I have 4 seats in section 24X and 2 parking spots in SKI-U-MAH, and I've exchanged tweets with Norwood Teague about this topic.
What let me down about how this was handled wasn't the end result per se. I get that the state fair is a parking monster and also that the University has to do its normal business on a Thursday. Both of those things are very big deals. However, both of them also should have been able to have been foreseen by the 'U' and Mr. Teague back when they came up with this Thursday night plan in the Spring (remember, he wants to open this way as long as he is AD). You could argue that we, the customers, should have anticipated issues for the same reason, but it is a poor business that forces its customers to anticipate problems rather than being out in front of them itself.
What should have happened? The best option that could have prevented all of this would have been for Mr. Teague, back in the Spring, to say something like "now we know with it being a workday and with the State Fair going on we are going to have to do some serious horse trading to get the parking situation worked out so that our tailgating fans can have the experience they deserve - we may not get it exactly like it would be on a Saturday but we're going to do our best" -- If they had done this, and then came out with a 2PM time now, everyone would have been happy! "OK, we got as many hours as we would for an 11AM start, and that's with all those other conflicts... good job!" -- but this wasn't done, of course.
The next best thing would have been for a more "honest" presentation of the actual time change, since it was done without advance notice. It would have been easy! "We apologize for the inconvenience to our fans, we hadn't anticipated how challenging, we especially apologize to St. Paul lot fans..." -- again, Gopher Nation is largely forgiving! We would have said --oh, well they worked hard, and they acknowledge they could have done better - fair enough". -- but this wasn't done either of course.
Instead, the 'U' just casually made the announcement without any hint of 'sorry for inconvenience' and then took the Orwellian step of actually bragging about the 3pm to 2pm change ("1 more hour to party!") -- it felt dishonest. Mr. Teague's tweets that lots "always" open 4 hours before game had the same tone. He has heard us, but his position was one of "if you're not happy, we'll give you your money back" and not in any way acknowledging that they could have done better. He has also tweeted to me that 4 hours is likely the most we will ever get in future years.
In summary:
1. For me, 4 hours is a lot better than 3... there's some kind of tailgating 'tipping point' in that duration when you consider set-up and tear-down that makes it worthwhile versus rushed. I' satisfied with the actual outcome given all that's going on and I get why 6 hours couldn't happen
2. I'm disappointed that the 'U' not only could have handled the presentation much better but that Mr. Teague refuses to acknowledge that they could have done better, instead taking he position of "this is how it is - if you don't like it we'll reimburse you". Maybe with more complaints from other fans this will change.
3. If you do want reimbursement, you should tweet @GoldenGopherAD and he is willing to do it
4. Mr. Teague has said 4 hours is likely as much of a high water mark as we'll get. I did not ask him if he thinks the St. Paul lot fans can get a better deal.
5. If you lost your party from the St. Paul lot, come and see us at the front of SKI-U-MAH and you can party with us. We're middle aged, but our lot always has the Southwest Corner for the 20-somethings as well and they welcome everyone... Not to mention the ex players over on the East end.
That's as much as I know! Go Gophers!
