Recent Comments

When we #BEATBAMA one of the main things I want to do is respectfully point out to all the bama fans that they were wrong. Oh and have multiple shots in celebration

Yeah. The college football universe and soon the world will hear the loudest resounding sound after a win in Atlanta

Let's go. Hokies.

#38daystillhellisunleashed

I'm thinking it's a fake. All the Hokie Birds take an oath of secrecy for the duration of their time at Tech. I doubt any of them would break that oath for something stupid like this.

I am being overly sarcastic. Not being literal when I ask why even show up.

https://www.philsteele.com/Blogs/2013/JUL13/DBJuly27.html

relax

Well according to Wikipedia, the old scoreboard was installed in the summer of 2000. So that's 12 seasons? To your point, I don't see anything bigger in terms of a video board standpoint being installed within the next 12 seasons. IMO there are two reasons for the removal of this latest installment:

1. New surround sound technology. The audio/video experience can be a bit odd when sitting in the east or west stands. People aren't used to craning their necks to look at the video board. Also they don't want their left/right ear to go deaf because of the source coming from one side. Now Lane would be very hard/near impossible to design a sound system where the sound source hits you from the front. But, if they are able to come up with highly directional speakers within the next 12 years I can see this happening. After writing this though, those reasons aren't enough to put in a new scoreboard. It is just a much nicer experience from an A/V standpoint in an NFL stadium.

2. The expansion of the north end zone. I know we have a bunch of posts about this above in this topic, but the questions that need to be answered before we see this happen is:

- Money. I've seen a couple of places that the south end zone expansion was roughly 50 mil? So pending any of the reasons listed below, it should be roughly the same (assuming it's the same design).

- Practice field impedance. I don't know precisely how much an expansion would take over the practice fields, but let's give it a rough estimate at a half a field. They use and need two full football fields. So that's essentially wiping out one full field. The location of the practice fields right now is pretty much perfect. The view of Lane from the fields is remarkable. Great for recruiting. Expansion into the stadium woods is a no go. To be honest, I think this is the biggest reason why a north end zone expansion wouldn't happen within the foreseeable future.

- The replacement of the new video board.

- Attendance. We currently "sell out" every game? Am I wrong in saying that? Well I know the GT opener last season was a sell out and there were still a couple thousand seats empty at the top of the south end zone. This happens at pretty much every big game. I've never been in the south end zone to watch a game but I'd argue there isn't a bad seat in Lane. The south end zone was designed to bring the audience closer to the field. The top of the south or east in Lane is way better than an equivalent placement in other stadiums (from an experience standpoint). That's why we come to games right? To experience Enter Sandman, the crowd, the band, the tailgating, the cannon, the fireworks, the ability to look wherever you want to at any given moment instead of being constrained to the eye of a TV camera. The intangible list goes on and on. Location is the only problem with the Lane experience.

On a side note - I can't believe I'm about to say this because I despise Clemson, but the MV's were at the game last season and boy, you wouldn't believe what an actual sound system/good emcee can do to an entrance. The place was electric. (Probably because they were playing us).

Honestly thus was the first thing to come to my mind as well.

His only involvement should be deciding if they go for it on 4th down

Then again...

http://youtu.be/iqsEnaDB54o?t=2m54s

(Not sure how to put in snippets of the video like you do in your posts...but yeah...)

I've trespassed a time or two over the fence at night and run on the field/stand in certain locations and visualize some of the historic plays that have happened there. Its pretty cool. They open it officially for 3.2, freshman welcome night, etc. I've also been on the field and in the tunnel during Virginia Turfgrass Council field days when the groundscrew explains maintenance and how the field is designed (my father is an alum and Sod Farm owner)

which is still more than uva had fans at their spring game

As more popular channels like ESPN raise their prices, they would likely see a drop in the number of their subscribers due to people finding alternatives, such as watching the game(s) at a friends house or at their local bar.... Charging high prices without regard for consumers can only work in instances when the product is necessary and there aren't good alternatives, otherwise consumers will either switch to a cheaper alternative or discontinue using the product

Local bars and friend's houses are not really an alternative. Both still have to get the game through ESPN. Furthermore, Bars are not cheap and a friend's house is not convenient for casual viewing. If I only watched Hokie games, then yes, I could (and often) go to the bar or to a friend's house. However, I typically watch ESPN for all the other games (~5 games a week) and so I would definitely want ESPN delivered to my own house. Without a true source alternative, then ESPN essentially would control the market and set prices as they wish.

I personally think that entertainment is going to go towards more of a Hulu/Netflix/Youtube model, with users able to view content at their convenience.

I agree that this is true in all forms of recorded events. However, non-scripted, live-action events such as football will never thrive in this model. Watching the game after-the-fact is never the same as watching it as it happens. Most of the intrigue is watching the game unfold.