Declining Game Attendance

[RonJohn]

No I did not. Georgia State.

Then you should be familiar with why the Georgia BOR tightened the regulations on school funding of sports. Ga State and Kennesaw State students were livid about those two football programs. Over a five year period that ended around 2015, Georgia State students paid over $90 million in student fees for athletics. In 2014, student fees accounted for $17 million of a $27 million athletic budget. GT was a little over 10% at the time. The mutts were about 3%.

 

[BurdellJacket]

No I did not. Georgia State.

...It's an either, or. Bama players wouldn't make it on techs regime. Yet those are the kids we need to recruit.

That’s a real dead horse it’s been beaten so long and hard.There exist many high hurdles for Georgia Tech SA’s that do not exist in any other of the 64 power five schools. Bobby Dodd knew this and that’s why he retired. Knowing he would never be able to recruit the same student athletes as Alabama.

This is why all Tech fans are so very very proud of our athletes as we know our athletes had to work many many hard hours on academic work as well as many tough hours on the gridiron. And I will always cheer long and hard for our athletes and will be very proud of every young lady or man that chooses to don the white and gold. I don’t care if they are rated four star, three star, two star or no stars, I am damned proud to have them in the Georgia Tech family.

 

[Dustman]

No I’ve been to at least 1 game every year since 2008, but I’ve noticed the experience has gotten worse. as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten more passionate about GT Football, and sometimes I let my excitement show which is apparently foreign to some fans.

Just trying to understand your original reply to me about "keeping out the few that are driving the many away". It hasn't driven you away. Your experience getting worse sounds like a function of you being more passionate as you get older. I'm not picking on you because I love passionate fans like you. We need more of them. I just don't think the not as passionate fans are keeping the passionate ones away. If anything it would be the reverse. A less passionate fan is more inclined to stay home and maybe watch on TV to avoid having to stand the entire game. Am I wrong?

Fwiw, I stand when I get excited too. Nobody has ever asked me to sit, nor have I ever asked anyone to sit. If I'm sitting and I can't see, then I stand. It's not a problem where I sit. Lower west stands. Can't wait for the season to start.

 

[GTpdm]

That’s a real dead horse it’s been beaten so long and hard.There exist many high hurdles for Georgia Tech SA’s that do not exist in any other of the 64 power five schools. Bobby Dodd knew this and that’s why he retired. Knowing he would never be able to recruit the same student athletes as Alabama.

This is why all Tech fans are so very very proud of our athletes as we know our athletes had to work many many hard hours on academic work as well as many tough hours on the gridiron. And I will always cheer long and hard for our athletes and will be very proud of every young lady or man that chooses to don the white and gold. I don’t care if they are rated four star, three star, two star or no stars, I am damned proud to have them in the Georgia Tech family.

Wish I could double-like this for remembering to include lady athletes. Easily half the SAs that come through my class are Lady Jackets. They are every bit the “good ambassadors” of our program as the male SAs.

 

[sc jacket 22]

I would imagine the opposite. The goal is to get the stadium looking more full and this is especially true at the lower levels. I think the earlier you check in, the better the seat.

We’ll see. I’ll definitely be experimenting. I just can’t believe that making the stadium look full would take precedence over revenues. But I sure hope you’re right!

 

[Animal02]

We’ll see. I’ll definitely be experimenting. I just can’t believe that making the stadium look full would take precedence over revenues. But I sure hope you’re right!

It doesn't...just look at the lower East and all the corporate seats that are paid for and empty 85% of the time. At one time it was students...and a flash card section.....it is all about the $$$$$

 

[Jophish17]

IMO college football, whether it's Tech or somebody else, is always more entertaining than a soccer match. The millennials can't be going for the excitement of the match, so what is it that entertains them?

You're not a millennial, correct? So you probably didn't grow up playing soccer like so many of us did..? It sounds like you're asserting your personal bias on an entire generation. Soccer is entertaining to many people.

 

[Animal02]

You're not a millennial, correct? So you probably didn't grow up playing soccer like so many of us did..? It sounds like you're asserting your personal bias on an entire generation. Soccer is entertaining to many people.

An hour and one half of mostly nothing (kicking a ball around and maybe scoring once), acting hurt over the slightest offense, ambiguous rules (adding time). No wonder millennials enjoy it, it matches their lives.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

The Hill has little if anything to do with mailing lists. That's the Alumni Association. Take up your (our) beef with them. I feel pretty sure that the classes/practices conflict has pretty much always existed at Tech. You just learn to work with it, and I believe CPJ understands and does that.

One thing they could do is offer more summer school classes in courses that statistically cause these conflicts.

 

[LibertyTurns]

One thing they could do is offer more summer school classes in courses that statistically cause these conflicts.

Maybe our majors could have a crap ton of electives like nearly every other school so you weren’t fighting availability of classes in addition to everything else.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Maybe our majors could have a crap ton of electives like nearly every other school so you weren’t fighting availability of classes in addition to everything else.

I think our SA's get priority scheduling that kind of gets around this issue. It's the required stuff offered once a year that causes the big flap.

 

[boger2337]

An hour and one half of mostly nothing (kicking a ball around and maybe scoring once), acting hurt over the slightest offense, ambiguous rules (adding time). No wonder millennials enjoy it, it matches their lives.

I mean we get paid more and live longer??? Either way its adapt or die..

I'll say this... for those who hate on millenials they can point 1 finger at them but have 4 more back at themselves. Baby boomers and old gen x raised them. Parenting is a lot to do with it. Baby boomers had a different time in America. We dont share the same culture. You cant say things now like you used to. And who made those laws? Boomers. To make what? $$$$. Boomers run the world right now. We are just trying to fix it. Hahahaha just kidding. But in all seriousness. Both generations lack respect for one another. I know I was raised to respect my elders, yet also form my own opinion. That can be a heck of a tongue biting experience!

 

[BCJacket]

The Hill has little if anything to do with mailing lists. That's the Alumni Association. Take up your (our) beef with them. I feel pretty sure that the classes/practices conflict has pretty much always existed at Tech. You just learn to work with it, and I believe CPJ understands and does that.

That's fair on both of those points. When I say "the Hill" in ""s, I'm lumping the Alumni Association into that since members of the administration sit on the Board of Trustees and they closely coordinate their activities/priorities. IMHO, with which you are free to disagree, both the Admin and the Alumni Association could do more to support our athletics. Most easily, by coordinating fundraising, marketing and branding, FWIW, I have discussed this with people involved with the AA.

Class/practice conflicts probably have always existed. When I got my Master's at Tech I had a family, a full time career and a side business. There were class times that were wildly inconvenient and conflicted with other obligations. But none of those other obligations of mine were directed by Tech. IMHO, when Tech is controlling both schedules, academic and athletic, they owe it to the SAs to afford them the opportunity to succeed on both paths.

The athletic dept has academic staff that helps our SAs schedule and plan their degree paths. If the admin is making it impossible for those folks to work around conflicts, that doesn't seem reasonable. Being more flexible on substitute classes and making sure required classes are offered at reasonable intervals, doesn't seem like a lot to ask for all students. (When I got my MS, one of our required classes wasn't offered at all for 4 straight semesters. Classic shafting. The dean's office finally had to accept an alternative from another department so I/we could graduate.)

 

[RonJohn]

Class/practice conflicts probably have always existed. When I got my Master's at Tech I had a family, a full time career and a side business. There were class times that were wildly inconvenient and conflicted with other obligations. But none of those other obligations of mine were directed by Tech. IMHO, when Tech is controlling both schedules, academic and athletic, they owe it to the SAs to afford them the opportunity to succeed on both paths.

Class schedules will never be convenient for everyone. Even if the school made class scheduling to match athletic schedules a priority, there would probably be conflicts among the SAs for different sports. The big thing for this issue in my opinion is that some people seem to believe it is a simple issue to fix. GT is a big place, as are most large universities. There are many interconnecting issues involved in scheduling. Changing one class time can have ripple effects that cause a lot of other issues(professor's schedules, research commitments, class room scheduling, etc.). It is amazing to me that they can even get a schedule that works with some conflicts.

 

[BCJacket]

I'll say this... for those who hate on millenials they can point 1 finger at them but have 4 more back at themselves.

[Edit: Self delete for off-topic soapbox post]

 

[etbee]

I was heavily involved in a local alumni club for many years, including the time when we were no longer able to get athletic coaches to speak at our events. I don't think that was the the Alumni Association's doing. Everyone knew that the football and basketball coaches were the premier draw for any event a local club could hold. The one time we were able to get the basketball coach we had over 3 times the attendance of anything else we ever did. I understood it was the Athletic Assoc that no longer wanted the coaches to be burdened with requests to speak at alumni club events when the demands on their personal lives were already so extreme.

 

[jacketup]

No I did not. Georgia State.

But, that can happen anywhere. I hate to break it, but that can happen anywhere. I'm saying mixing high academics and athletes will never equal another championship. So have to give one way or another. Lower expectations or lower academic requirements for student athletes. It's an either, or. Bama players wouldn't make it on techs regime. Yet those are the kids we need to recruit.

I'll say it again--Kim King thought we could be a top 25 program, but not a top 10 program.

Forget being Bama, and forget being Clemson or UGa because we won't cheat like they do. That's not the issue. The issue is why are we 9-15 in the ACC over the last 3 years? Academics aren't the reason. Why aren't we number 20-25 in the polls? We were under O'Leary, and Tech had fewer majors, higher attrition and a lower overall GPA in the late 90's than now (overall GPA at Tech was 3.29 last year, by the way). And if anyone believes that the admissions requirements for football players is the same as for the general student body, I've got some marshland to sell.

I'm not arguing with you, because I don't see another national championship on the horizon either. But there are no excuses for the .500 FBS record we've posted over the last 8 years. Reasons perhaps, but not excuses. Reasons can be overcome with the right leadership--- something we haven't had for the last 20 years--although we have to give Stansbury time.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

You're not a millennial, correct? So you probably didn't grow up playing soccer like so many of us did..? It sounds like you're asserting your personal bias on an entire generation. Soccer is entertaining to many people.

I said, "IMO". I respect soccer for being an incredibly athletic sport, but I still think it's boring as hell to watch.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I was heavily involved in a local alumni club for many years, including the time when we were no longer able to get athletic coaches to speak at our events. I don't think that was the the Alumni Association's doing. Everyone knew that the football and basketball coaches were the premier draw for any event a local club could hold. The one time we were able to get the basketball coach we had over 3 times the attendance of anything else we ever did. I understood it was the Athletic Assoc that no longer wanted the coaches to be burdened with requests to speak at alumni club events when the demands on their personal lives were already so extreme.

Since the coaches stopped speaking at Alumni Club gatherings, the Augusta Alumni Club has totally disappeared. I agree that it was probably not the Alumni Association that stopped the coaches, but if the higher ups in the Alumni Association don't realize that it's athletics that draws people and holds their interest, then they are fools.

 

[Milwaukee]

I said, "IMO". I respect soccer for being an incredibly athletic sport, but I still think it's boring as hell to watch.

I used to think the same thing Super, but I enjoy soccer just as much as football now. We just need to keep ESPN away from soccer because they'll ruin it like they ruin things.