February 26, 2004
TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of LSU Athletics
FROM: Skip Bertman, LSU Athletics Director
RE: March Madness
As we prepare to enter the month of March, most of the college sports world will turn its attention to the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, better known as “March Madness.”
March Madness is quite a remarkable phenomenon that has grown bigger and better with each year. It is a time of year that has become synonymous with upsets and buzzer-beaters and all the color and pageantry that is associated with college sports.
The great news for Tiger fans is that the excitement of March Madness is coming right here to Baton Rouge. The Pete Maravich Assembly Center will be the site of the 2004 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds, on March 21 and 23. Some of the best college basketball teams in the country, likely to include our own LSU Lady Tigers, will be battling for a chance to move on down the road to the Final Four.
Best of all, we’ve priced this event to make it one of the best sports bargains of the year. Ticket packages are a very reasonable $15 for adults and $10 for students and youth 18 years and younger. You’ll see two games on Sunday, March 21, and one more on Tuesday, March 23.
But we need your help. We hope you will consider investing in this event as a way to show that LSU is among the best in the nation in its support of women’s basketball.
The LSU community has shown tremendous potential in its support of the Lady Tiger Basketball program. At the Tennessee game last year, hundreds of fans were turned away when the largest crowd to ever see a regular season women’s basketball game in the state of Louisiana packed into the Maravich Assembly Center. We had over 15,000 fans on hand that afternoon, so I know there is great interest among LSU fans for quality women’s basketball action.
Your help is important for another reason. Since attendance numbers are a major factor in awarding NCAA Championship sites, a big crowd will validate LSU’s potential as a host site for future events. Help us make a statement to the nation that LSU has become a major player in the sport of women’s basketball and that we are here to stay.
You can also help the future of the sport of women’s basketball by buying tickets for a youth group. We believe that if our young people come to the LSU campus and experience our events, they’ll come back again and again for many years to come. There’s no better way to invest in the future of LSU Athletics than to bring a young boy or a young girl to an LSU athletics event.
If you have a favorite youth group you would like to sponsor and send to this great event, simply contact the LSU Athletics Ticket Office to buy youth tickets for only $10 each. If you would like us to put you together with a youth group to sponsor, call Jenni Peters in the LSU Athletics Marketing Department at (225) 578-6884.
And if you know of a youth group that would be interested in attending the tournament, please give Jenni a call.
You can buy your tickets in person at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office, by phone at (225) 578-2184, or online at LSUsports.net.
Thank you in advance for your support. The road to the Final Four starts in Baton Rouge. We look forward to seeing you at the games.