If you are 5 minutes early you are already 10 minutes late.
-Vince Lombardi
Don’t be late! Are we listening? Boise State stages pre game presentations, performances and recognitions as close to kick off as possible. Why? They want the most amount of people to show appreciation for the occasion. At times, it seems like 30% of the crowd can be be late arrivals. The fans that do show up early and ON TIME make plenty of noise and create an atmosphere that is recognized. The UCONN crowd showed up early pretty well and were ready to roll. It was noted. Brett Rypien talked about feeling the fans energy before the game. Harsin said he doesn’t take coming out of that tunnel for granted and it’s special at Boise State. To Harsin, it’s like the Corso headgear moment, a Michael Buffer fighter intro or Lebron clapping chalk.
Imagine how it could improve.
Boise State wants it to get better. They delayed opening the gates by 30 minutes, in part, so fans got a sense of urgency about getting into the stadium by kickoff. BUT, that’s not early enough. I would say if fans were seated 15 minutes BEFORE kickoff, they would catch it all. I have seen recognition ceremonies, honorary captains and senior day introductions that suffered from 30-50% empty seats. I do think the crowd is getting better at getting there 15 minutes before kickoff. I have heard from players, coaches and staff in the past that noticed we were late. That’s when they can think about how spoiled we are as fans. It takes a big commitment to get to the stadium, park, walk, stand in security lines, climb the stairs, get food and take your seats. That takes a lot of planning. Much easier to hit a tailgate party,eat and drink, and then go in with much less hassle AFTER the kickoff. Kickoffs have routinely been set at 8:15 and delayed till 8:26pm by ESPN. That’s probably the best way to get fans in early.
Fool ‘em.
Didn’t happen last night. ESPN was actually on time! And for the most part so were the fans. Get ready early Saturday October 6 for San Diego State.
