Man, I Tell You What…

What a weekend. Whether that’s a good thing or not, I’ll let you decide. But let’s start with the good.

Your boys at Ragin Review kicked off the football season with some tailgate fun. Between the food, the music, and the all-around feel-good vibes, it was a solid start. We had the pleasure of meeting tons of Cajun fans who stopped by to say hello and check out the scene. Some special guests even joined us from Rice Athletic Director Tommy McClelland (who was on our show last week) to a few Ragin’ Cajuns Men’s Basketball players excited to talk about their upcoming season.

Tailgate #1? A rousing success.

And we’ll be back for the next five home games this season, so come find us where The Tigue ends and Track & Field begins across Reinhardt. Be sure to look for the big Ragin Review flag. You won’t miss it.

Then came game time.

Walking into the newly-renovated Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium alongside 22,147 fans was a moment filled with pride. For decades, the west side of that structure was outdated with an upper deck past its prime, a press box that had become a relic, and an elevator that felt more like a Disney “Tower of Terror” ride. But that’s all in the past.

There’s a new club level. New suites. A wide-open concourse. General seating with better views and a layout that finally feels right. It’s no longer “The Real Mud Dogs Stadium.” It’s a place we can be proud of. But then there was the game.

Now comes the bad.

Louisiana welcomed Rice to Cajun Field for the first time in decades. With all the offseason hype and energy, most fans walked in expecting a 1-0 start. Instead, we got a 14-12 loss that felt like one of the more disappointing performances of the Desormeaux era.

A slow start on defense. Missed assignments. A sputtering offense full of miscommunication and drives that couldn’t finish. And to top it off, starting quarterback Walker Howard went down with an injury.

That game left more questions than answers.

Now, I’m not here to throw shade after just one game because it’s a 12-game season for a reason. But if you’re a Cajuns fan, Saturday night probably hit a little too close to home. The kind of loss that drags up old trauma. And how fitting that our next opponent is someone who reminds us of exactly that.

McNeese State.

You know the name. And if you’ve been around long enough, you definitely remember the rivalry.

For me, it’s the third game of the 2007 season. I was a student manager for the team, and Mike Desormeaux had just taken over as the starting quarterback under 6th year Head Coach Rickey Bustle. Over 33,000 fans packed Cajun Field and then watched the Cowboys dominate from start to finish.

Final score: McNeese State 38, Louisiana 17.

That loss was hard. Embarrassing. I still remember the 10,000 McNeese fans who made the hour drive from Lake Charles. I remember them swaying and clapping in unison to their band’s rendition of “Joli Blon” after every touchdown. I remember being told by a fellow equipment manager to sprint for the end zone pylons at the final whistle just in case their fans rushed the field.

And I remember walking into the coaches’ locker room at midnight to find a few of them still sitting there, stunned, asking, “What just happened?”

That one loss derailed the rest of the 2007 season. We finished 3-9. One step forward, two steps back. That’s what it felt like.

And here we go again.

It’s been 18 years, but the feeling lingers. Even if this Cajuns program has grown leaps and bounds since then. This isn't that 2007 team. And this McNeese team coming to town isn't the powerhouse they were back then, either.

Still, being a Cajuns fan means living with a bit of that trauma. Whether we like it or not, it stays with us.

The good news? We’ve seen growth since then. We’ve seen success. We've seen bowl wins. we've seen conference championships. We've seen Top 25 rankings. We’ve seen redemption like the 2016 win over McNeese that gave us all a little sense of relief. And personally, I expect a strong bounce-back performance this Saturday.

But make no mistake: On any given Saturday, between those hash marks, if you're not prepared; you can get burned. If you're not locked in, you can find yourself staring at the fans in blue and gold swaying to “Joli Blon."

So we’ll be there. Through the highs and the lows, in our vermilion and white. Always watching. Always hoping.

Because that’s what we do.