So are we to conclude that LSUBud is "Da Bomb"? I remember you Sir Bud from the Lair. I'm so glad Skip gave you a "play set of keys to the Athletic Administration Bldg". Let's hope that's what you needed and will calm down henceforth. Congrats and keep writing to Skip. It's good therapy obviously.
Re: So are we to conclude that LSUBud is "Da Bomb"? Well, look who it is!!! It's Mushmouth (aka TNT). I see no one on this board can understand your rants either!!!
Since I know Buddy, and have been a party to a number of his e-mail communications with various members of the Athletic Department & Ticketing Office personnel, I can tell you that this is no figment or joke. Because of Buddy's background/profession and his "by the numbers" communication of his isssues with what he finds wrong with the way the school addresses Ticketing Policy, the TAF and it's members, I believe Skip called Bud because he's raised issues that the casual fan woudn't grasp, and the administration might be a bit concerned with the scope and tone of his message.
This has been my biggest problem all along. that plus differentiating between "needs" and "wants". Such as: New "Box" - No, upgrade the current one. New Track - you just dropped a ton of $ into the one you have. New softball stadium - bullshit, Why? You can't fill what you have. West Upper Deck rebuild - again unless it's a safety issue it's bullshit. PMAC improvements - can't happen soon enough. New football facilities - i'm mixed on this but the logistics make sense. thanks Bud, Interesting info. I've always pictured Skip as an approchable guy.
I'll add my opinion on the needs and wants Hub is describing. Baseball- Alex Box is over 70 years old Hub. The stadium is getting old and the sight-lines are bad. It's time for a newer, bigger, more modern stadium that will, if nothing else, reward our baseball program for their great performance in the last decade and lock LSU up as the greatest college baseball program, all around, in the nation for decades to come. Track- I concur with you on this one. Our track facilities are already some of the best in the country. The only way I build a new track and new fieldhouse is if we need the land it's on now for something else. New softball stadium- The tennis program wants their courts back. And building a state-of-art softball program is good for Title IX compliance, thus good PR. It'll keep the feminists quiet. West Upper reconstruction-Our stadium looks really weird with non-matching upper decks, and the plan is to eventually connect them with an upper south endzone deck, so they need to match. We also need a new pressbox (ours is getting old and cramped with all the new-fangled communications equipment they have) and the extra revenue that more luxury suites and club seats would bring. Safety and full ADA compliance are also at issue. PMAC- Definitely concur. But this summer's adjustments are just the beginning. That building needs a lot of work. New football facilities- Absolutely essential if we are to become competitive for national championships. In fact, all of these improvements are essential to remain nationally competitive and make LSU athletics the best in America. You may not like it Hub, but we're in an arms race, and other schools are not going to stop building. Rather than just build, build, build, though, we do need to have a stopping point, where we have outstanding facilities for every program and then we can say we are finished and that each program has world class support structure and facilities. And we don't necessarily need the biggest natatorium or the most advanced arena, just whatever that program is best suited for. Oh, and until the state's capital outlay process is streamlined, TAF is still the best way to go to get things done in this dept. I offer the CCACSA as an example of that. And it's not like TAF is totally unaccountable; LSU can pull the plug on TAF anytime, so if they do something you don't like, complain to Bertman and Chancellor Emmert, and if enough did so overwhelmingly and loudly enough, TAF would die. What kind of accountability do you guys want from TAF? Other than you yourselves getting to personally make the calls on how the money is spent? Remember, donors are entitled to anonymity if they want it, so you are not allowed to find out who is giving how much. Seriously, I want to know your impressions, because there is a whole lot of mis-information about TAF out there.
The TAF deal has got to be off. I support it, but it seems so unpopular that LSU will need to fid another way to skin the cat. They will out of necesssity. I am a TAF member, contribute $250 per seat in North section 39, plus I give $200 to buy my $200 parking pass (ouch) - so at least $1200 to TAF every year for my tiger stadium experience. The cost of making LSU the best needs to be shared by the folks sitting in the best seats.
Jetstorm, I'll buy all of your logic on the needs and wants list. Well stated. NEW -- baseball stadium, football center, softball stadium RENOVATE -- Tiger stadium, PMAC WAIT -- new track stadium, new natatorium "...there is a whole lot of mis-information about TAF out there". That's for damn sure. I think the distrust of TAF has little to do with anything TAF has done or is likely to do. The bananna republic politics in this state have long made its citizens distrust our politicians with our money. I think this distrust has rubbed off on TAF, unfortunately, because of its image problem. It is perceived by many to be an elite political group, the skybox set who need more seats for their wealthy chums. I'm a TAF member (junior grade) and I actually think their motives are more noble than that. But, they must redress their image into one that offers something to every fan. From below it seems like: "We'll tear down a relatively new upper deck and build a new gilded one for the glitterati. And the people in the north end zone will have to help us pay for it. You know, the people who have poorly lit filthy ramp areas, overcrowded concessions, rest rooms with water and piss on the floors, and a bad view of the field." TAF needs to reach out to the average fan, and right away. There are a lot of them and the recent fiasco with the legislature should have alerted them that the average fan has political influence, too. I believe Joe Average also has the money and will spend it on LSU, as long as there is something in it for him, too.
1) TAF - Alot of talk you here about TAF gives the impression it is separate and distinct from LSU. Yes, it's a private org but it's controlled by LSU. So however you look at it it's still LSU calling the shots. General whoever is not going to be making any decisions. As for the accountability. I have a serious problem giving +$2,500 extra dollars a year to an org I have no input into and have no say so as to what they do with my money. Even a bigger problem, as a private org that does not have to open it's books to the public, am I supposed to just take their word 10 yrs down the road that they still need me to pay $500 a seat? This is equivalent to the Saints saying they are running in th red and needing State funding but not opening their books up for verification. 2) LSU's Vision - This probably get's to the heart of my problem. Yes the AD and staff change periodically but the final say so on anything is BOS and that has been the same old people forever. With the spending they have approved in the past it has shown an absolute lack of vision by the leaders. A few examples, you invest +$2MM in the track facility 3 yrs ago and now you want a new one? Couldn't you see 3 years ago that maybe some changes to the layout of LSU needed to be made? Same for a softball stadium, they shoved it in a corner, did you even think that maybe the facilities surrounding it would have to been expanded in the future? Ticket prices are a joke. I've got excellent seats on the 40 on the east side. Had them since Curley's last year. Ever since then I have been shocked that I paid the same thing that the guy sitting in the top of the endzone and top of the upper deck paid. Except for a tad little surcharge more not much though. If this wasn't easy money to be made for a long time I don't know what is. Staggering ticket prices should have been done a long time ago. Now, instead, I get to pay +$500 for each of my seats, plus probably a higher ticket price. If you had staggered prices some time ago there is no telling how much additional revenue we would have. My point being i do not have the confidence in the powers that be to all of a sudden get smart and spend properly in the future. 3) West Upper Deck & the Box - Just don't agree that we need a new WU. I understand the press box is a joke.......then renovate it. But re-buiding the WU to match the EU, that's a joke! Why didn't you build the EU to match the WU? And the thought of re-building to accomodate for future closing-in of the South endzone i think is nuts. IMO, the fan following is not sufficient to fill another 10 - 15,000 seats. We don't sell out every game as it is. So why do it? As for the Box, I agree it could use some upgrading but that does not mean a new one needs to be built. Again, we don't sell it out except for regionals and some SEC series. Most of the time lately it's been 6,000 paid and 3-4,000 in attendance. So build a new bigger one to get more revenue off no-shows? Fix it up and that's it.
