Board of Supervisors stirs controversy

The Southern University Board of Supervisors voted 11-4 on Friday for a resolution to allow the athletic department to open talks with Louisiana State University for a football game in the 2004 season or seasons soon after.
Board member Tony Clayton introduced the resolution to the board after failing to get members from both schools to vote on a joint resolution at LSU and Southern’s annual joint board meeting, which was held at LSU on October 30.
“We can’t find anyone to play in Shreveport on September 4 and LSU can’t find anyone to play on that day either,” Clayton said. “So during the joint meeting, I just put two and two together and made the suggestion.”
Clayton requested that Southern’s board allow the resolution to be added to the meeting’s agenda. Board member Johnny Anderson questioned the intent of Clayton and Floyd Kerr, SU director of athletics, as he opposed the resolution.
Anderson said that the board was never needed to negotiate games before and that protocol for the proposed match up was not any different. Anderson later added that the match up would expose Southern to injuries similar to those in the 2002 season. Southern played Northwestern State and Tulane early in the season and barely averted a losing record due to injuries.
The board’s athletic committee chairman John Belton, board member Dottie Bell and student representative Frank Taylor opposed the resolution also. Bell said she voted against it because Southern‘s athletes would be used.
“I am totally against using these students,” Bell said. “We are here for the students and this is about money. I know that I push for games in Shreveport, but I can‘t go for this.”
Both Bell and Anderson said that they would rather see Southern continue the tradition of having rivalries with other Historically Black Colleges and Universities, such as Florida A&M University and Tennessee State University.
“If we can get another HBCU to give us $500,000 to play, then I’d play,” said Southern’s head coach Pete Richardson. “But you just can’t play a game with another team just because they are another team anymore. College athletics has moved beyond that.”
Clayton said that a game with LSU would be beneficial to the community and that “astronomical” tailgating would build camaraderie between the two schools. He added that the issues were not about injuries or using anyone, but financial gain for the athletic program. According to Clayton, Southern could receive up to $700,000 in a guaranteed payoff.
According to Richardson, Southern could definitely use the money. The athletic facilities are currently in need of renovations.
“I think that the option to play is interesting because it gives you the opportunity to ‘play up’,” Richardson said. “You talk about playing one of the leading teams in the country with one the best programs, it could benefit our program and facilities. We should take the opportunity.”
Southern currently has plans to provide athletes with a new training facility, lights for the football practice field and dormitories. Currently, departments such as strength and conditioning training and sports medicine are housed in doublewide trailers.
“Sports are not made for you to go with undefeated seasons. If you play a team that’s better than you, then the underlined mission is that you learn. Just like when they go into every season thinking they will win every game, they don’t,” Clayton said. “The bottom line is who cares whether or not there is a win or loss. The bottom line is that the students get the exposure. The students get the experience of playing a (Division) I-A school. It’s not about winning or losing. It’s how you play the game and in my opinion, it’s a business and it’s about getting paid. But I am pushing that the money goes straight to Pete Richardson to help with our athletic facilities.”
Tulane University is the only NCAA Division I-A university that Div I-AA Southern has played. The Green Wave defeated the Jags in both of their meetings by a combined score of 78-26, but Clayton is not seeking another match up with the school. He used past payout conflicts with opposing schools to defend his argument.
“I don’t know if we’ve gotten a check yet from playing in Shreveport and Tulane has not been wholeheartedly straightforward with us when we played them,” Clayton said. “We go there knowing we’ve had 30, 40 or 50,000 people and they call and say the count is a number that we know is less-which means they have to split the gate. Then when (the game) counts as our home game, they say it’s more than that, which means we have to pay them. LSU has the integrity and LSU will pay.”
LSU defeated Div. I-AA team Western Illinois, 35-7, earlier this season. That game was a replacement for Marshall University. According to Kerr, Tigers’ head coach Nick Saban said that the Tigers are currently seeking to play against another Div. I-A team to fill their vacant spot. LSU is currently No. 7 in Bowl Championship Series standings and playing Southern could hurt them in the rankings season if a game is scheduled.
Ranking in the BCS is by a “points” system and is determined by factors such as the strength of a team’s schedule, their schedule ranking and also the poll average of three major college football polls. If LSU were to choose to play a Div. I-A university such as the University of Oklahoma and win, they would rank higher than playing a Div. I-AA school such as Southern.
Richardson said that he could understand the concern that the Tigers may have about playing Southern.
“It’s a major issue for them and what people don’t understand is that a team such as LSU can’t play the lesser team because you’ll lose points,” Richardson said.
Kerr is scheduled to meet with LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman on November 12 to open discussions of the possibility of an SU-LSU face off at Tiger Stadium. At press time, Bertman was not available for comment.
Although Southern is contractually scheduled to play Allen University on September 4 next season, Kerr said that they are looking to move the game to another date.
Until then, members of the Jaguar Nation, like Vanessa Harris-Adams, will just have to wait and see. She said that although she would like to see Southern update its athletic facilities, safety is a primary concern.
“We do need new things here on The Bluff,” Adams said. “But I want the players to look like new every time they come on the field. We’ve done a respectable job so far and for so long, not playing LSU won’t kill that.”