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bga1

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There should be lines outside the ticket office tomorrow for those premium seats next year...

I hope we turn mess around this year. It's possible. But if there are many more nights like tonight in the Barn there are seriously a lot of fans that are going to revolt next year. There was a LOT of booing and anger in that place tonight. I'll buy tickets regardless but the Barn is only fun when full and vibrant. The fans are not going to put up with this kind of basketball and pay $1000 per seat. Ugh.
 

I was just about to post the same thing. I'd have to guess there's a fairly good chance now that they postpone it. Then again, maybe it's too late for that.
 

bga1 said:
There should be lines outside the ticket office tomorrow for those premium seats next year...

I hope we turn mess around this year. It's possible. But if there are many more nights like tonight in the Barn there are seriously a lot of fans that are going to revolt next year. There was a LOT of booing and anger in that place tonight. I'll buy tickets regardless but the Barn is only fun when full and vibrant. The fans are not going to put up with this kind of basketball and pay $1000 per seat. Ugh.
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Agreed. Joel waited way to long to do this IMO. If he'd have done this when every other big 10 team was, including bottom feeders he could have sold it as us needing to keep up.

Now he not only looks very late to the game, but also like he doesn't care about fans or the product.
 

bga1, this has been my #1 concern all off-season and all season long. I will say what I've already said...it can't be overstated at how significant this premium seating situation is for the health of the program. Once you lose a ticket holder it is much more difficult to get them back. If this season ends up the way it is starting, we could be coming off two horrendous seasons into what will be the most radical change in ticket policy possibly ever, during challenging economic times with nothing new to offer the customer.

And my worries were expressed before the Wolves became the hot sports topic in town. Rubio Mania is in direct competition with the sports fans dollar locally.

I'll be at The Barn no matter what next year and years and years after...I just hope others will show up as well!

Go Gophers!!
 

If this season tanks and they push ahead with this, it will be a complete disaster and take the Barn years to recover. They should pull the plug while they still can.
 


howeda7 said:
If this season tanks and they push ahead with this, it will be a complete disaster and take the Barn years to recover. They should pull the plug while they still can.
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I think they've gotta go through with it. The argument was never, "we have a good product therefore we feel it's the right time to effectively raise prices"... changing course at this point on the timeline would seem to indicate otherwise.

Not sure when the economy will markedly improve or when Minnesota will put together even a top-4 Big Ten finish.. both could be a long ways out.

(Plus the cost of seats for *some people* will actually go down with the new pricing!)
 

They better go through with it, otherwise I've forked over more than $200 to improve my seat ranking for no reason. I'm sure there's a lot of other people that would feel the same way.

There's no way in H they're calling it off. Respectfully, you guys need to get that out of your heads. N O T H A P P E N I N'.
 

SelectionSunday said:
They better go through with it, otherwise I've forked over more than $200 to improve my seat ranking for no reason. I'm sure there's a lot of other people that would feel the same way.

There's no way in H they're calling it off. Respectfully, you guys need to get that out of your heads. N O T H A P P E N I N'.
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You are almost certainly right about this. But what they can do is get together with the new President and discuss the fact that they must come up with a selling pitch before Spring that lets people know that we are serious about using the money to put a better basketball program together. We should be seeing a letter that says we will have a practice facility by such and such date and that we will be seeing better non-conference schedules in the Barn at the very least. I'd also be asking Tubby to turn over his assistant staff if he wants to stay on. If they are going to use the money to imporve the MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM then I think the fans will buy it. If on the other hand folks feel like this buys us a better shot at the rowing title..... and that we should be happy with 8th place and facing teams we don't care about in the non-conference.... then people are not going to buy in.
 

As a fan, I want the Gopher to do as well as possible.

As a season ticket holder going into this reseating process, I want as many people as possible who have priority over me to get so torqued off that they don't renew their tickets.

I'm currently 1,754th of 3,201 (for those who care, that's tickets since 1991 + alumni). My dad is 463rd. Anything that improves either of those would be great.

So, anyone with priority over me: Please do not renew your tickets!
 



brucekaupa said:
As a fan, I want the Gopher to do as well as possible.

As a season ticket holder going into this reseating process, I want as many people as possible who have priority over me to get so torqued off that they don't renew their tickets.

I'm currently 1,754th of 3,201 (for those who care, that's tickets since 1991 + alumni). My dad is 463rd. Anything that improves either of those would be great.

So, anyone with priority over me: Please do not renew your tickets!
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I second that, Bruce. I'm not too far behind (tix since 92-93 season). You need to drop, though, you're ahead of me.:) I think you need to get torqued off.
 

bga1 said:
You are almost certainly right about this. But what they can do is get together with the new President and discuss the fact that they must come up with a selling pitch before Spring that lets people know that we are serious about using the money to put a better basketball program together. We should be seeing a letter that says we will have a practice facility by such and such date and that we will be seeing better non-conference schedules in the Barn at the very least. I'd also be asking Tubby to turn over his assistant staff if he wants to stay on. If they are going to use the money to imporve the MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM then I think the fans will buy it. If on the other hand folks feel like this buys us a better shot at the rowing title..... and that we should be happy with 8th place and facing teams we don't care about in the non-conference.... then people are not going to buy in.
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I think they will go through with it and it will be a very tough sell. At the very least they will need to have someone in place other than Maturi to present it. There is both fatigue around Maturi and fatigue around the program.
 

bga, I was borderline shocked by the amount of booing and grousing at times in the building last night. The natives are truly restless. Our season ticket group was talking about this on the way to the car last night - how this could end up being the worst possible timing for a premium seating plan. As much as I'm secretly with Hodger and bruce (wanting everyone in front of me to get out of the way), I'm really concerned that this could be an agent to further weaken an already weak program. I've got a sinking feeling, not just about where the season is going but also where the program is going beyond this season.
 

I'm going to the Wolves game tomorrow for 9 dollars. Two for ones at the bar before the game. All in all I'll spend about 15 dollars to go to a basketball game. It's not even half what it costs to see the gophers attack a zone defense like they've never seen it before.
 



where I sit



Customer Ranking		season ticket holder since '91

1,808 of 2,950
Seat Ranking4,825 of 7,874

<TBODY>
</TBODY>
 

nooram said:


Customer Ranking		season ticket holder since '91

1,808 of 2,950
Seat Ranking4,825 of 7,874

<TBODY>
</TBODY>
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The good news is that if you stay- like George Jefferson- you will be movin' on up. :)
 

MotherNight said:
I'm going to the Wolves game tomorrow for 9 dollars. Two for ones at the bar before the game. All in all I'll spend about 15 dollars to go to a basketball game. It's not even half what it costs to see the gophers attack a zone defense like they've never seen it before.
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Two for one at the Target Center bar?
 

Bad Gopher said:
bga, I was borderline shocked by the amount of booing and grousing at times in the building last night. The natives are truly restless. Our season ticket group was talking about this on the way to the car last night - how this could end up being the worst possible timing for a premium seating plan. As much as I'm secretly with Hodger and bruce (wanting everyone in front of me to get out of the way), I'm really concerned that this could be an agent to further weaken an already weak program. I've got a sinking feeling, not just about where the season is going but also where the program is going beyond this season.
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Bad and Jamiche- I just have a real lousy feeling about where this is headed and hope I am wrong. People will stick with things when things are going bad, but they won't just go along quietly and get charged more for it without a vision for improvement attached to it. There's no vision here at the U. Maturi is a small thinker who communicates no desire to be big time here. He's a guy who, to open a new football stadium hires a coach on the cheap. Then to steer a basketball team with no facilities- he breaks the bank. It's like any business- it makes no sense to market if you put nothing into production of the product. The whole thing has to be coordinated. The practice facility should be part of a whole master plan and they should not have kicked off this premium seating program without the promise that they would deliver on a future vision by a date certain. Yes, Jamiche there is Maturi fatigue- he's a nice guy who is small time. And now there is Tubby fatigue because of his stubborn pride and lack of passion for the program. There has to be a minimum of some assistant staff turnover and Maturi has to be gone soon- because a cohesive plan will not come from him.
 


MotherNight said:
I'm going to the Wolves game tomorrow for 9 dollars. Two for ones at the bar before the game. All in all I'll spend about 15 dollars to go to a basketball game. It's not even half what it costs to see the gophers attack a zone defense like they've never seen it before.
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I have season tickets for both Gophers and Wolves
My Wolves season tix are $10.00 apiece- lower level in the corner but pretty good sight lines. With the new "student" section the Wolves have just one section over it makes it pretty loud and exciting. Parking is half the price of a Gophers game. More options for before and after games means less crowded. Even the "bad" games have players that are worth watching as opposed to paying $35 face plus premium plus $10 for parking to watch no-name college teams. The Barn does have better popcorn if you go to Drew's stand though.
 

Minnesconsin fan said:
I have season tickets for both Gophers and Wolves
My Wolves season tix are $10.00 apiece- lower level in the corner but pretty good sight lines. With the new "student" section the Wolves have just one section over it makes it pretty loud and exciting. Parking is half the price of a Gophers game. More options for before and after games means less crowded. Even the "bad" games have players that are worth watching as opposed to paying $35 face plus premium plus $10 for parking to watch no-name college teams. The Barn does have better popcorn if you go to Drew's stand though.
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I wonder how much the wolves will charge when they start supporting an academic institution with their profits.
 

Is there ever really a “good” time to increase ticket prices? All Big 10 Schools (including Nebraska) have a points system for their season ticket holders. Wisconsin’s Preferred Seating Levels range from $300 - $50. The Hawkeyes preferred seating levels range from $600-50 per seat! The University of MI’s preferred seating costs range from $500-50 (this infomration can be found on their websites).

I say we are getting off pretty easy compared to other schools in the Big 10. The fact that we are one of the last schools in the conference to implement a preferred seating/ points system, shows how far behind the times we really are, especially in terms of donating and remaining competitive within the conference. If we want to be competitive and step up our recruiting game, we need more money. Money won’t solve all of our problems, but it will definitely help to push the program in a positive direction. How can you except Tubby to get the top recruits, if we don’t have the resources to do so?
 

scher215 said:
I wonder how much the wolves will charge when they start supporting an academic institution with their profits.
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The Wolves have not made a profit for a few years I would guess. They will this year. Entertaining basketball sells tickets and price starts to matter less.
 

bga1 said:
Bad and Jamiche- I just have a real lousy feeling about where this is headed and hope I am wrong. People will stick with things when things are going bad, but they won't just go along quietly and get charged more for it without a vision for improvement attached to it. There's no vision here at the U. Maturi is a small thinker who communicates no desire to be big time here. He's a guy who, to open a new football stadium hires a coach on the cheap. Then to steer a basketball team with no facilities- he breaks the bank. It's like any business- it makes no sense to market if you put nothing into production of the product. The whole thing has to be coordinated. The practice facility should be part of a whole master plan and they should not have kicked off this premium seating program without the promise that they would deliver on a future vision by a date certain. Yes, Jamiche there is Maturi fatigue- he's a nice guy who is small time. And now there is Tubby fatigue because of his stubborn pride and lack of passion for the program. There has to be a minimum of some assistant staff turnover and Maturi has to be gone soon- because a cohesive plan will not come from him.
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It's interesting (to me, at least) that Kill's staff continuity has been lauded as an asset to the program but Tubby's staff continuity is beginning to be regarded as a sign that things are stale. When I heard about Kill's staff the first thing that I wondered is can't any of these guys get better jobs? Then I saw his coordinators and, unfair as it is, it answered my question. They are so completely out of shape and inarticulate that I'm not sure who would give them a D1 top job. Sorry, it's unfair, but that's how the world works. When it took the D coordinator until halftime of the USC game to make an obvious, obvious adjustment (and I'm not a football expert) I remember thinking that he was no magician. My long winded point is that Kill's assistants aren't likely that great and there's a reason, other than pure loyalty, that they are still with him and, conversely, what ales the hoops program likely has little to do with the assistants. If they have to take a hike it will be primarily for PR purposes.
 

bga1 said:
Bad and Jamiche- I just have a real lousy feeling about where this is headed and hope I am wrong. People will stick with things when things are going bad, but they won't just go along quietly and get charged more for it without a vision for improvement attached to it. There's no vision here at the U. Maturi is a small thinker who communicates no desire to be big time here. He's a guy who, to open a new football stadium hires a coach on the cheap. Then to steer a basketball team with no facilities- he breaks the bank. It's like any business- it makes no sense to market if you put nothing into production of the product. The whole thing has to be coordinated. The practice facility should be part of a whole master plan and they should not have kicked off this premium seating program without the promise that they would deliver on a future vision by a date certain. Yes, Jamiche there is Maturi fatigue- he's a nice guy who is small time. And now there is Tubby fatigue because of his stubborn pride and lack of passion for the program. There has to be a minimum of some assistant staff turnover and Maturi has to be gone soon- because a cohesive plan will not come from him.
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that to me is the biggest problem which goes well beyond Maturi. IMO the powers that be don't view the FB and BB program as being that important to the overall value of the University. if the revenue teams have a ok season every so often that is good enough. Maturi has to shoulder a lot of the blame but those above him don't seem to have the will to try and move the athletic FB and BB out of their long lasting mediocrity.
 

scools12 said:
that to me is the biggest problem which goes well beyond Maturi. IMO the powers that be don't view the FB and BB program as being that important to the overall value of the University. if the revenue teams have a ok season every so often that is good enough. Maturi has to shoulder a lot of the blame but those above him don't seem to have the will to try and move the athletic FB and BB out of their long lasting mediocrity.
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Just ask Michigan how important a football program can be to a university. (I know there are many examples but I chose Michigan because it is a northern school without a favorable climate, one of my children graduated from there so I know it well and I don't think that it is a state that has a ton of D1 FB talent, though a lot more than here.) I'll bet there are very few fundraising "asks" at that university where the football team, tradition, etc. isn't mentioned, and that school raises an extraordinairy amount of money.
 

tikited said:
Two for one at the Target Center bar?
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No, not at a Target Center bar. I was at Brothers before the preseason game and if i recall correctly they had 2 for 1s before all Wolves games. Food service is terrible, but a good option if you only want drinks! Plus Darko usually only plays at the beginning of the game - so no need to buy alcohol at the game.
 

bga1 said:
Bad and Jamiche- I just have a real lousy feeling about where this is headed and hope I am wrong. People will stick with things when things are going bad, but they won't just go along quietly and get charged more for it without a vision for improvement attached to it. There's no vision here at the U. Maturi is a small thinker who communicates no desire to be big time here. He's a guy who, to open a new football stadium hires a coach on the cheap. Then to steer a basketball team with no facilities- he breaks the bank. It's like any business- it makes no sense to market if you put nothing into production of the product. The whole thing has to be coordinated. The practice facility should be part of a whole master plan and they should not have kicked off this premium seating program without the promise that they would deliver on a future vision by a date certain. Yes, Jamiche there is Maturi fatigue- he's a nice guy who is small time. And now there is Tubby fatigue because of his stubborn pride and lack of passion for the program. There has to be a minimum of some assistant staff turnover and Maturi has to be gone soon- because a cohesive plan will not come from him.
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Agreed - The U continually tries to have it both ways. Complaints about the lack of coherency tend to get the refrain - we're educating students athletes. Complaints about cost structure and lack of loyalty to tickets holders - well, NCAA sports is a business now. Well, which is it? This is a pretty big risk for a big time program that doesn't know it's a big time program.
While dealing w/Maturi could be easy enough, Tubby refused to cooperate at UK with changing assistants so that will be a tough road. I'm concerned that what is evolving is that we have the equivalent of Gene Keady with no Matt Painter in the wings.

I had an interesting talk at a seminar with a player from the Irish Nat'l team (who played D1 in the US). He's working on a sport psych PhD. Said it is really tough for an older coach unless he has great assistants who can connect with the kids. That's what we need.
 

bga1 said:
Bad and Jamiche- I just have a real lousy feeling about where this is headed and hope I am wrong. People will stick with things when things are going bad, but they won't just go along quietly and get charged more for it without a vision for improvement attached to it. There's no vision here at the U. Maturi is a small thinker who communicates no desire to be big time here. He's a guy who, to open a new football stadium hires a coach on the cheap. Then to steer a basketball team with no facilities- he breaks the bank. It's like any business- it makes no sense to market if you put nothing into production of the product. The whole thing has to be coordinated. The practice facility should be part of a whole master plan and they should not have kicked off this premium seating program without the promise that they would deliver on a future vision by a date certain. Yes, Jamiche there is Maturi fatigue- he's a nice guy who is small time. And now there is Tubby fatigue because of his stubborn pride and lack of passion for the program. There has to be a minimum of some assistant staff turnover and Maturi has to be gone soon- because a cohesive plan will not come from him.
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Very well said. It's not like there is a bad vision, there just is no vision. BBall might need to make some changes. I do like Vince Taylor though. Honestly, Saul Smith is really the prime candicate to be replaced, and who thinks that will happen?
 

MotherNight said:
No, not at a Target Center bar. I was at Brothers before the preseason game and if i recall correctly they had 2 for 1s before all Wolves games. Food service is terrible, but a good option if you only want drinks! Plus Darko usually only plays at the beginning of the game - so no need to buy alcohol at the game.
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Thanks!
 

Ahhh. I can feel my seats improving with every loss...
 

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