As he makes his way through his first months of leading a state that ranks at or near the bottom in the U.S. in crime, education, health care, infrastructure, economy and opportunity, according to the latest U.S. News rankings, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry continues to devote his attention to the whereabouts of college athletic teams during the playing of the National Anthem before their sporting events.
Landry has been all over national conservative media outlets this week posing his desired policy changes, including that student athletes not present for the playing of the National Anthem have their scholarships revoked.
The governor’s ire was provoked earlier this week when LSU’s women’s basketball team was not present on the court for the playing of the Star Spangled Banner before their high-profile NCAA tournament showdown with Iowa – a regular occurrence due to the timing of pregame warmup and preparation logistics according to the university’s athletics department and not any type of political statement.
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On Friday, LSU Athletics Director Scott Woodward issued a statement via the sports department’s official X account on social media.
“We have reviewed Governor Landry’s letter on the national anthem. At LSU we have and will always be dedicated to the flag, the anthem and the country. We consistently look at all our processes and will do so again. As Louisiana’s Flagship university, LSU always strives to represent the higher ideals and values of our students, our state and our country,” the statement read.
It didn’t take long for Landry to quickly turn his attention to the statement and respond with another statement of his own, one that seemed to take heed of some of the backlash he has received over his criticisms of Coach Kim Mulkey and the LSU women’s basketball team and walk back some of the vitriol earlier aimed at the Tigers while redirecting it towards the NCAA.
The social media post in full read:
“Thank you Scott #LSUAthleticDirector for your leadership as well as the entire LSU community. This has never been about Coach Mulkey, a stalwart of our time, great citizen of Louisiana and patriot! Nor about our girl's basketball team, who have beat the critics and rose to the challenges and brought great pride to our State!
“This is about traditions and consistencies, that without either, we remain consistently divided! Now it is time for the @NCAA and #NCAA President @CharlieBakerMA to step up and show leadership. I look forward to seeing our country’s patriotism on full display this weekend during the Final Four tournament.”
Many early commenters on Gov. Landry’s latest post seem to indicate that his constituents still believe he’s focusing his time and energy in the entirely wrong direction.