11-11-2017, 03:58 PM
I left the game at halftime. Was I despondent that we were down by 4 points? No. Was I cold? Yes, a bit, but that wasn't the problem. I left because of the absolutely intolerable noise level of the music with which we were bombarded AFTER EVERY PLAY! I was not one of the people on the cardboard who previously complained about the PA system being too loud. However, last night it was definitely much too loud. It was so bad my ears hurt. As it happens, I am a bit deaf, so if it bothered me, it had to be worse for others. So yes, it needs to be attenuated significantly. It could be that the crowd was so much smaller than expected that there weren't enough bodies to absorb the sound level, but if so, that has to be dynamically adjustable.
My objection was not just the volume. I felt that I was at a concert where a football game broke out. I came to watch a game, not to be constantly subjected to very load, driving music over which I had no control and which had no relevance to the game situation. It is literally true that they played music between almost every play. I can recall once that the band actually got a word in edgewise. This atmosphere is unacceptable to me. I am 100% behind trying to generate enthusiasm on third down and three. However, a PA announcement and the gongs does that fine. Nothing of the sort is needed or wanted on first and ten. It doesn't make sense, and no matter how loud you play it, it still doesn't make sense. You can't even talk to the person next to you because they can't hear you!
It seems that this noise is provided because somebody is afraid of "dead air', where nothing is happening. Well, that is the actual condition when teams huddle (like Stanford does). It is also probably an attempt to generate enthusiasm among Stanford fans, who are known to be a bit understated by SEC criteria. Well, it doesn't work, because there is no relation between the game and the music. Everyone is just basically pounded senseless by the end of the first quarter.
I went home and watched on TV. Yes, there were commercials, leading to the many and long breaks in the action that are not part of football, but rather of TV. However, there are now commercials in the stadium too, so in today's PAC-12 football, it is a wash. At home, instead of pounding noise, I got a sometimes interesting commentary on the game. I didn't get the benefit of talking to my friends, but you can't do that in the stadium either, because they can't hear you. So the bottom line is that, given the current situation, watching on TV is better. Maybe that is why so many of the people at our tailgate, even many that have tickets, don't actually go into the stadium. They stay outside, watch the game on TV, and drink wine (mostly red, but probably some chard). And no, these people are not all old like I am. It is not a generational thing.
This is a real problem. If this situation doesn't improve, we will lose even more fans.
My objection was not just the volume. I felt that I was at a concert where a football game broke out. I came to watch a game, not to be constantly subjected to very load, driving music over which I had no control and which had no relevance to the game situation. It is literally true that they played music between almost every play. I can recall once that the band actually got a word in edgewise. This atmosphere is unacceptable to me. I am 100% behind trying to generate enthusiasm on third down and three. However, a PA announcement and the gongs does that fine. Nothing of the sort is needed or wanted on first and ten. It doesn't make sense, and no matter how loud you play it, it still doesn't make sense. You can't even talk to the person next to you because they can't hear you!
It seems that this noise is provided because somebody is afraid of "dead air', where nothing is happening. Well, that is the actual condition when teams huddle (like Stanford does). It is also probably an attempt to generate enthusiasm among Stanford fans, who are known to be a bit understated by SEC criteria. Well, it doesn't work, because there is no relation between the game and the music. Everyone is just basically pounded senseless by the end of the first quarter.
I went home and watched on TV. Yes, there were commercials, leading to the many and long breaks in the action that are not part of football, but rather of TV. However, there are now commercials in the stadium too, so in today's PAC-12 football, it is a wash. At home, instead of pounding noise, I got a sometimes interesting commentary on the game. I didn't get the benefit of talking to my friends, but you can't do that in the stadium either, because they can't hear you. So the bottom line is that, given the current situation, watching on TV is better. Maybe that is why so many of the people at our tailgate, even many that have tickets, don't actually go into the stadium. They stay outside, watch the game on TV, and drink wine (mostly red, but probably some chard). And no, these people are not all old like I am. It is not a generational thing.
This is a real problem. If this situation doesn't improve, we will lose even more fans.
