Spring Games Are For Suckers
The Cincinnati Reds spring training games typically draw around 7,000 fans per game. Not a bad number, considering it is simply an exhibition game featuring a handful of players who won’t even see the field in the regular season. The Reds also feature an intra-squad scrimmage that fans can attend. It has been reported by RedsZone.com that attendance for a previous intra-squad scrimmage was under 600 fans.
In the world of college football, fans are a little more rabid. Or perhaps a little more ridiculous.
The spring game is a tradition that has been growing in popularity over the past few years for top college football programs. The spring game is merely college football’s version of an intra-squad spring training game…. but to Honk’s in these sleepy college towns, it is clearly much more.
A few weeks ago, over 90,000 people attended the spring game in Tuscaloosa to watch their beloved Alabama Crimson Tide play… themselves.
A glorified practice drew 91,312 fans.
What are they putting in the water in Alabama? Whatever it is, it must be contagious because Alabama isn’t the only school to go over the top with this silly tradition.
Nebraska and Ohio State, two teams that haven’t been relevant outside there respective states in years, both had over 65,000 people attend their spring game. Tickets for these games range in price (That’s right… it costs money
to watch these practices!) from $5 to $10, but according to an ESPN article, a $5 ticket in Lincoln to watch the Huskers was being sold by scalpers for almost $100! ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS!
Coach Urban Meyer thinks the tradition is preposterous as well. Florida’s spring game typically welcomes between 50 and 60 thousand people. When asked about the robust crowd gathering in Gainesville every April, Meyer said “What are you people doing… Go play golf or something!”.
While Meyer may be spot on with his assessment of these simpletons, he should consider holding his tongue. The spring games are a direct revenue stream for the athletic departments and the bigger programs bring in more than $500,000 in a single day!
P.T. Barnum was famously quoted as saying that “There’s a sucker born every minute”.
Apparently they have all relocated to Tuscaloosa, Lincoln and Columbus.
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Crazy Irrational Buckeye Fan will go to the ends of the Earth to prove how much they love their s**tty over-rated team.
People go to spring game to get loaded and act like jackasses. I must have seen 3 fights in Columbus this year in the lots.
As an Ohio state fan I know my comments will be seen as irrational, but to put them in the same category as Nebraska is absurd. We play big time national games every year and have been relevant nationally for the past decade. And yes I agree that spring games are ridiculous but not as ridiculous as that comment. The scarlet and gray game has been popular way before it was cool to have spring games.
this just proves that urban meyer doesnt get it – its all about the fans and the tradition at the big time schools.
ohio state might have lost a few more big games than they have won in recent years, but to call them irrelevant outside of ohio is laughable. start making a list of bcs games and count how many teams are ahead of osu…
Pointing to BCS games as a PRO Ohio State point?
What does Jim Tressel “get” that Urban Meyer doesn’t? Self-rightousness? Check. Boringness? Check. Losing big games? Check.
I thought it was all about winning, but I guess a Gator wouldn’t know any better…
enjoy your bosting time while it lasts gator fans … meyer’s health issue and no tebow, consider yourself lucky if you make a BCS game next season.
MT are you kidding me? Just because you play a ‘big time national game’ every year doesn’t make you relevant. if buckeyes won that game, they would be but they dont. if you are a buckeye fan you cant really weigh in on the topic because you are too close to the situation. listen to some national panelists and you will hear that ohio state and they big 10 just arent what they used to be. conferences rise and fall and the big 10 will come back to prominence soon but right now just take your lumps and recognize that you are nebraska. dont listen to me. listen to espn college football analysts
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/255884-the-big-ten-becomes-the-irrelevant-eleven
yes – getting into a BCS game, regardless of the outcome, is a huge accomplishment. I’m certain the staff at ND, Nebraska, Texas, LSU, WVU, etc, would happily trade their past 9 years of Bowl Games for OSU’s. this is a no brainer.
national radio guys and college football experts do list OSU as an elite program – i’m not sure what travis is listening to.
before you all get your panties in a bunch, do some research and come back to me.
Fun facts…
While Ohio State has the most appearances in the BCS , perhaps that speaks to the lack of depth and strength in the Big 10 conference. The Bucks winning percentage is only 1 game over .500 in those 8 BCS games.
Of the 11 teams in the Big 10, only 2 teams have winning records in BCS games. The SEC has twice that number of wining programs in BCS games. In fact, without the Buckeyes 5-3 record in BCS games, the big 10 has a .384 winning percentage. Not exactly world beaters.
To the above point, West Virginia and LSU are both undefeated in BCS game, and Texas has a better record in BCS games than do the Buckeyes.
(http://www.bcsfootball.org/news/story?id=4819309)
To say that any of those teams would swap records with Ohio State is sort of a stretch… From 1991-1994, The Buffalo Bills made it to the Super Bowl 4 times and didn’t win a single one. In that time span, the Dallas Cowboys only got to the big show twice. However they won both games. Would Troy Aikman and Cowboy nation trade those 2 rings in exchange for 4 trips to the the Super Bowl in a row? I doubt it. Same could probably be said for the 2-time champion LSU Tigers.
However, Notre Dame still blows. I think we can all agree on that.
Florida State has been to more BCS games than lsu. Who cares how Many u get to. That don’t mean s**t.
HAHAHAHHAHAHAH BUCKEYES FUKIN SUCK SO BAD