Baseball: Sun Belt bans baseball on Easter Sunday

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, March 23, 2016

 

He fought for it for years and years.

More than a decade, actually.

Finally University of Louisiana at Lafayette coach Tony Robichaux has his way: The Ragin’ Cajuns will not be playing baseball on Easter Sunday.

In fact, no Sun Belt Conference team will.

Instead, in UL’s case, the Cajuns will play their three-game SBC series against Georgia State with games Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday morning at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.

Sun Belt series games typically are played on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday.

“I’m glad to see we finally got that changed,” said Robichaux, whose 12-9 Cajuns are coming off Tuesday night’s 8-5 loss to No. 10 LSU at Zephyr Field in Metairie.

“It think it will be my first Easter Sunday off in 30 years, so that was nice that our conference finally worked that out so our players and our families can be together on Easter Sunday.”

The rule was voted in by conference coaches last year, and put into effect for this season.

Previous efforts by Robichaux to have the rule adopted continuously failed.

“I guess with new guys in the league, the voting eventually changed,” Robichaux said.

Over the last several years, Florida International, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky all left the Sun Belt for Conference USA, while the conference added Texas State, Georgia State, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State.

Coastal Carolina will join the league next year, making the Sun Belt a 12-member conference.

The objection of some prior coaches to taking Easter Sunday off and moving up games?

“Their biggest worry, I guess,” Robichaux said earlier this week, “for some of them was that it could cost a little extra money and you could miss an extra day of class or something.

“But, like I tried to tell them, the guy you’re doing it for died for you. I don’t understand why a day of class, or some cash, is that important. So, we finally got it through.”

Robichaux expressed similar frustrations last year, even after getting the rule passed — but not in time to avoid playing on Easter in 2015.

“We’ve been pushing that for years,” the Cajuns coach said then.

“There’s always been somebody that didn’t want it. I don’t know what they’re going to tell Him when they face Him, and He asks them that question. But I hope they have a good answer.”

For Christians worldwide, Easter is the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

The holiday ends Holy Week, and for Robichaux — a devout Catholic, and a deeply religious man — it should be all about faith and family, not baseball.

Being forced to play on Easter, Robichaux said previously, “puts our fans in a unique situation.”

“A lot of them are cooking, and doing things on Easter Sunday,” he said in 2015. “They should be allowed to do that.

“Again, like I said, the man died for us. He died a thief’s death. I mean, they didn’t give Him a banquet. They didn’t honor Him. And yet we can’t honor Him? It’s pathetic. So I’m glad we finally got enough coaches in there that had enough sense to do this.”