Is this what we've become?

What have we become, my sweetest friend? Everyone I love (Jahmyr Gibbs) goes away in the end....
 
Akinji07 said:
If it makes you feel better Georgia Tech has a lot more fame in Europe than uga or Kennesaw State.
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In the US, the folks who consider GT football relevant are starting to resemble me, i.e. old.....its been awhile since our Orange Bowl run. Miss the Gailey days by comparison. We were putting players in the NFL at least.
 
18in32 said:
Tech will never get back to the kind of consistent success we want without the institution as a whole committing itself to football, and that includes relentlessly attempting to expand the fanbase, fill the stadium, and widen the donor base.

How could one find the mediocrity inherent in this faux exclusivity to be more desirable than the hope of achieving greatness at the risk of mingling with disreputable commoners? I don't understand it.
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Exactly. And although I think some of the ways GT pursues academic elite status does football no favors, there is nothing stopping the school from helping out. Cabrera has to decide to do it. Nothing stopping him.

Some here don't understand the commitment from core fans comes before the success. We all can't be fair weather fans.
 
Shiiiiit, maaaaan. That honky muf' be messin' mah old lady... got to be runnin' cold upside down his head, you know?

Hey home', I can dig it. Know ain't gonna lay no mo' big rap up on you, man!

I say hey, sky... subba say I wan' see...

Uh-huh.

pray to J I did the same-ol', same-ol'!

Hey... knock a self a pro, Slick! That gray matter backlot perform us DOWN, I take TCB-in', man!

Hey, you know what they say: see a broad to get dat booty yak 'em...

leg 'er down a smack 'em yak 'em!

COL' got to be! Y'know? Shiiiiit.
 
JCTNJacket said:
In the US, the folks who consider GT football relevant are starting to resemble me, i.e. old.....its been awhile since our Orange Bowl run. Miss the Gailey days by comparison. We were putting players in the NFL at least.
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A lot of non-CFB fans up here don't even know we have a football program, although they definitely know who we are.
 
00Burdell said:
Not picking on you but I am taking this opportunity to dispel what I consider to be a myth.

Winning is not what sells bling and it's not what fills seats. Loyalty sells bling and puts paying customers in the stands. Loyalty is why Nebraska - with their record- fills their stadium.

GT had loyal fans back in the 1950s.

But somewhere along the way, Tech lost its connection to it's geographic kin. The dwags have always been the team for the local fan. Unlike Michigan and Michigan St which divides Michigan in half, GT has not staked any claim to anyone in Georgia who is not an alum. And half of our alumni base couldn't find BDS on Google maps.

At some point, we need to understand how to a) accept who we are and b) figure out how to brand it.

We are more like Boston College than we would like to admit. Let's just embrace it, capitalize on it and move on.

Collins wants to recapture the Andre 3000 on the sidelines days. That ship has sailed, docked and mothballed.
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i think it’s even less than 50% of alums that could find BDS. I think we are currently spitting out about a 15-20% group of alum fans. And, the excitement Geoffhas brought to the Flats has depressed this quantity further.
 
00Burdell said:
Winning is not what sells bling and it's not what fills seats. Loyalty sells bling and puts paying customers in the stands. Loyalty is why Nebraska - with their record- fills their stadium.

GT had loyal fans back in the 1950s.
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We won a lot in the 1950s. Starting in 1951 we had five out of six years where we finished in the top 10 of the AP poll. How do you know it was loyalty, not the historic amount of winning, that was putting fans in the seats back then? And if we did have more loyal fans in the ensuing decade or two, isn't it likely that all the winning is what helped build that loyalty?

There is no doubt that what Nebraska is doing with attendance is impressive. And there's also no doubt that we could be doing more to expand our fanbase.

But I think winning absolutely has a huge impact on attendance, and I certainly don't buy that the fact that we had a lot of fans in the 1950s shows winning isn't what fills seats. If anything it shows the opposite.
 
andrew said:
We won a lot in the 1950s. Starting in 1951 we had five out of six years where we finished in the top 10 of the AP poll. How do you know it was loyalty, not the historic amount of winning, that was putting fans in the seats back then? And if we did have more loyal fans in the ensuing decade or two, isn't it likely that all the winning is what helped build that loyalty?

There is no doubt that what Nebraska is doing with attendance is impressive. And there's also no doubt that we could be doing more to expand our fanbase.

But I think winning absolutely has a huge impact on attendance, and I certainly don't buy that the fact that we had a lot of fans in the 1950s shows winning isn't what fills seats. If anything it shows the opposite.
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What was the attendance in 1991 after our NC?
 
00Burdell said:
What was the attendance in 1991 after our NC?
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Pretty good, but not great. And I should amend my previous post -- I agree that loyalty is key. But you can't build loyalty without winning; not just once, but sustained program quality and excitement for a decent period of time.

Here's our record around 1991, starting when Bobby Ross was hired:

'87: 2-9
'88: 3-8
'89: 7-4
'90: 11-0-1
'91: 8-5
'92: 5-6
'93: 5-6
'94: 1-10

So basically we sucked, then we got mediocre, won, were mediocre again, then immediately returned to sucking. So our attendance followed that trajectory directly -- there was no time to build up loyalty.

Compare that to the 1950s, where we were at the top of the CFB world for six years, and continued winning at a decent clip even after that. Mediocrity happened, but it was the exception, and suckage was nowhere in sight.

Doesn't matter how much outreach we do, if we're a consistently < .500 program we're not going to build loyalty or fill seats.
 
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We are different, and if we are ever going to attract more fans outside of the alums that care (and "legacy" fans), we are going to have to put something entertaining on the field that is not "like everyone else", but yes, we will have to win as well.

Honestly, I just don't see a lot people from the ATL burbs excited about coming downtown as it is, and this might never, ever change.

We are closer to having no fan base than actually increasing significantly the fan base. That is sad, but it is reality.
 
AlabamaBuzz said:
Honestly, I just don't see a lot people from the ATL burbs excited about coming downtown as it is, and this might never, ever change.
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Build a stadium in Cobb County?

It’s a shame what Atlanta proper has done to itself. Hopefully a GT mayor can solve that.
 
andrew said:
We won a lot in the 1950s. Starting in 1951 we had five out of six years where we finished in the top 10 of the AP poll. How do you know it was loyalty, not the historic amount of winning, that was putting fans in the seats back then? And if we did have more loyal fans in the ensuing decade or two, isn't it likely that all the winning is what helped build that loyalty?

There is no doubt that what Nebraska is doing with attendance is impressive. And there's also no doubt that we could be doing more to expand our fanbase.

But I think winning absolutely has a huge impact on attendance, and I certainly don't buy that the fact that we had a lot of fans in the 1950s shows winning isn't what fills seats. If anything it shows the opposite.
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I am not sure it's possible to disentangle the winning-->attendance or support(maybe broader than just attendance)-->winning. The way I look at it: is GT more likely or less likely to rebuild and become the program I want if I go or stay home? If I give or I withhold? I make a marginal difference, of course, but if there are enough people making a marginal difference then that has to help.
 
Attendance when CPJ was there improved as they won. Been going to games at BD since 1996... best times I ever had were GT>GA with GOL and Joe H. 48-45? Side note: My son was in 5th grade, and said as we left that game that he was going to Tech to be an engineer, and as we moved all over the country in the years that followed, he never wavered and graduated EE in 2013, Other big games of note: underCPJ...FSU fumble in end zone, VaTech goal posts to President's house, Miami white out win on Natl TV, Clemson 28-6 when they threw all those picks... I guess I conclude if you want the ATL non-alum attendance, you have to win.....We can count on UGA and Clemson to fill stadium.. UVa, NCSU, BC not so much...
 
Well lets see...one is the biggest college in the state and is located about two miles down the road from there....the other will be playing for an NC....The goal of a store is to make money....and they are marketing to the people that will buy. No big deal.
 
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