Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which would like to apologize to Ryan J. Boyd for a disturbing lack of Ryan J. Boyd lately. We’re better than that. We’ll get better.
Speaking of getting better, let’s continue what’s been a thoughtful and enjoyable discussion of student section situation. Huggins spoke again on the matter Thursday and didn’t clarify anything, but elaborated instead.
“I love the students,” he said.
“They’re what brings enthusiasm to the game. I got a letter upstairs from guy who said, ‘The older I get, the less vocal I get,’ which is true. We need the students and we need them to be involved. I’m not trying to cut them out, but if we’re going to say this is one of the great venues to play in, they need to come out. When they come out, it’s unbelievable.”
You know what’s refreshing? Huggins has spoken out on a few things, but has never taken the tried and tired day-after “What I meant to say was …” route. It seems he means what he says, probably because he’s given it a lot of thought. Too often we have people act in the heat of the moment and react in its wake. This is a welcome change.
As for the situation, is there one? Is he or anyone else saying anything we don’t already know? There is a certain frustration and sometimes it’s better to deal with frustrations than ignore them. This on the table now and it will and must be dealt with.Â
Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, be careful.
overtheSEC said:
I think the student allottment should be reduced, if only by a section or two and students should apply for basketball tickets just like they have to with football. Huggins made those comments after losing in the Oakland Zoo; check out Pitt’s student ticket policy. http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/tickets/student-ticket-policies.html#a6
Their Loyalty Point system is something I’ve suggested we do for football to address students coming late and leave early. In a nutshell, if you only go to Elon, Longwood, and Delaware State, you have a better chance of getting a ticket against Louisville than someone who only went to UConn, Pitt, and Villanova.
Also, MLB teams have ticket exchange programs for their season ticket holders, why can’t someone be innovative and find a way for the season ticket holders to exchange their unused tickets and allow the University to sell them. As encouragement to participate, the holder can get some $ credit to their MAC donation or something.
The athletic department needs to invest in resources and in creative people for the ticket office to initiate these innovations if they want to maximize revenue and keep their coaches happy. Â
I like it. WVU does a lot of things well in this area, but it’s a new era and other places were just more proactive. That’s not a slight against WVUÂ — honest! — as much as it is a tip of the cap to other places. A lot of this is studying what others are doing. As much as it may hurt to admit, Pitt is a good place to start, though Pitt had a lot of solutions built into a new facility, mainly the suites and seating accommodations for big spenders.Â
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