Game Day Experience 2023

[Bullneck 19166]

I searched and saw there were multipage 2021 and 2022 versions but not this year UNTIL NOW!!!!!!  We have our first data point: the Rice game. Here are some observations:

1. Personal comfort: Someone forgot to turn on the A/C at the stadium.  Gotdamn it was hot.  I realize revenue is our God and all, but CDC has to tell the networks that that Aug/Sept games have to start at 7pm.  End of story.
2. Personal comfort: For the first time I can remember (I think ever), I left before the "Eyes."  Was it the heat that drove me out?  No, it was relentless, rock concert level volume "THIRD DOWN, GET LOUD!!!!" announcements.  I'm not sacrificing what's left of my hearing for this garbage.  
3. Old Man Yells at Cloud: Some fat, short grey haired man two rows ahead of me decided to be the only person in Section 104 to stand at odd times in the first half.  I know he was short because at one point he stood tired of just standing and stepped up on the aluminum bench in front of him (I realize I'm sailing perilously close to a TexAgs "Jackass of the Game" thread). Thankfully he left at halftime so there's no viral TikTok of Boomer-on-Boomer violence this morning.
4. Newfangled gadgetry: Parked my rental car on West Avenue at 18th Street in a nice shady spot. Used the ATX parking app (just couldn't figure out what section I was in. I must have guessed right since I didn't get a ticket).  As I did I noticed a student walking up to one of those electric scooters, punch some numbers into his phone, and rode off.  Immediately I downloaded the app.  Used the ticket I downloaded from Seat Geek to my phone to get into the stadium (first time I've done that).  There's actually phone reception in the stadium now.  If any of this surprises you, just remember I'm from the generation that beta tested all this technology whether we wanted to or not.  
5. Traditions Department: Actually heard the LHB play.  Not as many songs as THIRD DOWN!!!! announcements, but it was still nice.  I guess the bend at the northeast end zone is their permanent home now.  
6. Other Stuff: The fireworks after a score were OK, I guess.  Might be better at night. At least The Gong and Jet Pack Guy are gone.  We had a flyover and then video from the cockpit rebroadcast later in the game (and then the pilots on the field).  
7. Big XII Officiating: OK, there's a different thread for that, but damn they took a long time to review an incomplete pass in the 1st quarter.  The pace of the game was "Molasses in January" instead of "Molasses in August."  (Side note: upon realizing I don't know how to spell "molasses" I had to Google it and saw some photos.  It doesn't look like something you would want to put in your mouth).

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by Bullneck

[ConferenceRoom 6144]

@immamac you can move some of the most recent Chris Del Conte thread comments into this one. 

[Rockethorn1978 6093]

Less is more. Just win football games. I like that game day experience way more and if you aren’t successful for the last 15 years you have to create an atmosphere. 

[SuperSport 1333]

Nothing significantly better or worse than last year from our westside, lower level perspective. Heat and opponent kept the crowd level somewhere below sell-out, which I’m sure helped create a sort of soft opening for vendors, staffers, and heat stroke first responders.

One noteworthy takeaway was an apparent beta test for a new pump-up gimmick, ala Wisconsin’s Jump Around…Thunderstruck to start the 4th Quarter, complete with orange smoke, pyrotechnics, and LED light show (just pretend that part wasn’t pointless at 5pm). But amazingly, there was no announcement or cheesy “stand up and clap your hands!” bullshit and no sponsor content on the video board, as lamented with prior attempts in the Game Week thread. I’m cautiously optimistic this could be badass.

[MirrOlure 14790]

The fact that none of us saw fit to slit Bob Cole’s throat (to remove his vocal chords, not actually kill him) over the off season means we are all pussies. Me included.

[hornbri 1400]

Some of you really need to turndown your hearing aids. The sound is not THAT loud, it’s stadium loud. 

Lucky for us the seats in the shade of section 5 were not as bad, those of you in the upper decks I felt for you, that shit looked brutal.  

[Surly Bevo 25040]

I've already made my Bob Cole and stadium sound comments on the CDC thread, so I will observe that the new lights were all doing their thing the entire game.  Now it was the middle of the afternoon so big fucking deal but if we ever do get a real night game it will be pretty cool.  

Edited September 4, 2023 by Surly Bevo

[Surly Bevo 25040]

Also will mention that the pre-4th quarter "smoke show" down by the student section was an interesting add.  For those of you not there what it entailed was a bunch of posts that were set up around the NE corner that clearly had the same kind of smoke flares you see come out at European soccer matches that were started up and emitted a bunch of orange smoke.  

[Armybrat 40850]

You sure Willie wasn’t down there?

[crash_davis 23113]

Hate that they have shit blaring right up to the snap, sometimes even after the snap. There's way to much shit going on with the jumbotron and all the shitty music, amp the noise shit. It was beyond distracting.

[David Dennison 18919]

This thread and the in-season CDC thread always deliver.

 

[ClubWhatever 12144]

There's probably a "Assistant Director for Game Experience -Volume" person you can write to about the noise. 

[Bullneck 19166]

1 hour ago, SuperSport said:

…Thunderstruck to start the 4th Quarter, complete with orange smoke, pyrotechnics, and LED light show (just pretend that part wasn’t pointless at 5pm). But amazingly, there was no announcement or cheesy “stand up and clap your hands!” bullshit and no sponsor content on the video board, as lamented with prior attempts in the Game Week thread. I’m cautiously optimistic this could be badass.

I guess AC/DC is the unofficial State of Texas sports motivational music provider.  If we import anything else from Australia can it be one of those Kangaroo Jack School of Punting guys?

[blacklab 11940]

Volume of the jumbotron seemed louder this year. I couldn't even talk to my kid when it was going.

We never get a replay on second down when on defense if the play results in a third down coming up as they play a stupid cartoon instead. 

It was fucking hot. All contracts have clauses. Someone needs to see what the penalty is for moving the game to 7 and stroke a check. 

[SuperSport 1333]

5 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

I guess AC/DC is the unofficial State of Texas sports motivational music provider.  If we import anything else from Australia can it be one of those Kangaroo Jack School of Punting guys?

[Surly Bevo 25040]

11 minutes ago, blacklab said:

Volume of the jumbotron seemed louder this year. I couldn't even talk to my kid when it was going.

We never get a replay on second down when on defense if the play results in a third down coming up as they play a stupid cartoon instead. 

It was fucking hot. All contracts have clauses. Someone needs to see what the penalty is for moving the game to 7 and stroke a check. 

The heat was something.  I imagine we may have had some "hotter" kick off time temperatures at 6pm over all the years but not sure if there has ever been 4 straight quarters of 100 degrees like there was Saturday.  

Edited September 4, 2023 by Surly Bevo

[Hagbard Celine 10871]

6 minutes ago, blacklab said:

Volume of the jumbotron seemed louder this year. I couldn't even talk to my kid when it was going.

We never get a replay on second down when on defense if the play results in a third down coming up as they play a stupid cartoon instead. 

It was fucking hot. All contracts have clauses. Someone needs to see what the penalty is for moving the game to 7 and stroke a check. 

we have an endowment that will grow forever

screw the contract, we have 6.5 home games this year, divide our total take from those games, send the money back to the league office, and use the LHN in it's final season for the purpose it was designed

since we are big bad and evil we might as well save our own people

[Had Enough 2083]

Jumbotron was damn loud.

I want a replay of every play. This fell way short.

The band, Pom, cheer seem non-existent.

Tv commercials were pretty much all 2:35. I don’t know if that’s a network thing but better than the occasional 3:55 or whatever that had started to happen in prior years.

Halftimes can be cut down to 15 minutes.

[Hagbard Celine 10871]

1 hour ago, ConferenceRoom said:

@immamac you can move some of the most recent Chris Del Conte thread comments into this one. 

which comments?  post the links; fearless leader is up in here this morning he can do it

[Hagbard Celine 10871]

[tx 3 putt 77012]

1 hour ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

Less is more. Just win football games. I like that game day experience way more and if you aren’t successful for the last 15 years you have to create an atmosphere. 

killer intro and the game should be atmosphere enough 

[skilesare 73]

9 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

Put the engineering school on it.  There has to be some kind of carbon fiber sail we can run up as long as the wind is below 30mp4  three times a year.

[ChickenSandwich 9843]

Jumbotron out of control volume + heat (didn’t realize i was sitting next to the band until the 4th quarter).

The school makes enough money to tell them to pound sand at a 230 start time. Night is obvious, but even 11am would have been better. 

Everything else was smooth. Concessions, water stations, gate entrances etc. 

[tx 3 putt 77012]

1 minute ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Jumbotron out of control volume + heat (didn’t realize i was sitting next to the band until the 4th quarter)

 

[ClubWhatever 12144]

It's going to take a BMD attaching a rider to their gift saying turn all that shit off or no checkie 

[Bullneck 19166]

4 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Jumbotron out of control volume + heat (didn’t realize i was sitting next to the band until the 4th quarter).

The school makes enough money to tell them to pound sand at a 230 start time. Night is obvious, but even 11am would have been better. 

Everything else was smooth. Concessions, water stations, gate entrances etc. 

Seemed like whatever issues getting people into certain sections (it seemed to be a problem a couple of years back) have been solved.

There's so many concessions (food, drinks, merch) on the upper deck concourse you can hardly move around at halftime.

[Had Enough 2083]

The school makes enough money to tell them to pound sand at a 230 start time. Night is obvious, but even 11am would have been better. 

I’m on the lower deck, west side. The heat wasn’t terrible and probably better for a 2:30 start than 11 in my spot. We were lucky that we didn’t get direct sun though. That’s the killer.

[Bullneck 19166]

21 minutes ago, skilesare said:

Put the engineering school on it.  There has to be some kind of carbon fiber sail we can run up as long as the wind is below 30mp4  three times a year.

The Romans called it a "velarium."  

Once the sun went behind the lights on the west side stands the game became tolerable.  East side must have been brutal.

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

1 hour ago, MirrOlure said:

The fact that none of us saw fit to slit Bob Cole’s throat (to remove his vocal chords, not actually kill him) over the off season means we are all pussies. Me included.

Artificial voice box > Bob Cole’s real voice. 

[tx 3 putt 77012]

9 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

The Romans called it a "velarium."  

Once the sun went behind the lights on the west side stands the game became tolerable.  East side must have been brutal.

that would be a killer senior project !

[Nueces River Rat 5539]

48 minutes ago, Had Enough said:

Jumbotron was damn loud.

I want a replay of every play. This fell way short.

The band, Pom, cheer seem non-existent.

Tv commercials were pretty much all 2:35. I don’t know if that’s a network thing but better than the occasional 3:55 or whatever that had started to happen in prior years.

Halftimes can be cut down to 15 minutes.

This!    Maybe it was just the Fox broadcast, but the band sounded MIA.   This compared to the ABC broadcast of the LSU/FSU game.   I did hear a lot of sound effects and music clips after a play.   Just dump that shit and let the band do their thing.     That music shit is for pro football because they don’t have a band to fill the noise void between plays or series. 

[BurntOrange&White 39934]

2 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

This!    Maybe it was just the Fox broadcast, but the band sounded MIA.   This compared to the ABC broadcast of the LSU/FSU game.   I did hear a lot of sound effects and music clips after a play.   Just dump that shit and let the band do their thing.     That music shit is for pro football because they don’t have a band to fill the noise void between plays or series. 

That’s not going to happen. A lot of you old people need to get over the fact that DKR won’t be like it was in the 70s and you’re going to be constantly berated with music, ads, etc. if you watch many other games you hear the same stuff through the broadcast. It’s what the game day is outside of cotton bowl and bowl games. 

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

53 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

The heat was something.  I imagine we may have had some "hotter" kick off time temperatures at 6pm over all the years but not sure if there has ever been 4 straight quarters of 100 degrees like there was Saturday.  

There was a thread years ago (TOS?) about hottest games, and -surprisingly- no one could find a game with 100 degree kickoff temperatures. In fact, the official highs weren’t even 100. Of course, the official highs and lows for decades were from Mueller Airport which was probably the “coolest” weather station in the Austin area. 

[Foosters 17858]

Was the car alarm sound effect after a turnover new? How about the semi in reverse for an opposing team's penalty? Sounds deliberately created to be so annoying that one cannot help but look. And we're pumping them through the sound system at 150db. On purpose.

Also, agreed on the volume level. Went to a game last year and gave up on having conversations with the guys next to me as we were cupping years and shouting from 6 inches away. 

[Nueces River Rat 5539]

8 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

That’s not going to happen. A lot of you old people need to get over the fact that DKR won’t be like it was in the 70s and you’re going to be constantly berated with music, ads, etc. if you watch many other games you hear the same stuff through the broadcast. It’s what the game day is outside of cotton bowl and bowl games. 

Shit…. I’m now an Olds at 51….  Does this mean I can get an old people’s parking permit ( that hanging blue thing on the rear view mirror) at DKR?  

[Davis Lane 5586]

1 hour ago, Surly Bevo said:

Also will mention that the pre-4th quarter "smoke show" down by the student section was an interesting add.  For those of you not there what it entailed was a bunch of posts that were set up around the NE corner that clearly had the same kind of smoke flares you see come out at European soccer matches that were started up and emitted a bunch of orange smoke.  

Initially I thought you were talking about this kind of smoke show.

[Skipper 6136]

3 hours ago, Bullneck said:

I searched and saw there were multipage 2021 and 2022 versions but not this year UNTIL NOW!!!!!!  We have our first data point: the Rice game. Here are some observations:

1. Personal comfort: Someone forgot to turn on the A/C at the stadium.  Gotdamn it was hot.  I realize revenue is our God and all, but CDC has to tell the networks that that Aug/Sept games have to start at 7pm.  End of story.

 

CDC has zero control over this.   Zero.   I've discussed this and whether any real ability to backroom deal on this with him directly.  If he did we never would have played Rice or Louisiana in the afternoon 2 of the past 3 years. All schools in every power 5 conference basically traded flexibility for a big pile of $$.  It will be the same thing in the SEC.  Probably have a better likelihood lobbying the legislature for some rule that a college game can't kick off before 7 with a temp > 102 or something.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Skipper

[Eskimohorn 5635]

It's going to take a BMD attaching a rider to their gift saying turn all that shit off or no checkie 

Sound was fine inside luxury boxes.

[TKthunder2 4992]

4 minutes ago, Skipper said:

CDC has zero control over this.   Zero.   I've discussed this and whether any real ability to backroom deal on this with him directly.  If he did we never would have played Rice or Louisiana in the afternoon 2 of the past 3 years. All schools in every power 5 conference basically traded flexibility for a big pile of $$.  It will be the same thing in the SEC.  Probably have a better job lobbying the legislature for some rule that a college game can't kick off before 7 with a temp > 102 or something.

IIRC the State of Arizona had to do something similar.

[Bullneck 19166]

34 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

That’s not going to happen. A lot of you old people need to get over the fact that DKR won’t be like it was in the 70s and you’re going to be constantly berated with music, ads, etc. if you watch many other games you hear the same stuff through the broadcast. It’s what the game day is outside of cotton bowl and bowl games. 

Memo to self: TX/OU game only from now on.

[Skipper 6136]

2 minutes ago, TKthunder2 said:

IIRC the State of Arizona had to do something similar.

It's really not a bad idea.  Take it out of the networks hands.  It's only a real issue in a handful of States but Texas is definitely one of them.  

Edited September 4, 2023 by Skipper

[Eskimohorn 5635]

There was a tv writer talking about his pilot being audience tested. With laugh track, people loved the show a lot but their number one complaint was the annoying laugh track. Without laugh track, they still liked the show but not as much.

Thats what we’re dealing with with the sound and distractions. They think we need this. Maybe we do, but its bullshit. Not every game needs to be 10/10.

[blacklab 11940]

Almost forgot about Bob Cole.

STFU dipshit. If our offense is on the field, and the QB is yelling to the team, STFU. Nobody fucking cares that it's 2nd and 2 and Jim Bob Smith from Rice made the tackle.

Pregame was so fucking cringy with him yelling Texas-Fight at the wrong times and yelling it like he was Sam Kinison.  

[msucolt45 4062]

Did they even mention the ‘63 Team, where a majority of them were at least with the SEZ suites? Instead of putting the Octogenarians on the field pre-game, they said they’d just take a group picture of them (inside) and put it on the big board. Dad said the picture never took place, but they were treated “very well” by the UT President, in his suite area, and we’re given parking passes close to the stadium.

He sat outside for a majority of the game and doesn’t recall if they were even mentioned being there during pre-game or game? They had a great time though and UT Admins really treated them well! He even got to meet the School President.

He said at halftime they recognized all of the National Champions from the last school year, which thankfully took quite a while, as UT was so successful in Spring sports!

Hook’em!!!

[Bullneck 19166]

Just now, msucolt45 said:

Did they even mention the ‘63 Team, where a majority of them were at least with the SEZ suites? Instead of putting the Octogenarians on the field pre-game, they said they’d just take a group picture of them (inside) and put it on the big board. Dad said the picture never took place, but they were treated “very well” by the UT President, in his suite area, and we’re given parking passes close to the stadium.

He sat outside for a majority of the game and doesn’t recall if they were even mentioned being their during pre-game or game? They had a great time though and UT Admins really treated them well! He even got to meet the School President.

He said at halftime they recognized all of the National Champions from the last school year, which thankfully took quite a while, as UT was so successful in Spring sports!

Hook’em!!!

They did!  I actually thought of you when they made the announcement; wondered if you were at the game.

[Surly Bevo 25040]

4 minutes ago, blacklab said:

Pregame was so fucking cringy with him yelling Texas-Fight at the wrong times and yelling it like he was Sam Kinison.  

So cringy.  We know how it works Bob, we don't need you yelling.  So so fucking bad.  

[tx 3 putt 77012]

24 minutes ago, Eskimohorn said:

Sound was fine inside luxury boxes.

good ac ?

[msucolt45 4062]

It was a really tough call, as at least two weeks prior, I knew they were going to put them in the A/C, but with limited seating. My wife has said no more day games in September about three years ago. Since we most-likely wouldn’t even see him, we’d decided multiple weeks ago that we’d join him for a later game! Knowing my wife, we’d have left by HT anyways!

Supposedly, according to him we didn’t “miss” anything, as I only wanted a picture of him on the big board, but that didn’t happen.

Hook’em!!!

[Dennis Taylor 18830]

2 hours ago, Surly Bevo said:

Also will mention that the pre-4th quarter "smoke show" down by the student section was an interesting add.  For those of you not there what it entailed was a bunch of posts that were set up around the NE corner that clearly had the same kind of smoke flares you see come out at European soccer matches that were started up and emitted a bunch of orange smoke.  

That was a really really bad idea. There was no breeze at the time and that shit lingered forever. 

I'd be willing to bet that is a 1 and done. Sark was apparently not a fan

[hornbri 1400]

24 minutes ago, msucolt45 said:

Did they even mention the ‘63 Team, where a majority of them were at least with the SEZ suites? Instead of putting the Octogenarians on the field pre-game, they said they’d just take a group picture of them (inside) and put it on the big board. Dad said the picture never took place, but they were treated “very well” by the UT President, in his suite area, and we’re given parking passes close to the stadium.

He sat outside for a majority of the game and doesn’t recall if they were even mentioned being there during pre-game or game? They had a great time though and UT Admins really treated them well! He even got to meet the School President.

He said at halftime they recognized all of the National Champions from the last school year, which thankfully took quite a while, as UT was so successful in Spring sports!

Hook’em!!!

Yes they did, the camera focused on the suite and they talked about it.