2003 SBC COTTON BOWL PRESS CONFERENCE
DEC. 9, 2002
CEO of Cotton Bowl Rick Baker
“To reiterate what Dan said we are all very excited about having you all come to Dallas. It’s going to be a great week. I can assure you the University of Texas is very excited about playing the LSU Tigers and we are looking forward to just an incredible week and certainly a great New Year’s Day 2003. As the Chancellor alluded to, it’s amazing when you think about it that two historic programs like the University of Texas and LSU have not played since the 1963 Cotton Bowl 40 years ago. And we have not had LSU in our Cotton Bowl since 1966 when you beat Arkansas 14-7. So when you think about the fact that these two schools are border states it’s really incredible that these two schools have not met before this. To say the least, everyone at the SBC Cotton Bowl, everyone in the city of Dallas and everyone in the state of Texas is very excited about this particular match-up. At this point, I would just like to thank the Chancellor, Skip, Dan and coach Saban. They have just been terrific to work with and we know it’s only going to get better as we get closer to Cotton Bowl week. I look forward to having you all in Dallas and would just like to open it up for question now, please.”
“I think LSU is known as one of the best travel schools in the bowl industry. I don’t think it’s any secret that the SBC Cotton Bowl has been looking at LSU since we began our relationship with the SEC in the fall of 1998. Certainly a big part of that reason is proximity and the excitement that LSU fans, even in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It’s amazing how many LSU fans there are in that particular area. I was telling Finn and Dan coming in on the plane today, how many emails and phone calls the week before it was even official from LSU fans. It was really overwhelming, really significant number, maybe the most we’ve ever had in terms of level of excitement and level of information these fans wanted. I think that was a significant reason that at the end of the day, it certainly seemed like the right choice for the SBC Cotton Bowl.”
“We think we have a great week of activities. A lot of the media will be invited to these activities. We obviously don’t have a beach, we do not have a French Quarter, so we have to create our hospitality and we are very proud of what we do at the SBC Cotton Bowl in terms of hospitality for the players, official party and fans.”
“I’ve been at the Cotton Bowl 15 years and we have a great working relationship with Skip and Dan and coach Saban has called, but I’ve been at the Cotton Bowl 15 years and Chancellor Emmert called me and some of our folks two years ago when LSU ended up in the Peach Bowl. We ended up taking Tennessee that year but out of 15 years that was the first Chancellor that ever took the time to pick up the phone, call and try to sell his university to the Cotton Bowl and that really impressed all of us and that really impressed of all of us as to what kind of leader this university has. I told the Chancellor that this was the first call and the only call I’ve ever gotten from a Chancellor, so that was certainly very impressive.”
Chairman of Selection Committee Dan Petty
“First of all, let me say how excited the SBC Cotton Bowl is to be able to ask the question to LSU ‘would you like to come to Dallas on New Year’s Day to play the University of Texas?’ We think after looking at all the bowl match-ups and you can look in all the papers today, and this match-up between Texas and LSU has got to be one of the top two or three bowls of all the bowls in the country. We’re so excited about that and it’s my job as Chairman of the Selection Committee to work with our board and staff to find the best match-up we can for this game on January 1. I would just like to ask one question to the Chancellor and to Skip, ‘would you accept our invitation to come to Dallas on January 1 to play in the 67th annual Cotton Bowl Classic?’ We got a yes there and with that we are looking forward to having all of you. To the players that are here, we think you will have a good week. To the Administration Chancellor, I think you and your official party will have a good week. To all the media, I think you will have a good time as well. So fill out those forms and come see us. We would love to see you on January 1.”
“The process of selection is one that you take in a whole lot of factors. Even up until the last hours, the options that are on the table are still there. We felt that after looking at all the options, all the factors on attendance, ticket sales, strength of program, the enthusiasm of the fan base and quality of the players that LSU was the best selection for our game.”
LSU Athletics Director Skip Bertman
Opening Statement
“Well you all know from yesterday after hearing the phone conversations how excited we are. Today we had the pleasure of meeting all the Cotton Bowl representatives and saw how excited they are. Last year was a tough ticket (2002 Nokia Sugar Bowl) and this year we have sold 3,200 since 8 a.m. this morning. As of 12 noon we have sold 3,200. Evidently everyone feels this match up is really outstanding and of course we feel the same way. We were very blessed today to get Chancellor Mark Emmert to come and visit and I would like to get his reactions and his comments now.”
On the opportunity to play Texas for the first time in years and the magnitude of the game
“Coach (Nick) Saban has a lot of respect for the coaching staff at Texas and of course for the 10-1in ball club, but he feels like we definitely deserve to be there and that we played real well. My personal opinion is despite the fact that we have some great players we had quite a bit of adversity and I think that the coaches did a masterful coaching job this year and that the team is loaded with character. I think with time to prepare, my personal opinion is that we can compete with anybody. The reason we do not play Texas very often is that we went to eight games in the conference and it is tough to get too many teams after that are going to compete at the very high division 1 level. That goes for Texas too and their conference so consequently we tried and we tried to get Texas A&M, but their schedules and ours did not mesh so that is how we got Virginia Tech and Arizona.”
On the number of tickets that will be allotted to students
“We will give at least the same amount of tickets that are available at every ball game here. Generally speaking we have about 15,000 which of course represents the percentage of the 91,600 in Tiger Stadium. We will have the same percentage of the 20,000 or actually 19,700 tickets that we have for this game and right now that is not a problem.”
On the possibility that the Southeaster Conference may need to institute a change within the bowl selection system to guarantee a team that wins its division going to a certain bowl game
“Yes they are working on that. The commissioner (Mike Slive) feels like that is a large drop for example this season with Arkansas winning the Western Division championship and going to the Music City Bowl. That does not exactly have the same payoff as some of the other bowls and of course they are working in it. However that could have been us you see in that same situation. I feel like the fans (LSU fans) have earned the right to this because of the reputation they have for traveling well and understand that while Arkansas did not fill even their 16,000 ticket allotment in the SEC Championship game, LSU fills and buys tickets and I think the bowls have a right to win also. In picking their match up they need people to stay in their area for a long time to help the economy and I do not think that is any secret or that there is anything wrong with that.”
LSU Chancellor Dr. Mark Emmert
“Thanks coach. I would just like to let you know how excited I am on behalf of the entire university community. This is just really a wonderful opportunity for Louisiana State University and for the fans and supporters of LSU. Most importantly I am excited and delighted for the team and the coaches and it is a terrific chance for them to go to a storied bowl and something that teams have been talking about for a long time, the chance to play in a Cotton Bowl. It has been a long while since we have been there, 40 years since we have played Texas there. It is a bowl with great tradition and great history and it is a marquee match up on national tv on Jan. 1 and that is the kind of game this team deserves and I am really proud and excited for the program and what it means for them. I am also excited for our fans to get to go to Dallas, that wonderful city, to enjoy this great bowl on Jan. 1 because it is going to be a marvelous thing for them. We are very, very pleased to be partners with SBC and the Cotton Bowl folks and they have already been wonderfully accommodating of everyone here in the athletic department. We know that we are going to have just a terrific experience and we will get to enjoy a marvelous football game. We are really pleased to be invited to the bowl and are delighted to be participants.”
On the chance to have 20-30 million viewers watching the Cotton Bowl on a FOX national television broadcast
“Well you have all heard me talk about our athletic programs in general. Football in particular is the window through which more people see LSU than any other venue. When you get a chance to play in the SBC Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day against a great team with 20 plus million people all over the world watching our players and university that is just an amazing opportunity for LSU to tell its story to the world. It gives us a chance to show all over America what kind of university we are and what we stand for and what kind of young men represent us on the field and off. It is an amazing opportunity for LSU to showcase its talents and we are very pleased to be a part of it.”
On the turnaround of LSU’s reputation as now being seen a good traveling team from the struggle to get in to the Peach Bowl in 2000 to the present situation
“I think it is that we did all the things right. It is not any one part of the university, it is all of the university and our fans and supporters. We did work hard to get in to the Peach Bowl and convinced those great folks over in Atlanta that we would be there in large numbers and we would be a great team to have. First of all the players were fantastic, not just on the field in that extraordinary game, but also in all the press interviews and the social settings and they saw a football program, coaches, staff, supporters and players that really handled themselves with great dignity and class. Second of all we set records selling it out. We set a Peach Bowl record for the speed with which we sold out all of our tickets and then some. Fans literally took over the Georgia Dome and literally took over the community. They really showed up and showed them what LSU fans were really all about. Last year when we got in to the Sugar Bowl there were some doubting Thomas’s down in New Orleans that said “Oh golly gee it is too bad we have the local team because people are not going to come down in as large a numbers and get hotels and just the opposite happened. We filled up the town and ended up with that extraordinary event and also a wonderful football game and we got to see what a great team the Tigers had and we are going to do the same thing in Dallas. We hope to have the same result on the football team as well but we are going to fill up the town and bring a lot of fans and show them what a wonderful university we are and to get to face the University of Texas is just icing on the cake.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
Offensive Tackle Rodney Reed
…On playing Texas
“I think it is just an honor to be able to accept the Cotton Bowl. I think our team is certainly very deserving to have the chance to play in such a prestigious bowl against a team the caliber of Texas. We are going to prepare very hard the next couple of weeks to show the fans that we really are a good team, and hopefully we will have a good result.”
…On the 10 a.m. kickoff
“That is just the time we have to go play. Whether it is 10 o’clock in the morning or 10 o’clock at night, we still have to go play. That is out of our control. We can only control how we get up and get going in the morning. That is what we are going to focus on.”
Middle Linebacker Bradie James
…On playing Texas
“To me this being a January 1 bowl, this is one of the goals we set out to accomplish at the beginning of the season. To have this opportunity is just great, especially against Texas. It just shows everybody the type of talent we have and the type of talent they have. It is going to be a great game. Outside of the SEC Championship, this is one of the biggest games of our careers. We have never played the bordering state, that being Texas. It is going to be fun, and we are looking forward to it.”
…On a chance to regroup after the loss to Arkansas
“As far as regrouping, what’s done is done. We didn’t beat Arkansas and there is nothing that we can do to change that, but it is always good to have another game to go play because you get a chance to learn from your mistakes and make up for things you didn’t accomplish. We have time to regroup. Everybody has been thinking about it. Everyone is eager to go out and play well and win.”
…On having to prepare for a game five weeks after the previous game
“It can be difficult. Right now with the layoff we have had, you have to get back in football shape. Right now, we are not doing any football related activities or any simulated training. Getting back into it is difficult. It seems like we are getting ready to go back into fall camp with two-a-days and work on fundamentals. We are just excited that we have another opportunity to play.”
Quarterback Marcus Randall
…On playing Texas
“This game is going to be great for us. Not being able to make it to the SEC Championship Game kind of hurt us, but we are still going to a Jan. 1 game against Texas. They are a great team. We are going to take it in stride and come out and practice hard.”