Grading the Game Day Experience

[VObserver]

I'll start by saying that I have been one of the most vocal critics of the game day experience at Cajun Field. That said: Here are my grades for Saturday's Game Day:

Parking: B+. This would have been an A+ if there were an easy way to access Lot D for early arrivals. The free on site parking in lots D & E [space available] makes sense.

Tailgate: A. Even though some tailgaters were moved from their traditional sites, I heard zero complaints; AND I was told that there were multiple tents set up on the East side of the stadium. If those were student tailgate spots, the grade goes to A++

Pregame: B. The Hype video was great; the students were great in their response to the entry of both teams; no National Anthem was disappointing, though I suspect it, along with the band's pregame on field show, was a victim of the lightning delay.

Piped in music during game: A+ for some Jimmy Buffett and for music in general more appropriate for the paying customers.

PA: A. The PA was still a bit annoying, but at least the volume was audible without being obnoxiously loud.

In-Game Crowd engagement: A. The T-shirt shoot, the 'row of the game' etc. were good, and appropriately done. The crowd itself was loud and engaged at least until the student section emptied.

Student Contribution to Experience: A. As long as they were there, the students were loud, boisterous and having a great time. They basically disappeared during halftime and the injury delay. Then again, it was getting late, the bars were open, and they are kids out for a good time. Hard to downgrade their score for leaving.

Handling of Digital Ticket problems: A+ Yeah, I know there were issues; but I have not heard one case of a fan being denied entrance or being significantly delayed because of snafus in the system. That is a huge + in my book. Kudos to putting the fan above getting an accurate count.

Overall Grade: A++ The first half Saturday was the best game day experience ever in Cajun Field for a crowd of 20K or less. The second half was not as good, but through no fault of the University.

ALL of the grades I gave above reflect my opinion that in this instance, the decision makers identified the problems they have with game day experience and addressed them in ways that improved said experience in almost every way.

Feel free to disagree; after all these are my opinion only.

[fanof71]

Esquelo has posted his issues with the food offered at CF...since you're grading VO, what's your opinion?

My knee issues kept me home....On the +, CF looked like it was rocking, at least the first half

[HelmutVII]

Feel free to disagree; after all these are my opinion only.

I pretty much agree. Food is not an issue with me. Nothing they have really appeals to me. If I get anything it's water or sports drink. I go to watch the game and really don't care about much of anything else.

[VObserver]

Esquelo has posted his issues with the food offered at CF...since you're grading VO, what's your opinion?

My knee issues kept me home....On the +, CF looked like it was rocking, at least the first half

Like Helmut, I rarely eat at Cajun Field, and did not do so Saturday, other than a bottle of water and a bag of chips, both overpriced.

[Cajunrunner]

Like Helmut, I rarely eat at Cajun Field, and did not do so Saturday, other than a bottle of water and a bag of chips, both overpriced.

I still think if we could do something with a couple local Knights of Columbus orgs to serve fried fix boxes at Cajun Field, that would be a hit and give some sort of “local” to the experience.

Didn’t one of Brad Boyd’s buddies have a set up at the game inside the stadium?

[Turbine]

Overall Grade: A++ The first half Saturday was the best game day experience ever in Cajun Field for a crowd of 20K or less. The second half was not as good, but through no fault of the University.

ALL of the grades I gave above reflect my opinion that in this instance, the decision makers identified the problems they have with game day experience and addressed them in ways that improved said experience in almost every way.

Fantastic post from The Vermilion Observer.

[Boomer]

Fantastic post from The Vermilion Observer.

….da Band seemed to be not very exciting and the made for heat unies could be jazzed up some…..the anniversary cake really sucked….still waiting for T-Joe to pop out! Lol

[cajunref]

Like Helmut, I rarely eat at Cajun Field, and did not do so Saturday, other than a bottle of water and a bag of chips, both overpriced.

Same here, cold drink and Mr Vic's peanuts.

[HelmutVII]

This morning I heard that Tulane has an interesting game day thing now. Women show up wearing green bikinis and cowboy boots. I dunno.

[60swerethebest]

Delays were handled well. Scanning a bit sluggish but our AD had given instructions that any issue at gate with electronic tickets , “let ‘em in”.
The light panel above student section was neat —— until the fiftieth let’s do the wave splashed across. Great for ads. Wish it could show scores.
Glad NW St brought some fans.
Decent crowd for miserable football weather. I’m for starting football in mid October.
Glad we played well but left a lot to work on. Practice needs a purpose. We have lots of purposes to work on.

[fanof71]

….da Band seemed to be not very exciting and the made for heat unies could be jazzed up some…..the anniversary cake really sucked….still waiting for T-Joe to pop out! Lol

Anniversary cake?

[cajun4life]

Anniversary cake?

During halftime band performance they brought out a 125th Anniversary cake.