief Caddo”  tradition  egan when the friendly rivals agreed to commission a statue of a mythical Native American chief whose tribe was settled in the locations that later became the English-speaking communities of Natchitoches and Nacogdoches, where Northwestern and Stephen F. Austin are located. They are about 100 miles apart, in a region now divided by Toledo Bend, but then by the Sabine River, relatively equidistant from each community.

The purpose was to pay tribute to the Native Americans who not only first settled the region, but provided safety for the early white settlers in the area. Historians say that if not for the Caddo tribe, the Spanish and French colonists who came to the region would not have survived onslaughts of Apache and Commanche warriors from the west and the Natchez from the east. Also, French and Spanish writers of the era reported Caddo chiefs were master diplomats who made it possible for the two European colonists to live as neighbors while their mother nations were at war against each other.

The statement issued by the presidents late Wednesday afternoon:

“As the Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin football teams prepare to face off this Saturday, they do so with a focus on embracing our rich history and shared heritage while looking forward to the future.

“Following the teams’ most recent meeting in the 2019 season finale, the antiquated wooden statue known as ‘Chief Caddo,’ which was awarded to the winner of the NSU-SFA football game since 1961, was retired. 

“The universities are engaged in ongoing discussions about how best to commemorate this nearly century-old rivalry, which began in 1924. Student representatives, athletics staff and presidents of both institutions will play pivotal roles in shaping this commemoration. 

“The teams are scheduled to complete a two-year, home-and-home contract with a 2025 game at Stephen F. Austin.  

“Northwestern State President Dr. Marcus Jones and Stephen F. Austin Interim President Gina Oglesbee made the joint announcement.”

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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I never knew.

All the years I’ve spent closely watching college and high school football games, almost every one  including a halftime show with at least the home team’s band, and I didn’t know.

Many of the best shows have featured both the home and visiting bands, as was the case Saturday night in Aillet Stadium and in Tiger Stadium.

No doubt the sold-out crowd in Baton Rouge was eagerly anticipating the performance of the “World Famed Tiger Marching Band.” And they were certainly not disappointed, enjoying a trademark show from Grambling’s finest. Louisiana Football Magazine’s Lee Brecheen reported many LSU fans said it was the highlight of the night.

In Ruston, there was tailgating talk centered around halftime, with Louisiana Tech’s faithful having watched dynamic performances in 2014 and 2017 by NSU’s “Spirit of Northwestern.” The “Band of Pride” at Tech has rising stock and proved it Saturday night.

But until then, I never knew. Neither did Shreveport’s Gordon Boogaerts, a Demon football legend who  joined me on the way down from the visiting athletic director’s suite (I wasn’t in there, of course – I was in the O.K. “Buddy” Davis Memorial Press Box, an appropriate showcase honoring the legendary Ruston Daily Leader sports editor).

I knew Gordon should strike fear into the heart of any Bulldogs. In the 1973 State Fair Classic, with a struggling Demon squad facing off with the Bulldogs’ eventual Division II national championship team featuring the likes of future Pro Football Hall of Famer Fred Dean, current Evangel coach and longtime chancellor Pastor Denny Duron, Pro Bowl pass catchers Roger Carr and Mike Barber, Gordon made 33 tackles.

Thirty-three. Not a misprint. Just an indelible impact by a Captain Shreve product who has since become a successful farmer and businessman and an aficionado of beautiful roses. You probably never knew.

We navigated the west side stands, running into friends including Lady Techsters’ basketball coach Brooke Stoehr, eventually finding the elusive staircase to the field. Three steps down left Gordon briefly in the Bulldogs’ bench area, and that could have been bad if he suddenly reverted back a half-century.

There was no bull-in-the-china shop incident, although Gordon admitted he felt young again being so close to the action. We swept right, moving quickly past Champ the Bulldog mascot and the enthusiastic Tech cheerleaders, looping around to the NSU bench area in the waning moments before halftime.

Gordon was back in his element (not that he spent much time on the bench back in his day). In my 30 years as sports information director at Northwestern, I’d been on the Demons’ sideline plenty, but never at that stage of games, just in the closing minutes. I watched walk-off field goals score stunning upsets at TCU (2001) and Tech (2014). I watched coach Sam Goodwin carried onto the field on the shoulders of his players, more than once. I saw goalposts tugged down (twice). As the clock wound down, I had one of NSU’s greatest running backs, Clarence Matthews, ask me about his game rushing total, and then give me what he’d kept in his head. There wasn’t much difference, but he didn’t agree with the Stephen F. Austin stat crew.

The back of the bench area Saturday night began getting congested as the Band of Pride left the stands, moving into position to march. On the other end of the bench, there was an even larger contingent from the SON, as they’re called, massing in their purple and orange. They were first up.

Suddenly, the halftime horn sounded, the teams trotted toward their dressing rooms, and NSU’s band began excitedly streaming into position to take the field.

Northwestern-Tech, once a bitter rivalry, now not so much. For the guys wearing helmets and shoulder pads, there was obvious intensity but there was a definite pecking order – the Bulldogs were not only at home, they were supposed to win, being a much-greater resourced Football Bowl Subdivision team compared to the Football Championship Subdivision Demons.

For the guys and girls in shorts and shirts, toting instruments, trotting giddily to find their spots so the show could begin, the dynamic was flipped. Over the past three decades, the scholarship-heavy SON has earned a national reputation for excellence – mentioned in band blogs alongside stalwarts like Ohio State, Texas and yes, LSU – along with the Human Jukebox from Southern, and Grambling’s crew. That I knew.

What I didn’t know, had never seen before, was the kinship between the bands. I was later told that’s not uniformly the case, in bitter school rivalries, but what I saw in a few fleeting moments on that sideline was remarkable.

Louisiana Tech’s bandmembers were cheering NSU’s. They were encouraging them. They were high-fiving them as the SON streamed in front to start the show.

I never knew.

It was very, very cool.

I’m pretty sure Boogaerts and Duron never had that friendly bond 50 years ago.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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Billy Cannon didn’t raise his arm and signal No. 1 as he neared the goalline, 89 yards later, on that Halloween night in 1959.

None of his 1958 teammates on the LSU football team pointed to their ring fingers in the waning moments of the regular-season finale, a 62-0 trashing of Tulane in New Orleans that confirmed those Tigers as national champions.

Now it’s in vogue. Joe Burrow coming off the field in the Superdome with Clemson subdued, pointing jubilantly at his ring finger. Burreaux was already Joe Cool in the eyes not only of LSU fans, but much of college football. It fit. He was kicking off the Natty celebration.

A couple of months ago in Dallas, Angel Reese spends the last seconds of LSU’s dismantling of Iowa pointing jubilantly at her ring finger. The Bayou Barbie long since had established her flamboyant on-court persona, delighting many LSU fans and plenty of avid women’s basketball followers. It fit. She was tipping off the national championship celebration.

Monday night in Omaha, having emphatically said “later, Gator,” Dylan Crews is the first of a series of Tiger teammtes savoring their late-game moments in the spotlight, pointing jubilantly at his ring finger. Crews, like Burrow, had just been annointed the premier player in his sport. Unlike Burrow, Crews has a subtle, blue-collar approach accompanying his prodigious production. His ring thing didn’t fit, but with a double-digit eighth-inning lead, not even Florida fans could protest his exuberance. He was launching the College World Series championship celebration.

Conversely, Reese drew heat from many, including some Purple and Gold loyalists, for her antics. She seemed to go toward Iowa star Caitlin Clark, taunting her in the waning moments of play. Clark later said she took no offense. To do so would have been hypocritical, since the Hawkeye hotshot had done much the same thing several times during the Big Ten season and notably to Louisville star (and now LSU’s own) Hailey Van Lith closing out an NCAA Elite 8 contest.

So in the aftermath of Monday’s grilling of the Gators in Omaha, LSU’s series of stars ringing it up quickly attracted the spotlight. The game’s ESPN telecast immediately referenced Reese, but overlooked Burrow, catching the oversight late in their coverage and in time for Scott Van Pelt’s SportsCenter show. The recovery surely was spurred by rampant social media posts showcasing Burrow along with Reese and Crews.

Very quickly on social media, the question arose – what’s the difference? Why is nobody objecting that Crews, Tommy White, Tre’ Morgan and more Tiger baseball heroes flashed their ring fingers, and a crescendo of critics rose up to rip Reese?

From some corners, there were undercurrents of racism, and sexism, at play. Reese is an effervescent personality who happens to be a Black woman. Undoubtedly some of the disgust stirred by her activity came from pigheaded people seeing someone of a different appearance doing something brash.

But her celebration was different because it certainly was directed at her opponent, Clark. You can’t get around the fact it was taunting. That’s the part that I didn’t like. The fact that it’s widespread nowadays to confront and mock foes doesn’t justify it.

Celebrate, yes. Be flamboyant, great. But don’t scurry to show up an opponent. Hurry to find a teammate to embrace. That’s how an AARP-eligible dude sees it.

If Reese had ignored Clark and trotted toward teammates pointing at her ring finger, it would be no less an iconic moment in the history of women’s basketball – not only in LSU lore, but for the sport overall.

I didn’t condemn Reese then and will not now. She’s only doing what she sees her heroes doing. She’s only doing what we’ve seen for years in pro wrestling and so much of modern culture outside of athletics. She’s a strong young woman, very smartly building her brand, and bringing in the Benjamins at a rate none of her predecessors in college women’s basketball ever could.

Was it spontaneous, or calculated for cash value? She’ll never tell. After the heat faded, it’s worked way in her favor. Reese’s fan base continues to expand. It should. She’s a special talent, a dynamic figure in her sport, whose persona not only entertains but inspires, and forces us to ponder our perspectives.

That’s not entirely comfortable. If you want to go down that rabbit hole, it’s there for your consideration.

But currently, I’ll just savor the jubilation and salute LSU’s champions. The rings fit.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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You knew LSU was going to roll into Omaha, right?

You knew it last fall. After Jay Johnson assembled his roster, chock full of talent, with a heavy dose of transfer portal gold to blend with returning Tigers, everybody knew it last fall.

The hype machine cranked up, Tiger fans guzzled the purple Kool Aid, and why not?

As the preseason polls began to pop out, they all agreed. LSU was No. 1.

There the Tigers stayed, until shoulders and elbows began to pop in the cruelest ways. By midseason, LSU was NOT No. 1, and the presumed sweeps of Southeastern Conference series were very much in doubt.

Hosting Kentucky in the Super Regional might have seemed like a gimme, until you looked back at the mid-April series at Alex Box. The Tigers needed an eighth-inning bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to squeak out a 7-6 victory in the final game to win the weekend.

Still, with Paul Skenes on the bump, LSU could chalk up a Game 1 win as certainly as Donald Trump enters not guilty pleas.

All Johnson had to do was not lose Skenes to a long rain delay after a short, interrupted outing. For all of the talent on his roster, Johnson’s best asset for most of Saturday was a lightning detector. The Super Regional opener finally unfolded seven hours after it was slated, with a well-lubricated 12,000 and change in the ballpark.

The Wildcats had no chance. Two TDs and a couple of PATs later, the Tigers needed only one more win.

The result was inevitable even if things were tense with a 5-3 lead heading into the top of the ninth. After LSU added a run, the great Tiger scriptwriter above brought Dylan Crews to the plate with runners in scoring position.

So the two-time SEC Player of the Year ended his homefield career in the only appropriate manner, LSU’s advantage was 8-3, and retiring the Wildcats was little more than a ceremonial exercise in the bottom of the ninth.

Geauxmaha, we comin’.

Bar owners up there are grinning broadly. The good ole days are here again. Not every Tiger fan is a big drinker, but the ones who are more than make up for the ones who aren’t.

It’s not a birthright, LSU in the College World Series. It just feels that way. This will be the 19^th visit to the Cornhusker State in June for the Tigers, who have returned home on top of the college baseball world six times.

These Tigers have been perfect, 5-0 in postseason. To fulfill their preseason destiny, they’ll need five more wins.

Local hero Hayden Travinski was a third-team catcher when LSU was a dead-solid lock to win it all as the season began. He took advantage of limited opportunities, rose to the occasion when called upon in April, and in May emerged alongside Crews as the Tiger hitter opponents most need to avoid.

Now we wonder if LSU has enough pitching to win five games in Omaha. Figure Skenes throws two of them, the first and the last, and the pitching question comes down to finding ways to win three times.

Wake Forest looks formidable. Florida and Virginia are bonafide threats. But the Tigers can swing with anybody.

And suddenly, they do look a bit like a team of destiny.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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NATCHITOCHES — For years, Northwestern State baseball fans have been able to boast about former Demon coaches who moved into the forefront of college baseball.

It has been an incredible run. Jim Wells, Dave Van Horn and John Cohen were head coaches at NSU who subsequently took Power 5 conference programs to the finals of the College World Series. Wells’ former Demon assistant Mike Bianco had been very successful for years at Ole Miss before his resurgent Rebels shocked everybody by winning last year’s national championship. Van Horn’s pitching coach with the Demons, Rob Childress, won 66 percent of his games in 15 seasons at Texas A&M and got the Aggies to Omaha. 

Mitch Gaspard coached with Wells at NSU, went with him to Alabama in 1994, and after three CWS trips in seven years, took over the Demons’ program when Cohen departed. He went back to Alabama as Wells’ assistant and heir apparent in 2009 and two years later, Wells stepped aside and Gaspard spent the next seven seasons in charge of the Crimson Tide.

For eight seasons (2009-16), all of the SEC West’s head coaches except for Paul Mainieri at LSU and two flailing failures at Auburn were former Demons – Childress at A&M, Van Horn with Arkansas, Bianco at Ole Miss, Cohen at Mississippi State and Wells, then Gaspard at ‘Bama.

Demon fans loved it.

Until recently. Even more so, until Monday.

Seven years ago, when Lane Burroughs was hired away from NSU by Louisiana Tech, Demon fans cringed. Any other school, they moaned. But by then, even the most ardent Northwestern supporter had to accept that the historic rivalry was, in fact, history. Tech had much more money, more students, and more to offer.

Sure, when the schools collided in competition, there was some added intensity and interest. Still is. But Burroughs got a hefty raise and infinitely more resources by moving upstate, trading the Christmas Festival for the Peach Festival. Understandable.

Fast forward to Monday. It became official, what was reported here last Friday morning as very likely. Bobby Barbier, the first NSU grad to lead his alma mater since Wells (1990-94), departed the Demons for fellow Southland Conference member Southeastern Louisiana.

Barbier was a Demon as a player (2003-06), as an assistant coach under Gaspard (2007), J.P. Davis (2008-09) and Burroughs (2015-16), and for the last seven seasons as head coach. That’s 16 years playing or coaching at Brown-Stroud Field. He was in his happy place. He was proud to wear the purple and white, and NSU fans were very proud to have him at home.

And he left to go to an in-state Southland rival? That hurt.

It wasn’t his idea; SLU athletic director Jay Artigues, once the head baseball coach at Bossier Parish Community College, pursued him. Made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

It wasn’t about the Barbier bank account. Sure, he got a nice pay bump, but the decision had everything to do with other things that Southeastern offered and Northwestern couldn’t.

The Lions have averaged about 1,400 fans per game, far better than any other of the eight other Southland baseball programs, and more than double what the Demons draw. That translates into baseball being a revenue-producing sport in Hammond, really the No. 2 sport on campus behind football.

Southeastern has the best home environment and facility in the league – one that 10 years ago was ranked as the 16^th-best in the country by StadiumJourney.com. It’s getting even better. On the far side of the left field fence at Pat Kennelly Diamond at Alumni Field, the Lions are developing a baseball operations center, the kind that has been dreamed about for years but was never more than on a wish list at NSU.

It was not apples and oranges as Barbier contemplated staying at Northwestern or making what the uninformed considered a lateral move. While enrollment declines and staff reductions have unfolded in the last couple of years at Northwestern, SLU has almost 14,000 students and that brings in an estimated $1.2 million more in student fee support for the Lions’ athletic program than what NSU Athletics receives.

A bit of the angst was relieved Monday when NSU’s second-year athletic director, Kevin Bostian, wisely promoted associate head coach Chris Bertrand to replace Barbier.  Bertrand – a former BPCC player and LSUS assistant coach whose four UT-Tyler teams won three conference titles and made three NCAA Division III Tournament appearances – has since been Barbier’s right-hand man for his seven seasons in charge at NSU.

It soothes the sting and pleases loyal supporters writing especially meaningful checks to try to keep NSU baseball competitive. Bertrand is a strong recruiter, which is vital, considering a 13-man senior class and a sudden transfer portal signup coinciding with Barbier’s exit. Some of those players were leaving anyway, but losing freshman first-team All-Southland third baseman Michael Datallo was unexpected.

Bertrand is the first head coach since Van Horn (following the 1994 season) to take over NSU’s program with prior head coaching experience. He’ll say all the right things when Bostian introduces him in Natchitoches at 2 o’clock today.

And at least he knows right away all there is to know about the Demons’ program. That vital advantage can help him stave off what would otherwise be a disaster-prone situation, and gives him the best chance to sustain NSU’s winning tradition.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State’s baseball tradition since 1990 is second to none in the Southland Conference.

But Southeastern Louisiana’s baseball resources are unquestionably second to none in the league currently, which could result in the Lions hiring Demons’ coach Bobby Barbier.

Baseball America national writer Teddy Cahill reported Thursday that Barbier has emerged as the likely pick at SLU, which fired veteran coach Matt Riser shortly after the end of the regular season. The Lions finished eighth in the nine-team league and did not qualify for the seven-team Southland Tournament, finishing with an overall record of 25-25 and a league mark of 9-14.

An announcement could happen as early as Monday, sources close to the SLU Athletic Department indicated. Barbier was unavailable for comment Thursday evening.

If Barbier is the choice at Southeastern, associate head coach Chris Bertrand – a former championship head coach at UT-Tyler after serving as a longtime assistant at LSUS – will be a prime and popular choice to take over the Demons’ program. Bertrand has been Barbier’s top assistant in the last seven years and has been a pivotal figure in recruiting and fundraising, and has worked with all coaching aspects, including coaching the pitchers, catchers and hitters at various times.

Barbier wrapped up this season as head coach at his alma mater by leading the Demons to a third-place finish at the Southland Conference Tournament, with a 29-27 overall record, 12-12 in the conference regular-season. NSU won series over five of the other six teams in the tournament, including beating regular-season and tournament champion Nicholls 2-1.

Barbier, a New Orleans native, was a standout player for the Demons from 2003-06, helping NSU to the 2005 NCAA Tournament and earning Academic All-America status in 2004. He still ranks in the school’s top 10 list for career RBIs.

In seven years as head coach, he is 181-169 overall and 89-88 in conference play. NSU’s best league finish under Barbier is third place in 2018, when the Demons won the first Southland Tournament title in school history and won a game over San Diego State at the Corvallis Regional. Barbier was Southland Coach of the Year and Louisiana Coach of the Year that season.

NSU won nine Southland regular-season titles between 1991 and 2005, but did not win an SLC Tournament crown until Barbier’s club went unbeaten in the 2018 event. The Demons then made the fourth NCAA Regional appearance in their NCAA Division I history (1991, 1994, 2005 and 2018).

His teams have routinely produced Major League Baseball draft picks – seven in the past five years. Four of the last five years, except in 2021, Barbier-coached Demons have been the top Southland picks in MLB’s annual draft.

Cleveland Guardians infielder David Fry developed under Barbier’s leadership. As the Demons’ pitching coach under current Louisiana Tech head coach Lane Burroughs, Barbier was credited with elevating Adam Oller from a catcher to an All-American pitcher, and Oller has reached the big leagues with the Oakland As. A third Barbier-coached Demon, outfielder Nick Heath, briefly reached MLB with Kansas City and Arizona.

Barbier’s second NSU team equaled the best single-season turnaround in school history, improving by 18 wins.

Barbier began his coaching career at NSU in 2007 under Mitch Gaspard, then moved to Alabama in 2010 as an assistant under Gaspard. Burroughs hired Barbier as his pitching coach after the 2014 season.

Southeastern athletic director Jay Artigues, a former Bosser Parish Community College baseball coach, was SLU’s head coach before giving way to Riser 10 years ago. Riser went 320-224 and led the Lions to four NCAA Regional appearances (the last in 2022), but was reportedly on thin ice last season before his team won the conference tournament.

That earned Riser a contract extension which will require a buyout of $224,000 to be paid no later than 60 days after his termination on May 22, according to Lions Athletic Association president Allen Waddell.

Riser’s salary and outside income at Southeastern was essentially equal to the approximately $115,000 package Barbier has at NSU. But the Lions’ program annually leads the Southland in attendance, averaging well over 1,000 fans, and has what is considered the league’s best-funded program with a combination of university budget money and outside revenues.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports 

Not much went as expected this spring for the area’s NCAA Division I baseball programs, but all three were at or above .500 in conference play.

Grambling was the big surprise with a second-place overall finish and a West Division title in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Tigers looked poised to win the SWAC Tournament but faltered just shy of the championship game.

Louisiana Tech was picked to win the Conference USA crown but things began to unravel in the season’s opening series when school RBI record-holder Cole McConnell was lost for the season. Major shortcomings in the bullpen hampered the Bulldogs much of the year but down the stretch, the bats kept Tech going.

Northwestern State was picked for fifth in the Southland and that’s where the Demons finished. But the same poll had the eventual champion (Nicholls) picked last and the preseason choice (Southeastern Louisiana) was the season-ending cellar-dweller. NSU’s Jeffrey Elkins broke the Demons’ career home run record in his senior season.

As for 2024 prospects, the transfer portal makes the crystal ball cloudy. Safe to expect lots of new faces at Tech and NSU and lots of anticipation at Grambling. 

Grambling (29-24 overall, 22-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference – second among 12 teams) 

SWAC Tournament – Grambling rolled to a winner’s bracket semifinal but was ousted in two straight games last Friday night and Saturday by Bethune-Cookman, which fell in the championship game to rival Florida A&M. 

Notes – The Tigers were outstanding in SWAC play under longtime assistant and first-year head coach Davin Pierre. but struggled otherwise. Grambling returns three All-SWAC hitters – Cameron Bufford (first base, .321 batting average, 12 home runs), Trevor Hatton (rightfielder, .305, 12 HR, 71 RBI, 27 steals) and Kyle Walker (second base.357, 25 RBI, 21 steals). 

Louisiana Tech (28-31 overall, 15-15 Conference USA – sixth among 10 teams) 

CUSA Tournament – The Bulldogs outslugged eventual tournament champion Charlotte in the opening game, but couldn’t go any further, dropping their next two. 

Notes – Frustrated to the boiling point at times from midseason on, coach Lane Burroughs sent no mixed signals. There will be a massive roster turnover at J.C. Field this summer. First-team All-CUSA performers Jorge Corona (catcher) and relief pitcher/infielder Ethan Bates can return. Seniors Jonathan Fincher (LHP) and slugger Philip Matulia will leave a void, but Tech could have 2023 Preseason All-America outfielder Cole McConnell back after a season-long NCAA suspension. 

Northwestern State (29-27 overall, 12-12 Southland Conference – tied for fifth among nine teams)

SLC Tournament — The Demons were third, with a pitching-depleted ninth-inning collapse costing them a game that would have gotten them to the championship round.

Notes – NSU set school season records for home runs (61) and staff strikeouts (469). The Demons won series over each of the Southland’s top five teams, but were 2-7 against the three teams at the bottom of the SLC. A 13-member senior class leaves plenty of openings. Freshman All-SLC third baseman Michael Dattalo flirted with a .400 batting average but faded in final two weeks to settle at .372. He’s the most likely of NSU’s four all-conference performers to return.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

Grambling’s superb Southwestern Athletic Conference season won’t be enough.

As for the conference campaigns by baseball teams at Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State, not disastrous but not especially distinguished.

Of course, down in Baton Rouge, preseason national champion favorite LSU has its sights set on the College World Series and will be among the prime contenders to reach Omaha.

As all four NCAA Division I teams of strong local interest begin their conference tournaments Wednesday, only LSU is a sure thing to play the following weekend in an NCAA regional. Grambling, Tech and NSU must navigate their league brackets and come out on top to get into the NCAA postseason.

Each of the league tourneys is double elimination.

GRAMBLING:  The Tigers went 22-7 in the SWAC and are the West Division champions.  Grambling was 27-24 overall – making its non-SWAC record 5-17. The Tigers hope to face non-conference foes next weekend and to do it they must win in Atlanta. They  begin the conference tournament there Wednesday against Jackson State (28-23, 13-17) in a 6 p.m. EST game on the Georgia Tech campus. Alabama State (39-16, 26-4) is the favorite.

LOUISIANA TECH:  The Bulldogs are the defending Conference USA Tournament champions but have an uphill battle to retain that crown and make a third straight regional. Tech (27-29, 15-15) is the No. 6 seed and opens the tournament at 9 Wednesday morning against third-seeded Charlotte (29-25, 17-12). Dallas Baptist (42-13, 25-5) is the presumptive favorite in its first CUSA season, and may already have a firm grip on an at-large invite. Second-place UTSA (38-17, 21-8) is a threat, and the Bulldogs played the Roadrunners competitively last weekend in Ruston.

NORTHWESTERN STATE: If the Demons had handled the two Southland teams that didn’t qualify for the league tournament, they might be the regular-season champions. But NSU (27-25, 12-12) went 1-5 on the road at Southeastern Louisiana and Houston Christian, so the Demons are relegated to the fifth seed and face No. 2 UIW (28-24, 14-10) Wednesday morning at 11. Only three wins separated league champion Nicholls and three teams at 12-12 in the bottom three slots of the tournament, so it’s anyone’s to win. Good news: the Demons evaded the one-and-done opening play-in game tonight in Lake Charles. Tournament host McNeese and A&M-Corpus Christi are on the brink in that contest.

LSU:  The No. 5-ranked Tigers (42-13, 19-10) follow Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Dylan Crews and Pitcher of the Year Paul Skenes into the SEC Tournament at Hoover, Ala., with a regional hosting role a virtual lock no matter how LSU does this week. Skenes won’t lose his outing. The Tigers play at 9:30 Wednesday morning against the winner of today’s Georgia-South Carolina contest. Hard to fathom, but the No. 3 seeding is LSU’s best since the 2017 Tigers were the No. 1 seed at Hoover.

But as tournament play begins, regular-season results are only points of reference for all but college baseball’s elite. While most of the SEC is going on to regional action next week, underdog teams can emerge from the SWAC, CUSA and SLC events, and often have in the past. So, for Grambling, NSU and Tech, there’s a chance.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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It’s an agonizing point in the season for area college baseball and softball fans.

With postseason play either looming (for baseball teams at LSU, Northwestern State, Grambling and Louisiana Tech) or underway (just off Youree Drive in the Shreveport Bracket for the LSUS baseball club, also on campus for the Bossier Parish Community College softball team, and at home at Tiger Park for LSU softball), there’s drama.

The boys of Alex Box have been No. 1 in the country since preseason projections began last fall. Until recently, when injuries and underwhelming performances have left the Tigers desperately seeking pitching past Friday night ace Paul Skenes. He’s been lights out. Lately, the rest of the LSU staff has been lit up.

Every weekend, Skenes dominates opponents and helps a noble cause. On Feb. 8, he pledged a donation of $10 per strikeout to support Folds of Honor, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships to spouses and children of American military heroes. He has 152 Ks heading into the final weekend of the regular season, with the SEC Tournament and NCAA Regional competition assured.

No doubt his NIL and pending MLB Draft signing bonus will cover his tab. The former Air Force Academy All-American will probably spike his donation to Folds of Honor, and no doubt LSU fans will contribute generously as well.

It will soothe their frustration over a dream season faltering at its peak. Plans to storm Omaha are suddenly in doubt. “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” said the baseball sage, Yogi Berra, and he’s been proven right countless times. (BTW, Berra DID storm Omaha – Beach. He took part in the D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944 and initially turned down a Purple Heart after being grazed by a German bullet, because he didn’t want to alarm his mother back home in St. Louis.)

Conference tournaments are next week for LSU, NSU, Grambling and Tech. Under the radar, Grambling has won the Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division with a week left to play, owning a 20-6 record (25-24 overall). Alabama State (24-3 in the East) is the team to beat in the SWAC Tournament in Atlanta next week.

Northwestern (27-22 overall, 12-9 in the Southland) is third, but not eliminated from the championship race entering the final regular-season series at Southeastern. The Southland has no chance of an at-large NCAA bid this year and the tournament title is wide open next week in Lake Charles.

Tech baseball fans are perplexed to see the Bulldogs (26-27, 14-13) not battling for the Conference USA crown they were picked to win by league coaches in preseason. Losing their best hitter for the season before the first pitch hurt the ‘Diamond Dogs, and so did over-the-top expectations after two straight spectacular seasons and several key graduation departures.

LSUS is on the same flight plan as it followed all the way to the NAIA World Series last year. The Pilots rolled through the Red River Athletic Conference, winning 25 straight, but exited the RRAC Tournament early. Monday night the Pilots were two runs down in the ninth inning of their NAIA Tournament Shreveport Bracket opener, waiting on lightning to cease above and ignite below.

This time last year, LSUS lost its opener in the Shreveport Bracket, but scrapped back to earn a trip to Idaho for the World Series, where the Pilots reached the semifinals. They’ve done it before. After Monday’s 6-4 loss to MidAmerica Nazarene, they’ll have to do it again.

A World Series trip is on the line today at noon for the Bossier Parish Community College softball team, after the Lady Cavs came up two runs shy of clinching one Monday on their home field.

If BPCC can wipe away the frustration, opportunity knocks.

Not to overlook the LSU Tigers softball team in Baton Rouge, where to the consternation of some – most  across the Atchafalaya Basin who are UL Lafayette loyalists – the Tigers host an NCAA regional, including the Ragin’ Cajuns, this weekend.

The teams split games in February, both winning on the road. So why do Cajun fans mind the 50-mile trip east? It will be entertaining, to say the least. And that’s just in the stands.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

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