Nick Saban Goes Full "Crabby Baby Boomer who Needs a Nap" about Student Attendance

Submitted by FauxMo on October 4th, 2018 at 12:17 PM

All kidding aside, if Alabama students don't show up for games after winning 5 of the last 10 national titles, what are regular programs experiencing? Is the "stadium experience" dying, as some are warning? Have 70" high def TVs and $15 hot dogs made-obsolete the stadium experience??? 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/sec/2018/10/04/nick-saban-alabama-football-coach-rants-poor-student-attendance/1518732002/

Synful

October 4th, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^

That was one of my rips on the students - figured if we could be there by 9a for the game, tailgating, and then in our seats by kickoff, the students who are coming from pretty much down the street can manage it.  Sure they did fill in the area by the second quarter but those who arrived late missed a glorious start.  Those same students should get out of bed and get into the stadium for B1G play by kickoff.

mitchewr

October 4th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^

See, at the point that students aren't showing up en-mass for games like this, stadium officials need to start charging $10 at the door for a seat, or whatever. There's TONS of people that would love to come in and watch the game and would pay at the door in order to do so.

If the students are going to piss their privilege away, let others use it. Simple.

Tom Bombadil

October 4th, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^

The stress level I'm willing to tolerate depends greatly on the result, the quality of play and the opponent.

I would take a close fought and high quality football game that Michigan wins over a blowout over a crappy team that Michigan wins. But I'd prefer the blowout to a stressful loss or the M00N game. The best examples in recent memory are 2016 vs Wisconsin and 2011 vs Notre Dame.

bluebyyou

October 4th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^

HDTV is a game changer and for many fans, the cost of attendance is onerous. On top of that, entertainment options have increased exponentially over the last few decades and along with that, some of the interest in football may be waning simply due to interest in other items.

Add the cream puff blowouts to the equation which get boring as hell after the first quarter and there are problems.

bluebyyou

October 4th, 2018 at 4:06 PM ^

If seeing the "other guys" play is your thing, that's great....seriously.  I, OTOH, like competitive games and would love to have 12 tough games a year assuming everyone else did also even with the downside of more losses.

I live in Ann Arbor now, but that is relatively recent.  When my sons were at U of M as OOS students and my wife and I would come from Maryland to a game, the cost for a weekend after adding in airline tickets, rental car, hotels (at inflated prices during game weekends), meals, and typically 400-500 per ticket gets expensive.  For the money such a weekend costs, I want a game that is something I will remember.

Arb lover

October 4th, 2018 at 1:02 PM ^

I can put up with ticket costs, and with paying more to actually get decent seats, and can watch it later on HDTV if I missed something live. To me, that's not what has started to put me off from actually going- the atmosphere is worth the cost to me.

What is really starting to convince me to watch more games remotely is the insane amount of TV timeouts. This is going to start driving people out of the stadium even though it doesn't seem logically related unless you have lived the change in experiences. TV time outs are so much easier to handle at home or at a bar or at a party than they are at the game. There is so much I can do with life in these odd 3-5 minute breaks (or really 10 minutes between touchdown, extra point, kickoff and fair catch, to new possession). Still, at the game you don't have enough time to actually leave your seat to get something without missing an event. 

UMxWolverines

October 4th, 2018 at 1:56 PM ^

The SMU game was probably one of the most miserable game experiences I've ever had. It felt like 100 degrees with the sun beating down on the East side, I was the seat over from the aisle so people were constantly leaving and coming back in front of me, we played awful in the first half, and the number of commercials was unreal. 

maizenbluenc

October 4th, 2018 at 6:52 PM ^

From my viewpoint in NC, the TV timeouts have me losing interest in the game watching at home or worse, giving other people windows to ask for thing to get done or start long conversations ...

I know they have to pay for these bloated contracts, but they really are starting to kill the experience in the stands and on the couch. It also feels like Fox is worse than ESPN, but I'd have to measure to be sure.

Gitback

October 4th, 2018 at 1:27 PM ^

For programs that are experiencing little on-field success the cost of attendance is a factor as ticket sales decrease, which translates into a lack of attendance.  But Alabama sells out.  

The game day cost isn't as much of a factor in this particular scenario.  These are sold tickets.  If anything, these are kids who can apparently AFFORD to buy the ticket AND choose not to use it. WHY?

For students I think that, for non-compelling match ups, they'd rather get together as a group, in an air conditioned apartment, surrounded by their friends (instead of the asshole that screams "throw the ball!!" after every play).  At home they can be on-line while also chatting with their friends, drinking openly, going to the bathroom whenever they want, grabbing some food out of the fridge whenever they want... etc.  There has always been an opportunity cost for attending a sporting event.  In the connectivity age we've reached the point where the benefits don't outweigh the costs when you're playing baby seal U.  

Watching a game in the comfort of your own home is convenient, but more than that, it's PLEASANT.  You're not suffering through 25 minutes of commercial breaks on a hard bench (or standing) in gawdawful heat while the drunk lady behind you yells "why do we suck so bad!!" every time the other team gains 3 yards.  At home its "yet another commercial break?  I'll switch over to another game for a minute... or go grab a beer and check on the other scores on my iPad."  

You don't notice all of negative stadium experience crap so much when you're playing Auburn or Ohio State, you notice it VERY MUCH when you're playing Louisiana-Lafayette or SMU.  And there have been a lot more Louisiana-Lafayettes and SMUs lately.  For all of us.  Add in swapping out annual dates with Iowa so that we can play Rutgers and, well... I get it.  

 

othernel

October 4th, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^

Me: Saban is being a whiny asshole.

Also Me (during our games): What the hell is wrong with the students? Why can't they just show up? This looks terrible on TV.

The Baughz

October 4th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^

I heard this on my way to work this morning on the college sports channel 84 on siriusxm. 

They played the audio of Saban complaining about it. I thought he made some good points, but I’m almost certain he made a remark about this being the best home game so far they played this year and i about lost it.

Their schedule sucks, it was hot and it was about 49-0 early in the game. What does he he expect the crowd to look like?

Now I will admit that I get a little bummed when the student section is half full at Michigan in the past, but we don’t have 5 national championships in the last decade to fall back on.

SkyBlue

October 4th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^

I’ve lived in the South for the last decade, who the hell wants to sit in that heat and humidity and watch Alabama beat up on Arkansas St. and Louisiana?   Sack up Nick and play a better OOC schedule. 

JFW

October 4th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^

That's one thing I never got. You hear people say 'Oh, Recruit X won't want to come to Michigan/Ohio State/Wherever because in the SEC they have warm weather...'

Yes. Yes they do. Like 100 degrees and 100 % humidity warm while you are practicing in August...

MGoFunkadelic

October 4th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^

sports venues need to bring the overall cost down to attend games and improve the in stadium experience.  

i read somewhere that the owner of the Atlanta Falcons actually pegged the prices for the concessions at the stadium at a very reasonable price point and have been selling out almost every game.  most families don't want to drop $500 for a single game and no one wants to pay $20 for flat coke and a soggy hot dog. 

Chaco

October 4th, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^

This is accurate - the Falcons have the lowest concession prices in the NFL as does Atlanta United (which is perhaps MORE popular than the Falcons) while playing in a really impressive stadium with a great fan game day experience. Arthur Blank (billionaire owner of both teams and the stadium) puts emphasis on this and has a goal of being able to feed a family of 4 for $27.  Not trying to be a walking commercial - but having been to a number of stadiums over the past 3-4 years I really appreciate the difference you feel and it DOES make getting to a game more palatable (pun only slightly intended).

VintageBlue

October 4th, 2018 at 1:02 PM ^

So much this.  4 "Best Available" seats for the Maryland game directly from mgoblue.com: $454.

Parking: $20

Souvenirs for the kids : $40

Concessions: $50

And you're easily up to $500-600 for an afternoon at a football game.  So do you do that or take your kids to one of those indoor waterparks for the weekend? Or skip two or three games over 2 years and spend that money on a vacation.  This is simple economics here.  Throw in only a handful of meaningful opponents and interminable TV timeouts and this is what you get.

schreibee

October 4th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^

I get the temptation to turn this into broader socio-economic issue, but this OP is about Nick Saban complaining specifically about student attendance.

As a Boomer (who would love a nap, incidentally) parent of a millennial, I've come to fear virtual experiences on screens may have come to feel more "real" to young ppl than actual life! What THAT portends for the "stadium experience" I fear to contemplate.

Correct me if I'm wrong, and look up from your screen AT THE DAMN GAME when you're there!

SteelCityMafia

October 4th, 2018 at 4:01 PM ^

"look up from your screen AT THE DAMN GAME when you're there!"

 

Funny you should say that, when I was at the Nebraska game sitting in section 8 there was an older gentleman (and his wife) in front of me, age 50+, and the man spent the whole game texting, on facebook, or on his phone watching various other games, mostly Notre Dame. I was honestly baffled how he managed to get service, but oh well.

 

I wouldn't be so quick to point out this is just a generational thing.

michgoblue

October 4th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^

I agree with Saban, but I also get why students wouldn't want to come to all of these games. 

On the one hand, Bama students, do you know how lucky you are to be attending school during perhaps the greatest run in your program's history (and that says a lot, given that team's blueblood history).  Treasure every minute of it.  I was in school from 1994-98 and LOVED every second of my football experience, and never missed a home game. 

On the other hand, I get it.  Blowouts are boring.  There is nothing to "get up" for.  You know coming in that you are going to win, likely by many, many points, and that the game will be non-competitive by mid-way through the first quarter.  Compound this by the fact that Bama has just been so dominant for so long under Saban, that malaise sets in.  Those in school now know nothing but 10-13 win seasons, with insane inter-SEC and playoff games.  Aside from 2-4 games a year, the rest of their schedule is an extended pre-season. 

That said, I am not sure what the solution is.  To those saying "schedule better OOC games," sure, that would help for those games, but at the same time, every good team plays a few baby seals. 

trueblueintexas

October 4th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^

Over the past 30 years here are a few trends:

 - Players have been siloed into there own dorms, meal halls, study areas, classes, sections on campus. Not much student interaction so you don't really have friends on the team anymore.

 - TV timeouts & other stoppages have added anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes of downtime during the game. To fill this downtime, AD offices started honoring people most of the students have never heard of.

- Also during all of these stoppages, stadiums have started blaring music which prohibits reasonable conversation.

- Many of the "fun/unique" activities (throwing marshmallows) have been banned and AD's have tried to replace these things with the same generic things that other teams do. Honestly, other than that one kid, who got hurt by a marshmallow to the head?

- Student ticket prices have gone up as well as many other changes to try and reward different behaviors making it more difficult to sit with a large group of friends who you might actually enjoy being with during a game. 

 - America's love affair with football is in a different place. As more and more info is learned about the cultures around some teams and the impact the game has on people, enthusiasm has waned. 

So, is it any surprise student attendance is down? I doubt it has as much to do with the creature comforts of an HDTV or who the team is playing that week as many people think. 

 

Section 1.8

October 4th, 2018 at 2:28 PM ^

You are almost entirely correct.

One correction: student ticket prices being too high is not, and cannot be, an explanation.  At least not in Michigan Stadium.  (Not sure about Bama.)  Because the fact is this; all of the student tickets are sold, pre-season, as season tickets.  The price of tickets has been paid.

The problem is with students who have tickets and who do not use them, or who show up late, and/or leave early.  

And that is a problem that is seen with students in particular, and not seen in the other parts of Michigan Stadium.  "High prices" (and be assured that the prices are a lot higher in Michigan Stadium outside of the student sections) seems to be encouraging more devoted attendance by the people who have those tickets.  It might also, someday, encourage more people to eventually abandon those tickets.