Please limit this thread with suggestions to fix our tailgating problem.
I'll start:
Give Hide-Away Park back to the students and leave them alone.
Move Corporate Tailgate Alley off the miserable hot pavement.
Please limit this thread with suggestions to fix our tailgating problem.
I'll start:
Give Hide-Away Park back to the students and leave them alone.
Move Corporate Tailgate Alley off the miserable hot pavement.
Biggest problem is the 8:00 am rule
Allow groups to set up on the grass around the TAC at no charge.
Maximize use of the grassy areas (near the TAC and Hideaway) around the stadium.
We were until our AD and Pres decided to start making us arrive before 8:00AM....the alternative is/was to tote everything in from the poor folks parking lot.
Just to let you all know, this was all about the kids and keeping them safe. The kids on the SSE side of the TAC didn't matter, just the ones on the NNE side of the TAC.
Use intramural field on Alabama for tailgating. Use parking for, uh, parking.
With the construction of the softball and soccer complex, it'll eat into the current stadium parking lot. I would like to see Student tailgate move to the Lambright parking lot (gameday pool party, parking lot grilling).
The trolley option was a easier deal for my crew to eat and visit. Maybe we're the only ones but I doubt it. It's difficult to pay, plan, and execute tailgating imo. The weather is sometimes a factor too. People prefer the most comfortable option and eating downtown before catching the trolley has been our choice the past few years.
Have you considered those Dogs?
Two cents from someone who drives across the state: It appears as though our attendance is going in the WRONG direction. Something is driving people away. We've had 6 consecutive winning seasons and we have small and unenthused crowdes. People ought to be elbow to elbow. Something is wrong.
Concur with giving Hide Away back to the students. Concur with making it easier to come ANY TIME----the 8 AM thing is a bit onerous. Until our product is scarce, we don't need to make anything hard on anyone.
Need to start with getting a new AD.
I'm about to say something profound, so I want T-Mac to pay attention if he's surfing BBB.
It's pretty simple. You have to do whatever you can to get the students to attend our football & basketball games. If you get the students to attend games, everyone else will fall in line and get on board. Students make a game exciting. They make it cool. They cheer loud, they dog the referees, they make signs, the paint their bodies, they irritate the opponent, and they party hard in the stands. Students make the event an event.
So, whatever you gotta do to get the students in the stadium and/or the gymnasium, get it done.
We've been saying this for years now.
We've also been BEGGING for he and our President to drop the 8:00am rule. No doubt, that rule has done more to hurt attendance than anything else. 40 year fans have stopped tailgating and attending games due to being screwed in favor of ghost fans who pay big bucks for fancy parking spots, but don't show up.
Second biggest screw up is the extra charge on seats for fans who had been paying for those seats for 40 years but now are forced to pay more.
That was the dumbest thing I think he has ever done for those that don't tailgate. It was easy to see the impact immediately too, but nothing has changed. Hopefully IF he ever does get someone to hire him outside of TECH, we will look for someone that doesn't think small and that we should know our place.
I have practically stopped attending, the group I tailgated with at the TAC (former Bradshaw era player) has stopped coming, lots have stopped showing up. I see some of you commenting that you find it easier to eat downtown and take the trolley to the game, it is easier and less stressful.
Well here is my idea, lets figure out a way to develop a tailgating area and atmosphere all around the downtown area, who says we have to tailgate at the stadium. Seems they do not want us there anyway, so why not do something for the Ruston Merchants who are all suffering financially because of TMac. Just start making an effort to move people away from the stadium and see what kind of attention that gets. This would make it painfully clear to those in charge that they have killed our game day atmosphere.
We all know that everyone would rather tailgate around the stadium, but maybe we just need to move out for a while and see if anyone in the Admin even notices.