LAFAYETTE — Butch Alsandor might be the perfect example of how initial planning has little effect on the outcome of a professional career.

Alsandor originally wanted to be a print journalist, but when he arrived at McNeese State University in 1977, he discovered the school only had a mass communications and broadcast degree.

No problem. Just check the resume.

Even the path to playing three years of college football at McNeese had its initial deceptions during his 1976 recruiting phase, said Alsandor.

On his official recruiting trip to Lake Charles, Alsandor, an Opelousas native and a sports anchor and broadcaster for several large media market television stations, arrived late at a 1976 McNeese-USL (now UL) football game and missed the recruits’ campus tour.

“The next Monday (former McNeese State head coach Ernie Duplechin) called me and said I could go visit Kevin Ross, a friend of mine from Opelousas Catholic, and use that as the official visit since Kevin could show me around,” said Alsandor.

Sometime later, Alsandor said Ross became the recruiter and delivered a McNeese sales pitch that brought the former OC all-state defensive end to Lake Charles for the next four years.

After all these years, Alsandor remembered that weekend well.

“(Ross) took me to all these parties and everything, and he told me then that if I came to McNeese, he would let me use his car. Well, that got me to McNeese, but he never did let me use the car,” Alsandor said.

Despite the misdirection, Alsandor said life has worked out well.

Alsandor said Former McNeese head football coach, athletic director and school President Jack Doland helped him obtain an initial broadcasting position at KPLC in Lake Charles.

After that, Alsandor moved to more lucrative markets in Baltimore and more recently at KHOU in Houston, where he became the nightly sports anchor for 20 years.

Several years ago, Alsandor stepped back from that position and now, while living in the Houston area with his family, Alsandor does Texas Southern sports in addition to working games for the Southland Conference Football Network.

Alsandor was doing work for the SLC last Saturday night at Cajun Field, when he was part of a broadcasting team that included former McNeese State running back Buford Jordan and ex-UL and McNeese assistant coach Gerald Broussard.

“I’ve been doing this for 33 years, so you just don’t want to shut that down completely. Right now, I have the contract to do the TSU home games ,and now I get to do games for the Southland,” said Alsandor.

Alsandor played on two McNeese State Independence Bowl championship teams and he started in three straight games in which McNeese defeated the Cajuns, both in Lake Charles and in Lafayette.

During last week’s climatic buildup to the McNeese-UL game, Alsandor said he interviewed both Cajuns’ head coach Mark Hudspeth and McNeese head coach Lance Guidry about the football rivalry that has been played only three times since 1986.

What the coaches told him, said Alsandor, contained a sample of how things have changed over the years.

From 1951 until UL became a Division 1 Independent during the 1980s, the two schools had played football annually.

Alsandor said he was interested in how the rivalry’s focus had changed since then, especially for the players. So he asked the coaches and got input from the supporters of each school.

“For the players, it’s different, but not the fans. It’s just as emotional as it was back then when I played. They are as tied to this game as ever.

“In talking with Coach Hudspeth and Coach Guidry, both of them said they had to reeducate their players and tell them how much of a rivalry this is and how heated it has been.” Alsandor said.

As he was interviewed during a 41-minute lightning delay during the game, Alsandor said his phone was blasting with text messages from fans watching the game.

Alsandor said despite never writing many newspaper stories or getting to drive Kevin Ross’ vehicle at McNeese, things have worked out well for him.

“Going to McNeese was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I got to play there three years. The atmosphere for football there was something you can’t describe and those games (with UL) are something the players from both teams always remember.

“Things couldn’t have happened better. It didn’t happen maybe the way it should have, but things have worked out pretty well,” said Alsandor.