NEW ORLEANS, La – The 2008 Sun Belt Football Media Days took place in New Orleans, at the Hilton New Orleans-St. Charles on July 21 & 22. The event, restricted to accredited members of the media, featured the announcements of the Pre-Season All Conference Team, Team Rankings, as well as the 2008 television schedule.

The annual event allows for head coaches, sports information personnel, as well as star players from each member school to mingle, socialize and get acquainted prior to the start of the season. The event included a dinner cruise aboard the Steamboat Natchez, decorated for the Sun Belt Conference down to the clothes worn by the staff. There was also an announcement with regard to post-season play by Sun Belt Commissioner, Wright Waters, on day 2.

“We are delighted to announce,” said Waters, “that we have signed agreements with the St. Petersburg Bowl, the Papajohns.com Bowl and the PetroSun Independence Bowl. With these additions, we believe we have helped those teams that reach bowl eligibility within our conference, to have a better chance of extending their season. By keeping these bowls regional, we can compete against great competition and also bring in good crowds. The agreement begins immediately and we look forward to the opportunity.”

Head Coach Rickey Bustle and Quarterback Michael Desormeaux were in attendance to represent UL. Desormeaux is optimistic about the upcoming season. “We expect to win,” explained Desormeaux. “We worked extremely hard this spring, and have continued to work hard so that we can be successful this fall. We’re going to take it one game at a time and hopefully things will work out.

“The biggest change this offseason has been the team’s attitude. Last year took a lot out of us, but we have come back with a fresh outlook and are excited about the opportunity. Each player has really embraced what the coaches want out of us, and we are very confident heading into this season.”

All of the Sun Belt football schools were in attendance, including Western Kentucky who begins as a I-A member in 2009, and South Alabama who will field its first-ever football team this fall, and compete in the Sun Belt as soon as 2013.

Paul Angelle, B.A. 1993 UL, is a former L’Acadien editor who also worked as a columnist for The Vermilion. He earned his J.D. from Loyola University in 2005. He lives and works in Mandeville, and he still finds time to work for UL as a sports photographer. All photos courtesy of Paul Angelle.