Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

Flaming the Fans

10/26/2013

0 Comments

 
I believe that fans who attend a sporting event should stay to the end.  But I certainly understand valid reasons for leaving early, of which there are plenty.

Mind you, I live in a city now where leaving early has long been turned in to an art form.  Once I went to a Cubs-Dodgers game in Los Angeles, and so many hometown fans left Dodger Stadium early (even far more than usual because Chicago was so far ahead) that near the end I swear it seemed like you were at Wrigley Field.  Cries of "Jo-dee, Jo-dee!!" for the Cubs catcher Jody Davis, a cheer that was a tradition in Chicago, filled the ballpark when he came to bat in the ninth inning.

The week before Pope John Paul II was about to lead a Mass at Dodger Stadium in 1987, I wrote a letter to the Los Angeles Times -- which they printed -- that said, "There is no truth to the rumor that during the Pope's Mass, a third of the attendees will leave before the Final Benediction."

All of which brings us to (as best I can tell) the press conference held on Wednesday by Nick Saban, head football coach of the University of Alabama, as well as comments on his radio show and an interview with the Al.com website.  On his mind, he decided to talk about fans and, well...sort of shred them.
I've talked about players playing for 60 minutes in the game and competing for 60 minutes in the game.  And, in some kind of way, everybody that choses to go to the game should stay there and support the team for the game."Maybe if you're not interested in doing that, you should let someone else go who would really like to go because I have a lot of people who want to go"

"My sense of it is, I always say the fans are a part of the team.  Everybody else should have the same sort of commitment. You don't have to do the work all week, you don't have to practice, you don't have to come in at 7 in the morning and leave at 11 at night, you don't have to do any of that stuff. All you have to do is come to the game, drink beer, do whatever you want, party in the parking lot. I've never been at a tailgate in my life. All I'm asking is that you just come and have fun and stay for the whole game."

_"Maybe if you're not interested in doing that, you should let someone else go who would really like to go because I have a lot of people who want to go,"

"We have lots of recruits there, we like to see an enthusiastic full stadium.  We have a beautiful stadium and one of the nicest venues in all of college football and I think we all should show our appreciation for it by staying and supporting our team for the whole game."

Now, when you read those words from poor Nick Saban, you probably suspect that he's been saddled with a paltry fan base, and is struggling to impress potential recruits who might consider playing at the school and have overlooked the team's three national championships in the past four years, but hold Alabama's weak fan support and empty stadium against them.
Picture
Bryant-Kenney Stadium holds just under 102,000 people, filled to the brim each week with maniacal fans.  It is hard to imagine any recruit (most especially any important recruit thinking of a pro career in football) -- even if they've been able to somehow ignore those three national championships in four years-- would ever look at the stadium, think to themselves "This is not a very enthusiastic crowd at all," and consider it a reason to not attend the University of Alabama.

But beyond all that -- what a laughably whiny thing to say.  But it's even more ridiculous than this.  I'll get to that in a moment.

On ESPN Friday night, they showed the clip of Nick Saban chastising the un-enthusiastic Alabama fans during a segment when commentators Lou Holtz and Mark May were on the set.  Lou Holtz is a former long-time coach who tends to get very defensive when it comes to criticism of coaches.  Mark May is a thoughtful, generally low-key, insightful former player.  After the clip was aired and ESPN cut back to the studio, Holtz and May were sitting there clearly fighting from bursting into laughter, straining to keep their mouths clenched.  They barely made it and were only saved when the host changed the subject.

Nick Saban is a great coach, arguably one of the best and most successful ever.  He's won four national championships.  He's the only coach in college football history to win national championships at two different schools.  His team this year is ranked #1 in country, and are 7-0.

But Lou Holtz and Mark May had the right idea.  Except for holding the laughter back.
Picture
Here's that more ridiculous part of Nick Saban's whine.  Why it is not unreasonable for Alabama fans to leave early. 

When you have 102,000 fans all leaving at the same time, wanting to beat the traffic is actually a very, very smart thing to do.  And yet, very smart as that is, it's not the reason Saban's whine is ridiculous.  In fact, what makes it so ridiculous is that the reason is something that should actually impress potential recruits.

The University of Alabama crushes its opponents. 

I mean, seriously crushes them.  Last week, Alabama beat Arkansas 52-0.  After three quarters, it was 45-0.  At that point, the team likely was just playing with some their third string, actually they probably had some of the band members in the game.  Who wouldn't at least consider leaving at that point, early??!  Especially with 102,000 fans around you, who you know will all be leaving soon, at the same time.

And further, in the four home games that Alabama has played this year, they have won them by a combined score of 153-9.

You read that right.  153-9.

If Nick Saban doesn't want any of the 102,000 fans to leave early, he should consider starting his third string (or the tuba section) and make the games closer.

Rather than being bothered that fans are leaving, potential recruits are probably in awe by what they're seeing around them...and most especially seeing on the field.  A spectacular football team.

(In fact, the biggest problem for Alabama in convincing recruits to come play for the college may well be telling a high school star that they might not start -- or even play much -- for two years because there are better players on this great, well-stocked team ahead of them.)

But mainly, it's just stupid to rip maniacal, deeply supportive fans who are only there cheering for you.  And the thing is, of course, even if they weren't so supportive, they paid for their tickets.  It's their choice how long they stay, not yours.  So, just turn around to the field and coach the football players, not the fans.

As it happens, football is king at the University of Alabama, and when Nick Saban sighs,"Who wouldst rid me of this turbulent priest?", his accolytes take it upon themselves to to kill Sir Thomas More.  On Friday, the school suspended the "block seating" privileges of 20 student groups.  They can still attend, but no longer have their sections reserved for them.  Any student can sit anywhere.  "Unacceptable behavior" -- like being tardy or leaving early -- can result in privileges being suspended for the rest of the year.

Of course one understands why Nick Saban wants the fans to stay to the bitter end.  It's perfectly reasonable to want that, for all the reasons.  But to stand in front of a microphone and camera and say it out loud is so pathetically laughable it makes you think of Asif Manvi's wonderful political rejoinder last week on The Daily Show to a North Carolina Republican official making a total fool of himself --

"You know we can hear this?"

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2023
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like