Falcon137 wrote: How has the athletic department made it a chore for you, hammb? Every game is a Saturday with 1 noon kickoff, minus the Columbus game the day after thanksgiving. Which most people would have blown off anyway. The fact you have to drive 2 hours for 1 game is going to turn you off to the program? Sounds like you are looking for a reason to become disinterested in the program.
Firstly, I had decided not to renew my tickets long before I heard about the idiocy of holding a home game in Columbus. It's been ongoing for years, and I don't mean to imply that the issue is solely the BG athletic department...the MAC office shares just as much (if not more) of the blame. Every season there are games on weird weeknights, games that change the date/time for TV, weeknight games that are so early you can't get there in time even when you work in Toledo, etc, etc. When I was in school and the years immediately following my graduation I never missed a game, so I started buying season tickets. Then last year I was at one of our stupid weeknight games and I was walking around the stadium trying to give away some of the extra tickets I had. Then I went in to watch the game by myself because my friends/family either couldn't make it to the game or didn't want to go to a weeknight game to watch a mediocre product. That's when it hit me that it's not even fun anymore. Year after year there is at least one game that is more of a pain in the ass than actual enjoyment...yet I always felt obligated to go since I had season tickets. That was the 2nd to last home game last year and after it hit me that I wasn't enjoying them I finally skipped the last game of the year.
On top of that the product of MAC football has gone to total s**t. It's boring. The quality of play is just BAD. I fully expect BG to compete for a MAC title this year, but compared to the rest of the college football landscape that's not really saying that much anymore. The overall level of play throughout the MAC has gone down to the point where I feel like I'd rather be watching other college games on television than low level of play that has become the MAC.
Basically, over the past few years the only redeeming quality of BG football for me has become the tailgating. I still love getting out and seeing everybody from the board, but we only seem to play one Saturday evening game a year. I hope I can still find a way to make it to a game or two this year so I can at least come out and hang out with the regulars, but until BG and the MAC do something to make the product more interesting again I'm done planning my fall around BG games. BG football has fallen to the point (for me) that I will gladly watch a game if I'm home and it's on TV, or I'll go to the game if I'm free. But I just don't think it's worthy of making it the focal point of my fall anymore. And judging by our attendance figures I don't think I'm alone.
