I'm going to float my own thesis which stems from a variety of different experiences. 1)Tech Student Body is partially made up by a bunch of nerds, plain and simple, who would rather hang out in their dorms and complain about Tech Bitch Syndrome than go to the game 2)this lackluster attitude carries over to their alumni years when they're busy playing halo III and watching internet porn 3)if you by some chance want to go to the game because you are a normal human being you are usually so dependent on alcohol you consume a bottle of Beam and pass out or get lost on the way to the game 4) if you're an alumnus who isn't the aforementioned then you repeat explanation 3 for another 40 years until you die an early death from liver failure 5)when you consider how many people are accounted for above its a minor miracle 50,000 people actually make it to any game at BDS.
DEFINETLY NOT TRUE....
We win a National championship under PJ and we will not have any problems selling out home games..We will be picking up Ga. Southern fans along the way as it is and add in the fact that 4 years from now under PJ. our roster will have more Georgia boys on it than at any time since Dodd, BUT add winning and winning in a big way, our ticket sales would explode. our fanbase would swell as well....Yes, winning does take care of ticket sales and the best marketing tool we could have.
BECAUSE...Several factors not applicable to today..
We followed up that MNC year with what a 7 win year? Ross is a total different sell than PJ...Ross was from up North and had a lot of Northern boys on his roster and did not recruit this state like PJ will.( I remember watching that recruiting show the guy from Ala. had on tv every Saturday after we won the MNC and he said something to this fact about Ross also, as to recruiting and that he needed to get more out of this state) ..
PJ has STRONG ties and a big following here in this state and he will infuse a bunch of State of Ga. boys on our roster..This will stir up a bunch of statewide interest in our program.. If he starts winning championships and beating ugag we could have something special here...
What? Who said anything about TV? My point was that if promos keep them from the stadium they probably need to stay away anyway. I'm sure someone standing up would set them off as well.
knoxjacket
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I think we are still paying the price from the late 70s and early 80s fanwise. The kids who might have become Tech fans in those days if we didn't absolutely blow would be season ticket holders now.
ContactBuzz
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Those are fair points (I agree with your post except for the Jax State game, it will likely be more full than if the same game were on Saturday) but the decision makers won't look any further into the stats than what I posted when determining if we should continue having home Thurs night games. Hell, they probably won't look any further than our relationship with ESPN and the exposure from the Thurs games.
I only posted the attendance numbers because someone posted that it was a determining factor in getting more fans to the games. The Thursday night games may lose some of the season ticket holders but it games as many or more outside fans (I've brought non-GT fan coworkers to each of the last 4 Thurs night games).
texstinger
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So if we don't have enough alumni in the immediate area to sell out, that means we must attract other fans.
To do that is simple.
We need to beat ugag at least 50/50.
Too many want to make it too difficult to understand.
It is about southern college football.
To do that is simple.
We need to beat ugag at least 50/50.
Too many want to make it too difficult to understand.
It is about southern college football.
gt7282c@prism
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:+1: But there's more to it than that, isn't there? CG won more than he lost. But he coached such a conservative playing style that it made for some rather boring football. I'd rather see an offensive shooting match than a defensive struggle.
'course I can't join ya'll anyway. Airfare is too steep.
GTKyle
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50,000 people... 10,000 students.
Each alum brings about 2 people. That is about 13,000 alumni in the stadium or about 4 years worth of graduates at Tech.
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Simple. Two things.
1. Play teams that people care about beating.
2. Win some of the time.
Seriously. That's all there is to it.
Because of our conference affiliation, we have a lot of teams on the schedule that nobody gives a rat's arse about playing or beating.
And then there is that quirky thing that seems to be somewhat unique to Georgia Tech. Its difficult to put into words but it has to do with the fact that our fans hate losing a lot more than they like winning. In other words, beating Duke gets you a plus 3 on the excitement scale (barely more than a yawn) while losing to Duke is a minus 9 (catastrophic).
Compare that to, say, Georgia/Auburn/Clemson which are more balanced - winning is +7-10 and losing is -7-10. Folks aren't going to move heaven and earth to get to a game when the downside of losing is three times bigger than the upside of winning.
We have to be honest - quite a few of our fans just aren't that excited by the prospect of a victory over at least half the teams on our schedule. And when half of the remaining half is on the road, that doesn't leave much for home - 2 to 4 games a year that our fans genuinely look forward to and are nervous and excited about.
Fact is, our schedule is one of the more boring schedules around. And there is very little we can do about it.
Its not just about winning. Its about beating teams you enjoy beating. That's what folks pay their hard-earned money to see.
1. Play teams that people care about beating.
2. Win some of the time.
Seriously. That's all there is to it.
Because of our conference affiliation, we have a lot of teams on the schedule that nobody gives a rat's arse about playing or beating.
And then there is that quirky thing that seems to be somewhat unique to Georgia Tech. Its difficult to put into words but it has to do with the fact that our fans hate losing a lot more than they like winning. In other words, beating Duke gets you a plus 3 on the excitement scale (barely more than a yawn) while losing to Duke is a minus 9 (catastrophic).
Compare that to, say, Georgia/Auburn/Clemson which are more balanced - winning is +7-10 and losing is -7-10. Folks aren't going to move heaven and earth to get to a game when the downside of losing is three times bigger than the upside of winning.
We have to be honest - quite a few of our fans just aren't that excited by the prospect of a victory over at least half the teams on our schedule. And when half of the remaining half is on the road, that doesn't leave much for home - 2 to 4 games a year that our fans genuinely look forward to and are nervous and excited about.
Fact is, our schedule is one of the more boring schedules around. And there is very little we can do about it.
Its not just about winning. Its about beating teams you enjoy beating. That's what folks pay their hard-earned money to see.
GTKyle
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I can't think of a SINGLE game this year I am super-excited about.
We have a ****ty home-schedule this year.
refrigeratormover
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The Jacket
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Comedy Old Gold.
It's really sad when fans care more about who their team plays than their team. Do you honestly think LSU fans care who they are playing? They go to see the Tigers.
M-train Wreck
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I've found Tech people to be pretty pompous, and if they don't feel like something is worthy of their time then they aren't going to do it. Jax St., Duke, Gardner Webb, and UNC will all be low attendance games because people will think that those opponents aren't worthy of their time, and their time is too valuable to spend it watching a crappy opponent.
I think the point about getting more GA kids into the program is right on. People like to follow the progress of kids from their local HS, I know I do. The more kids we get in from GA, the more people will root for Tech and come to see Johnny QB from Lagrange. It will really help our causal fan base.
I think the point about getting more GA kids into the program is right on. People like to follow the progress of kids from their local HS, I know I do. The more kids we get in from GA, the more people will root for Tech and come to see Johnny QB from Lagrange. It will really help our causal fan base.
beej67
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Not really. The thing you guys are ignoring with your reference to 1991 is we'd just lost our entire coaching staff to the NFL, as well as most of our good players, and the expectations for our 1991 season were very low. On top of that, our 1991 team really wasn't very competitive. Once we blew it vs FSU everyone's hopes for that season went in the crapper. For christ sakes, you seriously think we were going to sell out a season with Bill Lewis as a coach?
If we were to win a NC this year, with damn near the whole team coming back and a new coaching staff firmly in place and due to return the following year, you're damn right we'd sell the place out.
The fanbase is much stronger now than it used to be, because we've had reasons to watch for so many years running. As pointed out above, teams who go for consecutive losing seasons generate less fan interest in the alumni who were in college for those seasons. Alumni fan interest through the O'Leary/Chan years is much higher than the Lewis years or the 80s.
helluvaparamedic
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We didn't lose our entire coaching staff until after the 1991 season(one that was capped off with a win over Stanford). I think that the lack of enthusiasm from the fanbase (lack of sellouts) during the 1991 season, which followed the 11-0-1 MNC season, was a contributing factor in Ross' decision to leave for the NFL. We didn't start to play FSU (again)until 1992. Up until that point we had a 7-0 record vs. the 'Noles. I still think we got robbed in that game, but had we won, I think that the confidence it would have given our players would have lifted our guys to better things for the rest of the season. The FSU game was the pin that popped our balloon. It was all downhill after that.
The Jacket
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ncjacket continues his streak of posts that I can't find anything to disagree with at all. Absolutely nailed my thoughts.
I don't need to see a schedule before I decide what Tech games I go to. If we're playing the Amish Institution for Midgets Fighting Heffalumps, I will be there.
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that AIM was our first choice for the opener, before Jacksonville State.
Also,
