bonwich Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 This is similar to another thread, but in a slightly different direction, and on a theme we've discussed over and over. I submit that we've reached Father Biondi's long-ago stated goal of a perennial top-50 team, but we're way behind in the marketing and operational stuff that such a team should have. Yesterday's anecdote: Didn't have lunch, grabbed my free hot dog ticket from the season ticket booklet. Gave it to the guy at the stand. "This is expired," says he. Sure enough: "One free hot dog during any Saint Louis University men's basketball game during the 2013-2104 season....Offer expires December 21, 2013." This stuff is too good to make up. Why aren't people in their seats earlier? Have you ever been to the will-call table near the ticket windows? It is and always has been a fiasco. (Not to mention -- there are multiple will call locations at different entrances, but with different kinds of will-call tickets to give out.) Solution: Print-on-demand tickets. Welcome to 2005, athletic department/Chaifetz management. As for the crowd noise/standing/student cheers etc. -- pay half as much attention to actual game-related cheering as you do to the stupid Fox girls/ball toss/dance cam nothing-to-do-with basketball promotions. We're a top-20 program. If you want the crowd to "make some noise," have the cheerleaders out there going nuts and, you know, leading cheers. It's pathetic to have a PR announcer do that, or to tell us to "get on your feet for the opening tip." (Who TF stands up for an opening tip anywhere, save for perhaps a national championship game?) And we know you have to pay for your $250K ring of lights, but don't use it as a meter to tell people to "make some noise," because you can only do that during timeouts, and, you know -- the game isn't going on during a timeout. I see that whichever genius eliminated male cheerleaders has been overruled -- slightly -- and we now have two. Does anyone remember in the old days when we had multiple cheers that the guys would yell through their megaphones -- and, God forbid, even ad lib once in a while? Corollary: Does anyone remember the "We Don't Mess Around" cheer from the early '70s that was led by a student? How 'bout some regular (and, God forbid, ad libbed) organized cheers in the student section. Thank God The Band does this occasionally. (But what ever happened to "Hey, Baby"?) When it's appropriate -- or necessary -- to be standing, get the damn cheerleaders to run around and urge everyone to stand up, instead of seeing who can do the most consecutive backflips. Two good points from yesterday: I thought the crowd energy, overall, was terrific, even if a few old farts got their Depends in a knot because someone was standing up in front of them. And I almost felt like someone in student or AD leadership went out ten minutes before the game and rounded up enough additional students to fill in the section behind The Band. (Maybe that's just wishful thinking.) I'm convinced, however, that a lot of our complaints could be fixed with just a hint of more clever game-day management in the 'Fetz. (Speaking of which, where was our Head Cheerleader yesterday? It's getting to be crunch time.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiseAndGrind Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 This is similar to another thread, but in a slightly different direction, and on a theme we've discussed over and over. I submit that we've reached Father Biondi's long-ago stated goal of a perennial top-50 team, but we're way behind in the marketing and operational stuff that such a team should have. Yesterday's anecdote: Didn't have lunch, grabbed my free hot dog ticket from the season ticket booklet. Gave it to the guy at the stand. "This is expired," says he. Sure enough: "One free hot dog during any Saint Louis University men's basketball game during the 2013-2104 season....Offer expires December 21, 2013." This stuff is too good to make up. Why aren't people in their seats earlier? Have you ever been to the will-call table near the ticket windows? It is and always has been a fiasco. (Not to mention -- there are multiple will call locations at different entrances, but with different kinds of will-call tickets to give out.) Solution: Print-on-demand tickets. Welcome to 2005, athletic department/Chaifetz management. As for the crowd noise/standing/student cheers etc. -- pay half as much attention to actual game-related cheering as you do to the stupid Fox girls/ball toss/dance cam nothing-to-do-with basketball promotions. We're a top-20 program. If you want the crowd to "make some noise," have the cheerleaders out there going nuts and, you know, leading cheers. It's pathetic to have a PR announcer do that, or to tell us to "get on your feet for the opening tip." (Who TF stands up for an opening tip anywhere, save for perhaps a national championship game?) And we know you have to pay for your $250K ring of lights, but don't use it as a meter to tell people to "make some noise," because you can only do that during timeouts, and, you know -- the game isn't going on during a timeout. I see that whichever genius eliminated male cheerleaders has been overruled -- slightly -- and we now have two. Does anyone remember in the old days when we had multiple cheers that the guys would yell through their megaphones -- and, God forbid, even ad lib once in a while? Corollary: Does anyone remember the "We Don't Mess Around" cheer from the early '70s that was led by a student? How 'bout some regular (and, God forbid, ad libbed) organized cheers in the student section. Thank God The Band does this occasionally. (But what ever happened to "Hey, Baby"?) When it's appropriate -- or necessary -- to be standing, get the damn cheerleaders to run around and urge everyone to stand up, instead of seeing who can do the most consecutive backflips. Two good points from yesterday: I thought the crowd energy, overall, was terrific, even if a few old farts got their Depends in a knot because someone was standing up in front of them. And I almost felt like someone in student or AD leadership went out ten minutes before the game and rounded up enough additional students to fill in the section behind The Band. (Maybe that's just wishful thinking.) I'm convinced, however, that a lot of our complaints could be fixed with just a hint of more clever game-day management in the 'Fetz. (Speaking of which, where was our Head Cheerleader yesterday? It's getting to be crunch time.) Pretty much spot on - especially the hot dog note. I almost got burned in that same situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milwaukeebill Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Don't get me started on the hot dog thing. The language in the coupon doesn't make any sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majerus mojo Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 One of the usher down on on the court near the TV booth was walking back and forth urging everyone to stand with 5-10 minutes left in game/OT ... Met with a lot of, "Haha, that's cute" type responses, no one wants to stand up. Sat behind the Manning family for a couple games, they are fantastic. Heckling refs and the like. Loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 The expired hot dog coupon: Yeah. That sucks, but the coupon books are an added perk for season ticket holders. If you didn't check/notice an expiration date, isn't that your fault? My guess is that they are trying to give season ticket holders an incentive to actually come to non-conference games which are always poorly attended. Maybe they should print larger expiration dates or a warning in the front of the book. The will call situation: If you buy through ticketmaster, you can print your tickets at home. However, you get dinged with the fees. I would guess that the will call problems are mostly due to the LivingSocial deal which has to be picked up at will call. I don't think the multiple will calls is a problem. It actually makes things better because you don't have everyone going to the main ticket office gate. SLU's website clearly indicates which will call gate you should go to for the pass list, students, general public, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenROAR Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 "Who TF stands up for an opening tip anywhere, save for perhaps a national championship game?" In a post b*tching about the game atmosphere.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMM28 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 The expired hot dog coupon: Yeah. That sucks, but the coupon books are an added perk for season ticket holders. If you didn't check/notice an expiration date, isn't that your fault? My guess is that they are trying to give season ticket holders an incentive to actually come to non-conference games which are always poorly attended. Maybe they should print larger expiration dates or a warning in the front of the book. The will call situation: If you buy through ticketmaster, you can print your tickets at home. However, you get dinged with the fees. I would guess that the will call problems are mostly due to the LivingSocial deal which has to be picked up at will call. I don't think the multiple will calls is a problem. It actually makes things better because you don't have everyone going to the main ticket office gate. SLU's website clearly indicates which will call gate you should go to for the pass list, students, general public, etc. The hot dog coupon shouldn't be done if it isn't for the whole season. While I understand the thought process behind it, the reality is it most likely pissed a lot of folks off (and it looked tacky to put an expiration date). If someone isn't going to use their tickets, many which cost a lot of money, before December 21st, why would a $3 hot dog matter to them? Another problem with the living social deal. The only hope of that ever making sense is to give people a great experience, hope they forget that the market is totally over saturated for those deals on SLU tix, and hope they come back for some regular priced games. Nothing like starting their experience off with a long line and missing the intros, anthem, and tip. As for the standing before the tip, a lot of teams have a thing where you stand until the opponent scores. It's somewhat effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NextYearBill Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 i think its customary to stand up for national anthem and sit once the bills score their first bucket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 The expired hot dog coupon: Yeah. That sucks, but the coupon books are an added perk for season ticket holders. If you didn't check/notice an expiration date, isn't that your fault? My guess is that they are trying to give season ticket holders an incentive to actually come to non-conference games which are always poorly attended. Maybe they should print larger expiration dates or a warning in the front of the book. Yes, of course, it's the customer's fault to read "One (1) free hot dog during any...game during the 2013-2014 season" and not expect that the expiration date would explicitly contradict that statement. My bad. (For the record, I just paid for the hot dog. But anyone who would possibly claim that this wasn't some sort of managerial incompetence has no business standards.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 "Who TF stands up for an opening tip anywhere, save for perhaps a national championship game?" In a post b*tching about the game atmosphere.. Um, that would be the other post. I actually said the game atmosphere was good yesterday. I was merely pointing out that most of the things the Athletic Department has done to try to make things better are...wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billslasttermdropout Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Yes, of course, it's the customer's fault to read "One (1) free hot dog during any...game during the 2013-2014 season" and not expect that the expiration date would explicitly contradict that statement. My bad. (For the record, I just paid for the hot dog. But anyone who would possibly claim that this wasn't some sort of managerial incompetence has no business standards.) Why did they print an ellipsis is that phrase? Don't the people in marketing have degrees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drkelsey55 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Could it have anything to do with the fact that the Bill are ranked 10th on a great winning streak, 20-2, and the local paper puts the Losing tiders on page one and no mention of the Bills til page 4 of the sports page. Unbelievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclecarl Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Yes, of course, it's the customer's fault to read "One (1) free hot dog during any...game during the 2013-2014 season" and not expect that the expiration date would explicitly contradict that statement. My bad. (For the record, I just paid for the hot dog. But anyone who would possibly claim that this wasn't some sort of managerial incompetence has no business standards.) I work in retail and we have a company policy to accept all coupons, even expired ones. The trick is to give the impression that we're bending the rules a little just for them. And the result? They're happy and they come back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromDaEastSide Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I think the reasoning for the experation on the hot dog coupon was due to last year everyone saving them to the final game and the concessions were not prepared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUfan_42 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Could it have anything to do with the fact that the Bill are ranked 10th on a great winning streak, 20-2, and the local paper puts the Losing tiders on page one and no mention of the Bills til page 4 of the sports page. Unbelievable.+1 granted it was a huge game against UK but still, no love for us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Look again. The Bills are actually much higher up ("above the fold," for those to whom that matters, and it no longer does) on page 1 than SPUMAC. And SPUMAC is only on page 1 because Strauss goes on page 1. Slight nod to Mizzou, but the story placements were roughly the same today -- and we got Chris Lee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmbilliken Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Whoever did the hot dog coupon thing did us a favor. Those dogs are awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I'm pretty sure everyone in the building has stood at the opening tip at every basketball game I've ever been to (other than SLU) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drkelsey55 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Look again. The Bills are actually much higher up ("above the fold," for those to whom that matters, and it no longer does) on page 1 than SPUMAC. And SPUMAC is only on page 1 because Strauss goes on page 1. Slight nod to Mizzou, but the story placements were roughly the same today -- and we got Chris Lee. Not on the copy I received. That only contains Superbowl pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmith19 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Why not free pretzel coupons instead of numerous free small popcorns? AND ANOTHER THING... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Ken Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 The hot dog coupon has an expiration date on it, the dates expire on 12-21 and 3-5, so one is for non-conference and conference. Not that confusing, sure the wording is a bit off but not anything to raise hell about. Usually good business practice is to just give the person with the expired coupon the damn hot dog. That isn't on SLU Athletics, that's the concession company. One game they ran out of popcorn! Popcorn! Don't even get me started on the beer lines. I get they are students, but why not add a few adults who can help out and pour beers? Either way the food is better than in recent years, but still way behind Busch or Scottrade. Way behind. As far as will call goes, if you buy through groupon you have to print a home, so that isn't in will call anymore. I haven't had a problem getting in all year like in year's past. Also, whoever thought of spreading the will calls out did a good thing, plus it's on their website. Remember, a lot of people who get these deals are coming for the very first time and that can slow down the line, it's not all SLU....and the people working the will calls are usually students. Overall, will call is the least of anyone's concern in my opinion. Just keep rolling till March! The rest will take care of it's self God Willing! Go Bills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 You know the team is either really good or really bad if we're discussing hot dogs, balloons, piped music, the PA announcer and whether we should stand at the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Ken Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 You know the team is either really good or really bad if we're discussing hot dogs, balloons, piped music, the PA announcer and whether we should stand at the tip. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Not on the copy I received. That only contains Superbowl pictures. There's not a box that says Bills Avoid Upset. C4. upper right corner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOldie Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 There's not a box that says Bills Avoid Upset. C4. upper right corner? It's on ours Live on the south side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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