Article in the Collegiate Times about the sellout streak in danger of ending this Saturday:
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/22448/sellout-streak-ends-amidst-...
I agree that the home schedule leaves a lot to be desired this year, but I think some of the blame is misplaced. I don't agree that the fact we haven't won a National Championship means the coaches are complacent. I think some of the blame is on fans like the author who turn their nose up at our "measly" ten-win seasons and ACC Championships. Yeah, we all want to win the big one. And it's frustrating that we've had quite a few quality teams that couldn't quite take that next step. But ACC Championships are a big deal. 10 win seasons are also a big deal. We should be celebrating those, not taking them for granted. Reading that article kind of felt like listening to a kid complain about his Christmas presents because his rich friend got something better. But that's just my take, what do y'all think?
Comments
I think you wasted 5 minutes reading the CT.
A weak economy was the major contributing factor IMO. A few years of weak home schedules, followed by a 7-6 season didn't help, and was probably the tipping point.
yep, virginia tech football is an expensive hobby. and the lack of a thursday night game in lane made this year's home schedule completely unmarketable.
i was a season ticket holder last year and had to drop out this year due to work travel and fear I would not be able to sell the tickets for the games I miss. That being said I truly feel that the home schedule is pretty bad this year. Most of the games without PITT and UNC are not very exciting. I always loved the Thursday night games. I have a bad feeling that there may not be a firework set off this year due to only early games at home this season. Regardless if we are undefeated or not unless UNC, PITT, or Maryland go on a unbelievable streak we may be in the land of noon or 1:30 starts. I love having the whole day to tailgate and anticipate the game and I think I will be missing that.
The people who relate to that article fly paper planes at the games.
HERE! HERE!
I wonder if this is by the same author who wrote the article about how how much he/she hates Thursday night games
Pretty sure she graduated already as this guy looks like a freshmen based on graduating class if I did the math right.
Honestly I think the biggest thing that detracts people from coming to the game is the price. I paid $35/ticket for the Pitt game last year at Heinz field and I was four rows away from the Tech bench. Well worth the money. Nobody wants to pay $55 to sit up in the nosebleeds of the east side. I think if they lowered the price to $45 or even $40 they'd have no problem selling the ticket but having to pay for the ticket, parking, food, etc, it's more cost effective for people to watch the games from their home or a bar.
This guy is a senior unfortunately, he's just more interested in the attendance at the UVA spring game than our home opener against WCU.
Written by someone who knows about as much about football as I know about getting a brazillian wax job. Let that image settle in for a minute.
Thanks for that mental image.
Honestly I think the thing it comes down to is price/time. Think about it, Blacksburg isn't the easiest place to get too, 81 is a mess as well. I am from Richmond and the biggest complaints I hear from older alum who have season tickets is its hard to justify dropping 300+ per person for season tickets, dedicating 6+ hours of drive time and money for food/alcohol, etc for every game, especially if we arent winning games a la last year. Also the fact that hotels have a 2 night minimum for game weekends is a huge deterrent for non season ticket holders who may not be able to spend a whole weekend in Blacksburg and live too far away for an up a back trip to the burg. I know this post is a whole ramble of stuff, but this is things I've gathered since being at tech and through my discussions with alumni and parents of students. Dropping prices, especially for single games should be done, I went to a skins game last year for cheaper than I could go to a tech game (minus the food).
I had no idea about the two night hotel minimum. That's incredibly inconvenient.
They do the same thing up here in StC. Penn State games are the weekends around here that put local businesses in the black every year, so all the hotels jack up the rates on those weekends and require a two night minimum. I think this is pretty common.
I got screwed on this deal too. I made reservations at a hotel for all the home game weekends just after the schedule came out. It was at regular rates and did not require a deposit. Their web site had not been updated yet for screw you rates and deposit requirements. I planned to stay two nights anyway, but at the time of booking there was no requirement. When I got my credit card bill a couple weeks later it showed charges for the first night of all my reservations. I called to complain and they wouldn't refund the deposits. I couldn't afford to spring for the rooms when the games were still 6 months away. Ended up having to cancel reservations for all but one weekend, for which they "graciously" decided to refund my deposit. I understand the financials of their situation. There are way too many rooms around for normal weekends and too few for football/graduation weekends. Just wished they would honor their terms and not change them retroactively.
Why the CT can't get someone who actually comprehends sports to write their sports section is completely beyond me.
Because anyone who actually comprehends sports doesn't want to work for the CT. Also, Bitter is busy enough as it is.
What if Bitter and French teamed up? Oh snap.
What if they just paid Joe to use tkp content and ran the best Hokie football analysis available? I'd get a kick out of the irony if nothing else, a blog adding a print side.
If we pool our resources, we could buy the CT....hey, it worked for that Bezos guy, right? Of course our collective resources would likely work out to $4.89, twelve empty beer cans, and a BBQ sauce recipe scrawled on a napkin....
Then we can manipulate the CT readers into all being hard-core Hokies like everyone on TKP!
Minister of propaganda
The world might implode.
Only if Sam Rogers allowed it to...
The Bitter French
Meh I'm not big on this. Sounds like you're talking about UVA...
They're only bitter for a few weeks at the end of November/beginning of December. Other than that, they're delusional.
I think the author of this article eventually grows up , becomes even more of a whiny miserable person and becomes a commenter on Tech Sideline Articles.
Don't get me wrong, I like reading articles on Tech Sideline, but I'm done with the peanut gallery on there.
You think that's bad, Bleacher Report and ESPN... So much worse.
...on that note: "Da U is back!"
ESPN comment thread entry, every third post -no matter who's team the article or blog entry is on, circa (fill in '04 to present).
I wish I could upvote this 100 times
Amen!!! I HATE reading the comments on TSL, I'd like to revoke their fandom and let them go become WVU fans where they would fit in.
I get where everyone's coming from with the expense of going to the games. Just with $55 per ticket and ~$350 for 2 nights of hotels, it can be crazy. But the thing is that no amount of money can take away the experience of being in Lane. People asked me why I wanted to go to the Bama game since we were just going to get crushed. I told them, "Yeah, but if we win, wouldn't that have been the game that you wanted to be at?" I realize that wasn't a home game, but the same applies to every single game we play. I only wish I had the time to go to every game. Maybe next year, but watching it on TV just isn't the same as watching it in the stands. And honestly, the CT puts out some of the most ridiculous articles, riddled with typos, grammatical errors, and horrible fact checking. I read their articles whenever I need a good laugh.
The author is stuck in the college student vacuum and has little-to-no comprehension of the factors that influence ticket sales. The majority of home game attendees are alumni (or non-student fans), most of whom do not live in the New River Valley. As everyone pointed out in the comments above, economics are a huge factor. Whether that be the actual price of the ticket, gas, meals, beers/rails, and the two-night minimum with inflated hotel prices, the cost adds up quickly.
In my opinion, where the author really misses the mark is that the vast majority of Hokie fans (and without question all of us on this site) go to games to see the Hokies play and not the coaching staff or our opponents.
Is it great to see a nifty new offensive scheme? Sure, but how'd that work out last year?
Is Labor Day Monday Night Football against tOSU in 2015 or the
annualformerly annual Thursday Night home game a great experience? Sure, but they're a bitch to coordinate for us working folk from out of town.We're not Major League Baseball fans who buy tickets to see the hot team that rarely comes to town or Dollar Dog Night and is generally ambivalent for the remaining games. We care about our team, representing our university, and enjoying the experience with our fellow Hokies. Sure we give a shit if we win or lose, but when I look forward to football season and attending Tech games, a lot of my initial feelings revolve around the experiential and not wins and losses. I love tailgating, I love the walk to the stadium, I love Enter Sandman, I love Skipper, I love the HokiePokie, I love screaming so much I almost pass out from the lack of oxygen only to do it again 30 seconds later, I love key plays, I loved Stick It In (I'm looking at you Weaver), and most of all I love the anticipation I feel before each play.
When it comes to butts in the seats (.com), the economics become the major deterrent. It never had anything to do with coaching or the AD. We will show up to watch our Hokies play regardless of weather, temperature, or opponent. Sometimes the dollars just need to make sense...
At OSU next year, VT could be a "premier" game if demand is thought to be high enough. Ticket prices in the range of $110-$125.
EDIT: I was trying to post the face of disapproval.
The two-night minimum and expensive hotel prices are often mentioned as an impediment to attending games. The reality is that one can stay 60 to 90 minutes away and avoid both of these pitfalls. It is obviously more fun to stay in the burg, but if youre driving 6 8 hours, a stop-over in Hillsville, Wytheville, Roanoke, etc, puts you in a position to be able to get to your tailgate at a reasonable hour and save significant cash.
I am fortunate enough to be less than 3 hours away and have family less than 90 minutes away, but I would definitely go the stay nearby route before dropping $400+ on a hotel for two nights.
Yeah, Roanoke would be extremely convenient.
Honestly, from down here I would even consider stopping over in Charlotte and then driving the remaining 2.5 or so hours to the game, especially if it's a day game.
I think this person has a little mama giraffe in em...
Andy Bitter said this more or less in his chat today but I think it's important here too.
This whole sellout streak is being overplayed. It's already somewhat fudged, I mean let's be honest, we haven't had a packed house for 93 straight games, we just sold the tickets.
I'm not saying it doesn't matter to me, because it does a bit. But this game is about Ws and Ls and we didn't do that whole W thing as much as we normally do last year. I don't blame fans for not coming out to WCU this week.
I know it's hard for us here to understand this, but not everyone is as passionate for Hokie Football as we are and they just aren't willing to spend hundreds of dollars to travel into Blacksburg to watch what should be a rout, and if it's not a rout they'd just be paying to watch a subpar performance.
Obviously we all realize there's more to it than just wanting a W or exciting game. We love it for the excuse to come to Blacksburg, the tailgating, Enter Sandman, seeing players that don't get to play much...I could go on.
The point is that this isn't a big deal. Let's go #BEATWCU this weekend and enjoy the weekend.
Thats just it! IT IS A BIG DEAL!!! or at least is SHOULD BE! Rational thinking SHOULDN'T be associated with college sports. Fans should be Fanatics about their team!!!! So in that case it IS a BIG DEAL. Its one way fans can say we are among the best fan bases in the country!!! It's a BIG DEAL to fans that pride themselves on being the best fans. We've been there for SO LONG . KEEP GOING...Tradition NEVER stops!!! GO HOKIES!
I think that to be on this site, you have to be a fanatic. So yes, to us it does matter. But we are not the only people who watch Hokie football. It's easy for me to come to Blacksburg. I'm a single guy living with two other Hokies in NOVA, so leavning after work on Friday to get into town is no big deal.
But to a family, who has soccer games, footbal games, birthdays, and all that other stuff going on, going to Blacksburg may take a back seat occasionally. At the end of the day, sellouts don't get you wins and that's what matters the most to me. We should be soldout every other game this season and if we aren't, then I will start to worry.
I was a student from 89-94. In 5 years there were about 25 home games and ONLY 1 sellout. (1991. VT:38 uva:3 ) ~ that was it. It never came close to selling out (55K seats) any other game. It astounds me still that games are selling out at all - let alone 90+ in a row. The streak is great for recruiting, which perpetuates good players, better teams ... more wins ... more fans ... more sellouts. The streak may end, but it would be great for HOKIE FOOTBALL if it doesn't. I will be almost 60 when we are back up to 93 straight again! WCU game is tiny in the HOKIE football world but it might be memorable for the wrong reason.
A well written less biased and insightful article on the topic ...
http://www.dailypress.com/sports/teel-blog/dp-teel-time-vt-home-sellout-...
I checked- StubHub has less than 700 tickets left (down from 1200 on Wed) ~ now priced at $1!!!
Anyone have a count from the Athletic Dept. of now many free student tickets remain? (3900 on Wed)
GO HOKIES!
Where are these $1 tickets. I do not see them.
they must hacve sold them- it says $20 now.
At that price someone can give them away or not even worry about going.
**Update: I wonder if someone bought them all up for $1 and is trying to flip them for $20? Stubhub is an exchange reselling tickets so doesn't help sell out the game.
I matters because... end of sell out streak = LOLUVa mediocraty
I think its fun to say that we have a sellout streak, but if this is such a great recruiting boom then where are the recruits? It's not like we are swatting away 5* kids because of it. In fact our recruiting (until the last class and this class) has been pretty ordinary. If our selling point to kids is "come see our not always full but always sold out stadium" then we REALLY suck at recruiting.
What REALLY helps recruiting are solid coaches that aren't full of shit, that can develop kids and put together a great game plan, week in and week out. Oh yea and WINNING is a big help too.
Logically, a streak doesn't mean squat... It's a pride thing. Let's say, team X, i.e. Ole Miss, had a sellout streak- would a hokie fan care? not me. A streak is a GOOD thing for the fans!, and it will be a bad thing if it is broken... I am kinda surprised by the lack of urgency there seems to be to keep it going!!!!
Yeah, Nebraska must have had empty seat at times, but it is still pretty cool that they can say they sold out that many times in a row, what, like a million or so?
Also, it is great to have a packed stadium for recruiting, but I doubt we're pulling out all the stops and bringing in all the 5*s for the WCU game
recruits know the deal too... it's window dressing at best, but 15 straight seasons (93 games) is not ho-hum kinda #s! GO HOKIES