To all the fans that left early......thanks for nothing!

[CrimsonForce]

Saban (at his PC today) said he was pleased with the energy and passion that the fans showed in this game. He said the players fed off that energy and it really helped the players..

 

[TiderMan]

LOL at all the early leavers in this thread trying to justify it.

LOL at all the fake outrage from people that stayed at home on Saturday night in their air conditioned Bama rooms with flat screen TV's, no line to wait in for the bathroom, and a 50 foot walk to their bed after the game. You are indeed the only true diehard fans that Bama has.

 

[2003TIDE]

LOL at all the fake outrage from people that stayed at home on Saturday night in their air conditioned Bama rooms with flat screen TV's, no line to wait in for the bathroom, and a 50 foot walk to their bed after the game. You are indeed the only true diehard fans that Bama has.

Says the person who only has < 2hr drive back home after the game and still prob left early. Our tickets were sold to someone who could go to the game and didn't have to drive back to ATL. Like I said earlier, if I'm there I never leave early when BAMA is losing (except for the 2000 iron bowl where my jacket and boots leaked through and I couldn't feel my toes at the start of the 4th qtr.)

 

[Bama Lee]

Folks should not be able to tell you what you can or can't do - free country and all that. But folks will always judge what you choose to do - consequences.

Do what you feel is right, but be prepared to be criticized for those actions.

Amen

 

[B1GTide]

Saban (at his PC today) said he was pleased with the energy and passion that the fans showed in this game. He said the players fed off that energy and it really helped the players..

Yep, and I am sure that their passion helped - while it lasted. I seriously doubt that Saban is going to get on the fans about this. I has not helped when other coaches have tried - it just made those incidents into front page stories and created the type of dissension that you see in this thread, except that the rift was created between fans and the coaches. That isn't going to help anyone.

Someone earlier in thread indicated that some players tweeted about the exodus. That is evidence enough about how they really felt about it in the locker room.

 

[alwayshavebeen]

In the cold you can put on many layers to warm up, but in heat you are limited on what you can take off. Bad example

Selective reading on your part. Did 15,000 people get hot at the same time?

 

[81usaf92]

Selective reading on your part. Did 15,000 people get hot at the same time?

I brought up that example because the class enforcers were making it seem like all of the fans who left were a bunch of classless fair weather fans. I even capitalized the word SOME to emphasize that some had a good reason to leave. So I think the selective reading is on your end.

 

[TiderMan]

Says the person who only has < 2hr drive back home after the game and still prob left early. Our tickets were sold to someone who could go to the game and didn't have to drive back to ATL. Like I said earlier, if I'm there I never leave early when BAMA is losing (except for the 2000 iron bowl where my jacket and boots leaked through and I couldn't feel my toes at the start of the 4th qtr.)

Actually I did stay until the end of game but I did feel like leaving several times. We left our seats in the east upper deck when Ole Miss went up 43-24 and watched most of the rest of the game from the TV's on the concourse on back side of upper deck while drinking a coke. When Bama started to rally, we walked back inside the stadium seating area and sat in an open seat and stayed until Coker threw the 4th down incompletion with 30 seconds to go. We then left the stadium at 12:25 AM. The main reason we didn't leave was that we didn't want to miss a miracle finish and then regret it. However, if someone decides to leave, it is there decision and I am not going to blame them for doing it. Each fan there took the time to be there and invested much more than the 4 hours that the game took. Almost all fans were on campus at least 2-3 hours before the game started and many arrived in the morning or early afternoon. We left home about 3:00 PM and got parked by 5 PM and campus was packed with people. So it was a long day for most fans. We did joke on the way home that we should have left with the score 43-24 and we probably would have gotten home at 1:30 AM instead of 2:45 AM. However, if we would have left early, I wouldn't have felt bad or I wouldn't have felt that I was the reason we lost the game. We lost because Ole Miss played better than us and scored more points.

 

[B1GTide]

However, if we would have left early, I wouldn't have felt bad or I wouldn't have felt that I was the reason we lost the game. We lost because Ole Miss played better than us and scored more points.

No doubt, the fans did not decide the game. But answer this question - if your son were one of the players or coaches, would you have even considered leaving early?

 

[Wayne4Bama2]

I didn't leave early-but--I will if I want to...As someone has already said "If you were not at the game you have no room to comment". Looks as if some of the so called Bama fans already jumped off the bus... Good---Roll Tide

 

[TiderMan]

No doubt, the fans did not decide the game. But answer this question - if your son were one of the players or coaches, would you have even considered leaving early?

So now I am getting questioned because I just considered leaving early. Wow, that is a first time I have heard that one.

I am sure that most if not all parents of players and or coaches stay the entire game so that they can talk with and spend some time with their sons after the game. I know that I would. I am sure that some think about leaving too but don't.

 

[tidegrandpa]

What happened to these fans Saturday night ? And we were ahead in this game at the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z475wBoEMRg#t=55

 

[B1GTide]

So now I am getting questioned because I just considered leaving early. Wow, that is a first time I have heard that one.

I am sure that most if not all parents of players and or coaches stay the entire game so that they can talk with and spend some time with their sons after the game. I know that I would. I am sure that some think about leaving too but don't.

That is why I chose you - because you would not take it as an attack, and it was not meant as one. My point is that people who are truly invested in this team stayed. People who were only invested until it was no longer convenient left.

 

[alwayshavebeen]

I brought up that example because the class enforcers were making it seem like all of the fans who left were a bunch of classless fair weather fans. I even capitalized the word SOME to emphasize that some had a good reason to leave. So I think the selective reading is on your end.

Doesn't change the facts at all. RTR

 

[TiderMan]

That is why I chose you - because you would not take it as an attack, and it was not meant as one. My point is that people who are truly invested in this team stayed. People who were only invested until it was no longer convenient left.

Well I definitely do not agree with that last statement. That is like saying only those who attended the University as a student can be a true fan, or only those who are in Tide Pride as a season ticket holder can be a true fan, or only those that donate large sums of money to the University and football team can be a true fan, ... etc. All of those statements are ridiculous and it is also ridiculous to say that only the truly invested fans stayed for the entire game.

 

[alwayshavebeen]

My last post on this subject, and it speaks for itself in terms of National perception -

Chris Fowler, ESPN commentator: I've never seen an Alabama team get down 20 at home, the crowd headed for the exits with nine minutes to play...I had just never seen people head out in those kind of numbers, especially with their team behind. A lot of fans sort of bailed. The ones that were there at the end weren't making a lot of noise.

LINK

 

[Mamacalled]

I left early because I have a two hour drive if I beat the traffic out. I planned on leaving early no matter what the score was. I love Bama and this is my tenth year to be in TIde Pride. We usually leave early 75% of the time. I have a family to get home to. If you want to blame me and the other fans for the loss go ahead. I blame the 5 turnovers.

Two hours? Is that all? I did it all the time when I lived in Marietta, Ga and wouldn't dare leave early. That was during the Dubose and Shula years. If it is a bother to do a two hour drive then maybe you should stay home

 

[KrAzY3]

My last post on this subject, and it speaks for itself in terms of National perception -

Chris Fowler, ESPN commentator: I've never seen an Alabama team get down 20 at home, the crowd headed for the exits with nine minutes to play...I had just never seen people head out in those kind of numbers, especially with their team behind. A lot of fans sort of bailed. The ones that were there at the end weren't making a lot of noise.

LINK

Sometimes it's hard for fans to get objective perspective on some things. It's hard for them to realize how great Alabama has been, yes even the past couple years, and it's hard for them to realize how some of them look sometimes. I will not blame the fans leaving on the loss, but... if they keep this habit of leaving early I absolutely, without a doubt believe it will ultimately lead to losses, whether it negatively impacts play, or negatively impacts recruiting.

 

[B1GTide]

Well I definitely do not agree with that last statement. That is like saying only those who attended the University as a student can be a true fan, or only those who are in Tide Pride as a season ticket holder can be a true fan, or only those that donate large sums of money to the University and football team can be a true fan, ... etc. All of those statements are ridiculous and it is also ridiculous to say that only the truly invested fans stayed for the entire game.

When you think about it the way that I explained it, it makes perfect sense. It is also how players and coaches view fans. It is the way that "fans" operate.

If you have every loved a player or coach who reached this level, you would understand. You would have seen fans ask for your loved one to be fired or benched (or worse) for making a mistake. You would have seen your loved ones booed for making a mistake or simply because they played a better team and lost.

The reality - people invested don't do these things. They have, through experience, learned better. Those walking out the exit because Alabama was losing are typical fans. They are not bad fans - just typical fans. They make up the vast majority of every fans base. Players know it. Coaches know it. But it still hurts to be reminded of it.

The glow of fan adulation wears thin when you realize that the same people cheering for you when you win a big game will walk out on you when you lose. Sure, they'll be back when the pain dissipates, but you can't help but remember that they walked out when you needed them most.

I am not casting stones. I realize that fans also have feelings and that some things are tough to watch. I wish that there was one right answer. I am just trying to give you another point of view. I apologize if I have been too preachy today.

 

[KrAzY3]

If you have every loved a player or coach who reached this level, you would understand. You would have seen fans ask for your loved one to be fired or benched (or worse) for making a mistake. You would have seen your loved ones booed for making a mistake or simply because they played a better team and lost.

I think you're on the right track and sadly I was making a similar point prior to the game in one thread. I basically said that fans should try to take a more supportive role vs. just viewing the team as entertainment. Believe you me, these kids, some walk-ons mind you, do not want to be viewed as nothing but entertainment, performers for the amusement of others. They're real people with real feelings and they want to feel supported. That's one reason that sometimes a smaller university can land a big recruit, they sell the kid on loyalty which is an important thing.

Anyway, what I alluded to was how you'd act if your kid was out there pitching in a game. Would you walk out on him in the fifth inning in a blowout? Would you boo him? Imagine that's your kid out there on the field, then I think you know how we as fans should act. Leave the coaching to the coaches, they're professionals, if a kid needs to be chewed out they'll do it, our role is to support the team and I don't think it's helpful to withdraw that support unless we know for sure things are seriously wrong (and they are so very far from that right now).

Mind you, I'm primarily talking about attitudes at the games. We have a right to discuss things (within reason) on forums and what not, but when we go to a game it shouldn't be to see a show, it shouldn't be to tell the team how to act, it should be like we're going to watch someone we care about play, and we should behave accordingly.