Mac's Open Letter to the Students

GatorJ

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CMn_Pd5VEAEg-xc.jpg:large
 

MatthewM.

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Pretty ****ing embarrassing to have to beg these loser students to buy tickets. While I was there students would kill to win the lottery because of the demand. This was only 2006-2010 we are talking about. Think Bama students need begging?
 

GatorJ

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I think it's about half and half. Half of it has to do with students. The other half with Champ's product on the field.
 

Captain Sasquatch

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MatthewM.;n265059 said:
Pretty ****ing embarrassing to have to beg these loser students to buy tickets. While I was there students would kill to win the lottery because of the demand. This was only 2006-2010 we are talking about. Think Bama students need begging?

Saban has publicly bitched about their fans and students leaving games early on more than one occasion. While it's not the same problem we have, he's more or less been responsible for entire student organizations getting their tickets revoked because they all left at halftime of blowouts. Once again, different problem than we have, but students are too ADD these days to sit through a whole game or even show up.
 

t-gator

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I like it. I think it's a good idea to reach out to the students and the fans and I think it's what we need. Reminds me of James Franklin when he was at Vanderbilt. He got the fans and students involved and got everybody believing.
 

GatorJ

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And 2006-2010 were prime Tebow years. A completely different environment.
 

ATXGator

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This does make me sad and I agree it shows how far the program has fallen, but people don't show up to watch their team lose. It is also a product of a new type of fan. Students would rather watch on TV while tweeting and taking selfies then actually pay attention to the game.

I interviewed a kid from UF for an internship about 2 months ago and asked him how he liked McElwain at the end of the interview. He didn't know who it was... He said he doesn't follow football.

It's a different type of student these days.
 

WobbleGator

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ATXGator;n265085 said:
I interviewed a kid from UF for an internship about 2 months ago and asked him how he liked McElwain at the end of the interview. He didn't know who it was... He said he doesn't follow football.

:wtf:
 

oxrageous

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ATXGator;n265085 said:
This does make me sad and I agree it shows how far the program has fallen, but people don't show up to watch their team lose. It is also a product of a new type of fan. Students would rather watch on TV while tweeting and taking selfies then actually pay attention to the game.

I interviewed a kid from UF for an internship about 2 months ago and asked him how he liked McElwain at the end of the interview. He didn't know who it was... He said he doesn't follow football.

It's a different type of student these days.
I'm assuming he didn't get the internship. :lol2:
 

MatthewM.

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GatorJ;n265073 said:
And 2006-2010 were prime Tebow years. A completely different environment.

Good point but not great. I'd argue that the 2006 season I saw the most student interest of the four years I was there and he was just a backup with enormous potential. The following year was similar with the Heisman run but by 2008 the feeling most students seemed to have was it was expected we would win every game and the complacency and apathy had fully set in by 2009.
 

rogdochar

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It's just a marketing ploy and we have a marketing department/company whose job it is to inject new "offense" into
drumming up "business'. Our CFB business pays for other sports & developments. Mac is following that process.
It's all ok or better if more students fill the Swamp.
 

Gator98MD

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Im not sure I would relate to students nowadays. They sound like social retard egg heads. You don't go to a school like UF and not have interest in the football team
 

VulcanAlex

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Well if you accept the current reality, doing something like this is mandatory. No question that the reasons are varied and complex, that makes no difference. Do something and this is something good to do no matter what.
 

Gator87

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I was there in the mid 80's and we always filled the stadium and we showed up on time. We didn't roll in fifteen minutes after kickoff. For those of you that remember we weren't great back then, the 84 and 85 teams were very good but other than that we were pretty average, but we still showed up. Most of the games were at 1:00PM when it was hotter than hell. We hardly ever had night games back then. It's time for this new group of students to step up and make themselves heard.
 

VulcanAlex

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Gator87;n265152 said:
I was there in the mid 80's and we always filled the stadium and we showed up on time. We didn't roll in fifteen minutes after kickoff. For those of you that remember we weren't great back then, the 84 and 85 teams were very good but other than that we were pretty average, but we still showed up. Most of the games were at 1:00PM when it was hotter than hell. We hardly ever had night games back then. It's time for this new group of students to step up and make themselves heard.

Well students today are different, that is why you need wifi everywhere for free. Perhaps the unused student tickets should be sold to the public at reduced prices from regular tickets. I would not mind sitting in the student section if the ticket was reasonable and no contribution required. I won't generally buy such on the street since I am not a student.
 

ergator920103

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MatthewM.;n265059 said:
Pretty ****ing embarrassing to have to beg these loser students to buy tickets. While I was there students would kill to win the lottery because of the demand. This was only 2006-2010 we are talking about. Think Bama students need begging?
If they want people, especially students, to show up for games, the product on the field needs to significantly improve.
 

FatCatG8r

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I've been a Gator fan since I was 6 years old (I'm now 63). Went to my first game when we moved back to Hoggetowne from Awfulbarn in 1964 for my dad to finish his PhD. Watched SOS play live four or five times. Ray Graves, a Gator Great. Doug Dickey. Worst coach of the modern era (yes, worse than WM, you had to be there to understand), third Tennessee weird connection (the 1st was the 1928 field icing incident to counter our great speed that cost us a spot in the Rose Bowl, 2nd was SOS), Charley Pell (great coach, but dirty, always had open practices, he used to sit at the top of the camera tower chain smoking). Saw Wilbur Marshall there when he was a freshman. Man he had guns for arms and an engine that wouldn't quit.

Then Galen, who the NCAA screwed over for having a heart, helping Jarvis with child support payment. Yea, I know it was a violation, but wow. Kicking a great coach to the curb for that? Then the HBC (no need to elaborate here). Zook. He cared about his players no matter what you think of his coaching. Meyer, ambitious, successful, but ultimately couldn't handle the expectations and pressure of the SEC. Better to be at pOSU and deal with Meatchicken once a year and occasionally Wisconsin. Mushchump, no comment.

Now we have Jim McElwain. I'm very hopeful that he will turn the program back to the light. His messages are all good. Don't think we will see from him anything like that awful vicious scowl that WM gave Westbrook on the sideline. That was absolutely reprehensible. Lets get behind "the boys of old Florida". Try to be positive. I've been through the good the bad and the ugly. Surely the rest of you can. If you build it, they will come.
 

divits

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Student tickets always sold out even though the student population was half of what it is today. It's just a whole different type of student at UF these days. Half of them probably can't make the games because they have cello practice on Saturdays. Good for academics, not so good for fan support and future alumni support.
 

alcoholica

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I split time between SOS and Zook. I was before the lottery. I would wait until the time of year that tickets went on sale and call everyday. One year I called everyday for 3 weeks, including Saturdays. We tailgated hard and were pissed if we missed kickoff. We rarely sat and usually came close to losing our voices.

These kids suck today. I agree with reducing the number of student tickets. They could do Alumni tickets at reduced rates and no booster fees. When I graduated UF there was an 80k+ waiting list for season tickets. I must give full disclosure though. I may go to a game this year, but I do love my A/C, HD on a 60" tv, drinking beer, and pissing without having to plan. Not to mention the ability to watch several games that I would miss if I go to a game.
 

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