If a Spring Game happens and only 3,000 people show up, does it make a sound? Apparently so.Bud Poliquin penned a column yesterday that offered up a question...are we shitty fans cause we didn't go to the spring game or are the 90,000 Crimson Tide fans who packed the stadium to watch their team's scrimmage crazy? You get the sense Bud wanted to side with the Alabama fans, and the Ohio State, Notre Dame and South Carolina fans, all of whom packed their stadiums for the spring game. (And all of whom are coming of major bowls and/or feature head coaches who could run for Governor of their respective states and win, by the way).
You want the answer? Here's the answer. When you heard that 92,138 fans attended the Alabama spring game, and thousands more were turned away at the door, assuming you live outside the greater-Tuscaloosa area, your first thought was...
"Oh my God, those people are batshit insane."
The official count for the SU spring game was 3,146. Considering that this was a glorified practice for a team coming off 1-10 and 4-8 seasons, I think that's pretty good. Syracuse football hasn't given fans much of a reason to want to attend the games that actually DO mean something the last couple years, why in the world should we be required to show up for the ones that we know for a fact mean nothing? Throw in the fact that it was a beautiful weekend in Central New York and you tell me, would you like to spend it in a non-air conditioned building named after an air conditioning company watching a game with no more importance than that of a Pop Warner game?
TK99, the radio station that just acquired the rights to broadcast the football games, is promising that they will get 10,000 people out to the spring game next year. Honestly, who gives a crap? Why don't we worry about selling out the Carrier Dome when, I don't know, we actually play other teams? Why don't we worry about making a bowl game and then selling all our tickets to SU fans to come and support them when it matters? Why
don't we worry about making the fan experience during the regular season, when games matter, more enjoyable for the fans? So that the SU students don't need to create their own committees to ensure that the Dome experience is a positive one?Stop giving a crap about things that are meaningless and maybe we can start fixing the things that do mean something. So, I'm sorry Bud, I'm not buying in that Syracuse fans are wrong and Alabama fans are right. What I am buying though is that, you sir, give good photo. Alas, your charming good looks won't win me over...this time.