I think anyone who sees what I posted and thinks I'm "complaining" about Alabama really misses my point by a wide margin.With all due respect to the opinions being bantered around on the subject of scheduling...it’s quite telling of the human condition when so many people can’t be happy unless we are complaining about something.
We complain and petition for a schedule filled with games against top-quality apponents.....but when we get that schedule, and our team reaches the final run of the season, we’re disappointed that we’re beat-down more than the team we now have to face who had the easy schedule, and we complain about it.
We complain and gripe about the high cost of a ticket to see our beloved Crimson Tide play.....but when we get an opportunity to see them play in Atlanta for under $30, we complain that it’s an indicator of the “lack of interest” in the game, instead of an opportunity to afford something which we had previously opined over not being able to afford.
I’m half-a-century old, now...and have had to practice hard at developing a “glass-half-full” outlook on life...which wasn’t my natural tendency during the first 50...but I can assure you all that I am enjoying life more now, than I did then. I still get caught in the old mindset sometimes, but for the most part, that guy is not welcome any longer...and when he does show up, I show him the door and send him on his way. Life’s too short...especially when the first 50 is in the rearview mirror. I just wish that I would have made this adjustment years ago...but better late than never.
joel
I'm a business guy. I look at the economics of things - especially as it relates to sustainable football scheduling for "real" D1 football teams (P5+1). My point is not about actually seeing the game live & in person, it's about the bigger picture of what this means for scheduling games like this in the future. Supply/demand and all that. I'm not even really complaining about much other than P5+1 teams scheduling games (neutral and home) - or in this case agreeing to what turns out to be sub-par games - where the attendance is < full capacity or close to it. Sure Duke is a P5 team but this is akin to Clemson having to play Vandy in the same game. Nobody truly wants to see that unless you like expecting to see an on-field massacre.
I think this game's ticket selloff means most want quality opponents in these games. I love college football and want as much as I can get - so long as it's not against the dregs. Duke could beat us, who knows. Unless they surprise everyone the rest of the season, beating them probably does less than zero for us other than give us an "easy" game to start with assuming we're ready to play. I would also surmise that having Duke as game #1 rather than an FSU, UCLA, USC, UTx etc type team makes it harder to focus. But what do I know ?
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