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Spotlight on Former Athlete: Danny, Baseball 1977 & 78, and Meg Cook, Tennis 77 & 78,Coaches 78-84Danny, Meg Cook big part of Cajun family
Bruce Brown
Written for The Athletic Network
Bruce Brown lagolden83@aol.com May 25, 2012
Danny Cook arrived at UL as a standout baseball player from a Alabama and became part of a record-setting Cajun team.
Tennis standout Meg Scopes went to high school almost in UL’s back yard, and made history as the first female athlete to receive an athletic scholarship at the school.
They met as fellow Ragin’ Cajuns, married, and now some 34 years later they’ve had four children graduate from UL, with a fifth likely to follow the same path in a few years.
It would take a while to find a couple more associated with the Ragin’ Cajun family.
Competing side-by-side at Cajun Courts and at Tigue Moore Field, the two got to know each other as seniors.
“We had a lot of friends in the same places,” Danny said.
“We would play our matches, then go watch baseball games,” Meg said. “And, sometimes the baseball players would come hit on the courts.We met playing pool. It was a lot of fun.”
Each had a claim to a special place in UL athletic history.
“It was a great thrill and honor to be the recipient of the first female athletic scholarship at UL,” said Meg, who attended Cathedral-Carmel High in Lafayette and was a standout junior tennis player.
“I appreciate the opportunity it gave me.
“My mom took me to my first tennis lessons at Oakbourne when I was 12. I didn’t play in my first tournament until I was 16, which was good. I didn’t get burned out. At the time, a lot of kids were playing. It was the first major tennis boom.”
Meg played in 1977 and 1978, then coached the UL women’s team for 6 years. For the past 26 years, she has been on the Oakbourne teaching staff under former Cajun star Paul Griffith.
Phenix City, Ala., native Danny got his chance with the Cajuns after shining in junior college in his home state.
“I was playing JC ball, and there was a scout for the Cleveland Indians who was a friend of (then-UL coach) Don Lockwood,” Danny said. “They needed someone to replace Tom Berniard.
“My first year (1977), there were a lot of JC players on the team. As the year went on, we learned to gel. My senior year, we set 37 school records and went 37-15.
I remember Jose Alvarez pitching a no-hitter against UTA in his last game, and I had a good game hitting the ball.
“Both years were a lot of fun. We had a great group of guys and I still stay in contact with a lot of them.”
Cook chose baseball over football (he played center), not an easy path in a football-crazed state like Alabama.
“I had to make a choice, and I loved baseball a little more,” he said. “Then when I got here I fell in love with UL.
“I was a good hitter. My last year, I hit .383 and drove in a few runs. I made contact, hit the ball in the gaps and was decent defensively. That (1978) year, we probably had seven guys hit .325 or better.”
That season was the Cajuns’ first at Tigue Moore Field, after playing previously at Clark Field in City Park.
“I hated hitting at Clark,” Cook said. “The alleys were too deep. That first year I probably had eight fly balls that would have been out of other ballparks.
Moore Field was a recruiting thing, and the program has really made a lot of progress since then.”
The power hitter became a coach upon graduation and is a year away from retiring after many years at Scott Middle School, focusing mainly on football and basketball at that school.
“I knew since 7th grade that I wanted to coach,” he said. “I was a catcher until I hurt my knee and moved to first base. As a catcher, you converse more with the coach. You’re in on every play, control the pitchers, make a lot of the infield calls, and you have to be honest about your pitcher when the coach comes to the mound.”
Coaching also came naturally for Meg, who has come full circle teaching on the same OCC courts where she got her first lesson.
“I really loved to play,” she said. “I grew up playing with tennis families like the Boustanys, Delattes, Fosters, Cornays, Meyers and Mosings.
“I remember the state tournament my senior year at Cathedral, playing three matches on Friday, three on Saturday, then cramping up in the second match on Sunday. There are more restrictions now, on kids and adults, because we’re more aware of heat and dangers.”
Coupled with the advance of technology and better training methods, tennis players have more chance to shine now.
“There are a lot more people playing now, and less tennis elbow, thanks to the new racquets,” Meg said. “The racquets are very forgiving to the body and the players.
“I really enjoy working with Paul at Oakbourne. Our kids have grown up together. I really love the game, and the people who play.”
One instance illustrates that joy of teaching.
“I was hitting with a little girl,” she said. “There were about 6 or 7 in the group, and this one girl would swing and miss. But she would take her turn and smile. The fourth day they came back, she hit it over the net, and the others smiled and clapped for her, they were so excited.
“That’s what sports should be about _ that support, that comraderie. I remember the look on her face. It was a pure moment, a euphoric moment, really a blessing.”
All five Cook children _ daughters Kelly and Kim, sons Chris, Mike and Kevin _ have enjoyed sports, with Mike the latest UL grad in the group with an engineering degree after pitching for the Cajuns. None of them was pressured to play.
“You don’t want to bend over backwards for them,” Danny said. “You want them to earn everything they get. All the kids are good athletes, but you can turn them off of sports.
“It’s all about balance. People tend to forget that it’s a game. You have to have fun, and work hard at it. Mike had a good career at UL, but we’re as proud of his degree as anything he’s done in sports.”
“They grew up wanting to play games in the yard _ baseball, basketball,, tennis,” Meg said. “It’s been fun watching them grow up and play the games they wanted to play.We never pushed them. The kids were happy; that was the most important thing.
“With all their friends and teammates, there were times when we would have massive basketball games, or football or softball in the yard. And we’d have 10-15 kids spend the night.”
Whether teaching the finer points of athletics to their own offspring, or to hundreds of others, Danny and Meg developed an appreciation of the rhythms of being married to another coach.
“It’s easier, I think,” Meg said. “When Danny won a championship in basketball, I could appreciate how he felt. The highs are so high, and the lows are so low. And we both understand the time it takes.”
“We’ve got to make allowances for each other, for both of us,” Danny said. “And we have to understand the time made for other kids in the program.”
“I’m excited and happy that we’ve been so lucky and blessed,” Meg said.
JC or high school?
“Coming from junior college, I was able to come in and contribute quickly,” Danny said of his two years of baseball at UL. “I was expected to step right in.
“It’s different going from high school to a four-year school (as son Mike did). There’s a big difference. Everybody else has the same ability you have. You’re just in the mix, instead of being better than everybody else.
“Pitchers have much better command of their pitches, and the velocity is a lot tougher. Instead of 80-85 mph, it’s 85-92. That’s a big change.
“You can’t approach it the same. If you do, you’ll get burned.”
Alabama or Auburn?
Danny Cook’s hometown of Phenix City is near Auburn, Ala. But plenty of neighbors rooted for the Alabama Crimson Tide, including Cook in his youth.
“It’s a big sports town and area, with a lot of good athletes,” Cook said. “There were a lot of split families. At school, some rooms were pained red and white (Bama), some orange and blue (Auburn).
“In 1972, after Auburn beat Bama 17-16, there were 8-to-10 fights in school. It’s a huge rivalry.”
Bruce Brown
Written for Athletic Network
Click here for Meg and her 1984 Women’s Tennis Team.
Click here for Meg and her 1978 Women’s Tennis teammates.
Click here for Danny and his 1978 Baseball teammates.
Click here for Danny’s profile which contains family information.
To view more pictures of Meg and Danny, click photo gallery, their sport/years, as well as the years Meg coached the women’s tennis team. Our rich athletic traditions were entrusted to the vision, hope, loyalty, and dedication of those former athletes and we will forever owe them a debt of sincere gratitude. May God bless each of them and their families. Anyone with information, materials, pictures, memorabilia, etc., of the university’s former athletic program participants is requested to contact Ed Dugas at athleticnetwork@louisiana.edu Thank you.The Photo Gallery Link located on the left side of the home page at www.athleticnetwork.net contains over 10,000 pictures of former and current athletes and support groups. Just click on photo gallery and when the menu appears, click on the sport or support group you wish to view. The years of pictures posted for that team or group will appear and you may click on the year you wish to view. One click on a thumbnail picture or narrative and it is enlarged; a click on the enlarged photo and it reverts back to the thumbnail. The Athletic Network seeks to post pictures of each team and support group for each year they represented the university. The stories of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 honorees featured in the Spotlight on Former Athletes are still included in the News Page and may be viewed by clicking on "more news" at the bottom right of the News Box, scrolling down, clicking on the title of the story. Those spotlight features which are no longer shown in the News Page, have been moved to the Lagniappe Link of the "History of UL Athletics" located on the left side of the home page. The Spotlight on Former Athletes announcement has also been placed in the profile of each honoree, excluding the pictures. 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
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