AU alum 2 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 This article was in the Montgomery Advertiser today. I used to think that the sports coverage was equal for Auburn and Alabama. No more. I think some of the Bammerham staff moved down here. This was a front page article, by the way. (I'm really thinking about cancelling my subscription). http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/p...32/1001#comment August 7, 2007 Demand soars for Tide tickets By Tim Gayle TUSCALOOSA -- A seat at an Alabama football game always has been a hot commodity, but the hiring of Nick Saban as head coach has ticket sales sizzling. The demand is so great, in fact, that university officials are talking about building an addition to the 92,138-seat Bryant-Denny Stadium. And the stadium was just expanded in 2006. Even a $15 price increase -- from $40 to $55 for a Southeastern Conference game -- isn't squelching Saban mania. "Last year, with the expansion of the stadium and all the excitement we had with that, this has probably doubled that," said Chris Besanceney, assistant athletic director for ticketing. "And we were sold out last year." Season tickets go out today, along with refunds for orders that can't be filled. The ticket office put ordering priorities in place for students and faculty because demand exceeded the allotment set aside for them. Former lettermen and visiting teams also have allotments. The remainder goes to Tide Pride, the donor program that every Crimson Tide fan must join to buy season tickets. "The demand is unbelievable," said Crimson Tide fan Colin MacGuire of Greenville, a season ticket holder for 28 years. "There's a ton of folks that will probably hang around outside the (stadium) gates just to buy tickets." MacGuire, a former football manager, buys his tickets through an allotment to "A" Club members, so he believes the ticket office will be able to fill his request. "I'm not really that concerned," he said. "Maybe I'm fooling myself, but I've been doing this for so long, I order tickets every year just to make sure I keep my (seniority) priority." There never has been a shortage of hopeful fans waiting to snap up those extra tickets -- and their requests have skyrocketed since Saban's hiring in January. Athletic Director Mal Moore unequivocally describes the demand as "the biggest" ever. The Crimson Tide's annual spring scrimmage, A-Day, was standing room only. The excitement created by the new head coach is no surprise to Besanceney, who worked in the Michigan State ticket office as a student when Saban coached the Spartans in the early 1990s. "Is it one individual? Yeah, that's certainly part of it," he said. "Coach Saban has brought that out in everybody. That's probably the No. 1 reason we had 92,000 at the A-Day game. But schools just don't hire Nick Saban and then have 92,000. You have to have the Alabama tradition and fan following we already have." The higher ticket price, according to Besanceney, reflects the higher demand last year created by the team's success in 2005 (10-2 overall, 6-2 SEC under head coach Mike Shula) and the north end zone stadium expansion following the winning season. "There are very few schools in the country, if any, that are experiencing the demands we are right now," he said. "And I think that's directly related to the tradition we've experienced in the past and translated into what people see in a crystal ball in the future with our hire of Nick Saban." Besanceney must balance a finite number of tickets with more and more requests in every category. The university, for example, had to come up with a new way to allocate student tickets this year after 15,000 sold out in 2006 before incoming freshmen had the chance to buy any. Now, the policy reserves 11,000 season tickets for returning upperclassmen, 2,700 split into three- and four-game packages for incoming freshman, 900 for the Million Dollar Band and 400 set aside as complimentary tickets given to student-athletes. Probably the greatest increase in ticket requests, though, is coming from Tide Pride. More than 5,000 donors, Besanceney said, have requested 12,000 season tickets -- which doubles the number of names on the waiting list in the eight months since Saban came on board. When extra tickets do become available, they're gobbled up in a hurry. It took only four minutes for Tide fans to buy 2,300 tickets that Western Carolina returned for its 2007 season opener at Alabama. Even returned tickets for lightly regarded Louisiana-Monroe sold out in less than two days. The only way to meet demand would be to expand the stadium -- again. There is talk of taking the number of seats to more than 100,000 with a South end zone addition. In reality, Besanceney doesn't think a stadium could be built big enough to fill all the ticket requests. He estimates there are enough requests to fill the existing stadium twice over. It's a nice problem to have, although no one wants to be in his shoes this time of year. "You don't want to say no to people," he said. "You want to be here to help people." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaGrad03 0 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I'm pretty sure every media outlet in the world is slanted Pro Bama...and subsequently, Anti-Auburn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saniflush 0 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I'm pretty sure every media outlet in the world is slanted Pro Bama...and subsequently, Anti-Auburn. Glad you are finally starting to own this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumbo 0 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I'm pretty sure every media outlet in the world is slanted Pro Bama...and subsequently, Anti-Auburn. The best post from you this year great job BTW I heard $aban kicked the wincrimson out of Chuck NOrris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FootballFanatic 4 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Honestly I am not sure where the slant is. They reported that bama has a huge demand for season tickets since $abear started. Erm, okay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangeandblue 0 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Ok, I have a stupid question. That definition of tradition said it was something passed down. I always thought that a tradition was something you tried to do on a yearly basis. So, that being the case, what exactly is the bama tradition? If it was winning, well, thats over and we can retire the term. In reality their "tradition" of lately has been mediocrity. And that is something to celebrate? But then again it seems like logic and we all know how far that gets with their fanbase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaGrad03 0 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Pretty weak for your first post. I mean really, you FIRST post here is to slam Alabama? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangeandblue 0 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Ive got more but it just came to mind as I read that def. of tradition. Its something Ive always been curious about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUloggerhead 2,253 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Ive got more but it just came to mind as I read that def. of tradition. Its something Ive always been curious about. O&B, you're on the right track. Tradition is something that gets established over time and then practiced on a repeat basis (e.g. rolling Toomer's Corner, Tiger Walk & more recently, the Pre-game Eagle Flight.) History is a record of what has happened in the past. The poor ignoramuses on the other side of the state have often confused history with tradition. Curiously, they actually believe that past winning seasons entitle them to think that winning future ball games is "tradishun." Many have tried to inform these unfortunates of the facts behind their history of winning ball games is due more to cheating, academic fraud, and other unethical lapses than true athletic prowess but alas, they are not known for facing up & embracing the truth. They have a long & dubioous history of breeding & inclulcating their young with the delusion gene. It's tradishun for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangeandblue 0 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Ive got more but it just came to mind as I read that def. of tradition. Its something Ive always been curious about. O&B, you're on the right track. Tradition is something that gets established over time and then practiced on a repeat basis (e.g. rolling Toomer's Corner, Tiger Walk & more recently, the Pre-game Eagle Flight.) History is a record of what has happened in the past. The poor ignoramuses on the other side of the state have often confused history with tradition. Curiously, they actually believe that past winning seasons entitle them to think that winning future ball games is "tradishun." Many have tried to inform these unfortunates of the facts behind their history of winning ball games is due more to cheating, academic fraud, and other unethical lapses than true athletic prowess but alas, they are not known for facing up & embracing the truth. They have a long & dubioous history of breeding & inclulcating their young with the delusion gene. It's tradishun for them. I guess because I didnt introduce myself like an AA meeting in my first post, I made a bad impression. Regardless, in my 6 years of living in Alabama I picked up that fact pretty quick. It was tradition many years ago but somewhere along the way the tradition died. Now its just fodder and stories of days gone by. BTW... Since I failed my first post I will give my 2 second introduction. Im about to finish my MS at Auburn while simultaneously starting my first semester of Law school. I just moved away and miss the plains already. Ill be back for the K-State game and can't wait. WDE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUloggerhead 2,253 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Ive got more but it just came to mind as I read that def. of tradition. Its something Ive always been curious about. O&B, you're on the right track. Tradition is something that gets established over time and then practiced on a repeat basis (e.g. rolling Toomer's Corner, Tiger Walk & more recently, the Pre-game Eagle Flight.) History is a record of what has happened in the past. The poor ignoramuses on the other side of the state have often confused history with tradition. Curiously, they actually believe that past winning seasons entitle them to think that winning future ball games is "tradishun." Many have tried to inform these unfortunates of the facts behind their history of winning ball games is due more to cheating, academic fraud, and other unethical lapses than true athletic prowess but alas, they are not known for facing up & embracing the truth. They have a long & dubioous history of breeding & inclulcating their young with the delusion gene. It's tradishun for them. I guess because I didnt introduce myself like an AA meeting in my first post, I made a bad impression. Regardless, in my 6 years of living in Alabama I picked up that fact pretty quick. It was tradition many years ago but somewhere along the way the tradition died. Now its just fodder and stories of days gone by. BTW... Since I failed my first post I will give my 2 second introduction. Im about to finish my MS at Auburn while simultaneously starting my first semester of Law school. I just moved away and miss the plains already. Ill be back for the K-State game and can't wait. WDE! Well, let me be the first to welcome you to the board. Post as much as you can and disregard anyone who points out your post count. Good luck on the MS & law school. WDE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaGrad03 0 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 orangeandblue, you didn't make a bad first impression. I was just giving you a hard time. That's what I do here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangeandblue 0 Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Im familiar... I've read the boards for years. I not worried too much about it, heck, Im moving to New Orleans so Im sure the LSU fans will be just as... well annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravad 77 Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 Pretty weak for your first post. I mean really, you FIRST post here is to slam Alabama? Welcome O&B...and that is exactly what you are supposed to do with all your posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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