Game Atmosphere

[blacklab 11941]

Holy crap what an improvement.

We got to our seats at 6:30 and I don't remember seeing an ad till the end of the first quarter

Band actually played during breaks.

only 1 dude in the stands with a mic, and the mic didn't work so we didn't have to listen to him.

during commercial breaks there was a count down clock in the bottom right of the godzillatron to let you know how much time is left in the break.

godzillatron was not surrounded by ads. screen on the right, stats and info on left, two small ads on the bottom of the left section. Replays were from multiple angles, not just the shitty angle from some cameraman standing outside the endzone.

Only remember a couple of ads. Colt's ad for the cookies and a pluckers ad about the 5 free wing coupons. All the other "ads" were highlights with a logo in the corner or whataburger giving some kids a check. This is by far the best improvement.

No longer felt like i was being completely whored out or at a nba or minor league baseball game, it actually felt like a college football game for a change.

Now we just need Tom to pull his head out of his ass. If last night wasn't an improvement over last year I was planning on not renewing my season tickets for next year, but now the product on the field may prevent me from doing so.

[TexArcher 37980]

Agreed.  The overall atmosphere was much better last night.  Moving the student sections and the band helped, plus Godzillatron was much less invasive.  CDC seems to actually give a shit about fan feedback.

So we have a better atmosphere to watch our team suck at football.  I guess that's progress.

 

[mchookem 16337]

my sister went, she said it was a blast and it was packed. 

of course, she's a casual fan,  so...😐

[immamac 42868]

Filthy casuals

[Droopy 2626]

I feel really good about CDC and his ability to look at a situation and make it better. He said as much on the broadcast last night. He is here to support the coaches and help them succeed. I'm truly glad he addressed the game day atmosphere as it has been terrible. Winning helps but having gone to other college campuses and seeing what they put into gameday, we can do much better. 

Here's to CDC and his eventual ass-kicking of Herman to get his product in order. Hook 'Em!

[shakahorn 1645]

13 minutes ago, blacklab said:

...during commercial breaks there was a count down clock in the bottom right of the godzillatron to let you know how much time is left in the break...

 

That's genius.  I hate having to watch the redcap and figure out what his various hand signals mean.

[mchookem 16337]

3 minutes ago, immamac said:

Filthy casuals

casual fans are awesome. they think the win was great. somebody has to.

[SA-KC_Horn 1295]

Bevo Blvd, silent disco, retro pom/cheer girls, less ads, better music and a full student section were all wins.

[taybo20 2877]

The fireworks at 90, 60, and 30 minutes were interesting. Didn’t mind it.

stadium stampede was much improved. Bevo Blvd seems like a success. 

Student section was amazing. Really the biggest improvement imo. You could actually hear “make em eat shit”

i was actually surprised at the atmosphere and turn out. 

[Walden Ponderer 12639]

Just now, mchookem said:

casual fans are awesome. they think the win was great. somebody has to.

My whole family used to be addicted to Zoo Tycoon. This was back in the early part of the millennium, when games came on CD-ROMs. Anyway, we'd build a great zoo, everyone loved it, the game was going great... so we'd block off the entrance, remove all the bathrooms and restaurants, and turn the animals loose to eat all the guests.

The guest approval rating, even when they were being murdered like that, never dropped below 34%. There will always be people who are satisfied with the status quo, no matter what.

[HornsOverIthaca 2335]

Just now, taybo20 said:

The fireworks at 90, 60, and 30 minutes were interesting. Didn’t mind it.

Ahh so that’s what that sound was.  Thought it was just random smoky practice.

[David Dennison 18924]

2 minutes ago, SA-KC_Horn said:

Bevo Blvd, silent disco, retro pom/cheer girls, less ads, better music and a full student section were all wins.

Don't forget bouncy houses.

[LonghornGoodfella 114]

My brother works under CDC handling all the new gameday atmosphere with the ACL music and Bevo Blvd festivities so glad to hear the positive feedback. That was definitely the bright spot yesterday. Product on the field not so much. 

[Eskimohorn 5635]

The end of narrated, Bob Cole ads was the biggest improvement. He haunts my dreams.

 

There was more quiet time.

 

Decrease in concessions prices. Yes.

 

End of weather guy with obnoxious “hookem hoooooorrrnrnnns!”

[blacklab 11941]

oh yeah, forgot about the student sections. They were packed before the game, such a huge change.

Also before the team came out they put smoke in the tunnel, and bevo led the team out.

 

[blacklab 11941]

and yeah, no weather guy was awesome too.

[taybo20 2877]

2 minutes ago, blacklab said:

and yeah, no weather guy was awesome too.

Definitely awesome. 

[millhouse 2615]

I don't Twitter so I don't know the answer, but I hope this type of feedback is getting to CDC. If the garbage on the field gets corrected we may actually be back to the rocking DKR from 10-15 years ago. 

[miguelito 11266]

14 minutes ago, HornsOverIthaca said:

Ahh so that’s what that sound was.  Thought it was just random smoky practice.

I though I heard Smokey go off several times at incorrect/unusual times.  Defensive 3rd down stop in the red zone; 4th down stop; far end of field play that might have looked like a td. 

[WBT 20618]

Agreed with all, it was great.  Ads during breaks were replaced with shots of the crowd/cheer/band.  The camera get going back to a couple of blondes in the student section....nice work there

[dcar00 14275]

It was a much better experience without the stupid in game jumbotron crap.  impressed the students showed up, not sure how he got that done.

bevo blvd and the music on LBJ lawn was very good.  only gripe is they need more food trucks/beer vendors/portapottis on Bevo Blvd.  especially for USC.

just need a coach.

[kopp0e 1135]

27 minutes ago, Droopy said:

I feel really good about CDC and his ability to look at a situation and make it better. He said as much on the broadcast last night. He is here to support the coaches and help them succeed. I'm truly glad he addressed the game day atmosphere as it has been terrible. Winning helps but having gone to other college campuses and seeing what they put into gameday, we can do much better. 

Here's to CDC and his eventual ass-kicking of Herman to get his product in order. Hook 'Em!

I think Del Conte will get the "Coaching issues" resolved soon enough, if not during the season, expect a few changes on the offseason suggested...

[Vertigo 20290]

I really liked Bevo Boulevard before the game. We were walking by the alumni center and I looked over and said "Holy Crap, there are all the players walking in."

The free outdoor music stage is also genius. 

I do think they overdid the crowd reaction stuff on the screens a bit, but overall the improvement was huge.

We were in the NEZ touchdown club for the game.. "competition brisket" my ass. Otherwise, the club was awesome too.  

 

[Tailgate 3022]

Anyone hit up the silent disco after the game....looked cool from images I saw?

[The University 851]

the whole experience was a huge upgrade from previous years. big, big props to the students for showing up and filling their sections. when the game started, they mentioned that there was a new "tradition." i totally missed what that was, unless it was the kids rushing the field (which was cool).

my only minor gripe is that they missed a lot of replay opportunities. very rarely did they replay a great play or a questionable call.

so glad that they got rid of the gotdam weather guy. jfc those segments were painful.

[lemonandaturd 4285]

Two drunk dudes started throwing haymakers at each other in section 27.  It looked like NFL going goon.  

[Pancho 44860]

25 minutes ago, millhouse said:

I don't Twitter so I don't know the answer, but I hope this type of feedback is getting to CDC. If the garbage on the field gets corrected we may actually be back to the rocking DKR from 10-15 years ago. 

He's been replying to both the positive and negative comments from the gameday stuff today

[Brothahorn 10087]

oh yeah, forgot about the student sections. They were packed before the game, such a huge change.
Also before the team came out they put smoke in the tunnel, and bevo led the team out.

 

Bevo was ready play. I loved seeing him swanging and banging.

[Brothahorn 10087]

Two drunk dudes started throwing haymakers at each other in section 27.  It looked like NFL going goon.  

At least somebody from Texas put up a fight.

[RamjetFDO 10577]

and yeah, no weather guy was awesome too.

Did Fitlump finally eat his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti?

[TKthunder2 4992]

Agreed, hard to believe the change from 5 years ago till now but besides the game itself it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had at a football game that I can remember.

[TxEx84 405]

1 hour ago, mchookem said:

my sister went ...

 

 

There are rules, man.

 

Loved Bevo storming in through the smoke.  He was ready to play.

[hookem48 4700]

1 hour ago, blacklab said:

oh yeah, forgot about the student sections. They were packed before the game, such a huge change.

Also before the team came out they put smoke in the tunnel, and bevo led the team out.

 

for a split second I really thought Bevo was getting loose

[Intercourse With Gray 140]

My take on this a little different than most since I was actually in the student section. The General Admission was terrible. Essentially there was just people stuck in the tunnel trying to pile into the stand. There were no seats and no where to go. We were told we needed to find seats but we couldn't move and no one would actually direct us to where there were seats. Eventually we found some seats near the aisle. Throughout the whole game, people were climbing over each other since no one found seats and just stood in the walkway. You couldn't leave to go to the restroom or people would steal your seat (it happened dozens of times around me). At halftime, people sat down but you still weren't able to leave or you lost your seat. Students became very angry that they couldn't find seats so they started to throw the fans. Then throwing the fans became a thing to do when we blew a 21 point lead. In general, the atmosphere was better but they need to do something about the general admission. They tried to turn around the students in the tunnels but no one would move so they gave up. USC is only going to be worse because people didnt even want to go to the Tulsa game because it could have rained and it was Tulsa. That's just my take

[Bottlecap 1523]

I ate dinner for under $10. That was awesoe. And i was comped a beer at the silver bullet bar while i watched aggy almost embarrass our program from 100 miles away.

I have student season tix this year since my wife is going back to school and those GA sections were completely full long before gametime. I think they filtered the spillover into the crappy south endzone because that was full shortly after gametime too. I just snuck into a different section but USC should be a shitshow and probably at student capacity by 6pm.

Bob Fucking Cole's new "... AND HERE ... WE .... GO" catchphrase before each kickoff was fucking brutal. Man, fuck that guy. My only real complaint of the night other than Eligher and TH's terrible offense.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Bottlecap

[Red Five 40862]

Godzillatron still too damn loud.

[SA-KC_Horn 1295]

4 minutes ago, Red Five said:

Godzillatron still too damn loud.

Turn down your hearing aid ya old fuck.

[Longboard Horn 40351]

I wasn’t able to attend the game, but from what y’all have said, I’m actually excited about the pregame festivities for the first time in about five years. Also the weatherman is gone? Fantastic news! 

[lemonandaturd 4285]

I was happy that the roving mic crowd was silenced.  Sideways hat wearing dude and the blonde were gone.  

Edited September 9, 2018 by lemonandaturd

[ousux 5597]

My brother works under CDC handling all the new gameday atmosphere with the ACL music and Bevo Blvd festivities so glad to hear the positive feedback. That was definitely the bright spot yesterday. Product on the field not so much. 

I haven't heard anything bad yet, almost makes me wish I'd bought USC tix now..

of course the product on the field hasn't gotten better since I made that decision.

[Jack Wilson 313]

3 minutes ago, ousux said:

of course the product on the field hasn't gotten better since I made that decision.

1

One can argue it was worse than Maryland.

[Lone Star Horn 2018]

As far as the crowd shots, for the first time I can remember in the last 20+ years, they had mobile cameramen in the west side upper deck sections. That got lots of kids and women excited to be on the godzillatron for the first time ever. He would point his camera at kids or women dancing and then a few seconds of footage would show up on the 'tron. They did get one shot of an older guy with a horns tattoo on his arm, he was flexing (thought it could have been Phlegm, but he's in FL, right?)

Also, when they led Bevo out of the smoke, he was a bit rambunctious. I bet there were a couple of photographers near the goalpost, that maybe shit their pants a little. I know they moved away quickly when they thought he might break loose.

The running of the Herd (kids under 12) was kinda cool, the little fat kid had a hard time, but he did run all the way across. He also stopped to make sure that one kid who fell was ok.

[blacklab 11941]

Yeah, the camerman hung out on our row for a good 10 minutes focused on the 12yo girl next to us who was dancing the whole time, but she never got on the big screen.

If anyone knows how to sign your kids up for the running of the herd please let me know.

[hookem48 4700]

1 hour ago, Bottlecap said:

I ate dinner for under $10. That was awesoe. And i was comped a beer at the silver bullet bar while i watched aggy almost embarrass our program from 100 miles away.

I have student season tix this year since my wife is going back to school and those GA sections were completely full long before gametime. I think they filtered the spillover into the crappy south endzone because that was full shortly after gametime too. I just snuck into a different section but USC should be a shitshow and probably at student capacity by 6pm.

Bob Fucking Cole's new "... AND HERE ... WE .... GO" catchphrase before each kickoff was fucking brutal. Man, fuck that guy. My only real complaint of the night other than Eligher and TH's terrible offense.

you must have been eating when the defense was on the field

[Thetexashammer 1062]

But seriously, this guy fucks.

[Scholz 11944]

Game DJ was way better. Enjoyed the lead up music on 3rd downs when we were on D: Rage, Metallica, Audioslave...

[LonghornGoodfella 114]

Which one of you had the adorable ass baby on the jumbotron in the big ear phones? That was classic. 

[Not that Bob 739]

I wasn't there. Please flesh out Bevo leading the team in. How far on the field did he run? I always thought Runnin' Ralphie was a cool tradition. Bevo coming out of the tunnel is pretty darn cool, too. That and the taming of jumbotron might get me back in the stadium.

[hookem2010 2624]

My whole family used to be addicted to Zoo Tycoon. This was back in the early part of the millennium, when games came on CD-ROMs. Anyway, we'd build a great zoo, everyone loved it, the game was going great... so we'd block off the entrance, remove all the bathrooms and restaurants, and turn the animals loose to eat all the guests.
The guest approval rating, even when they were being murdered like that, never dropped below 34%. There will always be people who are satisfied with the status quo, no matter what.

That game was amazing. Except for markhors, fuck those things. I was at the game as well and was very impressed with fan turnout given last week and our opponent. Much better atmosphere than it's been the last half decade or so for sure

[OU Sucks 8872]

2 hours ago, blacklab said:

Yeah, the camerman hung out on our row for a good 10 minutes focused on the 12yo girl next to us who was dancing the whole time, but she never got on the big screen.

Sounds like someone is due for a background check.