"ULL is not LSU's equal, and it never will be."

I watched MAT's appearance on the AYS videocast, and heard that comment...

...over and over and over and over again. In fact, it was the repetition that made me realize something that's not immediately obvious. The LSU fans aren't saying that to us.

They're saying it to themselves.

I have several lines of reasoning to support that conclusion. First of all, it's simply not true. In 2021 and 2022, we finished in the Top 25 in football, while LSU was unranked. At different times over the years we have been ranked ahead of them in men's basketball, baseball, softball, and other sports. And when we play them head-to-head and beat them, that settles the question. No whining, no "but-but-but", no "coulda-woulda-shoulda." As the saw goes, It's why you play the game. Putting our teams on the arena against one another is the final arbiter. However the rest of the season goes, for that game, the superior team was decided.

Of course, from a strictly legal perspective, in those situations, they're technically right. We are not their equals.

When we beat them, we're their superiors.

But they ignore that and chatter away at their mantra, "ULL is not LSU's equal, and it never will be."

Second, look at the history. LSU didn't bring big-time men's hoops to Louisiana. UL did, and LSU desperately scrambled to catch up. They didn't bring big-time baseball to the state. UNO did, and LSU desperately scrambled to catch up. They didn't bring big-time women's basketball here. Tech did, and LSU desperately scrambled to catch up. They didn't bring big-time softball, UL did.

And LSU desperately scrambled to catch up. Each time, LSU got passed up by a 'little' school. Some powerhouse.

Next, consider academics. UL began blowing LSU out of the water over a decade ago, but they're so busy playing ball games that they have ignored their core industry. Consider this: LSU has three times our faculty numbers, four times our state funding, and five times our doctoral programs. When they report their research numbers, they include Pennington, the State Ag Extension Service, the Vet school, and the Law School. Nevertheless, when you compare our productivity— per faculty, per state dollar, per doctoral program, per facility— we are vastly more productive than they are. And I am hearing rumors that the numbers coming out for last year will be even more surprising. Which means better for us...

...and worse for them.

That funding insight equally applies to athletics. Give us half their sports funding, and they'll never see another 'natty' (sounds like something you put on a baby's bottom to keep the smelly reality from escaping). They will never win another national championship, simply because they'll never win another state championship. We will own them.

LSU is fat, arrogant, and lazy. They have primitive priorities, and primitive thought processes to match. Basically, they're stupid.* And all of a sudden, here's another Louisiana school, with a tiny fraction of their resources, garnering increasing national attention, and with increasing frequency, passing them up.

They talk loud to drown out their own fears.

Which are fears we don't share. Imagine MAT & crew were to host someone from McNeese, or ULM, or Tech on their show, someone who had been trading smack with us on social media. Would they ever say to the guest, "You are not our equal, and you never will be"?

Of course not.

First of all, that's not how we roll. We would never intentionally be rude to a guest on our turf, and we certainly wouldn't go on their turf and do it. When the other schools beat us, we shake their hands, congratulate them, and get back to work... not just in that one sport, nor in all sports, but across the campus. We're building a university, and a community, and even a state. Sports is a part of that.

It's not the sole reason for our existence.

Second of all, to say "you never will be" is just blatant ignorance. No one knows the future. "FSU will never be Florida's equal." (FSU was a doormat from their founding until Bobby Bowden showed up.) "Miami will never be FSU's equal." (UL is 1-1 against Miami football, look it up.) "Little Virginia Tech will never be Virginia's equal." (VT was a tiny military school for most of its history). Etc. On top of that, if Jeff Bezos gives McNeese $5B tomorrow, they will pass us all up. And if any of the other schools get a succession of strong leaders such as UL has had, and we stumble with some poor leaders, it could happen. They could pass us up.

Finally, and most importantly, we don't live in white-knuckled fear of the possibility. We don't need to put someone else down to feel good about ourselves. We don't need to deny someone their strengths in order to recognize our own areas of excellence. And no one here views superiority in every facet as a legitimate goal, because (again) it's just plain stupid. Believing you can be the best at everything, all the time, reflects poor priorities, and worse, a poor college education. It's simply not possible.

"ULL is not LSU's equal, and it never will be."

They're not hearing footsteps.

They're seeing footprints.

*'Ignorance' means "I don't know." That's an inescapable human constant, we will always be ignorant. 'Stupidity,' however, means "I don't know and I don't want to know." That's why LSU sticks with their mantra.