New Year's Resolutions & Prognostications for Tulane Athletics
One of my most memorable interactions with Pete Finney was in 1990.
Though I had known Pete through the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for years, I never got to watch him at work. I was doing pre-game and post-game hosting for the Saints Radio Network. It was a Saints post-game media conference and Jim Mora approached the podium. As was wont in those days, the longest-tenured media person would ask the first question. Though I never knew who was around the longest between Bob Roesler and Pete Finney, Pete seemed to always be ready with the first question. Mora was in his usual crappy mood. Pete just started right away in what I learned was his method of asking Mora questions. Pete didn't even hesitate to jump right in on Mora's team's defensive effort that day, which was not their best.
"So, Jim," Pete began. Then waited a count or two. Then waited some more. "The defense," Pete finished. His "question" took about 9-seconds. Nine seconds to get out four words.
That was it. That was his "question." No lead-up, no statistical quote. Just that.
Mora went on one of his quotable rampages. All because of Pete Finney, who knew how to prod the right answers out of anybody with just the right words.
I remember growing up, reading Pete's New Year's prediction column in The Times-Picayune newspaper every year. I would giggle at his silly predictions and prognostications, all done with tongue firmly planted in cheek. I marveled at his ability to look at the day's sports players and fans with a side-eyed sense of humor, while still getting a reaction out of folks. Pete never really seemed to worry about others' opinions. Maybe he did, but when I would speak to him, it didn't show.
Jeff Duncan of The Times Picayune/NOLA.com has taken on the mantle of that New Year's responsibility, and does a pretty decent job of it. I know I am not Pete Finney, nor am I trying to be. Instead, please consider this my effort at memorializing the man and his legacy.
2026 Prognostications
Football Transfer Portal
After numerous predictions of Tulane losing its entire offense to transfers, Green Wave new head coach Will Hall signs more three and four-star transfers than at any time in Tulane football history. Included in that number, Arch Manning, who changes his mind about Texas and decides getting a better education and being close to family is more important than money and enrolls in Tulane for the Spring semester.
Men's Basketball
The Tulane men enjoy a nice run at the beginning of their American Conference slate of games, winning 10-of-11, including a ten-point defeat of Memphis in Tennessee. However, Ron Hunter's obsession with big men gets in the Green Wave's way, as Tulane falls in the AAC championship game with seven-footer Davion Bradford at point guard, leading to 24-turnovers by the Greenie backcourt. The Green Wave are invited to the NIT.
Women's Basketball
In her second year as head coach, Ashley Langford leads the Tulane women to the American Conference championship game, outrunning the Rice Owls to claim the AAC crown and a slot in the NCAA tournament where the Green Wave get a rematch with LSU. Tiger coach Kim Mulkey is dressed to the nines for the game in a purple and gold-sequined ball gown. Dyllan Hanna blocks seven shots, and Amira Mabry leads the way with 27-points, but the Wave fall to the Tigers, 92-79. Mabry is seen waving to fans, thanking them as she exits the floor.
Baseball
Despite being picked fourth in pre-season voting, Jay Uhlman will lead his team to a fourth consecutive American Conference championship game. Pitching will lead the way, garnering the best ERA in the league. The Green Wave will play in the Baton Rouge regional, falling to LSU in round one, but claiming victory over the Tigers in the championship game, as Mike the Tiger is rolled onto the field in his cage but mayhem ensues, forcing LSU to forfeit the contest. Tulane goes to its third World Series.
Football
Tulane new coach Will Hall takes his team on the road to open the season, visiting Duke and former TU quarterback Darian Mensah. New Tulane QB Arch Manning throws for 378-yards, four touchdown passes and another running TD as the Green Wave outscore the Blue Devils 49-45. Tulane goes on to finish the year 9-3, losing at Kansas State, at Army, and in Yulman to Memphis. The Green Wave miss out on the American Conference championship game for the first time in five years, but accept an invitation to play in the Passmore Gas & Propane Bowl in Lake Charles.
In 2026 We Resolve to...
1. ...consider our sources more carefully.
Looking back at our most popular story of the year, we asked two different sources about this story: one within the the Tulane Athletic department and one of the larger financial supporters. We had what we thought was enough information to say that LSU DC and former Tulane player Blake Baker had agreed to terms with Tulane to become its new football coach. We still feel that story was accurate, especially since we said nothing had been signed. However, we do not want to become like other sites and reporters, who post at the drop of a Tweet what could be true. So, we're going to avoid these kinds of stories in the future, and that includes those that "predict" who will transfer, sign, and commit. There's just too much conjecture.
2. ...write less, while writing more.
We were told by others in our field to write more articles, to make them shorter so we could cover more. They were wrong. Our most popular articles were the ones with more depth and more information, not the ones that were the quick shots. So we will write less articles, while including more insight and depth in our stories.
3. ...offer a newsletter option.
You, our readers, have wondered when our articles are coming out. Though we have a schedule every weekday, it may not match yours. For those who wonder, our article publication times this past year on the weekdays are 6:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., Noon, 3:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m., all in the Central time zone. On weekends, it's 9:00 a.m., Noon, and 3:00 p.m.. Due to our commitment to more in-depth articles, those times will be slimmed down, especially on the weekdays. However, that might not fit your schedule, so we are in the midst of creating a newsletter. That will list a compilation of stories of the day so you can read the articles you'd like and maybe find some that you didn't know existed. Look for that in the first quarter of the year.
Here's to a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.