i get what u saying, but the students need more tickets. they (or i should say we since i am a student) dont need 25k tickets, but close to 20k would be nice. all i know is that kids that grow up fans there whole life (and more times than not students at colleges go to the college they grew up rooting for) and the incoming freshman get HALF the home game tickets. thats messed up. i am not trying to start a student fight again cuz those threads have been already posted in the past, its just that each fall students get screwed over and for the amount of money our parents shell out to the school we deserve something in return.
First of all, I'm not as far removed from my student days as some might think. I do have a degree from UA that was granted this century. Therefor, I certainly "feel your pain" and understand what you are saying. However, for the money your parents shell out, you do deserve something in return. You deserve the opportunity to attend class at a fine institution of higher learning and earn a degree which will serve you well throughout the remainder of your lives.
Now, I certainly realize and fully understand that college football, especially in the SEC and more especially, at Alabama, is a major part of the college experience and it played the single biggest part in my decision to attend UA. I know if getting student tix had been as big a problem in my days as a student, I would have felt exactly as you do. You must realize though that your tuition does nothing to support football. Your student activity fee does, in part, go to support UA athletics, and is responsible for students receiving tickets at student rates. In light of that, when you realize that there are thousands of names on TidePride waiting lists just itching to spend hundreds--even thousands of dollars per year just for the chance to purchase tickets at full price, then you should understand why the student section will never be expanded to hold more than a set percentage of stadium capacity.
Personally, I would like to see the student section continue to have it's percentage as it is now and then give the students the bottom four or five rows all the way around the stadium. That would do a couple of things. First, no one wants to pony up the donation and full price for tickets on those bottom rows because you pretty much have to watch the jumbotrons to know what is going on on the field. Second, those students occupying those seats would stand throughout the game. This would result in the lazy fat-cats having to get off their bums every now and then if they wanted to see what was happening on the field. This would at least help give the appearance that more of the fans are into the game.
On another sub-topic: I don't understand the concern about parking. The farthest I've ever parked for a game was when I was a kid and went to a game with my Dad. We parked down on River Road (now Jack Warner Parkway)--and this was back when seating capacity was only 60,000. There are many more parking spaces now. There are multiple parking decks, now and more parking lots that back then. I've not missed a home game in over twenty-five years and, since that time as a kid, I've never parked farther away than Central High School. Most of the time, I have parked in the central campus area between Hackberry and 9th Ave. and between the Library and the Ferg. When I still lived in Tuscaloosa and wanted/needed to beat a hasty retreat, I was back home on Rice Mine Rd less than 10 minutes after cranking my car. However, most of the time, my plans include hours of post-game tailgating on the Quad before even thinking about cranking the car and heading home. I always thought tailgating was invented as a means of passing the time while waiting for the traffic to thin out after games end.
Success generates interest. In our case, the promise of renewed success has generated interest at levels never before seen. Demand for tickets exceeding supply, on both student and non-student levels is but one problem this generates...but what an awesome problem to have. Also, parking and traffic problems are merely growing pains. Again...great problems to have.
