Remember the Shell Answer Man? I’m not really that old, but I do – and despite how I present myself on matters involving UVA Football, no, I am not the Answer Man.
Lots of emails came in after Saturday’s drubbing in Charlotte, about the game itself, and also, about why only a few folks from the fan base made the trek.
Y’all seem to think I have the answer.
I’ve got ideas, but that’s about it.
I’m humbled that people think I know anything about anything, of course.
To the mailbag
No idea what the number of UVA ticket sales/fans were, but it was pathetic. There was at least one full section behind the UVA bench that was completely empty. Not a person sitting in the section. There were probably as many WVU fans in the UVA sections as UVA fans.
You talk to other reporters and have fans reach out to you. What is your sense as to why UVA fans do not travel? One theory I have is that as the state flagship school we should have a large fan base. But, the average person in the state of Virginia does not identify with UVA. Maybe they think UVA is too snobby, too elite. It is hard to get in as an in-state student. I do not know the answer.
Bottom line, it makes me sad when I go to an event, and there are hardly any UVA fans, and the spirit is just blah. As much as I hate UNC, they show up.
***
My twin brother and I have been UVA fans since Wally Walker put on the Wahoo uniform. We have attended as many games as possible, which includes football, basketball and baseball. We attended the WVU game Saturday night, and were embarrassed to be UVA fans. Not because the football team played poorly or the coaching staff was outcoached, but because the UVA fans did not show up!
My brother and I sat in the 345 club section, and literally it may have had 20 other people in that section. The UVA sections were basically empty. Thank goodness the band was there. If it had not been for them, there would have been complete silence from the orange and blue.
I’m not sure the lack of support for the football team is lack of confidence in the coaching staff, the overpaid players, or is it just people not being willing to spend their time and money?
One thing for sure, WVU showed up for their unranked team and showed what real fans look like and act like.
Where to start here
First, I can’t criticize folks for not making the trip to Charlotte, because I didn’t go to Charlotte.
Why?
In my case, I’ve been to Charlotte a lot lately, it seems.
We had the weekend down there in December with the basketball game in the Spectrum Center and football in the ACC Championship Game.
The ACC does its media events there.
The ACC Tournament is there every so often.
Not meaning to down the Queen City, but: there’s just not much to do there, aside from going to whatever the game is that you’re there for.
Charlotte isn’t Manhattan, where the UVA Basketball team will be playing a few days before Christmas.
Charlotte is a five-hour drive one way, for most of us, to watch a game, go to the hotel after to get some sleep, and head back the next day.
Been there, done that.
Assuming we can get somebody to house/dog-sit for us, I’m looking forward to the six-hour train ride to NYC for the game in Madison Square Garden in December, around which we can hit Broadway for a show or two around the game.
You can only tour the NASCAR Hall of Fame around eating at the B-Dubs next door so many times.
Other factors to consider
One, the alumni base in a particular destination area
We have more than 10,000 alums in the New York metro area; and 9,000 in the entire state of North Carolina.
UVA fans filled up MSG for the Sweet 16 game in 2014; the Garden was two-thirds orange and blue that night, which is saying something, because the first game featured UConn, a local program an hour away.
Two, yes, we’re still feeling the fallout of a dumb move made back in 2008 specific to UVA Football ticketing
The front office made a money grab thinking that Al Groh had things moving in the right direction, and moved thousands of long-time fans out of their season tickets in favor of raising the prices to give the money folks access to the good seats.
Groh put up losing seasons the next two years, was fired; his replacement, Mike London, had one winning season in his six years at the helm; Bronco Mendenhall got the program to the Orange Bowl by his Year 4, but was run off by the AD, Carla Williams, two years later.
The money people who reseated the long-time fans stopped coming, and the long-time fans who got reseated stopped caring, and it’s 2026, and the big issue isn’t that we can’t get people to go to UVA Football games in other places – we have to beg and plead to get them to turn out for games in Scott Stadium.
Just nudging you here, but the front office folks are about to invite the same kind of problem with basketball, with the scheme they announced last year to reseat long-time fans next season.
Loyalty is a two-way street – when you have people who show up early and often, and you tell them, thanks, but no thanks, we prefer these other folks because they have more money, I can’t blame the people who get the short end of the stick saying, Nah, that’s OK, I’ll just watch at home.
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Chris Graham
