What happened to our fanbase?

[AppinVA]

There are a few things I never get tired of. Most I can't share on a family forum, but winning, and more importantly, App State winning, is one I can share. When it comes to attending live App football games, I'm that starving kid in China your mom told you about, and I'm jealous of those who are being wasteful (with the exception of the dude with a pregnant, hungry wife - totally understandable). Go. Cheer, and cheer loud. And cheer for those of us who can't be there.

[PhillyApp1]

Running game isn't killing fan experience. To much music is. Simple fix just like cups with ice.....the answer was simple and happiness returned.

[AppOrange]

I never commented on the music before and won't do it again after this. I read in another post by someone who has been around a long time that you DO have to take care of those who most love your program. Those older donors need to be heard as well. I know the players and SOME of the students like the piped in music, but it seems like enough don't. We never piped in music when I was there and the student sections got it up follow along with the band . . . and the players fed off that. No recruit is going to turn down APP because we don't have piped in music playing at the wrong time during the game . . . and maybe the band can keep the students more engaged than the choppy mess we have now. Lets try tradition for a while and see if we can get the crowd working with the band and maximize the home field advantage. I am no SEC honk, but have seen enough games to know they go with their band and it sounds great. Big donors pay the bills . . . don't just blow them off because they are older. No one is asking for anything that the most successful conference in America isn't doing.

[App91]

I don't know...maybe we need a "Mic Man". Seems some coordination of crowd involvement is needed... Saturday's crowd was good, but not stellar. I can't tell if the larger amount of bleachers in the end-zone and more people on the grass, has changed the optics by how we judge the crowd. I will agree, the "zest" of it all has tapered off a bit over the last few years. Not fully feeling the electricity we once had.

I was thinking the same thing, a mic man (or woman for those PC) would be a good idea. One thing is for sure we HAVE to get the current person OFF that sound board. Must have been trained in minor league baseball or indoor football!

[bigdaddyg]

A lot of interesting takes. I tend to agree that the problem is the game day atmosphere. Let the band play, pipe in the rap or whatever pumps the players up at the beginning when they run into the field. For crying out do a wave every now and then. I know it's a dated thing to do but it gets people up. I remember many a time that it was deafening on 3rd downs with 25k making noise. No way I will believe that style of play has any effect on initial attendance. Maybe a 10-3 half time score against a team that we should be drilling creates boredom (I don't know). We are not a big time 70,000 seat stadium that needs no added pumping up. Games lately (Miami aside) just feel like scrimmages at times.

[Yosef10]

I never commented on the music before and won't do it again after this. I read in another post by someone who has been around a long time that you DO have to take care of those who most love your program. Those older donors need to be heard as well. I know the players and SOME of the students like the piped in music, but it seems like enough don't. We never piped in music when I was there and the student sections got it up follow along with the band . . . and the players fed off that. No recruit is going to turn down APP because we don't have piped in music playing at the wrong time during the game . . . and maybe the band can keep the students more engaged than the choppy mess we have now. Lets try tradition for a while and see if we can get the crowd working with the band and maximize the home field advantage. I am no SEC honk, but have seen enough games to know they go with their band and it sounds great. Big donors pay the bills . . . don't just blow them off because they are older. No one is asking for anything that the most successful conference in America isn't doing.

You can call me a SEC honk if you'd like or just a CFB honk in general. Every single stadium in America plays "piped in music" and it ain't nothing new. Times are a changing fellas.

[NewApp]

I never commented on the music before and won't do it again after this. I read in another post by someone who has been around a long time that you DO have to take care of those who most love your program. Those older donors need to be heard as well. I know the players and SOME of the students like the piped in music, but it seems like enough don't. We never piped in music when I was there and the student sections got it up follow along with the band . . . and the players fed off that. No recruit is going to turn down APP because we don't have piped in music playing at the wrong time during the game . . . and maybe the band can keep the students more engaged than the choppy mess we have now. Lets try tradition for a while and see if we can get the crowd working with the band and maximize the home field advantage. I am no SEC honk, but have seen enough games to know they go with their band and it sounds great. Big donors pay the bills . . . don't just blow them off because they are older. No one is asking for anything that the most successful conference in America isn't doing.

You can call me a SEC honk if you'd like or just a CFB honk in general. Every single stadium in America plays "piped in music" and it ain't nothing new. Times are a changing fellas.

And it ain't workin'

[mtoddsolomon]

This was my first game in a long time, my wife and I drove up from Charleston to meet a couple of friends and their wives for what I was describing as a hell of a weekend. I was angry saturday morning because we were leaving to get to our lot in Rankin late and would only get there at 9:30. When I was a student and you started tailgating at 7:30 for a 3:30 game just to be able to get a spot and it was crazy all day.

Well we got there around 9:30 or so and we were the 3rd car in the parking lot. I was pissed and sad. The tailgating eventually ramped up but never what it was when I graduated in 08. We got to the game and it was as sad as the tailgating was. It was all my buddies and I could talk about, I'm happy it wasn't just us noticing it. This needs to change, we had such pride and lived for Saturday mornings.

[aussie86]

Yosef10 is correct from all the different college venues I have been into over the past years. I believe the canned music is nothing new and I see positive impacts with players, students and a lot of the fans. Over the past couple of years, I've seen this on multiple occasions at both Clemson and Ole Miss, where both my kids attend as well as Oklahoma games since I live out here now. I made it back to Boone once last year and twice this year and can tell you the timing is the biggest issue. Whoever is doing the music is inept at when to start and when to stop. In years past I have seen our students really into the music but very little any more. Better coordination and when to start would go a long way in building more excitement rather than frustration.

[AppOrange]

I never commented on the music before and won't do it again after this. I read in another post by someone who has been around a long time that you DO have to take care of those who most love your program. Those older donors need to be heard as well. I know the players and SOME of the students like the piped in music, but it seems like enough don't. We never piped in music when I was there and the student sections got it up follow along with the band . . . and the players fed off that. No recruit is going to turn down APP because we don't have piped in music playing at the wrong time during the game . . . and maybe the band can keep the students more engaged than the choppy mess we have now. Lets try tradition for a while and see if we can get the crowd working with the band and maximize the home field advantage. I am no SEC honk, but have seen enough games to know they go with their band and it sounds great. Big donors pay the bills . . . don't just blow them off because they are older. No one is asking for anything that the most successful conference in America isn't doing.

You can call me a SEC honk if you'd like or just a CFB honk in general. Every single stadium in America plays "piped in music" and it ain't nothing new. Times are a changing fellas.

Not consistently at the wrong times, I would be fine with it if it were done correctly

[AppDawg]

This was my first game in a long time, my wife and I drove up from Charleston to meet a couple of friends and their wives for what I was describing as a hell of a weekend. I was angry saturday morning because we were leaving to get to our lot in Rankin late and would only get there at 9:30. When I was a student and you started tailgating at 7:30 for a 3:30 game just to be able to get a spot and it was crazy all day.

Well we got there around 9:30 or so and we were the 3rd car in the parking lot. I was pissed and sad. The tailgating eventually ramped up but never what it was when I graduated in 08. We got to the game and it was as sad as the tailgating was. It was all my buddies and I could talk about, I'm happy it wasn't just us noticing it. This needs to change, we had such pride and lived for Saturday mornings.

The "early" tailgating with the masses died when the Raley became 100% reserved parking. When you were in School Raley was festival parking, 1st come, 1st serve. The students also clamored for the Raley parking spots.

Now that it is a lottery for students and the "newness" has worn off, i get the impression it has lost its luster. Students by in-large have found other places to tailgate on a week-in and week-out basis and not play the parking lot lottery.

[appbio91]

Between plays is a stupid time to play canned music and there was a lot of that on Saturday. Sometimes it was 3 second bursts. Just terrible timing.

[Yosef10]

I never commented on the music before and won't do it again after this. I read in another post by someone who has been around a long time that you DO have to take care of those who most love your program. Those older donors need to be heard as well. I know the players and SOME of the students like the piped in music, but it seems like enough don't. We never piped in music when I was there and the student sections got it up follow along with the band . . . and the players fed off that. No recruit is going to turn down APP because we don't have piped in music playing at the wrong time during the game . . . and maybe the band can keep the students more engaged than the choppy mess we have now. Lets try tradition for a while and see if we can get the crowd working with the band and maximize the home field advantage. I am no SEC honk, but have seen enough games to know they go with their band and it sounds great. Big donors pay the bills . . . don't just blow them off because they are older. No one is asking for anything that the most successful conference in America isn't doing.

You can call me a SEC honk if you'd like or just a CFB honk in general. Every single stadium in America plays "piped in music" and it ain't nothing new. Times are a changing fellas.

Not consistently at the wrong times, I would be fine with it if it were done correctly

You're right, timing isn't great. That's not a hard fix, though. I guess my comment was more directly to the people who wish only the band was playing. But yes I think we're all in agreement that timing of the scoreboard music needs some work.

[PhillyApp1]

My issue is we have been making comments for a year and it hasn't been fixed. It's not that hard to fix

[bigCasu]

Running game isn't killing fan experience. To much music is. Simple fix just like cups with ice.....the answer was simple and happiness returned.

I don't really mind the music one way or another. I have friends who definitely enjoy it more than I, and others who enjoy it less. I will say, that with the music, being as loud as it is, has taken away from fan interaction with one another. You can hardly have a short exchange between plays with your seat neighbors when the music is doing its thing. To an extent, the logistics of games may be over structured. With TV timeouts, you obviously have more dead time, but wouldn't it be ok if we had a TV timeout where all you heard was the guy next to you talking about the actual game on the field.

[bigCasu]

This was my first game in a long time, my wife and I drove up from Charleston to meet a couple of friends and their wives for what I was describing as a hell of a weekend. I was angry saturday morning because we were leaving to get to our lot in Rankin late and would only get there at 9:30. When I was a student and you started tailgating at 7:30 for a 3:30 game just to be able to get a spot and it was crazy all day.

Well we got there around 9:30 or so and we were the 3rd car in the parking lot. I was pissed and sad. The tailgating eventually ramped up but never what it was when I graduated in 08. We got to the game and it was as sad as the tailgating was. It was all my buddies and I could talk about, I'm happy it wasn't just us noticing it. This needs to change, we had such pride and lived for Saturday mornings.

The "early" tailgating with the masses died when the Raley became 100% reserved parking. When you were in School Raley was festival parking, 1st come, 1st serve. The students also clamored for the Raley parking spots.

Now that it is a lottery for students and the "newness" has worn off, i get the impression it has lost its luster. Students by in-large have found other places to tailgate on a week-in and week-out basis and not play the parking lot lottery.

This X 100. The whole idea of lets be fair and give everyone a chance to tailgate is a poor idea. When every parking space is reserved, there is zero push to really enjoy a day of tailgating. There needs to be fewer loopholes around getting a parking space. If students or alumni want to get to tailgate at 6:30am to claim their spot, what's the issue?

[bigdaddyg]

Running game isn't killing fan experience. To much music is. Simple fix just like cups with ice.....the answer was simple and happiness returned.

I don't really mind the music one way or another. I have friends who definitely enjoy it more than I, and others who enjoy it less. I will say, that with the music, being as loud as it is, has taken away from fan interaction with one another. You can hardly have a short exchange between plays with your seat neighbors when the music is doing its thing. To an extent, the logistics of games may be over structured. With TV timeouts, you obviously have more dead time, but wouldn't it be ok if we had a TV timeout where all you heard was the guy next to you talking about the actual game on the field.

It's about like watching a Sitcom on TV with the Canned laughter. How would a show sound without it? I remember years ago when one of the networks tried broadcasting a football game with no announcers. It was strange. I wonder how a game would actually sound with no music at all- except for the band?

[hotrod2001]

I wanted to go but my wife wouldn't let me take our 2-year old out because of the cold. (how is he ever going to acclimate to Boone's brisk temperatures when he goes there right?)

I think the atmosphere question has been brought up and discussed a lot and I think we all have put our fingers on why there is a lack of enthusiasm and a reliance on unnecessary and ineffective methods to pump the crowd. The best I can do is wait until the AD sends out a survey at the end of the season and what can be done to improve the experience. They got us our black endzones, ditched the purple flags on the band, and a few other things. Maybe we can finally get rid of the DJ which has stunk for numerous amounts of reasons.

I also think they botched up the scheduling for Black Saturday. It was too early in the season, right after a white-out and nobody really followed it fan-wise. It should be later in the season (the Texas State game would have been a better choice)

[vegattk]

We switched from a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond

[Gonzo]

We switched from a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond

I have a headache now after rolling my eyes harder than they've ever been rolled before.