LNS: Is the Hornet’s Nest Gone?

#276
#276
Agreed. Watching the game on TV last night, I was disgusted. We had a psycho maniac for Wake Forest on the mound punching himself in the head, showing how affected my his emotions he is as a freshmen, and our fans mostly sat there and did nothing.

I get that the rain early on impacted the vibe. But the environment just isn’t the same anymore. You can cut the tension with the knife through the TV. I think our fans are quickly taking for granted what this program has become, and now they just expect us to win without any fan support.

I’m not sure how you fix it, maybe you can’t with the cost of going to the game these days getting out of control. But it’s always going to be my biggest concern about keeping Vitello. I still think that as amazing as our fanbase is collectively across all sports, we’re still a football school first and we just don’t give our all for the rest of them. The environment in TBA for basketball has also noticeably gotten worse over the years.
 
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#277
#277
WallyBalls said:
Still extremely frustrated with LNS after last night.

It was at times flat embarrassing. Multiple times this weekend the coaching staff and the dugout in general has been completely and totally exasperated as 85% of the stadium just kinda sat there during high pressure spots. 3-0 count and we're at bat? Crickets. 3-2 high leverage pitch with them batting? Crickets. My section of about 100 people? 5 or 6 of us yelling.

Then in the bottom of the 9th (BEFORE it was clear the outcome) about 1,000+ just bolt for the exits. To beat traffic?! There's a third of what is in TBA as far as crowd. What damn traffic? It was shameful.

I don't think people realize the influence they can have on a game and the value Vitello, the staff, and most importantly the players place on it. If you're going tonight, DO SOMETHING.
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Agreed. Watching hundreds of folks leave in the bottom of the 9th was pathetic. Embarassing to witness fans giving up on a team…
 
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#278
#278
TheMookieMonster said:
Agreed. Watching the game on TV last night, I was disgusted. We had a psycho maniac for Wake Forest on the mound punching himself in the head, showing how affected my his emotions he is as a freshmen, and our fans mostly sat there and did nothing.

I get that the rain early on impacted the vibe. But the environment just isn’t the same anymore. You can cut the tension with the knife through the TV. I think our fans are quickly taking for granted what this program has become, and now they just expect us to win without any fan support.

I’m not sure how you fix it, maybe you can’t with the cost of going to the game these days getting out of control. But it’s always going to be my biggest concern about keeping Vitello. I still think that as amazing as our fanbase is collectively across all sports, we’re still a football school first and we just don’t give our all for the rest of them. The environment in TBA for basketball has also noticeably gotten worse over the years.
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You are correct 💯 percent
 
#279
#279
TheMookieMonster said:
Agreed. Watching the game on TV last night, I was disgusted. We had a psycho maniac for Wake Forest on the mound punching himself in the head, showing how affected my his emotions he is as a freshmen, and our fans mostly sat there and did nothing.

I get that the rain early on impacted the vibe. But the environment just isn’t the same anymore. You can cut the tension with the knife through the TV. I think our fans are quickly taking for granted what this program has become, and now they just expect us to win without any fan support.

I’m not sure how you fix it, maybe you can’t with the cost of going to the game these days getting out of control. But it’s always going to be my biggest concern about keeping Vitello. I still think that as amazing as our fanbase is collectively across all sports, we’re still a football school first and we just don’t give our all for the rest of them. The environment in TBA for basketball has also noticeably gotten worse over the years.
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The reason I'm so bothered by it is its bothering the players and the coaches. The guys that actually work for this. The coaches are furious at times, the players literally look at each other confused as to why they're having to wave their arms to get some noise.


There needs to be an all hands meeting sometime in July with Vitello and the ops people, the AD, and anyone else with a hand in it.

Sounds cheesy, but the first step is admitting there's a major problem. The AD/Ops side needs to admit the faults and confront them with input from the baseball people.

Listen to the coaching staff. They have seen more parks and know what works. Ask them.

You need to sit and speak with your ticketholders. Call them focus groups, call them whatever. You need to see what people in the stands are telling you. And now you have digital data so you can pull the ticketholders who are there the most, don't sell, etc. Its worth it to see if there's a common theme to what they say. The end of year surveys are a joke. Talk to actual people.

Quit obsessing over extracting every last nickel from every living soul that walks through the gates. Let people enjoy being there.

Watch games at Ark, LSU, Ole Miss, Miss State, A&M. They're all successful programs, but maintained some life in their parks. UT absolutely snuffed the soul out of LNS this year and they need to let it grow back as soon as possible.
 
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#280
#280
WallyBalls said:
The reason I'm so bothered by it is its bothering the players and the coaches. The guys that actually work for this. The coaches are furious at times, the players literally look at each other confused as to why they're having to wave their arms to get some noise.


There needs to be an all hands meeting sometime in July with Vitello and the ops people, the AD, and anyone else with a hand in it.

Sounds cheesy, but the first step is admitting there's a major problem. The AD/Ops side needs to admit the faults and confront them with input from the baseball people.

Listen to the coaching staff. They have seen more parks and know what works. Ask them.

You need to sit and speak with your ticketholders. Call them focus groups, call them whatever. You need to see what people in the stands are telling you. And now you have digital data so you can pull the ticketholders who are there the most, don't sell, etc. Its worth it to see if there's a common theme to what they say. The end of year surveys are a joke. Talk to actual people.

Quit obsessing over extracting every last nickel from every living soul that walks through the gates. Let people enjoy being there.

Watch games at Ark, LSU, Ole Miss, Miss State, A&M. They're all successful programs, but maintained some life in their parks. UT absolutely snuffed the soul out of LNS this year and they need to let it grow back as soon as possible.
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You are correct, the players have to beg some of the fans to get involved. Need more of the common fan than the wine and cheese crowd
 
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#281
#281
WallyBalls said:
The reason I'm so bothered by it is its bothering the players and the coaches. The guys that actually work for this. The coaches are furious at times, the players literally look at each other confused as to why they're having to wave their arms to get some noise.


There needs to be an all hands meeting sometime in July with Vitello and the ops people, the AD, and anyone else with a hand in it.

Sounds cheesy, but the first step is admitting there's a major problem. The AD/Ops side needs to admit the faults and confront them with input from the baseball people.

Listen to the coaching staff. They have seen more parks and know what works. Ask them.

You need to sit and speak with your ticketholders. Call them focus groups, call them whatever. You need to see what people in the stands are telling you. And now you have digital data so you can pull the ticketholders who are there the most, don't sell, etc. Its worth it to see if there's a common theme to what they say. The end of year surveys are a joke. Talk to actual people.

Quit obsessing over extracting every last nickel from every living soul that walks through the gates. Let people enjoy being there.

Watch games at Ark, LSU, Ole Miss, Miss State, A&M. They're all successful programs, but maintained some life in their parks. UT absolutely snuffed the soul out of LNS this year and they need to let it grow back as soon as possible.
Click to expand...

I’m not sure you can fix it when you have people coming onto this board using excuses like “It’s my money, and if I want to go to the game and sit on my hands I will do that. Don’t tell me how to be a fan!”

I do think part of it isn’t just the “wine and cheese” crowd. I think we have become so numb to success in all sports that our fans have forgotten what it was like just 5 years ago when we were bottom feeders in every sport except for basketball and even then our basketball team had a rough couple of years where they underperformed. Success has made this fanbase complacent. I’m afraid it’s going to take some down years to ignite that fire again.
 
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#282
#282
TheMookieMonster said:
I’m not sure you can fix it when you have people coming onto this board using excuses like “It’s my money, and if I want to go to the game and sit on my hands I will do that. Don’t tell me how to be a fan!”

I do think part of it isn’t just the “wine and cheese” crowd. I think we have become so numb to success in all sports that our fans have forgotten what it was like just 5 years ago when we were bottom feeders in every sport except for basketball and even then our basketball team had a rough couple of years where they underperformed. Success has made this fanbase complacent. I’m afraid it’s going to take some down years to ignite that fire again.
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It's maddening how complacent this fan base gets so quickly... one little taste of success and instead of getting hungry for more, we rest on our laurels and act like we're God's gift to the sport!
 
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#285
#285
Y'all, all I know is that I went freakin' hoarse last night yelling to drown out that old man Wake fan who kept yelling "WAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKEEEEEEE," and I only had 3-4 people helping me. We've got to do better tonight. And my voice is at half strength. Let's freakin' go.
 
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#286
#286
The biggest issue from my perspective is there aren’t really any household names that have started and ended their careers with Tennessee. And it’s not just a baseball issue. We’re about to see it in basketball now that Zakai is gone. Hunter Ensley is like the only position player that fits the profile for a true VFL. The past several teams were littered with guys that were “Tennessee” through and through. College athletics has become nothing more than mercenary sports. Just go get a stopgap every season from the transfer portal. I don’t blame the coaches because this is the hand they have been dealt. I’m sure if you asked them they would much prefer the former of building a sustainable program as opposed to having to deal with the portal every year. College sports as a whole is losing its luster among fans because it is becoming more and more like professional sports where you have an entirely different roster year to year, kids threatening to leave if they don’t get a raise. It is a huge turnoff for fans. It used to mean something to be a 3-4 year player at the school. You used to build a connection and it’s just not the same anymore.
 
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#287
#287
TheMookieMonster said:
I’m not sure you can fix it when you have people coming onto this board using excuses like “It’s my money, and if I want to go to the game and sit on my hands I will do that. Don’t tell me how to be a fan!”

I do think part of it isn’t just the “wine and cheese” crowd. I think we have become so numb to success in all sports that our fans have forgotten what it was like just 5 years ago when we were bottom feeders in every sport except for basketball and even then our basketball team had a rough couple of years where they underperformed. Success has made this fanbase complacent. I’m afraid it’s going to take some down years to ignite that fire again.
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Agree and disagree. I think it’ll take a couple of down years for ticket prices to come down and normal people to be able to get in the building again.
 
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#292
#292
WallyBalls said:
The reason I'm so bothered by it is its bothering the players and the coaches. The guys that actually work for this. The coaches are furious at times, the players literally look at each other confused as to why they're having to wave their arms to get some noise.


There needs to be an all hands meeting sometime in July with Vitello and the ops people, the AD, and anyone else with a hand in it.

Sounds cheesy, but the first step is admitting there's a major problem. The AD/Ops side needs to admit the faults and confront them with input from the baseball people.

Listen to the coaching staff. They have seen more parks and know what works. Ask them.

You need to sit and speak with your ticketholders. Call them focus groups, call them whatever. You need to see what people in the stands are telling you. And now you have digital data so you can pull the ticketholders who are there the most, don't sell, etc. Its worth it to see if there's a common theme to what they say. The end of year surveys are a joke. Talk to actual people.

Quit obsessing over extracting every last nickel from every living soul that walks through the gates. Let people enjoy being there.

Watch games at Ark, LSU, Ole Miss, Miss State, A&M. They're all successful programs, but maintained some life in their parks. UT absolutely snuffed the soul out of LNS this year and they need to let it grow back as soon as possible.
Click to expand...
People start paying what they consider to be a significant amount of money for something and their mindset changes on why they're going. Instead of going to be a part of the game, they go be entertained and "get what they paid for." That is human nature that transcends sports. It shows up in all facets of life. UT baseball is the new hot thing in town and the prices and popularity have changed not just the demographic of who is in the stadium, but the mindset.

I have, since I was old enough to remember, been disgusted by people attending UT games socially. I largely refused to sit in the student section while I was in school because too many of the students were just there bc it was the place to be socially, and didn't have a clue about football.

To me at least, we are there to help the team. To impose our will upon the enemy, I mean visitors. To make their lives absolutely miserable for 2-4 hours. Be hospitable after the game, but during the game the opposing team should think they're in a den of lunatics, and the umps should be trying to figure out how to eject the entire crowd and still escape with their lives.

Forget what we paid for the ticket. When we go to the game, we've gotta ask ourselves a question. Are we going to be entertained or going to be a Volunteer. Most of us will never have the talent necessary to get on that field and actually contribute. What little impact we can have on the game from the stands is how we contribute. If we're going just to watch and be entertained, then that's not Volunteering. That's what they do at Peabody on West End in Nashville.

If you're lucky enough to go today, go be a Volunteer!
 
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#293
#293
We lose a game and @DookieMonster blames the football team. Never fails.


You rarely, if ever, see our players begging fans in Neyland to be loud.
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The players encourage and implore the fans the entire game, looking up into the stands and lifting their arms. Maybe you've never watched? The coaches and players encourage the fans to be loud in interviews in the time leading up to the game every week. Maybe you missed that.

When you have been in LNS, did you personally attempt to scream so loud "the opposing pitcher couldn’t even hear the PitchCom in his ear" every pitch? "As loud as humanly possible"? Set an example.

Quit blaming other people when our team loses. It's baseball. Maybe you don't understand the game. Teams sometimes lose. That's why the tournament is double elimination. Football fans, you never tire of falsely repeating, think we are going to win every game.
 
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#294
#294
It’s also embarrassing we have a certain infielder that continues to hurt the team on defense. Kind of hard for a crowd to get up whenever a single play costs the team 3 runs in an inning whenever all you have to do is eat it instead of airmailing it into left field. Defense has been horrible all season and that’s a downer. Just saying 🤷‍♂️
 
#295
#295
darsinewman said:
Y'all, all I know is that I went freakin' hoarse last night yelling to drown out that old man Wake fan who kept yelling "WAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKEEEEEEE," and I only had 3-4 people helping me. We've got to do better tonight. And my voice is at half strength. Let's freakin' go.
Click to expand...

I'm hoarse, sore as hell, and barely slept last night.

I'll do it again tonight.
 
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