WHAT I WANT TO SEE IN 2018

OK, so last week, I gave you guys a list of people to look out for in 2018.

Now, I’m going to break objectivity and be selfish, telling you some things that I hope happen in the next year.

The past year was amazing in the world of sports. It really was. Our area’s teams had loads of success and standout athletes emerged all over the place to keep me on my toes throughout the year.

But heck, there’s always room for improvement, right?

So here is a list of things I’d like to see in the 12 months ahead. Note, these picks are generic and could apply to just about any local team.

If you guys are winning, so am I.

Wishlist Item No. 1 – A local football team making it to the Superdome

OK, so this has been on my list for a few years now, and I’m getting tired of impatiently waiting. Jokes aside, it’s been a long, drawn out drought for local football teams, New Orleans and Baton Rouge have taken over the dome and have made it their home. I’ve done this job since 2009. Since that time, just one team has made the Superdome for

prep football. And that team isn’t even in our coverage area anymore, so technically, no one that I cover today has ever been to the Dome during my career. That has to change. This past season, a lot of local teams were good, but young. This year, I hope that teams are able to learn from last year’s experiences and push forward. I don’t like being off in early November while other reporters are covering their areas’ teams. That’s no fun.

Wishlist Item No. 2 – A Nicholls team will make the NCAA Tournament

The Nicholls State University football team made the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs this past fall and that was awesome! Now, it’s time for some other sports to get in on the act, as well. Be it Nicholls basketball – men or women – or Nicholls baseball or softball, I’d love to see more of the Colonels in the NCAA Tournament. I like both basketball team’s chances, but the Southland Conference Basketball Tournament is so unpredictable, so you truly never know what might happen. I think baseball and softball will be good, too, but the Southland is awfully good in both of those sports. Whoever it is, it doesn’t much matter. I just want to see it happen.

Wishlist Item No. 3 – LSU football beats Alabama

OK, this one is for selfish reasons, of course. I’m a graduate of Louisiana State University and we’ve not beaten Alabama since the 2011 season when they also followed up that win with a blowout victory over the Tigers in the BCS National Championship Game. That’s a long, painful drought and it’s a drought that I’d absolutely love to see end in the next football season. In 2018, LSU will have a pocket passing quarterback, an experienced offensive line and a defense that should be loaded with talent. Combine that with that fact that the Tigers play the Crimson Tide in Tiger Stadium and I think it’s time.

Wishlist Item 4 – The New Orleans Pelicans break off from the Benson Tree

Tom Benson did the entire state of Louisiana a solid when he bought the New Orleans Pelicans franchise, because without that, the team would have likely moved out of Louisiana. So before we speak ill of Mr. Benson, we’d like to first thank him for keeping our NBA team here for the future. OK, now for the bad stuff. Since buying the Pelicans, Benson has run the team like a red-headed stepchild of the New Orleans Saints, giving them little in the way of structure, while appointing Mickey Loomis to oversee the team’s day-today operations, while he also serves as the General Manager of the Saints. That marriage needs to end. Right now.

Wishlist Item 5 – The Bayou to surge to the Top 28 in basketball again

Last year’s basketball season was so fun. On the girls’ side, Ellender, E.D. White, Houma Christian, South Lafourche, South Terrebonne and others cruised to the playoffs, setting up high-stakes games at local gyms. On the boys’ side, it wasn’t any different with Ellender, H.L. Bourgeois, Terrebonne, Houma Christian, E.D. White and others advancing through the brackets. This year, I’d love to see it happen again. The Houma-Thibodaux area is a basketball hotbed with several local teams among a shortlist of favorites to reach the Top 28. Maybe if we do it again, the area can get the respect it deserves as the basketball goldmine that it is.

WHAT I WANT TO SEE IN 2018WHAT I WANT TO SEE IN 2018