about the game experience or the lack of an exciting game this weekend that Bitter and Will would both comment (and others on other podcasts) about the game experience. Ever since I left Lane on Saturday night, I've been turning it over in my mind.
In full disclosure, that was my first home game in 11 years so I feel like for me it was a stark contrast to the last time I went and definitely an even starker contrast to when I was in school and in the band (97 - 00). What I saw Saturday did not resemble the game experience I was used to:
1. It seems like someone is asleep at the wheel when it comes to moving from item to item during timeouts and even during the game. Long delays and pauses between jumbotron videos/music, the band playing, the cheerleaders doing anything, and the public address guy speaking. Very disjointed.
2. My mom would have called the Stick It In cheer rude and crude (and she would be right) but it appears being able to do anything "officially" during the game has been clamped down on to a level heretofore unseen.
3. Will. Stewart. My dog. My homie. I could not have agreed more with your take on the music and dancing if I had said it myself. I know you and I (and most of us on this board) are probably not the target demographic at this point. However, it seems like very few people were enthused and other than the 2-3 people on the TV at a time, most of the people around them were very reserved. To me the music/dancing filler in between TV timeouts is being used as the star of the show instead of a being a supplement to something better (what I don't know, I don't live in that world).
4. About the gameday experience, I would move on from whoever is in that position immediately. There has to be someone more imaginative with fun ideas and tons of energy to fill that role. Whoever it is now is not carrying the water (IMO).
5. If what we are hearing online on Facebook and blogs is true, the school is contributing to the lack of student involvement/attendance at games. When we were there, you could sneak into almost any section in the stadium with a very low probability of being caught. You could sit with whoever, squeeze in where you fit, and have fun with your friends. If the police are really checking tickets and turning away everyone that doesn't have a seat there (which technically they would be right to do), it doesn't promote a fun experience filled with comradery. And did I hear they have to pay some exorbitant price for student tickets? Being in the band, I never had that problem but most of my friends got up early to go stand in line and get free tickets.
6. The product on the field: this is the great equalizer. Games are just more fun with a good to great team, big plays, lots of points, and a defense that is dominant. We have to figure out how to get our mojo back to being Tech football. Does that have to look like when Frank was the coach (in his hayday) with little to no offense, stout defense, and special teams wreaking havoc? Not necessarily but it would involved a mental toughness and a willingness to commit to being tougher than the other team. I was fairly disappointed with the game itself. In spite of what Chris said about limited possessions, it was our job to stop them to create more possessions. What I saw was one of the worst teams in the FCS throwing on us all day. That is deflating as a fan.
Just my thoughts, I'm sure many have been mentioned by multiple others but as someone who hasn't been in a while, this is what stuck out as different from the last time I was there.
Commence picking apart my post. And.. go!

[Post edited by Tombo at 10/15/2019 7:23PM]