My final post.
It's not a sign of disgust or disrespect. I left a Ben Folds concert this summer about 10 minutes early because my wife was at home alone and if I stayed for 10 more minutes, it would cost me over an hour in travel time. I wanted to see my wife sooner.
Ben Folds is one of my favorite musicians. I am going to see him again in March. Maybe Ben Folds would be upset with me. I don't know.
Even the platinum selling acts I know are aware fans showing up, leaving early, etc... So they notice each individual one? Of course not, but the fact is it matters even in that scenario. And yes, when it's done in mass it is an overt sign of disgust/disrespect. Getting up and walking out is an almost universal sign of that.
Each time we do the whole I bought the ticket line, we are saying it's just an entertainment product. I see each carefully sculpted excuse, and on an individual issue would any of us have an issue? Sure, but the problem is around 50,000 people suddenly got a really good excuse to leave. That's a problem.
As another poster here noted, I've been on this for a while. It's the usual stuff for me, because I know it matters! Does Saban really care about the fans showing up? Not really, he cares about the impact that it has. He wouldn't bring it up, unless it mattered. Like some of the A-Day discussions I've had, it impacts recruiting! It impacts the team's performance. When Saban is coaching up players, he doesn't want to go, there's a half stadium full of people out there and I want them to see your best! No, he wants to be able to go, there's 100,000 people out there and I want them to see your best! He wants the recruits in awe, he wants the opposing teams in awe as well.
Alabama got the #1 QB (#1 overall in some services) from 2015 to commit. What did he say when he committed?
He talked about spring game attendance. Alabama gets the #1 recruiting class for 2008, the backbones of a couple championships, and what does Saban talk about helping? Attendance. These kids see the crowd, they notice it, it matters. We can treat it all like a product, like any other ticket, or we can act like fans that care about having a positive impact. I don't go to every game, and I've never claimed fans should go to every game, as long as there is a waiting list that's not an issue. All I'm saying is, when you go to a game, be prepared to support the team for four quarters. Or, at least wear the other team's shirt, so when you walk out it doesn't look like you're walking out on Alabama's team.
For those dying of curiosity, I have never left an Alabama game early. I don't have season tickets, I am on the waiting list, and I could never support the team financially to the extent some people that choose to walk out on the team early, can. I openly admit my value is more in sitting in a seat than writing a check. I don't miss A-Day though, because I know I'm taking up an empty seat, and that matters. It's about ten hours round trip for me, and sometimes I do get home really late, but I simply wouldn't go if I couldn't be there for the whole game. I do try to analyze each action I make, be it a forum post, or a blog post, or going to a game, in terms of whether or not that has a positive or negative impact (however tiny it might be) on the Alabama football team. I'm a fan first, entertainment is secondary, and I'd never go to a game again if I felt that was the best thing to do for the team.
Imagine this, imagine you are a recruit. You are considering Alabama, but you know that you might be on the "scout" team, that some people here talk to disparagingly about (by the way, AJ was on the scout team). You know it might be a few years before you see major playing time, but you're looking at this huge stadium, and the crowd... you think it doesn't impact him to look out there and see it half empty? To know that the playing time he's likely to get for most of his career will be in front of apathetic half empty crowds? I'm not making this stuff up, recruits say it matters, Saban says it matters... I just can't get why fans won't just say ok, I get it, it matters and as a fan, I'll do my part. Instead, we get fans scared to death Saban will leave, and on the other hand I see fans making overtly negative remarks about Saban over this. Sure, that helps, thanks guys.
