re: Top Prospects leaving Louisiana

Rightly or wrongly, I view it as a reflection on the program. In my idealized view of the world, the best players from Louisiana should feel lucky to get an offer from LSU. If they get it, they stay because why would you turn down an offer to represent your state as a player for one of the finest programs in the country? Players from the rest of the country want to play here because they don't have the luxury of home-grown program that is a good as LSU's, so we should be able to pick off a few of those too.

That's just the way I want to think about it, and I think it's the way that many fans think about it. I recognize that it isn't reality, and that the sky doesn't fall if one player leaves. But still, rejection hurts. And part of what's fun about being a fan is chasing this ideal of excellence, that isn't really attainable.