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Texas AD Chris Del Conte

Machinator

By Machinator
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Mittens
Mittens

No CR:  

Penche Gringo
Penche Gringo

Here you go

JFKFC
JFKFC

Fortunate?!? There are 2 sports that matter: Football & Men's basketball. CDC's hires for both have been absolute abortions. 

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UTEX_ME

UTEX_ME 4766

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2 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Yeah bitching about the visitor's band being in the upper deck is funny given you just got your assed kicked in Austin. No one gives a shit if your band had terrible seats.

of course the twitter fans of other local schools were calling it unsportsmanlike but I'm sure they'd do the same. They always want us to be the white knight and accept their horns down bullshit. Fuck that. 

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Not a Sock

Not a Sock 2322

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Eat a dick lady. The entirety of college football has done nothing but take a complete shit on Texas the last 10 years and we sat there and took it claiming we were above it. Fuck it I love this latest injection of fuck you attitude that has been injected into the program.

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cochamps

cochamps 1879

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12 hours ago, UTEX_ME said:

of course the twitter fans of other local schools were calling it unsportsmanlike but I'm sure they'd do the same. They always want us to be the white knight and accept their horns down bullshit. Fuck that. 

TCU & Baylor built small stadiums so they wouldn’t be outnumbered when UT comes to town.  So don’t give a shit what they think.

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markstanco

markstanco 12586

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https://www.si.com/college-football/2018/09/24/texas-longhorns-tcu-tom-herman-stadium-experience

 

It was the morning of a critical Big 12 opener against TCU, and Texas officials had a problem.

“Aloe Blacc’s flight has been canceled,” senior associate athletic director Drew Martin remembers a colleague frantically saying. The artist you probably remember as the one doing all the vocal work on Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” was due in Austin early Saturday afternoon to play Longhorn City Limits, one of a series of gameday initiatives Martin and first-year athletic director Chris Del Conte cooked up to help make Texas fans actually excited to attend Texas games. Martin, who arrived only two months ago from TCU—where he worked alongside Del Conte for five years—didn’t panic. Instead, he remembered he works at Texas now.

“We have three police escorts,” Martin remembers saying. “One for Bevo. One for the team. One for the opponent. So let’s get a fourth. Get Aloe Blacc at the airport and blaze him to campus.”

He made it.

8KGp8-r2_normal.jpg

Heading down to campus to check out Longhorn City Limita, Bevo BLVD and the game. 🤘🏼

Looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about.

 

Are you kidding me, this is awesome! Where else do you get to see Aloe Blacc while tailgating a football game?

Cool stuff @_delconte and team 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼pic.twitter.com/mvITYc8l1K

 
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Aloe Blacc’s presence on what Texas officials call Bevo Blvd. didn’t help the Longhorns score a single point in their 31–16 win against the Horned Frogs on Saturday, but, along with several other changes Del Conte and Martin have made for this season, it did help create an atmosphere that has given Texas something it hasn’t had in years—an honest-to-goodness home field advantage.

Del Conte and Martin have reconfigured the seating to give Texas students a contiguous bloc of seats with the Texas band blasting from the middle. They have made that student seating first-come, first-serve to get those students in the stadium and yelling. They have cut down on ads on the video boards and forbidden on-field, thanks-for-writing-that-big-check presentations if those presentations bring down the energy level in the stadium. The newcomers are trying to remind Texas fans that football games are supposed to be fun. And it just so happens that for the past two Saturdays, the team has given fans a reason to keep partying in the stands.

I used to call the Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium crowd the quietest 100,000 people in America. Texas games in recent years felt more like golf tournaments—and not the U.S. Open or the one in Phoenix that’s sponsored by the garbage company. The gameday atmosphere was stuck in the 1980s, and the fans seemed as bored by the presentation as they did by the lackluster play on the field. Plus, Longhorns fans seemed to have a stuffiness about them that rivals often mocked. They acted as if all the yelling those Aggies did in College Station was terribly gauche. “I think they held themselves to a different standard, which is not necessarily bad,” says former Texas A&M employee Martin of Texas fans. “But they never really embraced the fact that your home field advantage is your weapon. Use it.”

People who have attended the Longhorns’ 37–14 win against USC on Sept. 15 and Saturday’s win against TCU have said the difference in the vibe is shocking. The energy feels more like a game at LSU or at Penn State. Here’s one attendee’s take. “Wow, was that really cool to see our students and our fans?” Texas coach Tom Herman said. “That was for two straight weeks and hats off to Chris Del Conte and Drew Martin for this new and improved gameday atmosphere. Our players really, really feed off that. And I can tell you this, when you go sing ‘The Eyes of Texas’ after a win against a Top 25 opponent in front of a student section that's as packed and as loud as that, that's special. That is a special, special feeling.”

So what did Texas do differently? Just about everything.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 22 TCU at Texas
John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Bevo Blvd. project on San Jacinto Boulevard was designed to get fans out to campus earlier. Auburn fans don’t need to be trained to show up early and party. They’ve done it for generations. Texas fans needed a push, and Martin figured the best way to attract Austinites was with two things Austinites have proven their love for time and again: food trucks and live music. Vendors charge happy hour prices for craft beer. Advertisers are allowed to set up in the area, but their engagements must add value. “When we activate, the onus falls on them to create an experience for the fan,” Martin says. “It can’t just be where you walk up and grab a coupon.” Texas officials also got permission from the company that stages Austin City Limits to call their concert series Longhorn City Limits. Texas-based Reckless Kelly headlined the show before the USC game. Aloe Blacc was there Saturday. Texas hasn’t announced who will play the remaining three home games, but Pat Green had better play one of them.

 

Inside the stadium, the change in vibe begins in the student section. Texas controversially displaced some season-ticket holders to create a contiguous student section, but officials considered this a critical element. (Texas sought the advice of consultant Guido D’Elia, the man responsible for creating the gameday atmosphere at Penn State, which is home to one of the nation’s great student sections.)

Martin and Del Conte eliminated a lottery-based student ticketing system that gave students assigned seats in favor of a first-come, best-served approach. “It’s like the difference between having a flight on Southwest Airlines versus a flight on United,” Martin says, referencing the Lone Star State-based airline that famously does not assign seats. “If you’re flying Southwest, you’re going to get your butt to the airport early.”

Texas has also tried to change the experience once the game begins. No longer will the Longhorns score a touchdown, fire their cannon and then pause to honor a big donor on the field. “The place wants to go nuts. But we say, ‘Hang on. Be quiet for a second while we present a game ball to the president of a company.’ It just sucks the air out of the stadium,” Martin says. “We need to keep the hype going.” Martin also has asked PA announcer Bob Cole to change his approach as well. “Talk like a fan would talk,” Martin says. “We need less news anchor and more buddy sitting in the seat next to you.”

Soundtrack matters, too. Martin wants something he compares to “the best wedding reception you’ve ever been to.” “The DJ is playing the current music that the young couple and the bridesmaids and groomsmen know,” Martin says, “but he also plays ‘Twist and Shout’.” Martin says the best gameday environments strike a balance between the current hip-hop hits the students and players want and the power ballads the donors want. He made sure the person who controls the music during the game sits outside. That way, it’s easier to discern when to play a singalong like Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” or something new by Kendrick Lamar. Or, when it’s the start of the fourth quarter and your team is up eight but needs a stop, perhaps it’s time to play something by DMX from the Golden Age of Bangers that is guaranteed to get every booty shaking.

 

Gamedays in Austin ain’t what they used to be. Kudos to @_delconte and @TexasFootball. Energized experience for everyone, and I can see it inspires the troops! Can’t wait till Baylor. 🤘🤘#HookEm

 

“Let them keep partying all the way until the next snap,” Martin says.

If Texas fans and players can recreate their performances from the past two weekends, they’ll be partying up all the way through “The Eyes of Texas”.

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jdhorn92

jdhorn92 1553

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On 9/21/2018 at 10:02 AM, bluto said:

Wtf does a marketing dept have to do with the speed of the damn school song

Bluto I'm guessing Marketing is a catchall for the gameday experience comings and goings.  Employ Scrum to get things done, some items are sprints, others are longer term goals.  Its a pretty good way to use our resources. CDC cant handle every detail , though I imagine he wants to be invloved in all things that concern improving gameday.  I cant wait to take it in soon.

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MirrOlure

MirrOlure 14812

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1 hour ago, ClubWhatever said:

Yeah I'm going to have to disagree with the Bob Cole act like a fan thing.  We don't need a radio personality or a joe fan doing the announcements.  Just get a no-nonsense sounding guy and tell him to STFU except for down and distance and yardline and who made the play.

the only part they got wrong about dealing with Bob Cole was not going Ari Gold on him.....

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Etexhorn13

Etexhorn13 3052

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On 9/19/2018 at 9:24 AM, Machinator said:

She is, and people have been tweeting CDC about it for a couple weeks now.

 

A few weeks in a row now, we’ve been singing it and been 1/2 or 3/4 through the song and the band is ending it. I guess I didn’t realize how quickly they were playing since the band is facing the west side but at least I’m not crazy, or drunk.

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Goodman

Goodman 3273

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10 minutes ago, ZanTheFan said:

Wasn't there for Tulsa, but the USC and TCU games were great both excellent in terms of atmosphere. USC was truly outstanding.

Lion's share of the credit to CDC and Co. for their updates and improvements, but credit to the team for rising to the occasion also

Tulsa was also fantastic, very difficult to believe but the fans are doing their part.

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DanTheHorn

DanTheHorn 4941

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1 minute ago, Goodman said:

Tulsa was also fantastic, very difficult to believe but the fans are doing their part.

The interesting part is that the highest I saw the decibel readings get for the USC and TCU games was around 96. For Tulsa game it was 101 and I remember telling my wife. That 101 is going to be blown away when USC comes to town.

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fuggled

fuggled 576

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Bring back Dr. Carnochan. He respected the hell out of what DiNino had built. This new director has been ruining everything. That god damn wolf of wall street makes my ears bleed. Also way too many fanfares after plays. Do they even do Wabash after the 3rd? The Eyes sounds like a damn musical number now. It's suppose to be slow and menacing. As in "we just kicked the shit out of you.. we are superior and you are not..  now go home" not the intro to Singing in the Rain. 
Everybody loves to complain about the band director. Back in '99 everyone complained about Sedatole when he came in to replace Crider. A few years later the kids who leaned under Sedatole couldn't stand Carnochan. Now you're complaining about Hanna and longing for Carnochan.

Funny thing is that Hanna has been around over 20 years, going back to time as a grad assistant under Crider. It's not like he just showed up and started screwing with traditions.

Regarding all the complaints about The Eyes, I remember from my time in LHB/LHAB learning that the song had always been played fast under DiNino because that's the way DKR liked it. It got gradually slower over the years, but whenever DiNino would conduct, he'd push the tempo. Getting back to the DKR-era tempo has been in the works for years.
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Rimbo

Rimbo 26033

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On 9/11/2018 at 8:06 PM, TCU Alum said:

God forbid that you ever have a "re-seating" at DKR Memorial...you'll see how much he cares about alums and season ticket holders.

We did, and it was almost unanimously considered an improvement.

Except for that guy over there. He had to disagree. But we all agreed the guy had always been a bit of a cunt.

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