Bulldog Illustrated asks the musical questions,
It all depends on one’s perspective. On the one hand, there is indeed an issue with long lines at the facilities on game day at Sanford on the north side, and by half-time or the end of the game, the conditions in the restrooms are not the most pleasant. So fans do have a point here. Then on the other hand, the football team has been in need of new locker rooms for a while now and that along with having an area to host recruiting prospects on game day at the stadium will help the football program in the recruiting war. Infusing more talent into the football team’s roster and the ability to keep recruiting at a high level to keep the rosters stocked with talent is part of the recipe for a championship program.
And it’s not like fans are not happy to hear about and see the renovations, but the question is why cannot both needs be addressed? We would like to hear your thoughts and opinions. Are you happy with the proposed renovations? Would you rather the north side facilities be addressed first?
Why, indeed, can’t both needs be addressed at the same time? It’s certainly not a matter of resources. The athletic department is awash in money and donors have repeatedly stepped up to the plate to provide additional funds for major capital projects like the JPMIPF™. You would also think there would be certain efficiencies to be gained by having a general contractor work on both projects together, rather than at separate times.
Is it a matter of not feeling confident about walking and chewing gum at the same time, that B-M can only focus on one stadium job at a time? (Given that this is the same bunch who couldn’t keep track of a condom provision in a rapper’s contract, don’t be so quick to dismiss the possibility.) Does McGarity think there’s a financial advantage in spreading the work out, that maybe donors will contribute more generously if the requests for contributions are spaced in time? That’s certainly an issue to which he can bring laser-like focus.
Or is there really no choice at all here, and the notion of upgrading the facilities on the north side of the stadium merely a pipe dream of the fan base as opposed to an item on the B-M to-do list? I know what Occam’s Razor suggests.
Get The Picture 
The simplest answer is that McGarity does not sit in the north stands and is oblivious to its needs. the big money donors do not sit there, either, so they have not complained. It has not even been on his radar.
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yup. Wasn’t even on the radar
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This reminds me a couple of years ago them putting out a press release about the millions spent on redoing the luxury boxes and then towards the end of the release a line about we also added some big ass fans to the concourse.
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I also feel like you could address the fan concerns and get a lot of bang for your buck there.
Another 3-4 dozen bathroom workers to clean, refill and generally address issues with the bathrooms.
professional staff at the concession stands
maybe a couple of hundred new flat screens put in places that I can actually see while I stand in line.
I am sure I am low balling these efforts, but it seems like you could get a lot of bang for your buck with changes like these.
But the real solution would be to remove about 20k seats from sanford and put in actual seats with cupholders and charge me more for a ticket. The bleachers, especially in the lower bowl, have to go.
I suspect that after next season when folks get a taste of that new falcons stadium things are going to look even worse in athens.
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Ever been to a game at commonwealth in Lexington? It might be the best fan experience in the SEC. Huge concourses, large clean bathrooms, good food selection, bleachers with backs. etc. Its seems like a simple concept.
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never been, but have heard good things about that trip.
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It was the best trip in the SEC when Keeneland was in season for our game. Me, I don’t attend games to grade restroom facilities or the cotton candy vendors…
Bring back the earlier KY game.
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I’ve been in many many different stadiums in the last 25 years and I feel pretty confident in saying that our restroom situation is an embarrassment. Just the amount I’ve given to the university in the last 20 years would go a good ways to helping one restroom get rebuilt. I’m one of at least 70 thousand donating fans. WTH? The older I get the better my couch and my own bathroom begin to sound but then the forms come in and I think maybe this is the year. So I guess what I am saying is that it’s a “me” problem…….or is this the year?
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With all due respect, it’s a you problem — you continue to renew your season tickets yearly, even though its clear you are grossly unhappy with the provided service (or lack thereof) overall. I chose not to renew about 7 years ago and never looked back…let’s just say that I’ll never remotely consider having season tickets again.
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I don’t blame folks for wanting tix in hand…
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I don’t either…but I do blame them when they complain about their overall experience year after year after year, as if they have no other choice in the matter.
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Complaining year after year would not be me. The experience has changed and I would like for my grandkids to have a true game day experience. I am thinking the stink that people are making right now may have an impact. Either way I am supporting the program even if everything is not up to my personal standards. Also how can you bitch about the team if you don’t give or attend? So complaining about paying customers complaining serves what purpose?
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Fair enough..I also think it’s somewhat strange for folks to continually buy tickets and continually come here and complain.
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So, if you’re a donor you have to just shut your mouth and accept whatever product/game day experience they provide for you? Got it.
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The trip to Commonwealth last fall and my experience was the tipping point for me to give up my season tickets this year. If Kentucky can spend that kind of coin to improve their football stadium (a sport they literally don’t give a shit about once men’s hoops tips off), it’s beyond embarrassing that Georgia won’t do the same for the only sport anybody cares about.
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I envision a fundraising campaign aimed at season ticket holders and their closest bathroom. When a group contributes enough to the bathroom fund then they get new fancy bathrooms.
Y’all know I’m right.
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It’s like arguing if the Ritz should have excellent food or well attended, modern bathrooms and rooms? They MUST have BOTH to be a world class organization. Until we treat the fan who pays as if they are paying over $100 a seat for 3 hours’ time (oh wait, we do pay that!), it will be a problem. We deserve, especially with the reserve funds we have BOTH excellent bathrooms, professional concessions (how many companies would love that gig – I was SEVENTH in, line one day and missed the ENTIRE quarter!!) AND excellent recruiting facilities.
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I just got back from a few days visiting the Mouse’s real cash cow, Walt Disney World. You spend 12 hours at one of their parks, go to multiple restrooms, and get in the lines for food. Never did I once think about when was the last time they cleaned the restroom or wonder why they can’t get people through the food lines. I compared it to a 3 hour experience at Sanford, and needless to say, the Georgia football experience is lacking. There’s a reason the parks and resorts people refer to customers as guests. There’s a reason their guest facilities are top notch. They want a safe, clean environment for the paying guest. We’re never going to get the Masters treatment at Sanford, but is a Disney type of experience too much to ask?
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Experts inside the Butts-Mehre bunker think it’s already The Most Magical Place On Earth™
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My bet is that B-M sees the bathroom problems as just a routine maintenance issue to be addressed on the cheap.
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If you had a business where your customers were lining up to pay you to be able to come in and purchase your product at the price you wanted to the point that you sold out of your product every day you were open, would you put money into the restrooms, waiting areas, checkout lines, etc? No, you would continue to take their money and enjoy the profits. Only when the lines went down and you were not selling out your product at the price you set would you look at doing things to bring customers back in.
The BM crowd has to be chuckling at the complaints about restrooms, concessions, ease of entry and exit, tailgating, parking, etc. as they count the money.
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Couldnt the same thing be said for investing in recruiting centers? or IPF? Or basically anything that they have invested in over the last 20+ years where tickets have nearly always been sold out?
We always sell tickets, why invest in anything?
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I’m surprised nobody’s suggested pay toilets yet.
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Awesome. I bet it has crossed one decision maker’s mind. 🙂
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See? It could be worse.
Whiniest bunch of peasants ever………
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At least the one’s in Europe are clean, safe, and have an attendant. May not be such a bad idea after all.
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Thinking the same thing. In Germany they have electronic toilets that automatically clean the seat with disinfectant after each use. I’m willing to pay for that.
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McG is typing up the memorandum now to request donor money to put in pay toilets.
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Exactly- this is the same point I’ve been making for years, and for the life of me I can’t figure out all the bitching and moaning around here from those who continue to renew their season tickets yearly anyway.
It’s very very simple — if you are not happy with the service and feel you are being taken advantage of, then simply don’t renew and spend your money elsewhere.
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I’ve said it here multiple times. The day I don’t renew my tickets will be the day I head to the golf course on game day Saturdays. I’ll have decided I’m done with the whole college football experience – TV or in person.
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Brilliant idea. I will buy my alma mater’s tickets and attend its games at the other University of Georgia.
You smugly act as if there are only two choices 1. Don’t buy tickets, or 2. Don’t complain.
I realize no one is as smart as you, so can you tell us why we should not have expected a third option, that is, the seller should not make an effort to make the buyer more comfortable?
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Don’t believe I’m being smug — I’m simply opining that, if you’re unhappy with a particular service year after year, you should contemplate withholding your contribution and looking elsewhere. I’m no longer a season ticket holder but still donate to UGA yearly, so I can take solace in the fact that I’m doing my little part to support UGA.
The third option you presented sounds perfectly logical in theory, but I won’t consider it given the UGA AD has clearly shown for years that they don’t really care all that much about making you more comfortable.
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The issue here is the inability to cost the administration anything without also costing yourself a high price. Ideally fans would find a way to make the administration feel the pain without also inflicting serious pain on themselves.
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Seriously? Any person with a vision longer than their johnson, and a commitment to excellence would reinvest in the business and reap rewards for generations. Only a damn fool would milk the business immediately and leave the mess for others to handle.
See EE’s comment regarding the Masters and Disney World above, do you not think Augusta National could sell thousands more tickets each and every day? At significantly higher prices? Or that the opportunity to gouge for beer, pimento cheese & BBQ sandwiches isn’t a quick profit opportunity? That philosophy of being the Gold Standard when corners could have been cut has survived multiple Chairmen. And there are hundreds/thousands of other companies with these principles in place. There are certainly those who would follow your line of thinking as well, they just come and go too quickly to pay much attention to. Certainly UGA isn’t a fly-by-nighter type operation, even if the current AD isn’t a quality, long range visionary department head.
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Here’s the difference between Disney, the Augusta National and BM.
Disney is a private enterprise who knows their continued profitability is dependent on people spending vacation dollars at Disney. There are thousands of other vacation spots actively competing for those dollars and Disney knows they can lose their customers very quickly if the experience is not top notch. Vacation dollars are purely discretionary and Disney knows this. The competition from other theme parks is constantly pulling at those dollars. Disney MUST be a great experience in order to keep their customers.
The Augusta National is a non profit entity that is already in the position where they take in more money than they really know what to do with. They can either pour money back into their facilities, donate money or lower their revenue, they cannot hoard money in huge reserve funds. They do not need to find ways to increase revenue other than to offset whatever increases in cost they experience. They can be the gold standard because normal economic models don’t apply to them. There is no danger of the Masters “moving” to another course or their patrons going to “the other Masters”. They literally have bottomless pockets and have no choice but to spend the money they receive. They have reached the point of inertia on a planetary scale, nothing can really stop their revenue machine. The only thing that could derail the Masters at this point would be an overall abandonment of golf as a pastime in the US or if the Augusta National decided to stop having the tournament.
BM is all about building reserves and doing things on the cheap. They know the fans will send in the checks regardless of whether or not the experience is the gold standard or even the aluminum standard. BM knows Georgia fans aren’t going to become tech fans or Auburn fans or Clemson fans, there is almost no danger of losing the ticket buying fans’ money to another program. The biggest competitor to BM is television and apathy. So far, neither of those competitors have made a dent at all in the revenue stream. The BM model has worked remarkably well for 50 years, we are talking a true multi generational customer base. Why would they think they need to change or really pay much attention to the whining of a few people over restrooms and parking? I’m not defending them, I’m simply pointing out the reality of the situation.
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JC, well stated. I would suggest the biggest enemy of the people on South Campus is apathy. If people move to television, the check may not be as big, but the money will continue to come in. If people decide to walk away and do other things with their fall Saturdays, that’s a customer that’s never coming back. I may be the exception, but after the 1994 strike, I never went back to MLB. Now, I watch about a total of 9 innings of baseball per year and only attend a game if I get free tickets.
One difference I do have with your logic (and this isn’t significant) is that UGA football does have competition. I may decide Falcons, Braves or Hawks tickets are a better value for my money due to the fan experience. I may decide to take the $2,000 and put it into other activities (like a Disney vacation, a scalped Masters badge, or golf greens fee for a year). I may not become a Clemson fan, but I can steer my sports or entertainment money elsewhere.
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ee, you’re probably right about the sidewalk alumni deciding to be a bigger Falcons or Braves fan but the actual UGA alum isn’t going to decide to go in that direction. Also, the alum/fan that doesn’t live in or near Atlanta isn’t as likely to move the same amount of money to going to pro games. I’d think the money would end up going to fishing, hunting, golf, beach weekends, etc.. Most of the Dawg fans I know would remain big Dawg fans, they would simply watch or listen from someplace else. They wouldn’t be missing the games entirely because they weren’t in Athens.
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Yep – definitely agree. There’s a breaking point, and I don’t think the powers that be realize they may be closing in on it.
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As an alum living in California, I resemble this comment. I will say I try to get back East for one game a year. Last year was the Tenn game. . .
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I received my call from the Bulldog Club yesterday inquiring as to whether or not I was renewing my season tickets. When I told them “no”, the response was “thanks” and they hung up. Most businesses would ask why I wasn’t renewing my decent size donation, but they could care less. It only reinforced that dumping the season tickets was a good thing.
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My reply was to the “what would you do” portion that stated one would automatically milk the venture and not reinvest. Not true, many would reinvest and separate themselves from weaker competitors and insure apathy didn’t undermine the success. That is what I would do, and as EE said, there are thousands of competitors for the entertainment dollar. But if they are trying to milk the cow dry and kill that golden goose, they are certainly on the right track.
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If the money spent leads to better recruiting and therefore a better (Championship) product on the field, I as a fan will be happy to pee in a cup. “Five Star Fan Experience” is up there with “Five Star Hearts.”
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If you plan to use the men’s bathroom at section 327/328 at the end of a quarter or halftime, you might want to bring your cup as a backup plan.
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Speaking as a former season ticket holder in section 329 preach on brother. I would walk halfway around the 300 level to try and find a short BR line. Hell I would walk down to the new Lower Gate area to find a short line. This was before I got to wade in water because the plumbing was stopped up. We would sneak Chick-fil-A sandwiches into the stadium just to avoid the concession line. I gave up after 25 years, 12 traveling from southwest Florida 600 miles one way, and gave up my tickets. Last year was the first year in 27 years I did not attend one single home game. Guess what, now I just watch it on a big screen in the comfort of my home and after it is over there is no 3 hour traffic jam.
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Pi$$ing in a cup after halftime may be more sanitary than 90% of the bathrooms in Sanford. Some of the facilities make a rest stop bathroom look like the Ritz-Carlton.
I think you miss the point … it’s not either/or … it’s both/and.
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The condom thing is so overblown and misrepresented I can’t take it anymore. Sure, you were probably being facetious, but when they made the offer to Luda and it was accepted, Luda’s team does what it does and sent over a proposed contract and standard rider. They’re negotiable. FOIA likely required UGA to disclose the whole interaction, but there’s no reason to think UGA bought Luda Magnum Condoms or most of the items in the rider.
I wish folks would let that die. But perhaps it gets in the way of a good story.
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I was being quasi-facetious, but I also think you miss my point.
McGarity should have known he’d get roasted for agreeing to a condom provision. It wasn’t that he personally sent a staffer out to pick up rubbers; it’s that he couldn’t be bothered to take the time to read the damned contract carefully in the first place. Or do you think there will be a similar provision in the next contract he signs with an entertainer?
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Maybe I misunderstand FOIA requests. I promote concerts and get riders sent as a standard thing all the time. You don’t negotiate them beforehand. They just get sent, then you tell them to fuck off on the green M&Ms, etc. But under FOIA, if Luda’s team emailed the school outlandish demands, those are discoverable and show up. I highly highly doubt that McG or staffers agreed to buy rubbers or did, especially for a noon performance.
Yes, the next performer will send over a rider and it will contain dumb stuff. Rubbers and the like in Luda’s rider are pretty out there, but I don’t put on a lot of rap shows so maybe not in that context. But if we agree to another performer, their rider will be sent over as a matter of course (UGA may get out in front and call the people first to say “dont send it via email), and it will contain absurd things.
Make sense?
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Ok re-reading your comment, that’s not how show contracts work.
Someone calls up Luda’s agent, they talk, say it’s going to cost $X, and then the school sends over a basic offer in writing. The booking agent takes that to Luda’s management, who then agrees or disagrees. Under basic contract principles, there is offer and acceptance. But then the performer sends over their rider and contract with the absurd stuff, and the school then can negotiate terms off of it. That’s standard practice. If Luda emailed his rider, my understanding of FOIA is that would still be disclosed. Also, the rider isn’t even part of the contract. It’s separate, and I get into it all the time with artists and management who claim x, y, and z are in their rider and they need them.
It is possible that UGA signed the contract and the rider was an attachment. But I would bet my left arm nobody bought condoms. Would guess that a well-placed FOIA request would disclose what was actually purchased, but why bother? The story is out there now, and will forever be part of the legend.
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Again, it’s not about condom buying. It’s about doing a shitty job with your due diligence. Even McGarity admitted UGA flopped in that regard.
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So McG was supposed to tell Luda’s team not to send over a rider on the off chance it contained something uncouth? That’s really easy for someone on the outside to say, but a) to expect an athletic department staff to anticipate that is harsh; b) even if they had this deep knowledge of how artist rider requests work, most riders don’t have anything embarrassing in it; c) McG and crew didn’t agree to buy them
Something that is standard practice occurred, and FOIA made the unsolicited rider available to the public. UGA and McG could not possibly know the rider would ask for condoms (there’s another “so what” discussion we could have).
McG admitted it “flopped” just to save face. Trying to explain what I’m trying to now (and obviously failing) wouldn’t be worth his time. He just took it on the chin and said they should have done better. It’s what you do.
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ok I looked it up. This dude signed the rider itself. http://www.georgiadogs.com/genrel/thomas_alan00.html
poor guy probably has no idea how these things work.
And here is the signed rider. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-9YDQwrSZWhOWRvdlJPamNjRjQ/view
I still maintain it’s too much to expect UGA to understand these things and to get mad at them for it. But, McG and crew probably should have got someone involved here who knew what they were talking about and been aware of FOIA.
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They have lawyers, Spence. Lawyers are paid to read contracts. That’s what we do.
You shouldn’t sign a contract if it hasn’t been thoroughly reviewed. Again, do you really think we’ll ever see a repetition of that mistake?
BTW, as to your “UGA and McG could not possibly know the rider would ask for condoms” — I don’t know about McGarity, but actually it was in a previous UGA contract with Ludacris.
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They signed it so I’ll mea culpa and shake my head a little. I don’t think they had a lawyer look at it, or at least not one with any common sense. The provisions in the rider have a lot of “no alteration” clauses, which may have freaked out the good folks over at the law department. But then half the rider was crossed out (presumably by Luda’s people) so they should have known there was wiggle room.
Is your understanding of FOIA requests the same as mine that all the communications with the school would be discoverable, unless maybe there’s some atty-client privilege? If so, that rider is going to get out there no matter what, and UGA won’t be able to know what’s in it beforehand unless they know to ask. Hopefully they do now.
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It wasn’t the condom clause. It was $65k for 15 minutes of a solo act when 93,000 fans were going to show up anyway at no cost. Could have gotten a local Athens act for a couple of hundred to same or even better effect IMHO.
$65k would pay for some extra bathroom attendants per season.
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I don’t think the recruits would respond very well to the local coffee shop acoustic duo. Luda was for the high school kids with star ratings, not the fans.
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Glad to see someone see this…
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Yeah he’s gotta send that kind of stuff by Legal Affairs. Perhaps he would’ve gone through the proper process if it was done in a timely manner, but if you remember leading up to the game there was a promise of a performer, then “well we didn’t really promise anything”, then okay fine here’s Luda! McG felt this one for sure – PR from the outside and internally b/c that stuff never would have been approved if it had gone through Legal Affairs and the President’s Office.
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Rubbers and green M&Ms in riders are there so that artists know that the venues are doing their due diligence. Like reading the contract to begin with, and then adhering to the essential things like light and sound system specs and safety. If the venues (or McG) don’t notice the crazy rider requirements, what else are they missing? But isn’t missing obvious stuff just another day at the office for McG and B-M?
I had a conversation last week with the finance guy who will likely secure the $$ for the reno. We talked about the optics of doing the West end before addressing the things that are obvious to most of us and our visitors. From his insight, it looks like donors are on the hook for most of the projected $63 large. Enjoy pissing in an overflowing slop bucket for a few more years boys.
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I love the green M&M story, but I don’t think that’s why most riders are written as they are. Most bands ask for the moon just because they can and often they get it.
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http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/van-halens-legendary-mms-rider
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I believe the Senator’s point has always been that an organization that produces $100M in revenue annually should be PR savvy enough to read the contract and ask that the rider be striked fully aware that their position makes it likely that said contract will become a part of the public domain. I don’t think anybody actually gives two shits whether McGarity or whoever went and picked up a box of condoms or not. It’s just more evidence that these guys are a bunch of Jed Clampetts.
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Uncle Jed was actually pretty wise and savvy, just unpolished. Cousin Jethro might be a better analogy.
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The difference between Jed Clampett and McGarity is that Jed Clampett knows he didn’t create the oil, he was just lucky enough to own the land on top of it.
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If Luda’s team sent the rider over, that communication has to be disclosed under FOIA. McG and them likely had no idea what was on the rider before they sent it.
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That doesn’t preclude McGarity and team from submitting a formal request back to Luda and team asking the rider to be striked. That decline would also be in the public domain and would be reported as such. As it stands, the only communication that could be reported after the FOIA request is that Luda wanted some Magnum condoms, not that UGA declined to provide them.
Again – these guys are running a fucking $100 million business and weren’t savvy enough to bother formally objecting to the rider knowing full well both communications would be part of a FOIA request and would save public ridicule. That’s the entire point here.
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I believe the signed contract along with any signed addendums are what’s disclosed with the FOIA request. When Luda previously performed for another department of UGA, they specifically asked that these crazy conditions be removed from the contract before signing and it was done. Our BM gang that can’t shoot straight didn’t bother reading the agreement or asking for the removal, so they came out with poop on their faces once the agreement became public information.
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As a “South Sider”, i can attest that our bathrooms stink, have long lines, and the same well meaning but entirely too slow concessions workers exist on the south side. I’m really looking forward to waiting 25 minutes for a coke with almost no ice and a hot dog that is the same temperature of the mustard I slather on it to cover up the vienna sausage like flavor.
If we are forced to wait 20-30 minutes and be served by teenagers or your local AARP chapter, it would be nice to have some tv’s that show the actual game and not the scoreboard super awesome emoji like “GET UP FOR THE DEFENSE, etc.”
It doesn’t matter, we are all morons and ask for more. We’ve gone through our tailgating experience being taken over to make more $, parking absolutely sucking to make more $, and our fan experience lagging to make more $. But, I’ll keep shelling out the $ regardless.
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Amen from another southsider
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The bathroom thing seems overblown to me. Take a leak or two a game and be done with it. Don’t wait till the start of halftime…everywhere has lines then.
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Agree here too.We stop all libation consumption an hour or more before games (which is a safe practice considering having to drive home later) and grab a bottle of water for the walk down to Sanford. We then use the restroom as we enter the stadium pregame with little/no lines, and that’s it. On rare occasions when we have to use the restroom during the game, we certainly don’t do it at halftime — more like middle third quarter type stuff where the lines are far more manageable.
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You obviously have never had a prostate issue……………..
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I guess I’m just too easily pleased but when they converted the Reed alley to a wider concourse and added a large bathroom and several concessions stands the situation seemed to get much better to me. I sit lower level so the upper decks might be much worse (sounds like they are) but if ,as PTC said, you have the foresight to not go right at half time and have eyes in your head to see which concession stand has the Coach and baseball team actively working the concessions it is not that bad. IMO. I usually miss 4 minutes in the middle of the 3rd quarter.. Before we bitch about our facilities go to Historic Bobby Dodd Stadium / Mark Richt Field or that erector set in Knoxville and it does not seem too bad . Comparing our 96k fans with KY’s 50k is really just an exercise in apples and oranges. I just think perspective would be in order……it sounds to me like alot of people are just getting old and grumpy and don’t like crowds. My only request would be that Greg McGarity be randomly assigned a seat in the stadium for every home game (get his ass out of the a/c skybox) and he might learn something. I want them to fix the tailgating experience and schedule before we build more stuff. Now get off my lawn whippersnapper.
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I get in and out of the restrooms in a couple minutes tops but maybe it’s different on the North side with the older alums.
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The answer to the crappy facilities on the North side of Sanford seems obvious to me. Quit buying fancy cars, fancy vacations, etc and up your donation enough to get to the South stands…that’s where all the best people are anyway.
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As someone who stopped “donating” several years ago, I can’t help but sit back and laugh at all the people who bitch and moan about this kind of stuff year after year while nothing ever changes…and then continue to send their money in. It’s just mind blowing to me.
I think the only thing that amuses me more is when someone suggests that everyone stop drinking fluids so that they don’t have to pee.
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It is quite amusing to see people suggest that you shouldn’t expect an accommodation of basic human dignity when paying a premium price for a product.
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Especially if you’re in the 600 level for a September noon start. You would end up in Athens Regional if you didn’t drink.
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The incompetence in the Buttsmear building knows no bounds. What’s not being mentioned is the outrageous amount the UGAAA is paying for these projects versus what they should actually cost AND how much the University is spending on “studies” prior to approving the final expenditure. Someone in the Buttsmear needs to by the Donald’s book so they can make UGA Great Again.
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I guess I’ve just conditioned myself to be numb to these problems. My friends laugh at me being too cheap to buy the overpriced crap sold in the stadium, but then be willing to pay out for my East Campus road parking pass. I get there early with plenty of good food and drink, park next to the tracks somewhere between the pedestrian walkway and Cedar Street, indulge, imbibe, and enjoy the sundresses for a couple of hours, then take the five minute stroll to the east gate about a half-hour before kickoff. I make sure I hit the restroom in the plaza, then make my way to the seats. I usually get one coke or water from a vendor and take off for the restroom about a minute before the half to piss in a dirty urinal or clogged toilet, then right back to my seat. One adjustment I’ve made over the years is to never wear sandals to the game. I could care less about the concessions. In fact, I’m bewildered as to why people would spend so much time in line to spend 50 dollars for poor service and cold, crappy food. It takes about ten minutes to get back to the truck, then it’s hanging out and eating again while traffic thins a bit. I come into and out of Athens on 441 South, so traffic hasn’t changed very much in the last 25 years.
Overall my game day experience is pretty positive. My in-stadium complaints are crappy music, ear-splitting volume, and the same irritating people that pass in front of me 50 times per game. Now the awful home schedule and 12 o’clock starts are a totally different argument.
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Haven’t been on North side since 1971 when I was a student. The South Upper and Lower are horrible for both bathrooms and concessions. 45 minutes to get a cold hotdog and the seller could not figure out how to make change from a $100 bill? Bathrooms are only able to be made by missing part of the game not waiting until half time….I”m for spending the money we have to give us the stadium our team and our fans need and want…NOW.
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These guys who say don’t donate. I give the minimum to keep my four season tickets. I have kids there. But I have just signed up for MLS season tickets in the new MB. There are competing interests. I may not choose to invest in UGA season tickets anymore. I learned to use the west end zone bathrooms because the lines were non existent. They are taking those for a new locker room as I understand it. I was in TCU stadium this past weekend. Wide open concourses, nice bathrooms and they let people in and on the field rather than locking it up.
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They are replacing the restrooms, not eliminating them. There will be 2 each for men and women in the west endzone
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The problems are long standing and we will be able to judge how much it is affecting the market when the amount of Hartman contribution required to purchase first time season tickets is revealed. If, because of the recruiting hype it goes up, then B-M will see all is well and the sheep are still into being shorne. If it has, as in the past, gotten down to the minimum contribution to be able to buy new season tickets, then all the hype has failed and the bloom is off the hedges. I still give $100.00 to the Hartman Fund just to keep my cumulative score which is north of $35,000 (I still get the window sticker too). For this princely sum I can get single game tickets to all the cupcake games (Vandy included) and surprisingly two Cocktail Party tickets. So all you old guys like me that have a pretty big cumulative score, it still gets you something. I for one enjoy a good cupcake.
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This is an easy fix. A few hundred protestors with signs on game day would clear this up PDQ. #notmystadium
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I have decided the Athletic Association is essentially a poorly-run business. It’s a business in the sense those who run it are primarily concerned about making a profit (rather than athletic excellence). It’s poorly run in the sense these same people have no idea about concepts like brand management, target audience, planning for the future, etc. They only know to chase more dollars.
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We are announcing a new, exciting promotion for the 2017 season!
During the second quarter of every game, look for the McDonald’s promotion on our yet-to-be-renovated west scoreboard.
Guess the correct Uga, and we will text you the location of the restroom we have secretly stocked with toilet paper.
So be sure to text your answer quickly, as supplies are limited.
#COMMITTOTHEG
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