March 22nd - Spring Football

[Brad]

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The Tribune's Brett McMurphy answers your University of South Florida questions. Just complete the form below, and we'll post selected responses. Please include your full name. Some questions may be edited for length and clarity.

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http://bulls.tbo.com/bulls/bullsqa.htm

Question:  Hey Brett, what flew up your ass?

From Brad Meyer, Higley, AZ

[S p e n c e]

I agree, if I wanted to catch a softball game, I would travel 1 hour to Tampa to watch a softball game.  But I don't want to watch a softball game, I want to see a spring football game in a football stadium.  Great article Brett, maybe it will help the athletic department make thier final decision.

Hey I bet that writer at the oracle will Looove this article, complete with the Seinfeld reference and all LOL.

[S p e n c e]

Why do we have to pay the Glazers to play at a stadium that was built with Florida tax dollars?

[Papa_Bull]

With our impending move into the Big East USF should be thinking of how to make the Spring Game at Ray Jay an event worth attending.

The marketing dep't should be asking, "Why do we only draw 2,000 - 3,000 fans there at NO charge when there are about 16,000 season ticket holders?"

If USF hopes to increase ticket sales significatly this year, it won't help them to have the game at the USF soccer stadium.

Here is a post I wrote previously:

HowieP1

Guest

 Re: I think we all need to give the marketing..

« Reply #6 on: Dec 12th, 2004, 3:15pm

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on Dec 12th, 2004, 2:43pm, Brahman_Bull2000 wrote:Howie,

I agree in that they will need to push the BIG EAST hype as much as they can. They need to make it a point that USF earn a BCS bowl game in the BIG EAST.  

Louisville has been HYPING the Big East all year. They even threw a huge Big East block party this summer. I understand that we didn't want to ruffle C-USA feathers at the time, but we can't wait until we complete all C-USA sports this year before we start branding ourselves as a Big East team.

I think the advertising for the Spring Football Game would be the most appropriate time to kick off our connection to the Big East.

We should consider moving the game to a friday or saturday night and play a REAL full contact game rather than the half ass game we do now.

Look what Louisville did:

Quote:Cardinals To Host Spring Game Festival

 

Live music and pig roast highlight April 16th game

 

 

March 29, 2004

The 2004 University of Louisville Spring Football Game will be much more than just a scrimmage this year -- it will be one of the biggest events in the history of Cardinal football.  

The spring scrimmage on Friday, April 16 will provide Cardinal fans with a fun evening of football and entertainment. Kickoff for the spring contest is at 7:30 p.m. at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Admission is free and open to the public.  

Gates to the stadium will open at 3:00 p.m. on Friday with the tailgate lots open to the public at Noon. A post-game autograph session will also take place on the field approximately 10 minutes after the game.  

Local bands, The Muckrakers and Breckinridge will perform outside of Gate 3 before and after the game.  

Deion Branch and Ted Washington, who were members of the 2004 Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, will be in attendance, along with many other former Cardinal football greats.  

A pig roast will take place in the Street Fest area and concession stands will be open throughout the concourses.  

http://uoflsports.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/032904aaa.h tml

They had 12,200 people attend, which is probably 10,000 more than we had for our game.

April 16, 2004

Red Team Outlasts White: 49-10  

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Matt Willinger

CardinalSports.com Staff Writer      

Three weeks of spring practice came to a spirited conclusion Friday night as the University of Louisville football team held its annual Red-White Scrimmage at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.  

 

A record crowd of 12,200 Cardinal fans watched as starting quarterback Stefan LeFors guided the Red team to a 49-10 victory. On a picture perfect night, LeFors spread the wealth by completing 30 passes to four receivers for 424 yards. Mixing a healthy dose of the run and pass, the Red team recorded 609 total yards.  

http://louisville.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=286198

http://www.usfbullspen.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=news;action=display;num=1102878792;start=6#6

Having the Spring game at the soccer stadium is embarassing because it reveals that the USF Marketing and Athletic Departments have no idea how to get people out to Ray Jay to attend the spring game.  

[S p e n c e]

Maybe a start would be notifying the 16,000 season ticket holders.  I have been a season ticket holder going on 4 years and I have never gotten a mailer about it.  If it werent for this board I would have no clue when it was or if it were even open to the public.  Am I the only one who doesnt get info on this from the Athletic Department?

[Papa_Bull]

Maybe a start would be notifying the 16,000 season ticket holders.  I have been a season ticket holder going on 4 years and I have never gotten a mailer about it.  If it werent for this board I would have no clue when it was or if it were even open to the public.  Am I the only one who doesnt get info on this from the Athletic Department?

Funny you should mention that. Yesterday, because of this thread, I asked my wife whether there was any mention of the spring game in the packet she received about the tickets and of course she said there hadn't been.

[Papa_Bull]

Here is another post I wrote previously:

on Jan 3rd, 2005, 4:49pm, HowieP wrote:

Actually, the Spring Football game is not that far away.

The Athletic Dept/Football team needs to make sure that we have a GREAT Spring Game TURNOUT this year.

CJL should consider having a REAL game with full contact rather than the half hearted way we play now.

We should also play our BEST team against the others.

So what if it's a blowout?

We should not schedule it for the afternoon. Last year everybody was escaping the heat to sit under the overhangs.

It needs to be a Friday night or Saturday game with tailgating, bands, and similar to our homecoming.

We should keep parking and tickets free, or just a nominal amount to cover our costs.

It needs to be a real "HAPPENING"!!!

Fans should be allowed on the field after the game to meet and greet the players and sign autographs.

FORMER players should also be present for autographs, especially guys who have played in the NFL.

There should be USF merchandise available on the field as well.

A season Ticket booth could be set up on the field.

In other words let's also turn it into an early FAN appreciation day.  

There could still be a FAD over on the practice fields at the end of summer practice, where we would be able to meet the new recruits as well.

And, of course we need to play up the BIG EAST LOGO in all our advertising and on our merchandise.

That will kick start our sales and we should end up with a record breaking year.

 

http://www.usfbullspen.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=news;action=display;num=1104788107;start=3#3

[E.T.]

Totally Embarrasing  :-/

Don't even consider it . . .  PLEASE !!!

Go BULLS !!!

[Papa_Bull]

I agree with Brett when he says:

Promoting a weekend for fans to catch a baseball or softball game and tour the new athletic facility afterward isn't a bad idea. However, instead of moving the spring game - what will recruits think of the soccer stadium? - why not tie it all in with one of USF's spring football scrimmages?

It would be a great idea to use the USF soccer stadium for one of the Spring SCRIMMAGES and have a festival on campus THAT weekend as a lead up to the spring game at Ray Jay a couple of weeks later.

 

[RJWGoBulls]

At least holding it on campus might rouse some interest from the students and potentially bring them out for the games next year.