From a student’s perspective

GTFLETCH

Banned
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Winning fixes attendance. That scene is typical with any program including Auburn and UGAG.

This myth that those programs show up full force even in down years is BS.
The problem is defining a down year for programs.... For Example a 7 win season is good at Georgia Tech.... but a down year at Georgia & Alabama..... 7 wins for Arkansas & Vandy is a solid season....
 

Vespidae

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This needs to be the posture no matter what year and who is the current Coach!

I’m a contrarian. I get it.

But I was in the AD suite when Tech was rolling. And some influential donors asked how long Tech was going to have to put up with the sh&t? Being ... winning!

I truly believe at the highest levels ... GTAA doesn’t know what it wants. A ship without a rudder.
 

4shotB

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Retired Staff
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But I was in the AD suite when Tech was rolling. And some influential donors asked how long Tech was going to have to put up with the sh&t? Being ... winning!

I truly believe at the highest levels ... GTAA doesn’t know what it wants. A ship without a rudder.

It's the modern day golden rule ...he who has the gold gets to make the rules!;)

Agree with your second point. We haven't had good leadership in that position since Rice left. I think TStan understands this and we all hope he has the horsepower to fix it.
 

Vespidae

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Agree with your second point. We haven't had good leadership in that position since Rice left. I think TStan understands this and we all hope he has the horsepower to fix it.

I had high hopes for TStan. Sadly, I don’t think he’s going to be Homer Rice. I see him responding to, rather than guiding, influential donors.

Donors have no accountability for bad decisions. If I had one wish for Tech ... it would be to professionalize the AA.
 
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13,443
Location
Augusta, GA
Declining student attendance is not an issue unique to Tech. Look at places like Alabama, Auburn, FSU, Arkansas, Baylor, Wisconsin, etc. Places that have as great traditions and teams in the national picture, but the student sections still aren’t full. Illinois students piled out of the stadium before they went on to beat #6 Wisconsin. Live attendance in sports is declining across the board, in college and pro sports. I suggest some of you look at the twitter page @emptyseatspics and you’ll probably be surprised that Tech’s attendance matches up pretty well to teams you would never expect them to. By the way. Here’s a picture of Arkansas’ homecoming crowd. Maybe it will put it in perspective to you

WOW. An SEC team at that.
 
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So first to the student, thank you for the post and I am glad you say there is excitement. But tell me, when we are 2-10 next year will the students be excited?
Now for attendance. Folks, again Tech has always had attendance issues. Back in the 1960's yes when we played Tennessee, Auburn Georgia etc, the stadium was full. The old South horse shoe was filled with the opposition fans. Fro the games that were not so popular, well Dodd invented band day when they would invite all those high school bands to come. They would fill up the South stands.

Our issue now is we have TV and who gets excited to watch us play Pitt. particularly when it is Georgia Florida weekend.
 

GTonFowlerSt

Georgia Tech Fan
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29
I recently had the opportunity to hear Stansbury speak at a student organization meeting. The dude gets it. He has a clear vision of where he wants to take not only GT football but our athletic programs as a whole. Setting these kinds of plans into action takes time and money. The money has been coming in through the AI 2020 Initiative, so all that's left is for us to allow him the time for the change to take place. If Stansbury can't restore our program to greatness, i don't know who can.
 
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I was in 102 and i could the the student section was packed.
I sit in the upper east and for the past several homecomings, tons of students were sitting up there with us because of date tickets. There were none up there this year, and the south stands student section was virtually empty. Also parts of the frat section in the lower north were empty. First time I have even seen that for homecoming.
 

Oakland

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Since we are talking about attendance, if you get a chance take a look at the Green Bay / L.A. Chargers game. They're playing in Dignity Health Sports Park, a temporary home for the Chargers in smaller stadium with some type of sun shades above the stands. This is also the home of the L.A. Galaxy. Maybe GT should think about fan comfort and use the money to rebuild the Edge Building and apply it towards improving the stadium.
 

bobongo

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I sit in the upper east and for the past several homecomings, tons of students were sitting up there with us because of date tickets. There were none up there this year, and the south stands student section was virtually empty. Also parts of the frat section in the lower north were empty. First time I have even seen that for homecoming.

I don't know about student attendance but I'm quite certain there were more fans at Bobby Dodd this year than at last years' homecoming against Duke. And the weather was about the same.
 

JacketOff

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WOW. An SEC team at that.
An example of the @emptyseatspics page content. This is Auburn. A team who was praised earlier in this very thread for having incredible atmosphere around the team involving students, faculty, and fans. And a team that’s 6-2 and will end up affecting the national picture and probably playing in a NY6 bowl. Not a shot at that particular poster, but just acknowledging what’s true everywhere. I don’t think there’s a team in the country that’s attendance is trending upward anything more than marginally. Well, maybe Kansas, but that’s probably it.
 

gtstinger776

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
565
So we’re 2-6, our offense is anemic, our play calling is questionable, we have no reliable kicking game, and luck doesn’t ever seem to bounce our way this year (with the exception of Miami). There’s plenty of reasons to be upset with the way the season is going, but being upset with the current state of our program and coming on this site to disparage Collins is not the correct mindset to have during this rebuild.

I’m a 3rd year student and diehard follow of the program. I’ve seen firsthand the buzz on campus about this team on a day-to-day basis that doesn’t even come close to what it was like my first two years with CPJ at the helm (no disrespect to him, CPJ was great in his own way). But from strictly an excitement point of view, Collins has done what I thought was impossible: excite current GT students about football. Last year, we were a win away from playing in the ACC championship, and students here couldn’t have cared less. Collins has done an outstanding job of jumpstarting a program that was on life support with its own students.

Everything I’ve said so far should be apparent to most people, but now let’s talk about results on the field. It sucks that we suck this year. But if we make 3-4 more plays in that Pitt game, our acc championship hopes would be alive going into the 10th week of the season. Collins and co have proven to make some questionable decisions when it comes to play calling, game management, and personnel on the field, but we have to keep in mind that the coaching staff is working with players that are simply not going to compete at an elite level this year. The missed passes, dropped catches, and blown assignments hurt to watch, but once Collins’ recruits come in and fill those holes, this program is going to take off. The staff is trying to be as creative as possible to squeak out wins with the current talent they have, and i think if you look at it like that, Collins has done at outstanding job.

As a student here, I couldn’t be happier with the progress we’ve made this year. Earlier on, I was one of those ignorant fools who thought we’d win 6+ games in 2019, and even though I was way off, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how hard the players fight every game, and how supportive most students have been during the rebuild. Hopefully during my 5th (maybe 6th) year at GT, Collins will be fielding a team that can go out there and be a top 10-15 program, and continue that success into the future. My message to all of you is this: stay positive, continue to give your support, and know that Collins is instilling real change at this Institute.
I want to hear it: what can we be doing better as alumni?

As a suggestion to the mods: I want to hear what the students think about alumni engagement. Mute all the old crabby people that are supporting this program no matter what.

I want to hear about what we could be doing more to improve the collegiate experience. Both in terms of funding and donation, but also in terms of activity / effort.
 

Vespidae

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An example of the @emptyseatspics page content. This is Auburn. A team who was praised earlier in this very thread for having incredible atmosphere around the team involving students, faculty, and fans. And a team that’s 6-2 and will end up affecting the national picture and probably playing in a NY6 bowl. Not a shot at that particular poster, but just acknowledging what’s true everywhere. I don’t think there’s a team in the country that’s attendance is trending upward anything more than marginally. Well, maybe Kansas, but that’s probably it.


As someone who was actually there, yes .. fans left the stadium. They usually do. Why? They move two blocks away to celebrate. It’s not like they drove back to Birmingham. They partied en masse until 4 in the morning. I know - I watched it.
 

bobongo

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Define “a lot”.

When I was in school, we had flash cards. Drunk students, but high attendance. I would say student attendance today is embarrassingly bad.

He already said there are more foreign and out-of-state students now and acknowledged that there are thus fewer students in attendance than in days of old. But still a "lot" of in-state students who care.
 

Vespidae

Helluva Engineer
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Location
Auburn, AL
I want to hear it: what can we be doing better as alumni?

As a suggestion to the mods: I want to hear what the students think about alumni engagement. Mute all the old crabby people that are supporting this program no matter what.

I want to hear about what we could be doing more to improve the collegiate experience. Both in terms of funding and donation, but also in terms of activity / effort.

Tech needs a Battery like experience. 5th St is ideal for that.
 

Vespidae

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Auburn, AL
He already said there are more foreign and out-of-state students now and acknowledged that there are thus fewer students in attendance than in days of old. But still a "lot" of in-state students who care.
He already said there are more foreign and out-of-state students now and acknowledged that there are thus fewer students in attendance than in days of old. But still a "lot" of in-state students who care.

I know what he said. And it’s not accurate.
 
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