(06-25-2014 10:06 AM)KnightLight Wrote:  

(06-25-2014 09:44 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  That's not the actual student section. That's the Greek section. The student section is in the corner. The Greek section has always come late and left early. The University is more or less okay with it because it is the Greek institutions that make vast donations.

You obviously didn't read the articles...but the Univ of Alabama is not fine with it...as they even changed the seating policy for large groups (i.e. Greeks) because of their non-support and/or leaving so early.

I went to school there. I know what's going on there. I'm a donor and a season ticket holder.

The rules are a joke. They merely require the kids to donate or sell their tickets. However, non Greeks can't sit in the Greek section until after a while after the game starts. The regular student section fills 2 hours before the game. The result is many don't wait to get in 20 minutes after the game starts to sit in a section where they are hated and abused. They are not hurting the Greeks or even pinching them. That would be a bad move anyways.

Your article tells half the story.

Reading the post about Alabama, I think a lot has to do with not allowing beer sales. It quotes excessive tardiness and leaving early being blamed on lopsided scores. You might be able to blame leaving early on lopsided scores but not "excessive tardiness" because the game starts tied 0-0. The students are in the parking lots missing the games because they want to drink beer that they know they can't get inside. Any other excuse is just denial by those who don't want to blame their silly SEC beer-ban rules. What does it accomplish? It obviously doesn't curb drinking and WVU already prooved it cuts down on binge drinking by allowing them to get to the game on time because they know they can get their beer at the game instead of chugging a 6-pack before they walk in the gates at the start of the 2nd period.

(06-25-2014 08:08 AM)IceJus10 Wrote:  I understand people trying to justify a slight dip in attendance and make it part of the larger scheme of things... I understand this, but what if it isn't? What if it has to do with something a tad more simple... like Michigan isn't all that great right now?? I mean they haven't won the Big Ten since 2004... basically a DECADE! Following that 2004 season, the team is 2-7 in Bowl games too... This 9-10 year span is not typical of Michigan history.... fans have traditionally had a lot to cheer about and well there has been a lot of disappointment over this decade that can hurt ticket sales as much or more than ads being read or tv adjusting start times etc. If Michigan has a breakout year and attendance doesn't tick up, then you worry!

It's been happening at Penn State, and even before the scandal. The four really bad years at the start of the last decade had their impact (people started showing up again after PSU looked for real in 2005), but even then, they were a consistent bowler up until the slip and then thereafter until the sanctions. Performance will probably work its wonders, but for students with nothing really better to do, demanding that much money for certain games and then steer them into bad seating is simply bad logic. And in Alabama's case, throwing the students under the bus because they don't want to show up at meaningless games and sit in horrible seats is simply extortion.

I think it's the schedule that's the problem. I think it was the case for PSU, especially. PSU didn't fill up Beaver because of Minnesota, Indiana, and Northwestern. It filled it up because of Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia, and the other regional games that made that generally conference-unaffiliated region so contentious. When those guys got lobbed off, and the likes of Temple, MAC schools, and other FCS fluff found their way on, plus these geographic and cultural misatches, and consistently, enter the ennui.

The same goes for Michigan. And even worse now that ND comes off again indefinitely. Screw over the legacy and history for just MSU, OSU, and eastern exposure. Fine. You reap what you sow.

(06-25-2014 10:42 AM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  Reading the post about Alabama, I think a lot has to do with not allowing beer sales. It quotes excessive tardiness and leaving early being blamed on lopsided scores. You might be able to blame leaving early on lopsided scores but not "excessive tardiness" because the game starts tied 0-0. The students are in the parking lots missing the games because they want to drink beer that they know they can't get inside. Any other excuse is just denial by those who don't want to blame their silly SEC beer-ban rules. What does it accomplish? It obviously doesn't curb drinking and WVU already prooved it cuts down on binge drinking by allowing them to get to the game on time because they know they can get their beer at the game instead of chugging a 6-pack before they walk in the gates at the start of the 2nd period.

It's the Greek section that is late and empties early. This is nothing new and has nothing to do with beer. The regular student section is full 2 hours before kickoff even on crap game days.

They won't allow non Greeks etc to sit in the Greek section until after the game starts, essentially most of the way through the first quarter.

If they were serious about the problem they'd be opening it all all for all students, but they aren't so they arentx

(06-25-2014 09:32 AM)bluesox Wrote:  Overcapacity is going to be a huge problem for colleges. The nfl model of 60-70,000 capacity is much more feasible. I think when you have emptier stadiums, the tv ratings will also take a hit since the whole vibe of the game will be off. Greed is the problem since everybody wants more money to be paid and spent. I think a lot of the assumptions or studies colleges run will prove to have false data with eventually the bubble popping.

I don't think 100,000 seat stadiums are per se a bad idea.

If your model is based on establishing a ticket price that is within the range of affordability for very large numbers of people, large capacities make sense.

CFB is moving more and more to a premium and ultra-premium pricing model and while that is sustainable for premium and ultra-premium seating within reason, premium pricing reduces the number of people who consider the price to worthwhile or affordable.

The number of schools that can price an upper end zone seat at $100 or even $60 and consistently sell that ticket is small.

If you are going to a premium, ultra-premium pricing model then smaller capacities are essential otherwise the excess capacity harms your ability to sell at the set price.

If you are sitting high in a corner, that's where it starts making more sense to say the heck with it, I'll watch on TV if the price is high for that seat.

Huge stadiums are going to go away unless the schools in those large stadiums are offering some really affordable seating in the less than prime areas.

I really don't have any issues that were brought up in the OP. I park 5 minutes from Nippert Stadium, arrive early, grab a mett/sausage/beer and peanuts. Go to my seat which has an excellent view of the field (lchairback). Really cold games bother me, the heat never does.
Ticket prices and donations are very affordable. Over the years I have become friendly with the people that sit near me and my Usher is a great guy. :)

Checking my phone is the last thing I need to do during a game. More tailgating space would be nice. Stadium is under a large fan friendly renovation. So all is good.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure."

Apparently, Rutgers just announced the parking lot assignments for the upcoming season. A LOT of people on the one board got downgraded despite good contributions, and some who claim to have paid for one lot and still didn't get it. The weird thing is...so many of them claim they're okay with it. For the chance to have Big Ten games, they're game.

I guess it is what it is. If I paid for something, had a history of donating, and then got hosed like that, I'd withdraw completely thereafter. I might be in the minority, but I think if you're in during the bad times, and you helped get them to the good times, the whole "free market" shtick shouldn't apply to you as much.

A few years ago Kansas rejiggered its seating assignment system for basketball - and people were jarred out of seats they'd had for 30 years and no longer say by the same people (a lot of "gametime" friendships developed) based on how much you contriibuted to athletic dept fund.

This meant the best seats are now held by rather staid richies instead of tried and true fans.

Despite continued sell-outs - the noise level drop on the floor was noted

LAST YEAR, KU signed a deal with Time Warner taking 6 previously broadcast locally free games and put them exclusively on TIme Warner cable -- blacking out the games on ESPN3 for people locally, while allowing people outside the area to watch - meaning my friend in California could watch games I was not able to. (My dad who was in a nursing home and a die-hard fan, coudln't watch these games). A slap in the face to loyal fans -- to make which in the scheme of things is a few bucks.

(06-25-2014 02:22 PM)jgkojak Wrote:  A few years ago Kansas rejiggered its seating assignment system for basketball - and people were jarred out of seats they'd had for 30 years and no longer say by the same people (a lot of "gametime" friendships developed) based on how much you contriibuted to athletic dept fund.

This meant the best seats are now held by rather staid richies instead of tried and true fans.

Despite continued sell-outs - the noise level drop on the floor was noted

LAST YEAR, KU signed a deal with Time Warner taking 6 previously broadcast locally free games and put them exclusively on TIme Warner cable -- blacking out the games on ESPN3 for people locally, while allowing people outside the area to watch - meaning my friend in California could watch games I was not able to. (My dad who was in a nursing home and a die-hard fan, coudln't watch these games). A slap in the face to loyal fans -- to make which in the scheme of things is a few bucks.

Yeah, somehow I can't see how their entire Tier 3 deal would have collapsed without allowing TWC to hose the KC area fans. We need home internet for work, and their service is simply too unreliable for me to switch. The next time someone from KU called to ask for money, I was very polite (it was a student, or at least a young person posing as one - in either case, not a policy maker) and I told them that I was on a SureWest VOIP, and only accepted fundraising calls on Time Warner VOIP.

(06-24-2014 11:16 AM)ECUPirated Wrote:  Interesting article I stumbled across from yesterday.

Michigan's Greed Alienates fans

Main points concern the decline in Michigan season ticket sales over the years by both students and regular season ticket holders and some of the reasons for the decline.

Ability to sit with friends
Too much advertising (inside the stadium) during football games
Cost of concessions
Ticket prices
TV timeouts
Media contracts in general
Game start time delays (because of undetermined TV schedule)
Game start time (because of TV and either its hot as hell or cold as hell at game time)
Cell phone service in the stadium
A bad economy not mentioned, but probably an underlying issue

Quote:Insult to injury: Most college teams now play their biggest rivals on Thanksgiving weekend, when many students have gone home.

Talks about how many universities are now hiring business CEOs instead of personnel with athletic backgrounds as ADs and how their mode of thinking is what is causing many of the issues we see today.

Quote:How did Michigan do it? By forgetting why we love college football

This makes a lot of sense.

Quote:If the people running college football see their universities as just a brand, and the athletic departments merely a business, they will turn off the very people who've been coming to their temples for decades. Athletic directors need to remember the people in the stands are not customers. They're believers. Break faith with your flock, and you will not get them back with fancier wine.

If you treat your fans like customers long enough, eventually they'll start behaving that way, reducing their irrational love for their team to a cool-headed, dollars-and-cents decision to buy tickets or not, with no more emotional investment than deciding whether to go to the movies or buy new tires.

Quote: If the TV whizzes can't figure out how to make a buck on football without ruining the experience for paying customers, those fans will figure it out for themselves, and stay home.

Quote:Survey after survey points the finger for lower attendance not at cell phone service or HDTV, but squarely at the decisions of athletic departments nationwide. Fans are fed up paying steakhouse prices for junk food opponents, while enduring endless promotions. The more college football indulges the TV audience, the more fans paying to sit in those seats feel like suckers.

Quote:This fall Michigan is in danger of breaking its string of 251 consecutive games with 100,000-plus paid attendance, which started in 1975. The college football world should take note.

The author, John Bacon, teaches at Michigan. He brings up some very interesting points. Makes you wonder what things will look like 10-20 years down the road.

When did hot/cold weather become an issue at game start times?

(06-25-2014 07:34 PM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  

(06-24-2014 11:16 AM)ECUPirated Wrote:  Interesting article I stumbled across from yesterday.

Michigan's Greed Alienates fans

Main points concern the decline in Michigan season ticket sales over the years by both students and regular season ticket holders and some of the reasons for the decline.

Ability to sit with friends
Too much advertising (inside the stadium) during football games
Cost of concessions
Ticket prices
TV timeouts
Media contracts in general
Game start time delays (because of undetermined TV schedule)
Game start time (because of TV and either its hot as hell or cold as hell at game time)
Cell phone service in the stadium
A bad economy not mentioned, but probably an underlying issue

Quote:Insult to injury: Most college teams now play their biggest rivals on Thanksgiving weekend, when many students have gone home.

When did hot/cold weather become an issue at game start times?

Just an example,

a few years ago ECU has a game scheduled late in the afternoon/early evening. TV partners want game time changed to NOON. No big deal, except for the fact that fans find out very late in the process that the game time has changed and on top of that it is late August / early Sept and blazing hot outside at NOON in North Carolina, especially sitting in a concrete stadium. It was miserable inside that stadium, felt like 120 degrees. Had the game time been later in the afternoon as originally scheduled, it would not have been as bad.

Again, this is just an example.

Interesting that one if the issues cited was TV timeouts. IMO, this is only going to get worse for CFB. As the value of these media deals soars, the need to generate additional revenues for the broadcaster - e.g. commercials - is only going to increase. This will mean longer and more numerous commercial breaks -with the inevitable increase in the average game times.

(06-27-2014 09:11 AM)Eagle78 Wrote:  Interesting that one if the issues cited was TV timeouts. IMO, this is only going to get worse for CFB. As the value of these media deals soars, the need to generate additional revenues for the broadcaster - e.g. commercials - is only going to increase. This will mean longer and more numerous commercial breaks -with the inevitable increase in the average game times.

It's already ruined the basketball tournament. It's affected the very way the style of those games are played. Televised content crawls in live time. I've been to D1 basketball games that weren't on any regional or national coverage...they flew. The ones that did? They took forever.

It's like going to a pro football game to an extent. And that's not good for the college game, because, especially if you're the home team in a stadium like that in Ann Arbor, that crowd is an asset. Stopping and starting for tv kills that momentum, and it's gotten quite out of hand. And I know they think they're NFL-lite, but they aren't. There's a reason pro crowds are the way they are...when are the colleges going to figure that out?!

(06-24-2014 12:04 PM)john01992 Wrote:  i have been saying this for a while.

providing a gameday for your fans/alumni/students to go to is something a school does for the benefit of those people not for themselves. somewhere along the line the schools lost that line of thinking, went towards a pro sports business model and despite being a michigan fan I am glad that they are getting kicked in the ass for making this decision.

So Michigan is the "worst P5 program"?

(06-27-2014 11:07 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(06-27-2014 09:11 AM)Eagle78 Wrote:  Interesting that one if the issues cited was TV timeouts. IMO, this is only going to get worse for CFB. As the value of these media deals soars, the need to generate additional revenues for the broadcaster - e.g. commercials - is only going to increase. This will mean longer and more numerous commercial breaks -with the inevitable increase in the average game times.

It's already ruined the basketball tournament. It's affected the very way the style of those games are played. Televised content crawls in live time. I've been to D1 basketball games that weren't on any regional or national coverage...they flew. The ones that did? They took forever.

It's like going to a pro football game to an extent. And that's not good for the college game, because, especially if you're the home team in a stadium like that in Ann Arbor, that crowd is an asset. Stopping and starting for tv kills that momentum, and it's gotten quite out of hand. And I know they think they're NFL-lite, but they aren't. There's a reason pro crowds are the way they are...when are the colleges going to figure that out?!

The gameday experience is definitely diminished by increased frequency and length of media stoppages of play. I know the TV execs don't care in the slightest, and the ADs are too busy counting their TV $ to care, but over time it is likely to cause erosion of fan engagement, particularly when combined with efforts to wring more money out of the students.

(06-27-2014 11:14 AM)blunderbuss Wrote:  

(06-24-2014 12:04 PM)john01992 Wrote:  i have been saying this for a while.

providing a gameday for your fans/alumni/students to go to is something a school does for the benefit of those people not for themselves. somewhere along the line the schools lost that line of thinking, went towards a pro sports business model and despite being a michigan fan I am glad that they are getting kicked in the ass for making this decision.

So Michigan is the "worst P5 program"?

are you familiar with the definition of the term "location"

(06-24-2014 11:16 AM)ECUPirated Wrote:  Interesting article I stumbled across from yesterday.

Michigan's Greed Alienates fans

Main points concern the decline in Michigan season ticket sales over the years by both students and regular season ticket holders and some of the reasons for the decline.

Ability to sit with friends
Too much advertising (inside the stadium) during football games
Cost of concessions
Ticket prices
TV timeouts
Media contracts in general
Game start time delays (because of undetermined TV schedule)
Game start time (because of TV and either its hot as hell or cold as hell at game time)
Cell phone service in the stadium
A bad economy not mentioned, but probably an underlying issue

Quote:Insult to injury: Most college teams now play their biggest rivals on Thanksgiving weekend, when many students have gone home.

Talks about how many universities are now hiring business CEOs instead of personnel with athletic backgrounds as ADs and how their mode of thinking is what is causing many of the issues we see today.

Quote:How did Michigan do it? By forgetting why we love college football

This makes a lot of sense.

Quote:If the people running college football see their universities as just a brand, and the athletic departments merely a business, they will turn off the very people who've been coming to their temples for decades. Athletic directors need to remember the people in the stands are not customers. They're believers. Break faith with your flock, and you will not get them back with fancier wine.

If you treat your fans like customers long enough, eventually they'll start behaving that way, reducing their irrational love for their team to a cool-headed, dollars-and-cents decision to buy tickets or not, with no more emotional investment than deciding whether to go to the movies or buy new tires.

Quote: If the TV whizzes can't figure out how to make a buck on football without ruining the experience for paying customers, those fans will figure it out for themselves, and stay home.

Quote:Survey after survey points the finger for lower attendance not at cell phone service or HDTV, but squarely at the decisions of athletic departments nationwide. Fans are fed up paying steakhouse prices for junk food opponents, while enduring endless promotions. The more college football indulges the TV audience, the more fans paying to sit in those seats feel like suckers.

Quote:This fall Michigan is in danger of breaking its string of 251 consecutive games with 100,000-plus paid attendance, which started in 1975. The college football world should take note.

The author, John Bacon, teaches at Michigan. He brings up some very interesting points. Makes you wonder what things will look like 10-20 years down the road.

First of all great post!

Secondly there are some other issues I would add after 40 plus years of attending games.

1. I hate overtime. I endured a 5 0T game between Auburn and Georgia (the Dawgs eventually won). The game had been relatively a defensive game and the final score of regulation would have been in the high 20's. Without overtime maybe Georgia goes for two or maybe we wind up tied. Some games are truly a tie and that tie should have a bearing upon national title hopes. The OT is an artificially contrived outcome that ruins the first 4 quarters. That night it turned the game into a 5 hour plus marathon the final score of which bore no resemblance to what had happened on the field.

2. There are now more corporate logos and advertising within the stadium than there are emblems of the school.

3. We played 100 years of football at Auburn without statues of star athletes. To me that takes away from the school loyalty and makes it about personalities. There is much to be said for the "Long Gray Line" and what it means to have been a part of it.

4. Thanks to those who agree to be extorted and feel entitled because of it (staked out tailgating areas, drunken behavior, and typically antisocial behavior to all around them) it is now more fun to stay at home and watch from the comfort of my living room. HD with surround sound, a well stocked fridge, and a clean bathroom have advantages. Add air conditioning and a comfortable seat and it's a lock. I still buy the tickets, but now it's so my grandkids can go when they visit.

Prior to canned blaring music at the stadium my wife and I chose to endure intemperate weather, and the added distractions, just to be able to sit with and talk to the people who have shared our section for 4 decades. Now the damned canned music begins a hour before game time and the artificial noise is turned up (for television excitement) at every break in the play. The result is I have to shout into the cupped ear of the couple sitting next to us to find out how their kids are doing, what's happening with their business, or to answer their friendly questions. In the past 10 years (and not due to death) a solid core of several dozen folks we have sat with for years has dwindled to about six. Our generation (which has the means) is getting sick of the crap at the stadium.

It's too bad really. And I agree with the author of the piece you cited. The game experience no longer is a transforming experience of being part of a larger whole which is your school. It no longer represents 4 hours of a mini reunion six or seven times in the Fall. Now I find it to be another hollow reenactment of something that once meant something to me, but the function of it no longer has any food for my soul. In that regard it's like listening to the butchering of the Star Spangled Banner as it is individualized to glorify the singer, or like a church service that spends 45 minutes to announce other fund raising efforts of the church, tell me who to vote for, force me to sing chants that are supposed to pump me up for a message that tells me I'm fine just like I am and why because of that I should give the preacher more money so the church can be bigger, prettier, or so he can live in a bigger house and attend the right civic organizations.

Football was once about the love of the school and the connections of the years of alums. Now it is about the bottom line. Church was once about God and the help and love of your neighbors, now it is about the bottom line. Our government was once about the strength of our nation, justice, and the mutual obligation between the government and the citizens, and now it is merely another means to filch income for big business and the feel of it, especially in light of the veterans care scandal, is that it is a one way obligation and that we exist to make those in government lives easier. So it too is about the bottom line.

Lost in all of that are the relationships between the institution and the person which were built upon love and devotion and not the buck. This of all things tells me just how sick and meaningless things are and are becoming. Then I think about my grandchildren and frustration and resentment turn to grief.

Sociologically those things which held us together as a people (faith and loyalties to the institutions that shaped us like our schools and our government) are now impediments to unity instead of facilitators of it.

(06-27-2014 01:12 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(06-24-2014 11:16 AM)ECUPirated Wrote:  Interesting article I stumbled across from yesterday.

Michigan's Greed Alienates fans

Main points concern the decline in Michigan season ticket sales over the years by both students and regular season ticket holders and some of the reasons for the decline.

Ability to sit with friends
Too much advertising (inside the stadium) during football games
Cost of concessions
Ticket prices
TV timeouts
Media contracts in general
Game start time delays (because of undetermined TV schedule)
Game start time (because of TV and either its hot as hell or cold as hell at game time)
Cell phone service in the stadium
A bad economy not mentioned, but probably an underlying issue

Quote:Insult to injury: Most college teams now play their biggest rivals on Thanksgiving weekend, when many students have gone home.

Talks about how many universities are now hiring business CEOs instead of personnel with athletic backgrounds as ADs and how their mode of thinking is what is causing many of the issues we see today.

Quote:How did Michigan do it? By forgetting why we love college football

This makes a lot of sense.

Quote:If the people running college football see their universities as just a brand, and the athletic departments merely a business, they will turn off the very people who've been coming to their temples for decades. Athletic directors need to remember the people in the stands are not customers. They're believers. Break faith with your flock, and you will not get them back with fancier wine.

If you treat your fans like customers long enough, eventually they'll start behaving that way, reducing their irrational love for their team to a cool-headed, dollars-and-cents decision to buy tickets or not, with no more emotional investment than deciding whether to go to the movies or buy new tires.

Quote: If the TV whizzes can't figure out how to make a buck on football without ruining the experience for paying customers, those fans will figure it out for themselves, and stay home.

Quote:Survey after survey points the finger for lower attendance not at cell phone service or HDTV, but squarely at the decisions of athletic departments nationwide. Fans are fed up paying steakhouse prices for junk food opponents, while enduring endless promotions. The more college football indulges the TV audience, the more fans paying to sit in those seats feel like suckers.

Quote:This fall Michigan is in danger of breaking its string of 251 consecutive games with 100,000-plus paid attendance, which started in 1975. The college football world should take note.

The author, John Bacon, teaches at Michigan. He brings up some very interesting points. Makes you wonder what things will look like 10-20 years down the road.

First of all great post!

Secondly there are some other issues I would add after 40 plus years of attending games.

1. I hate overtime. I endured a 5 0T game between Auburn and Georgia (the Dawgs eventually won). The game had been relatively a defensive game and the final score of regulation would have been in the high 20's. Without overtime maybe Georgia goes for two or maybe we wind up tied. Some games are truly a tie and that tie should have a bearing upon national title hopes. The OT is an artificially contrived outcome that ruins the first 4 quarters. That night it turned the game into a 5 hour plus marathon the final score of which bore no resemblance to what had happened on the field.

2. There are now more corporate logos and advertising within the stadium than there are emblems of the school.

3. We played 100 years of football at Auburn without statues of star athletes. To me that takes away from the school loyalty and makes it about personalities. There is much to be said for the "Long Gray Line" and what it means to have been a part of it.

4. Thanks to those who agree to be extorted and feel entitled because of it (staked out tailgating areas, drunken behavior, and typically antisocial behavior to all around them) it is now more fun to stay at home and watch from the comfort of my living room. HD with surround sound, a well stocked fridge, and a clean bathroom have advantages. Add air conditioning and a comfortable seat and it's a lock. I still buy the tickets, but now it's so my grandkids can go when they visit.

Prior to canned blaring music at the stadium my wife and I chose to endure intemperate weather, and the added distractions, just to be able to sit with and talk to the people who have shared our section for 4 decades. Now the damned canned music begins a hour before game time and the artificial noise is turned up (for television excitement) at every break in the play. The result is I have to shout into the cupped ear of the couple sitting next to us to find out how their kids are doing, what's happening with their business, or to answer their friendly questions. In the past 10 years (and not due to death) a solid core of several dozen folks we have sat with for years has dwindled to about six. Our generation (which has the means) is getting sick of the crap at the stadium.

It's too bad really. And I agree with the author of the piece you cited. The game experience no longer is a transforming experience of being part of a larger whole which is your school. It no longer represents 4 hours of a mini reunion six or seven times in the Fall. Now I find it to be another hollow reenactment of something that once meant something to me, but the function of it no longer has any food for my soul. In that regard it's like listening to the butchering of the Star Spangled Banner as it is individualized to glorify the singer, or like a church service that spends 45 minutes to announce other fund raising efforts of the church, tell me who to vote for, force me to sing chants that are supposed to pump me up for a message that tells me I'm fine just like I am and why because of that I should give the preacher more money so the church can be bigger, prettier, or so he can live in a bigger house and attend the right civic organizations.

Football was once about the love of the school and the connections of the years of alums. Now it is about the bottom line. Church was once about God and the help and love of your neighbors, now it is about the bottom line. Our government was once about the strength of our nation, justice, and the mutual obligation between the government and the citizens, and now it is merely another means to filch income for big business and the feel of it, especially in light of the veterans care scandal, is that it is a one way obligation and that we exist to make those in government lives easier. So it too is about the bottom line.

Lost in all of that are the relationships between the institution and the person which were built upon love and devotion and not the buck. This of all things tells me just how sick and meaningless things are and are becoming. Then I think about my grandchildren and frustration and resentment turn to grief.

Sociologically those things which held us together as a people (faith and loyalties to the institutions that shaped us like our schools and our government) are now impediments to unity instead of facilitators of it.

All great points JRSEC. Thanks for contributing and I appreciate the feedback. I think many of us look at it from the perspectives you and the author mention. I watch and support ECU because I graduated from the school and support the school and its athletics because there's an emotional / sociological tie to the school. Like the author says, the minute I feel like I'm just another customer (especially an unhappy customer) , those "ties" become skewed and meaningless.

And I thought I was the only one who hated overtime.

If you've played 60 minutes and not been able to beat your opponent, don't resort to a gimmick to undo what the players did over that time.

The biggest "problem" ties created was in the standings and rankings. I like how soccer deals with it. Rather than totaling wins, they give you 3 points for a win and 1 point for a tie, most points at the end of the year wins the league. They treat a win as three times more valuable than a tie.

We aren't going to turn back the clock on overtime most likely so at least use the NHL system. 2 points for a win, 1 point for a loss that goes to overtime, 0 points for a loss in regulation. A team losing in OT should be treated differently from a team losing in regulation.