Laudless Lady Tigers?

My topic for today is the support (or possible lack thereof) the Lady Tigers basketball team receives, but I'll also touch on the latest of the Ryan Perrilloux situation.

Some of my former colleagues at LSU's Daily Reveille were upset by the lack of attendance at the Jan. 7 Pack the PMAC event against the Lady Bulldogs of Georgia. The No. 6 Lady Tigers came from behind with less than a minute to play and edged Georgia 57-55. The Pack the PMAC event, which is an annual event, was by definition a failure. The arena, which has a capacity of 13,472 according to LSUsports.net, was just over half full with an attendance of 7,666.

Of course this is a pitiful attendance figure for an event like Pack the PMAC, let alone an SEC matchup. The LSU women's program is just as successful, if not moreso, than the men's program in recent years, and you can look to last season's dual Final Four appearances to epitomize this.

To be honest, however, I wouldn't read much into this figure, though in the past Pack the PMAC has been very successful. "The largest Pack the PMAC crowd of 11,252 on Jan. 4, 2003 witnessed LSU defeat Penn State and was the largest women's crowd in the building's history at the time. Six of LSU's top 15 crowds for women's basketball are Pack the PMAC games. That includes the Jan. 8, 2005 victory over Georgia in front of 10,624 fans, which was at the time the second largest crowd in history and now ranks seventh (LSUsports.net)."

There's any number of reasons the attendance for this game was low. You have to consider the fact that the game was held 9 days before classes resume, and while the men's game vs. UConn featuring ESPN College Gameday had a big turnout, not all of the women's main fan base may have returned to Baton Rouge. Also, consider both the Sugar Bowl and UConn game were held in the days before the Lady Tigers game. I for one didn't even attend the UConn game as planned because I was exhausted from the Sugar Bowl. I'm sure many others shared this sentiment. I think this is the likeliest explanation.

I can almost confidently guarantee that as the semester gets into full swing both the men's and women's basketball teams will see significant attendance numbers, and when the UConn Lady Huskies and Tennessee Lady Volunteers head to Baton Rouge on February 11 and 19, respectively, these gargantuan matchups will see record turnouts.

Back to Ryan Perrilloux. My report that the federal investigation was focused on counterfeiting was confirmed today by the Shreveport Times, which reported that the Secret Service is teaming with the FBI and the St. John's Parish Sheriff's Office on the investigation. The Secret Service, while functioning as protection for the President, ex-Presidents and other high-profile figures, also serves to stop counterfeiting; in fact, this was its original primary function. No updates yet on possible penalties Perrilloux may face nor on his status with the football team.l

Regardless of Perrilloux's future with the team, I still project Matt Flynn to be the team's starting quarterback for the 2007 season.

Read the story here at: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070111/SPORTS0202/301110004/1001