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Get Outta the Tailgates, Into Yer Seats

Wow...I always thought they were in some back room counting money and too consumed to notice who was where.

Maybe they can create a "tailgating police task force" to herd in the masses?

"Put yer turkey leg down and move along, sir. Game starts in 15 minutes."
 
Our system usually has us in our seats by introductions. We start breaking down camp at 11:00 and by about 11:20, no later than 11:25 (usually), we're heading toward the stadium. And being that we're in yellow, that's a pretty good hike, but it's just enough time to be in our seats by intros.

Now depending on the lines getting in, I'll miss intros every once in a while, but I think I've only missed one kickoff in 6 years.

And I NEVER leave until the game is over.
 
Imagine this scene.......
Sunday, September 14, 2008...around 11:55am...Reliant Stadium....a buzz, no a ROAR, as 70 thousand WHITE clad fans, stomping their feet, screaming their lungs out as YOUR Houston Texans come firing out of the tunnel...
Liberty White Kick off.

What an awesome scene it should be...so get your rear ends in gear and into the stadium on time!!!

COME EARLY
BE LOUD
WEAR WHITE

It's really a simple concept, fan, shortened from the word fanatic, which means you are crazy about your team.

That's easy!
 
Speedy said:
Our system usually has us in our seats by introductions. We start breaking down camp at 11:00 and by about 11:20, no later than 11:25 (usually), we're heading toward the stadium. And being that we're in yellow, that's a pretty good hike, but it's just enough time to be in our seats by intros.

Now depending on the lines getting in, I'll miss intros every once in a while, but I think I've only missed one kickoff in 6 years.

And I NEVER leave until the game is over.
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Great point. Every tailgate has to exit plan.

I encourage anyone who has any ideas to put them in the comments of the blog post that I wrote over at imatexan. I know that folks with the Texans pay attention to such things.
 
what happened to those old astroworld trams? They could pack them up and put bull horns on the top of them like TEDC wants. They wouldn't be able to move the masses but it would provide a nice visual and get the herd moving earlier.
 
Vinny said:
what happened to those old astroworld trams? They could pack them up and put bull horns on the top of them like TEDC wants. They wouldn't be able to move the masses but it would provide a nice visual and get the herd moving earlier.
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Trams would be a great idea for those coming from the Yellow lot (or other far off destinations. It might put those poor bike cabs out of a job, though.
 
Mean Machine said:
Imagine this scene.......
Sunday, September 14, 2008...around 11:55am...Reliant Stadium....a buzz, no a ROAR, as 70 thousand WHITE clad fans, stomping their feet, screaming their lungs out as YOUR UNDEFEATED Houston Texans come firing out of the tunnel...
Liberty White Kick off.

What an awesome scene it should be...so get your rear ends in gear and into the stadium on time!!!

COME EARLY
BE LOUD
WEAR WHITE

It's really a simple concept, fan, shortened from the word fanatic, which means you are crazy about your team.

That's easy!
Click to expand...

Left one key word out. :winky:
 
I agree this is a problem. The number of empty seats at Reliant Stadium is an embarrassment. I like to tailgate as much as the next guy, but I always make it to my seat by kickoff. I wouldn't blame the tailgaters for being late, though. The pakring lot poplulation is pretty thin by the time I head into the stadium.

The Texans front office also has some work to do.

Vertical transportation is a problem at Reliant Stadum. The ramps were designed wrong. They're not steep enough. As such, it takes a VERY LONG time to walk up the ramps to the 500-600 level. The only other option is the escalators, which don't have enough capasity.

The Texans have recognized this problem since 2002. They racked up close to $300 million of profit for Bob McNair and his investors since 2002, but they haven't reinvested a nickel for improvements to solve this problem. All they need is a separate bank of escalators for the 500-600 level. The existing ecalators can serve the Lower and Club levels. The Texans are mistakenly trying to co-ordinate vertical transportation improvements with the Rodeo. It's not an issue for the Rodeo though as their crowds arrive over a much longer window of time. The Texans need to bite the bullet and fix this problem on their own.

Club Level access is another problem. Too many people are allowed to sneak into the Club Level even though they have seats in other parts of the stadium. They'd rather sip cocktails and watch the game on a plasma TV with the briefcase and busienss card crowd instead of sitting in their assigned seats and watching the actual game. The Texans need to better police this distraction. A simple scan-in, scan-out ticket policy would solve this problem.

Here's my suggestion: All parking lots should have a $20 surcharge for each vehicle arriving after 11:45 AM for a noon game.

bpe3
 
We should borrow the Coogs siren (the blaze) they use after touchdowns.... and give a warning shot at a certain time to the parking lots to start breaking it down and get inside!
 
Here's my suggestion: All parking lots should have a $20 surcharge for each vehicle arriving after 11:45 AM for a noon game.
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No, I don't think the answer is charging more money.

Look, like it or not, you're not going to get everybody to do what you want them to do. This isn't any different than telling people to wear white for Liberty White day. Everybody's not going to do it no matter what.

People are going to get there when they want to get there, period. You're not going to make them get there any earlier or later if that's not what they want to do. I do it like I do because I'm there to see my Texans. Yes, the tailgating is the bomb, but the game is top priority to me. We have a schedule that gets us to our seats on time and we pretty much stick to it. That's all it takes.

Now that said, the Astros have many, many promotional dates throughout the year where if they're not giving away bobble heads, they're giving away caps, or umbrellas, or backpacks or whatever. If you want people inside early, have give aways like that. Either have it for the 1st 40,000 or cut the give away off at 11:30 or something like that. I can promise you, bobble heads will have people busting the gates down when they open at 10:30.

I also think things would move a little faster than they do if they'd scrap that stupid pat down crap they do. Barely touching my jersey does nothing. I'm all for safety inside the stadium, but if anybody thinks these pat downs are doing anything more than causing a traffic jam, you're delusional. A total waste of time and manpower.
 
"Quote"
I also think things would move a little faster than they do if they'd scrap that stupid pat down crap they do. Barely touching my jersey does nothing. I'm all for safety inside the stadium, but if anybody thinks these pat downs are doing anything more than causing a traffic jam, you're delusional. A total waste of time and manpower.

I'm with Speedy on this one too. We laugh knowing, that the off duty OFFICER that is entering the stadium behind us packing his weapon and walks right through undetected, but the yellow jacket pulls me out of line to find a screw driver to disassemble the Texans stuffed dog I carry in every game PURCHASED in 02, IN the stadium. Yes I know some stupid fool could put something inside the stuffed dog. . .but really, the fire arm would have me a little more concerned.


:fans:
 
Sorry, but I don't see the tailgaters as the late arrivals. Generally speaking, the tailgaters are the hardcore fans and are fairly disciplined as to what time to start breaking things down.

It's the folks pulling into the lots at 11:20 to 11:30 when our tailgate is already broken down and we are heading in. Ya know how you have to stand there and wait on the cops to stop incoming traffic so you can cross the drive?? They're the late arrivals.
 
we play so many noon games I assume the Church crowd is the crowd that tends to come in late. With games filled with so many corporate seats we have a ton of casual fans attending and most of them are straight up family types....most go to Church I assume. I wonder what the kick off capacity is when we aren't playing at noon and I wonder if they are tracking this kind of thing?
 
The only thing that will truly guarantee that 99% of fans be in their seats at opening kickoff is for this team to win more than it loses. That is the nature of the Houston casual sports fan.

20,000 or so fanatics cannot fill the stadium. It is the casual crowd that needs to be motivated, and winning is the only thing that will motivate them. That, my friends, is just the way it is in Houston, Texas.
 
Vinny said:
we play so many noon games I assume the Church crowd is the crowd that tends to come in late. With games filled with so many corporate seats we have a ton of casual fans attending and most of them are straight up family types....most go to Church I assume. I wonder what the kick off capacity is when we aren't playing at noon and I wonder if they are tracking this kind of thing?
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That is certainly what I am faced. When looking at the schedule for this year, I was vocally pleased to see the two 3:00 and MNF game. In order to arrive at the game by noon, I will have to go across town to my church's 9:00 service and driving back to the stadium will push me close to kick off. Depending on traffic I could arrive a few minutes after kick off.

I don't know the number of corporate ticket holders and the number who are there as much for business as pleasure. Many of the die hard, dress up from head to toe, bleed red white and blue fans are cheering loudly from home because they can't afford, justify the amount of cash required to attend the games or live out of town.

In viewing the ticket prices, Club 1, 2 and Directors are IMO for the most prosperous of fans or those who can claim them as a tax write off. With the exception of the near and endzones, tickets can tax budgets for many that don't plan to attend alone. It is awesome to have stadiums with the latest bells and whistles that offer a great game day experience, but it also comes with a price which include those there for business, those too old, have health issues, too short to see to stand up and scream throughout the games.

Hopefully, all can find a happy medium as the fans make their presence known.
 
StarStruck said:
In viewing the ticket prices, Club 1, 2 and Directors are IMO for the most prosperous of fans or those who can claim them as a tax write off.
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This is also where the most glaring lack of asses in seats at kick off occurs. At least that was my experience last season. Our seats are in Loge II and I don't think I saw our section any less then 2/3 full at kick off once last year. By the way, I'm cool with Mini Vinnie. Hard to argue that point considering my stature and post count! :thisbig:
 
StarStruck said:
those too old, have health issues, too short to see to stand up and scream throughout the games.

Hopefully, all can find a happy medium as the fans make their presence known.
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I resemble that remark, except for the short comment!!:shetexan: I am pretty tall. I can truthfully say, I think my days of being the "stand up" only kind of gal will be coming to an end pretty soon. Don't think it will have much affect on my big mouth though, and that's what counts!!

I have always been at my seat before the kick off and I won't stop now. I'm a sentimental old gal. I love hearing the National Anthem, the player intros, visiting with my seat buddies before the game. Most of them have been there since year one, so we have become good seasonal friends. I like getting all the "visiting" out of the way before the game, because when our boys hit the field to play, I watch the game!
 
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