In Case You Wondered Why Pac 10 Fans Get Called Soft By SEC Fans
Sager Bombs
Spring Game attendance stats, from here and here:
South Carolina: 31,125, Tennessee: 28,898, Mississippi State ($5 charge): 10,000, Ole Miss ($10 charge): 28,311, LSU: 33,624, Kentucky: 8,500, Georgia: 19,874, Florida: 61,000, Alabama: 78,200 (this was down 15%), Arkansas: 40,200 Auburn ($5 charge): 35,000
Washington: 9,000, WSU: 900, USC ($10 charge): 22,000, UCLA: 15,052, Stanford: 2,000, Oregon: 14,107, Arizona: 4,000, Arizona State: 5,000
OSU plays this weekend and Cal has no spring game. I can’t find numbers on Vandy anywhere, but they can’t be worse than the 900 WSU brought out. There’s no need to average them out anyway. I’m ready to accept the scientific conclusion that Pac 10 spring game attendance sucks horse balls.
Why aren’t spring games as big a deal on the west coast? It makes me sad that less Husky fans go to a free game than people at Mississippi State are willing to pay.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I can’t speak for the rest of the schools, but UW has put on some horseshit spring games in recent years. The 3-0 game a few years back comes to mind.
And yes the fans are crazier in the SEC, but it doesn’t make their teams any better. All it seems to do is feed the arrogance that deludes southerners into thinking November dates against Morgan State or Louisiana Tech are acceptable for teams who think of themselves as national title contenders.
Dear SEC, please play somebody or shut up.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
After spending a beautiful spring day bored off of my ass Saturday, I will probably not be returning to watch a spring game for awhile. The UW does absolutely nothing to engage the fans. It was basically like they were just going through the motions of a real football game but they were emphasizing the most boring parts. They did the coin toss, both teams went in for half time, Charles Hawkins dropped 3 passes that hit him in the hands. God forbid they did something to acknowledge the people in the stands or maybe even try to entertain them. After a touchdown, I had to ask Mambles to do the siren noise as I imagined the helmet car driving around the track….seriously, if they couldn’t have found a driver for the helmet car, I would have volunteered.
I watched a little bit of the Florida spring game on tv a few weeks ago, and that is something that I might watch again. I don’t remember the actual game because it was probably pretty boring, but I do remember watching the fastest football players run sprints against other students/athletes….Florida’s got some athletes.
I’m sure the Florida game looked cooler than it really was because it was on TV and they made a big production out of it. Why doesn’t UW do that…have some sort of competition, maybe some interaction with the fans to show just how awesome these Huskies are.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I think charging $5 might be a step in the right direction. It wouldn’t keep anyone from coming, and it might fund some of the suggestions that “flawson” made.
2 other differences:
1) I’m pretty sure they serve booze at SEC games.
2) What the fuck else is there to do in Tuscaloosa?
April 30th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
May 1st, 2008 at 9:30 am
The Husky Athletic Deaprtment simply has no clue how to promote the product. At the last spring game I went to 3 years ago you had to stand in line for 1/2 hour for a hot dog, and there was only one restroom open on each side. The product off the field has always been second rate. I particularly appreciate the TV monitors near the concession stands that are perpetually fogged-up. Customer satisfaction is a non-existant concept in the UW Athletic Department, except as regards the hand full of big hitters. Since the overall experience of attending a game at Husky Stadium sucks compared to atending a game in the Swamp, Husky Stadium will only be full if and when we are winning.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:43 am
I’ve been to 4 SEC stadiums and beer wasn’t available at any of them. Only schools I’ve ever even heard of selling beer at home games were Tulane, USC (which banned it from the Coliseum in 05), and the Orange Bowl in Miami (RIP). SEC fans do their boozing in the parking lot just like Pac-10 fans.
It’s true that SEC schools do tend to have more events in coordination with the spring game, but not overwhelmingly so. In Knoxville, it was just a given that everyone would go, and not for the other things going on. People were that excited for a taste of football. Even half speed, exhibition football. The giveaways, tailgating, and girls in sundresses were just gravy.
Besides Dreamland BBQ, I’m not sure there’s much else to do in Tuscaloosa. You can put part of the massive attendance at Bama and Arkansas on Saban and Petrino, but that’s just going to make Paul Wulff feel that much worse, and doesn’t explain away the massive attendance elsewhere.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:22 am
I blame Barbara Hedges.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:49 am
The spring game was boring because Jake Locker wasn’t allowed to run.
Question: For those who think the customer experience is less than what it should be, what would you do to improve it? Besides helmet car - that’s a given…
May 1st, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I know a guy who could plan an f’ing awesome Spring Game, sell more seats to it, and promote Flawson to Helmet Car driver, all for a nominal salary… H&F, find a way to make this coup a reality…
May 1st, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Is that guy going to be forced by another guy to trade in the Helmet Car for a ford?
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:32 am
I don’t really think there is a whole lot you can do. I’ve always maintained that the UW student body in recent years has been largely apathetic in its feelings toward Husky football. That being said, I’m not sure how the cougs managed on 900 - (are they out of school for the summer already?) - with so much to do in Pulman you’d think they’d get a bigger draw. It must have been 2 for 1 day at the Pita Pit.
Back to the apathy at UW - the man (who I believe Sir Mambles, Esq. is quite familiar) - goes out of his way to punish the Husky Nations most fanatic members. I know that boozing (and crowd push-ups) in the stadium cannot be made legal, but the program could encourage a more relaxed attitude with regard to enforcement. It is a spring game, and I have to believe that SEC officials aren’t patting kids down for Key Ices.
If this doesn’t work, the AD could just order up a whole bunch of them plastic bangers, and - get this - givem’way for FREE!
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:26 am
[...] an interesting discussion on this thread about ways for UW to bring more people out to the Spring Game, which is always a bit of a non-event [...]
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:37 am
We did a little tailgating before the game and most of the people around me were drinking beer during the game, which leads me to believe they were either incredibly sneaky with the beer or that the staff didn’t care.
One guy just had a whole case of budweiser out in the open, for whatever thats worth.
The point is, people like us who love husky fball will come out no matter what. It may not be much, but its a taste of the sport, team, stadium, and tailgating we all know and love and will be there somehow.
As far as the average fan is concerned, I think nothing short of a lot of wins is going to deliver an awesome spring game.