Watch the atmosphere at these games at SEC schools, East Carolina, USM.....they all have the same theme - CROWD INVOLVEMENT! It's not hard to enhance the music at the park, play more Tom Petty and other things for kids to jump around to, play the Gator Chomp every inning, have an organ for games, market like hell to fraternities, no reason we shouldn't have the boys from the frats getting rowdy like other schools do. Can't blame the heat as Texas AM is just as hot as Gainesville, trust me. My point is the ballpark is too sterile. Need Stricklin and his brain trust to take it up a notch and fans to make a difference. Just my two cents!
Couldn’t agree more and said the same thing several times today the atmosphere was absolutely at many of those games was AWESOME and by the way Bianco at Ole Miss can coach. Our atmosphere is way too calm and relaxed.
Our atmosphere reminds me of a west coast team. Nothing about it excited you. How hard is it to put some imagination into the programming before next season??
Love your enthusiasm. One area they sacrificed (intentionally or otherwise) was in a design that facilitated fan enthusiasm (same thing happened for basketball). I can only guess that the perceived revenue gains were valued over the perceived preservation/generation of an enthusiastic/encouraging environment. The upper deck is too close to the lower deck, and the seats in total are WAY too flat. Some of us commented on this when the first images were released to the public when it was being built. SWAC's stadium is more vertical, and the roof serves a better job of retaining noise which makes it easier for the fans to sound more into it and makes it easier for fans to get into it. These losses did not come without gains. As Stricklin promised, more fans can get a better view of the field by being closer. To some folks that wasn't as important, but, presumably, the financial component of the viewability outweighed any consideration to preserve/create a better environment for a vocally supportive crowd. That's all water under the bridge, maybe 30 years down the road when the next stadium is up for consideration. Agree UAA needs to engage with the students more (fraternities, sure, whatever). They used to have a rowdy crowd night back when you played. I miss the ol' "Free 6" Tuna Sub from Subway" when a fan caught a clean foul ball. But there were a number of promotions that fans were more in tune with that just don't happen so much any more. The Dominoes pizza thing kills me. They pass out a COUPON for a free pizza. Get some students in there yelling for a free real 8" pie, and it'll look different, I promise. Would love to see season tickets packaged as either "every game" or "just weekends/SWAC." Yes, it's a slight drop in revenue, but it opens up a ton of options for locals and STUDENTS. In terms of music, we don't need any more of it. It would be nice to have a catchy tune to play sometimes that would be unique to FLORIDA, but I hate the copy cat stuff that is played in every stadium. Once had somebody from marketing tell me he didn't care that Darude Sandstorm was South Carolina's thing, "it gets the fans going" - played it during a loss to South Carolina in our stadium (hoops)...brutal. Just need a little more awareness and ingenuity from marketing, and a willingness to allow edgy from the students. Also, we've got to come up with an easier way for folks to give up their seats. I have a bunch I don't use during a season, and I'm not interested in getting money back for them. I just don't care to go through the hassle of listing, asking, and transferring. I know boosters have asked in the past about enhancing a system that makes it easier for season ticketholders to give back, and there's been little interest expressed from UAA on this note. Electronic tickets have absolutely reduced the walkup crowds. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
They're also still working out kinks in the new stadium, but they're making progress. They reduced the music volume, and reigned in the PA guy a little bit. Next season, hoping they get get the stats to match when the players change (frequently would see pitchers with the wrong pitch counts and hitters with the wrong in-game results from previous at-bats). And replays, for the love of God, if they're showing a replay at home, please show it in the stadium. This is a problem across football, basketball, and baseball...consistently. Show the replay whether it's a good play or a bad play. You *have* to make the in-game experience at least as good as the at-home experience, and having the means to show a replay and choosing not to is problematic. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
Comment on the music - All the games that I've gone to I have sat somewhere in the lower stadium in various spots. I have never found an area that the music is not too loud. By that I mean when I go to a baseball game I'm there to enjoy the game and enjoy some good conversation with my buddy @gatorjjh or any other Gator fans nearby. Sure sometimes the music seems to be at a slightly lower volume but its always too loud to talk at a normal level with the person next to you. All that to say, my last game I got the chance to sit in the upper deck and the music level was just right. Now I don't know if that was because it was the regional and the NCAA had some say so in the thing or if the upper deck keeps the volume lower for the older folks upstairs. Its obvious the sound engineers know how to keep the volume lower so why not appeal to the people who are actually there to watch the game and not worry about which mascot can run down the third base line.
[QUOTE="shane4three, post: 13910385, member: 24257" and by the way Bianco at Ole Miss can coach. Our atmosphere is way too calm and relaxed.[/QUOTE] He just doesn't do enough of it
Hate to tell you all but music......started with an organ is a part of baseball. Without, the atmosphere is boring and flat.
I'm not saying we shouldn't try, but if being the best program in the country for a decade wasn't enough to drive interest, a bunch of marketing gimmicks probably isn't gonna do much either. In comparison to other successful SEC programs, Gator fans by and large simply don't care that much about baseball.
This is kinda it in a nutshell. It should be a really cool place for the students at this university, but it really isn’t. I admire and enjoy these other school’s students getting crazy . But this is not who we are . It never has been.
I disagree that we don't love baseball. There are several problems with the new ballpark.... It is not walking distance to most dorms. Parking is a dismal failure. Alot of scooter parking is used by the SWRC. AND - many of the professors/doctors are DORKS. My son had an engineering exam the Monday after the SEC Champ game and one Monday after spring break. We need to non-tenure a bunch of those overpaid douchebags.
As a UF student -- my son should not have to UBER to baseball games. I think he went to almost all of them. Even weekday parking is a mess.