Not only on this board, but on the other site, I've been seeing a lot of season ticket holders get really defensive about this and challenge people to go to the games if they don't like it, etc. Sitting out of state in my comfortable house, it was embarrassing to see a half empty Tiger Stadium (behind the LSU bench) ten minutes before kickoff and it was even more embarrassing that Blackledge, Nessler, and Rowe mentioned how empty it was many times during the second half. As a kid, I sat in every kind of weather to watch high school football; there were times I was convinced I'd be struck by lightening in the stands and die. But we never left early then, either. I get it. People leave early for a number of reasons, and last night's crappy weather couldn't have made it great to be there. But I'm thinking that many people put so much into the pregame partying that they are simply tired (and likely drunk) for the actual games. It just doesn't seem like Death Valley.
1. There's nothing to get over, I was just making an observation. Fans still get a D-. 2. I get that it sucks to sit in the rain. I expect that a certain number of fans will leave, but that stadium was quieter than church on a Tuesday morning and we were playing Auburn not Furman. It seems to me that Death Valley has lost some of its swagger in recent years. I would love to be wrong about that. Has success spoiled our fans and taken some of the edge off? 3. I'd love to be in Tiger Stadium every Sat night but it's just not possible. 4. "Most schools can't even fill their tiny stadiums." That's a fine rationalization if you aspire to compare to Tulane. It's understood that some fans will leave, it's disconcerting when most of them leave. Perhaps LSU should start playing in the afternoon so all the fans can have plenty of time to party and get home before dark. We are LSU! Look, my expectation is for Death Valley to exceed all other stadiums. Also, if you are hearing complaints about early fan departure on mulitple threads, maybe there is something to it.
Indeed. This is the flip side and the price we pay for playing night games. With so many seats and so little parking people arrive in the morning for a night game and whether they are Animal House partiers or old farts sitting around eating chicken . . . it makes for a very long, tiresome day and many won't get home until long after midnight. Something else that people forget is that for every rabid ticket-owning fan, there is often a ticket for a wife who really doesn't give a shit and a kid who isn't paying attention to the game at all. Most season ticket holders own 2 to 5 tickets. There are not only many no-shows, but a lot of folks who pressure the rabid fan to leave early. Half of the empty seats you saw were not those who left early, but those who never showed because of the weather. In 40 years, I have taken many dates to football games and honestly only about half of them were football fans. A few enjoyed going for the spectacle of it all. Many others went once and that was all they were interested in. In the last 10 years I take more of my old chums who don't have season tickets rather than taking disinterested dates. Women who like football the way you do are rare, although many others enjoy the experience. I took a woman several years ago who had never watched a football game in her life and did not understand one damn thing. She spent the whole game people-watching, looking at the golden girls, drunks, the cheerleaders, Wal-Mart princesses or anybody through my binoculars. I swear to God, when I mentioned the referee's flag once, she looked surprised and said that she thought the players were throwing the flags to distract each other. As soon as she saw people leaving in the 4th quarter, she was ready to go. The things we will put up with to get laid . . .
I think it is three things. 1. The stadium is huge. It was 67,000 when I was in college, now it is 94,000 and soon to be 100,000. There just ain't that many passionate fans. Lots more casual fans. The upper decks and the student section have huge empty areas for all but the biggest games. The main reason they didn't put a lot of regular seats in the new South upper deck was the fear that they would be mostly empty. Like many other schools we have overbuilt our stadium for the dedicated fan base. We must live with the fact that many tickets are sold to casual fans who are often no-shows and frequently leave early. But we need their money. 2. Every game is on TV. High-definition TV with 13 camera angles. More and more fans can choose to stay home with the kids and watch the game. Or leave early in a thunderstorm and watch the second half on TV. 3. Dollars. Ticket prices, parking prices, TAF donations, and surcharges have made the game too expensive for many blue-collar fans. Many of those McClendon era-fans that made the reputation of the stadium are getting old and living on fixed incomes and have given up their seats. The people buying many of those premium seats have the cash for the status but not the passion for the game.
I'm lucky. I have a gf and kids that love LSU football. We make at least 1 game to TS a year, we live 5 hrs away. When we go to a game we make sure and experience everything we can. Tailgate, Victory Hill. Tiger baiting other fans and participate in the cheers. We always have a blast and sit till the final second ticks off of the clock. LSU is our team and we do everything we can to support them. 8 of us are going to Oxford to watch them Tigers kick that Hotty toddy ass and 4 of us plan on making the LSU A&M game.
All good points Red. My biggest issue is how small the student section is. They really are marginalized. When we went to LSU, remember how the student section was filled to capacity hours before the games actually started. It was so exciting to be in the student section, no one wanted to leave. I remember staying there long after a big victory. Maybe there's no sneaking liquor into the games anymore post 911, but we didn't have to leave early to party back then. We were all getting to sit down for the first time all game long (except for halftime). Now, the student section is so small, there's no real critical mass for the explosive atmosphere and party. Expand the student section at the expense of those that don't really care. You're right about how much money you have to spend to get 2 to 4 season tickets...It's ridiculous. So much so that it becomes conspicuous consumption and commercialism more than fandom. In a way, it's not good that businesses are the main entities that control most of the tickets. The average fan can't afford to support the team at the games.
Any way, Miles should be fired for predictable play calling that only allowed us to win by two touchdowns on a sloppy field in the rain.
Way back then, we all got in on our ID cards, they would punch a hole in it to admit you. First-come first-served. We all lived in dormitories and stood in line for four hours. Any student could come to the game. Hell even the foreign students who didn't understand a thing would come. It was something to do for them. There were no computer nerds, no electronic game addicts, no satellite TV. Games were almost never televised. The math nerds that we had came to the friggin' games with their slide rules in leather holsters. Now the students must have tickets and the nerds don't acquire them. They even have reserved seats. They show up late and leave early. The problem is that they don't even fill the allotment that they have for most games. They didn't for this one. Student interest in attending games is WAY down from the 60's and 70's. Students live in condos with HDTV now. The nerds have plenty of other distractions. Foreign students can watch Soccer on TV instead. So, they have had seats taken away from them and sold because they were not using them. Now they only fill the section for really big games and it is SRO. But AD's look at all those empty seats for most games and see the dollars they are losing. All the students have to do to keep the seats is to show up. If enough demand was there they might even get some back.
