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Between the excitement over a 4-1 start, Homecoming, the Orange-Out, the ticket deals and the fact that it's Pitt, you'd think it would be a foregone conclusion that the Dome will close to selling out at this point for Saturday's game.
Much to our chagrin, that doesn't seem to be the case per Danny Parkins:
Per Pete Sala: 35,474 tickets sold at this moment for the Pitt game. "Hoping for 40,000" is the word. Let me be clear, that's TERRIBLE
Normally I'd think SU is lowballing me so the figure is higher than expectations, thus projecting a "success" but he gave me the exact #
Harrumph. What's the deal, folks? Before OrangeChuck goes on a 3,000 word screed attacking your very sense of being in the comments below, let's try and get to the bottom of this.
Excuse No. 1 - "Eh, I Still Don't Believe The Hype"
Bro or Bro-ette, you gotta buy in eventually. If you don't jump on the bandwagon now you risk being completely left off from here on out. Obviously Syracuse fan all love one another, but we will be making mental notes of who isn't with us now and who decides to sneak on board later. You will not be one of us. You will be an outlander. OUTLANDER!
Excuse No. 2 - "Even with all the deals, I still can't afford to bring my family."
Fair enough. Times are tough. But surely if you can't afford four tickets, you can still afford two. Better that you and your Little Orange in Training are there than none of you.
Excuse No. 3 - "I have a ridiculously-important exam on Monday, I can't afford to take time off from studying."
Listen, ten years from now, you will not remember that exam. You will not remember most anything from any of your classes. The only bits of knowledge from your Syracuse education that you will retain are a series of facts that will come in handy during dinner parties. "Hey, did you know the difference between Doric and Ionic columns? Here, let me show you..."
But you WILL remember every great moment at Syracuse basketball and football games. You will remember where you were when SU beat Pitt on a last-second touchdown, everyone stormed the field, you touched Ryan Nassib's arm as he ran past you and you woke up the next morning in the middle of the road on Comstock. Well, you won't remember what happened between the hours of 5pm and 5am the next morning...but you'll remember everything else.
Excuse No. 4 - "I don't like football."
Transfer to Siena. RIGHT NOW. We don't want you here.
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Look, the point is, if you were ever waiting for a good reason to go to a Syracuse football game, you will not find a better one. Not this season. There's no reason not to go to the game. The players have put their all into turning this team into something that Syracuse fans should want to cheer for inside the Dome...don't tell me they did it in vain.