Eyesore empty seats around the band
- Thread starter SouthFLCock
- Start date
I hear the student section was half empty in a 3-point game early in the 4th quarter. Our student section is weak.
We have always had a lot of dilettantes. Come to party, make an appearance at the stadium, beat the traffic to get home. It was that way 50 years ago and it's that way now. It's engrained into the culture. We just weren't on TV as much 50 years ago.
It's pretty much like that everywhere except in the "Big" games. Incredibly, I was having this very conversation this week with a Wisconsin fan, an Ohio State fan, and an Iowa State fan and they all agreed that a huge percentage of the student section "makes an appearance" for the first half and then departs at halftime to go party or do whatever college students do. Do those students do it when they are playing Michigan? No. But they certainly do when they are playing Purdue or Indiana. And last night, we were playing the SEC's version of Purdue or Indiana.
Do you guys are saying those seats are for the students who don’t show up or leave early! I see probably 1000-2000 open seats
Well, a lot of season ticket holders were gone by the time State kicked an onside kick, too. The game sure wasn’t over until we smothered that one.
Just don’t understand our fans or students. The only folks who really have a good reason for leaving early are those fans who have a long drive ahead of them in the dark.
And so were they. The phenomenon we're talking about extends to the fans in general. Lots of headlights can be seen from vehicles pulling out early in all but the most compelling games. I used to notice it in the late 1960s. One thing is not as evident now as it was then: extreme drunkenness in the stadium has been reduced, I think.
The student section begins immediately to the left of the band and goes around to the end zone. For whatever reason the most loyal students always sit behind the goal posts and the section next to the band is always the last to fill up and usually the first to empty. Aka the least loyal students sit next to the band.
Those sections are also heavily monitored by security. You have to have a student wristband to sit there and the upper deck students (sections 508 and 509) can’t move down there even once the seats open, which is beyond stupid.
Those sections are also heavily monitored by security. You have to have a student wristband to sit there and the upper deck students (sections 508 and 509) can’t move down there even once the seats open, which is beyond stupid.
I thought for a 1-2 team it was a damn good crowd. The seats near the band were noticeable, but the rest of the stadium looked good.
I feel like this is always a talking point for some reason. While students definitely leave early, they are given a set number of tickets for those student section seats obviously. The area behind the endzone is so packed in, like well above what the actual capacity is for those seats. If those are actual seats, all of them would look full. I promise you that all of those tickets are used each week.
Those were the seats I used when I was in law school. I was way past sitting in the middle of the students acting the fool, so I was quite happy to utilize the empty parts of the section next to the band to just enjoy watching the game!
Feels like the students stayed longer for the FU game than MSU. Maybe parent's weekend had something to do with it??
This is very true. The whole "Carolina fans fill the stadium up and cheer on the team no matter what" line is pretty much a myth. I've seen lots of games with huge swaths of empty seats, especially in the upper deck, at kickoff and in the first quarter. Unless it is a big game and the game is still close or Carolina is blowing out a rival or a big name opponent, the stadium really starts emptying out at halftime. People either get an early start on the ride home or they are going back to the tailgate to party.
It really isn't anything to be ashamed of. I think it happens in a lot of stadiums. I've seen plenty of Clemson games with empty seats.
Apparently some of y'all didn't head to Harden Street after going to the game. Early birds get the best parking.
Happens everywhere. I don’t know why our fan base is so hard on itself. We’re no different than any other fan base. Clemson was booed off the field at the half against Charleston So. There was probably 30k in the stands to start the 3rd qtr. They’re college kids. Gets off their jocks for ***** sake.
Unfortunately, WE are the "SEC's version of Purdue or Indiana" to many of our SEC brethren.
“If people don't want to come to the ballpark, how are you going to stop them?” ~ #8
Or at least a lot of our fans think so. I dont think other fanbases look for ways to denigrate their program the way so many of ours do.
