BTB members, I just wanted to let everyone know that my wife and I have opened up a new restaurant where the DQ Treat store was located at the entrance to the Ruston Sports Complex. Please spread the word and come join us for lunch. We are open from 10-10 Sun-Thur and 10-11 Fri and Sat.

We have burgers, wings, chicken strip and all of the sides including hand battered onion rings and pickles. We also have 12 flavors of daiquiris and longneck beers. I do not know how to upload a link or pictures to this site but we can be found on Facebook to view the menu.

We’ve been talking about the DL room for a long time now. I wanted to give a quick glimpse at what it currently looks like:

DT Room:

DeShon Hall - 6’3, 246
Zion Nason - 6’2, 268
David Blay - 6’2, 280
Kells Bush - 6’3, 305
Omar Pew - 5’11, 290
Reggie Jones - 6’2, 290
Rason Williams - 6’4, 270
Delvin Whitaker - 6’3, 250
Zyun Reeves - 6’7, 265

DE Room:

Mykol Clark - 6’4, 266
Ezekiel Durham-Campbell - 6’5, 235
Jayden Gray - 6’3, 254
J’Dan Burnett - 6’1, 247
Jessie Evans - 6’3, 244 - wasn’t announced, but he’s on campus
Obinna Okeke - 6’3, 220
Charlie Robinson - 6’3, 220

*Also, per Tech’s roster all freshmen that were signed in the 2023 recruiting class have made it to campus.

Do you recall these guys? Washam & Lunceford are formerly from Sterlington (LA) and Clinton (MS). Washam played at Ouachita Christian School (Monroe), and Lunceford played at Clinton HS. Both played college baseball in the spring of 2014 and 2015 at Hinds CC. Both of them ended up at Tech and played baseball in the spring of 2016 and 2017.

I don't know where these guys reside nor their occupation, but I do know that they will be teeing it up on the golf course this weekend in the 35th Annual Farmers Classic on Saturday (07/08) and Sunday (07/09) in the second flight. They must be playing quite a bit of golf to be in the second flight, and they apparently are not shabby.

This golf tournament is held at three courses - Lake Bruin Country Club (St. Joseph, LA), Tallulah Country Club (Tallulah, LA), and Twin Oaks Country Club (Winnsboro, LA).

One-hundred and sixty-seven (167) two-man teams are scheduled to play.

Eighteen holes will be played each day. (I do not know whether it is a two-man scramble or medal play format. Based on last year's scores, I would think it is a scramble.)

Saturday's play by flights at the courses are as follows:
Championship & 1st @ 1:30 - Lake Bruin
2nd & 5th @ 1:30 - Twin Oaks
3rd & 6th @ 1:30 - Tallulah
4th & 8th @ 8:00 - Lake Bruin
7th & 11th @ 8:00 - Twin Oaks
9th & 10th @ 8:00 - Tallulah

Sunday's play by flights at the courses are as follows:
Championship & 1st @ 1:30 - Tallulah
2nd & 5th @ 8:00 - Tallulah
3rd & 6th @ 1:30 - Lake Bruin
4th & 9th @ 1:30 - Twin Oaks
7th & 11th # 8:00 - Lake Bruin
8th & 10th @ 8:00 - Twin Oaks

I drove from Dallas to Tallulah last Thursday, at The Dugout in Ruston at lunch (11:00), met a former Bulldog football player (Scott Terry who played at Cedar Creek in Ruston and played two years, 1975 and 1976, for Coach Lambright, and his career came to an end due to a leg injury), and DaiquiriDawg was no where to be found - was told that he was in Oklahoma. The cheeseburger was delicious! I returned to Dallas on Monday. I stopped at David Beard's Catfish Village in Waskom (TX) for a late lunch around 3:00 p.m. While inside the restaurant, I found out that a relative of mine had passed away earlier in the day. After lunch, the weather was stormy for approximately 30 minutes, and I left at 3:30 and arrived at home in Dallas at 7:00 p.m.

I am departing Dallas again on Thursday (07/06) at 10:00-11:00 for that 335-mile trek to Tallulah. I will be attending the funeral at 11:00 on Friday (07/07).

+++++ On Saturday and Sunday, I will be at the Tallulah Country Club. I hope to see several of the Tallulah golfers, plus golfers from other clubs who I recall from my work days on the golf course (1971-1981), and I will be looking out for Washam and Lunceford for an interview of life after Tech. (I will be asking them if they attend Tech or LSU games and if they wear the colors of Tech or LSU.) I may piss them off and screw up their golf game. (If any of you have questions that you would like me to ask them, let me know.)

+++++ Is Stuart Roane (msg173), an 83 Tech alum who resides in Gilbert (LA), still on the BTB Board? I stumbled upon him on 06/27/21 at the Tallulah Country Club. I have his phone number and will give him a call.

Geez! It is 12:16 a.m., and I better end this message.

HS signee Colton Coates comes in at #154. He’s a switch-hitting middle infielder.

If he goes that high, I doubt he makes it to campus.

Here are where things stand at this moment:

G Jordan Crawford - 6’3 (Sophomore)
G Sean Newman - 6’1 (Sophomore)
G Tahlik Chavez - 6’2 (Senior)
G Tyler Henry - 6’4 (Senior)
G Jaylin Henderson - 6’3 (Junior)

G/F Isaiah Crawford - 6’5 (Junior)
G/F Devin Ree - 6’8 (Sophomore)
G/F Jordan Turner - 6’9 (Junior)

F Dravon Mangum - 6’8 (Senior)
F Terri Miller - 6’8 (Junior)
F Will Allen - 6’7 (Sophomore)

C Daniel Batcho - 6’11 (Junior)

2 spots left.

Greg Zumach with Northside Bound helps us preview the 2023 MLB Draft from Tech’s perspective:


Couple Things:

- I think he lacked data on Tomkins some, because I’ve talked to numerous folks that have him in Top 10 rounds. Fastball/slider high spin combo.

- Update on Coates from last night: I just spoke with INF Colton Coates on the upcoming MLB Draft, and he told me, “I’m leaning towards Tech and plan on coming there unless something crazy happens.”

He’s coming to Tech. I talked to him this morning.

I think we sometimes overlook just how much of a crap show the entire college football world was in 2020, but LA Tech managed to play 10 games.

It was ugly in all facets. Offense, defense, special teams, rhythm to the season, guys opting out, etc.

@cwardell03 w/ the recap:

Conference USA​

Louisiana Tech
Western Kentucky is a heavy preseason favorite to win Conference USA this fall, but the door is open for a second contender to emerge if Liberty's transition to new coach Jamey Chadwell takes longer than anticipated.

The Bulldogs went 3-9 in coach Sonny Cumbie's debut last fall, but a hefty haul of transfers - including former Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier - provide optimism for a quick turnaround in '23. A struggling defense is also slated to get an infusion of help from the portal.

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Transgender players in College Football

... and closes April 30th. The dates have been moved up two weeks this year.

Los Angeles Rams and Chargers

SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles should be ready for the start of the NFL season after a brief pause a few weeks ago after a construction accident that led to the death of a worker from Texas: The stadium is still set to open on 8/14 for a preseason game between the Rams and Saints.

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/06/09/rams-sofi-stadium-work-resume-fall-death/

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...F884930E648B9F4EE2ACF884930E648B&&FORM=VDRVRV

Las Vegas Raiders/UNLV (most of the time)

Allegiant Stadium in Vegas is still on pace to open in July with the first scheduled event being a Garth Brooks concert in August. The Raiders released a photo gallery of stadium pics this week.

https://www.raiders.com/photos/sneak-peek-allegiant-stadium


Los Angeles Dodgers

Renovations to Dodger Stadium are nearly complete. Here is drone footage from earlier this month along with the Dodger's announcement of the project.

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UAB

The opening of Protective Stadium in Birmingham is slated for September, 2021 with a capacity of 45,000. Total cost of the stadium came in at $170 million. Legacy Arena next door is also undergoing big renovations.

Here is the latest from earlier this month:

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Here is the announcement of the final design in September, 2019:

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South Alabama

Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile is almost ready. Capacity is 25,000. First home game is on 9/12. The bottom sections are concrete. The top sections look to be erector set or pre-caste hybrid. Total cost was $74 million.

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Sean Fox, Nick Brown, and myself will sit down for a 1 hour interview with Tech AD Eric Wood from 5 PM to 6 PM on SportsTalk 97.7 FM this afternoon.

Tune in!!

Any questions? I’ll try to get to some of them for you guys!

Former Tech football player Stuart Scurria passed away in a plane crash near the Rayville airport.

I’m not sure on all the details.

Scurria was a walk-on during the Dykes days. Phenomenal guy.

1 - Thanks to the poor service at the time of the order on Thursday night (07/06) around 7 p.m. at the Flying Burger, at which time two ladies could not get my order right, I told them forget it. I ended up going for a small pizza at Johnny's, my first since 2019.

2 - While in line at Johnny's, I stumbled upon a trimmed down and younger looking Ed Jackson..

3 - While enjoying the pizza, I saw a muscular athlete, football or basketball, on the outside walking to the door. He had been in a nice black Altima, Accord, or other car...wow! As he entered through the door, he was 5'11" or 6' and in the range of 185-195 lbs. (Later, he stated that he's up to 200 lbs.) He spent a few seconds at the counter and walked away. I inquired if he is at Tech and whether he plays football or basketball. He replied, "I am at Memphis and play football." When I inquired about his last name, he mentioned Hargrove. I replied, you play at Ruston High, committed to Tech and flipped to Miss State, and apparently you did not see much playing time. I inquired if he was playing behind some veteran players. He replied, "that was part of it, but a couple of coaches left after Coach Leach expired, and he felt it was time to make a change." He thought I was a recruiter, and I told him "no, I keep up with college football, especially Tech, since I'm a Tech alum." I told him that I had heard good things about him, and I was looking forward to seeing him play in front of the hometown crowd. I wished him well at Memphis, and I would be keeping an eye on his stats. I told him I'd things don't go as planned at Memphis, come on back to Ruston and play for Tech. I was impressed with his soft voice and his communication with me. I felt tempted to ask about his nice car, but I chose not to say anything.

BleedTechBlue has learned that QB Westin Elliott has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

In 4 years at LA Tech, Elliott is 15/32 (47%) for 136 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INTs.

I made this post in the transfer portal thread:

“Keep a close eye on Kasten Furr from UNO. One year guy that is a Ruston native and wants to come back home.

He’s hit .296 with a .395 OBP in over 800 plate appearances in his career. Career-high 7 HR in 2023.

He can play 2B, SS, and 3B. Made 1 error all year at SS for the Privateers this past season.”

I’m 97% sure he is committed. Working to confirm.

2018 was such an up & down year, tough team to figure out.

Go toe-to-toe w/ #6 LSU in BR, defeat maybe the best North Texas team ever on the road, lose by 3 TDs at home to a brutally bad offensive team in UAB, beat defending conference champ FAU on the road, get blown out at home by a BAD WKU team in which fans nearly gave up on J’Mar, and close the year by blowing out Hawaii on the island.

Make it make sense.

J’Mar was meh all year, but the OL started 11 different combinations in 13 games. Explains some of it.

Dancy & Tucker were pretty average at RB.

Hardy emerged at WR. Looked like he was going to develop into an NFL guy.

Defensively, Blake Baker proved how good of a DC he really was.

Ferguson set NCAA sack record.

@cwardell03 recaps the crazy year:

14 Bulldogs make the list:

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If nothing else today, remember that Freedom wasn't and isn't Free......costly in sacrifice and blood.
I know that is tough in a generation that wants everything and not have to sacrifice, but I am sure each of you try to raise your families and guide extended family in correct paths.

Happy Fourth!

It sure would be nice to see an effort to get obviously bad calls corrected through a review system. I know people will complain that it lengthens the game, but what is the point of shorter, poorly/incorrectly called games? These bad calls (especially a strike call on what should have been a "ball four walk") often lead to coaches coming out to protest the calls, getting thrown out, etc (and lengthening the games).

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Junior proved the doubters wrong.

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