​Even in a weekly newspaper, events sometimes hit near deadline and lead to an entirely different perspective for the front page.In that case last week, it wasn’t a crime, nor was it an arrest or a court verdict.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementInstead, it was the passing of a self-made man.I realize the term has been overused to the brink of it being regarded as cliché, but the term “iconic” aptly suited Roger Cador.If you think this will be a sports column, I can’t guarantee it’s what you will get.It goes far beyond the aspects of sports.Yes, he was a highly respected coach who earned a spot among the elite in college baseball.And to know Cador was to know a man who defied odds and surprised a lot of people along the way.John Ory DupontI first met him in 2012 when was I asked to interview him for a feature. A close friend told me it would be like no interview I ever conducted.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe wasn’t exaggerating.I arrived at the Southern University Athletic Department building on a hot August afternoon. I assumed would meet him in a posh office and sip on a soft drink or an exquisite cocktail during our conversation.Silly me. I got nothing close to that.Instead, the secretary led me to a hot, humid garage that served as a storeroom for his team’s baseball equipment. The only light in the room came from the partially open garage door.He led me to metal chair. How’s that for (literally) putting a reporter in the hot seat?“Sit down and I’ll tell you a little about myself — and after that, you can ask me anything you want,” he said.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCador told me all about his time growing up in Ventress, from the cold days walking to school to the many hot afternoons when he would deliver copies of The State-Times (what was then the afternoon edition of what was then known as The Morning Advocate).He told me about how he had little or nothing when he started the Jaguar baseball program — no equipment, no uniforms and no money to buy any of those items.Cador said he reached out to his longtime friend, Hall of Famer Dusty Baker, who was manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers at the time. He donated all his team’s equipment to the Jaguar program.Cador also talked about the many kids he brought into the program, and how he emphasized academics had to come first.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHis favorite story, however, involved a former Baton Rouge TV sportscaster who said the Jaguars “did not have a snowball’s chance in hell” of defeating Cal-State Fullerton in the NCAA Super Regionals.It went down as one of the biggest upsets in college baseball.Cador got the last laugh. In fact, he chuckled when he told me that story.He also told me about his long friendship with then-LSU baseball coach Skip Bertman, and how Bertman would send him some of his players when they couldn’t land a spot on the purple-and-gold roster.Most importantly, he talked about how many of h