re: How does La. have so much talent year after year?

Take a crack at this, Slow:
In the 1950s Illinois had more white people than La.
So, why was LSU so much better at FB than U. Ill?

I know one factor in white demographics in La. is the high percentage of whites with "Mediterranean" genetics....French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, etc. as opposed to "North European" ...Germany, England, Ireland, Scandinavian countries.

"Medit" males reach puberty a full year earlier than "North". They also reach full adult height a year earlier than "North." So, La. white FB players who are in 12th grade are more physically mature than a white FB player from say, Virginia.

Then why isn't Louisiana and Mississippi hotbeds for high school and college basketball which are more predominately played by black athletes.

It seems to me that football is to the south (LA) as basketball is to the northern urban areas - a way out. The tradition is football in the south, basketball in the northern cities, and baseball to the latin countries.

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La. talent is more with skill position players. Not so much with linemen.

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That used to be the case, but not anymore.

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our genetic makeup (aka black people) is a big part, but our culture of loving football ensures that almost all of our genetic freaks do play (and value) football at some point in their lives

it's a combination of both. without either, our output of talent would suffer big-time

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perfect way of putting it.

I know this is a subject that a lot of people do not like to talk about, but there was a whole lot of race mixing going on in Louisiana, a lot of white people are mixed with black, like wise there are a lot of black people mixed with white, then throw in the Native American which mixed with both races and you have a new breed of people, there are not too many pure blood people in the state of La. I would call it a Gumbo of people.

Think about all the NFL players that Grambling produced in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and into the 80s. Had those players played at LSU, LSU would have been dominate. Hell Billy Joe Dupree from West Monroe played at Michigan St in the late 60s.

My thoughts:

1. High school football is VERY popular in Louisiana. It gets much more media coverage than in other states and more athletes are pushed to play football.

2. We are a very poor state. In poorer states, athletics are usually viewed by more people as an avenue of escape from poverty. If you are wealthy, do you push your kid to play football where there is a likelyhood of becoming permanently injured? No, he's already got it made and doesn't need football. You send him to tennis camp where he can get his exercise without the risk of serious injury. If you are poor and can't afford private sports lessons, you kid plays sports at school and see #1, football is the most important sport in Louisiana. Also, as I mentioned, sports has given so many people the false hope of "making it."

3. Diversity of population is a key factor. This has been mentioned earlier, but we have a very diverse population, and I'm not just talking black and white. The white population here has to be the most diverse in the nation with the typical "Southern" North Louisiana, the "Cajun" South Louisiana and then the New Orleans urban area. The same could be said with the black population and the interbreeding that has occurred over the centuries.

I don't buy the whole breeding slaves argument as this is 2010 and that hasn't occurred in 150 years. If this where 1880, it might be relevent.

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I was being sarcastic

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I wasn't replying to your Nolan Richardson comment, you were just the last person to post on the thread before me.