Building Tradition at USF: Anything Being Implemented?

[GaUSFBull]

WAR FLAMINGO!!!!!

Sorry but in my humble opinion, Tamplona >>>>>>>> War Flamingo.

Your humble opinion sucks .... the McDonald's "I'm loving it" as a tradition >>>>>>>>>> Tamplona.

Please. One is an original ... the other is a straight ripoff. Are you sure you'd rather associate with greasy McDonalds over a Bulls original?

[Reliable Source]

WAR FLAMINGO!!!!!

You know if we go with the War Flamingo thing we run the very real risk that someone from Alabama will come down to Tampa and kill our trees or place genitalia on a sleeping Bulls fan. I really don't know if I want to mess with them people.

[gainesvillebull]

WAR FLAMINGO!!!!!

+1 Onward WAR FLAMINGO!

[KB]

What happened to this tradition?

[Cow Pie]

I think I'm looking for things that will foster a sense of community, university pride, and most importantly engage the fans at RJS to give us a true strategic home field advantage.

There are some things present at RJS that we have no control over, so at some level we must try even harder than other programs. I personally feel the concourses behind both endzones is a hinderance to fan engagement, they become gathering areas with many fans not even paying attention to the game. A large amount of fans buy $10 seats, with no intention of going up to the 300 level, preferring to hang out in the end zone areas.

I love the idea of a live mascot, especially after reading the ESPN the Magazine article on all the live mascots the SEC has. This however seems to not be a possibility at all, and I guess we could ask Texas and Colorado, what their liabilities and costs are. It appears the a Buffalo running on the field would be the same as a trained/docile Bull but I'm no expert in this matter. Ultimately we probably need to drop this wish.

I do like the idea of something like a Trojan Bull that the Oracle described. They can make something large enough that can be seen from all aspects of the stadium, and this can be carried out when the team takes the field. It also can be housed on display at the Marshall Center and might become a source of University pride over time. If we are worried about player injuries with carrying the Trojan Bull onto the field we can have Alumni/Special guests volunteeer to carry it out. Also looking into the future it might be cool to have some sort of event when it is carried from the Marshall Center to an OCS on gamedays provided it is close enough.

Reading through this thread it appears that each section is doing its own collective thing with regards to rally cries, and singing the fight song. This tells me we need a conductor, the jumbotron is the tool to get everyone in sync. Without the jumbotron conducting its just to hard to get everyone synced up. I'm good with either Green and Gold or South and Florida placed on the jumbrotron at strategic times throughout the game. I just can't see why we do not do this considering that the Bucs already have something like this with Tampa and Bay. How about each time we score a touchdown, we drop the cannons and rap music, and we still have the cheerleaders run the Bulls flags across the field, but let the Band play a quick number, and then have S-O-U-T-H F-L-O-R-I-D-A, South Florida, South Florida, Go Bulllls! appear on the Jumbotron, so the crowd can selectively sing along. Just looking for ways to get the crowd more engaged.

Speaking of the Rap, Rock, and Club Music that is played. Its trendy, and needs to be changed over time, its also inherently neutral by nature. So, it fires up the opposing players just as much as ours. This was evident during the West Virginia game when our music was pumping up their players before the kickoffs. You lesson this from happening when our band is playing our fight songs. I do not see why we do not let our band take more of a key role in the music at the stadium. Hopefully its not because of a lack of talent.

Lastly, I would do everything economically possible to cover up as much of the Bucs logos and red as we can at the stadium, and make sure that our logos are on the field and endzones for all games. The FSU game will be a sellout I hope they cover up the Bucs red at the front of the 300 sections.

Again, these are not the end all be all solutions to our problems, they are just suggestions to improve the atmosphere and get the crowd more engaged. Last year we did not win a Big East home game, and most of them were close. Maybe more fan engagment can pump the players up to make that extra or one big play we need.

Here are my suggestions... take or leave it...

(1) Increase tailgating hours... the reason why so many students, alumni, and fans fail to make it in the stadium for kickoff is because they are still trying to wrap up their tailgates. If we had normal tailgating hours like our in state brethren (UF, FSU, Miami, FAU, FIU, and UCF) then people would have more time to tailgate, and would likely be in the stadium come kickoff time. For example I don't know about the rest of you all but when I tailgate, I go all out and spend an ass load of money, and haul a bunch of gear down for the games. After paying $15 to park, an ass load of money on food, beverages, and even more time loading the truck, setting up the camp in the parking lot, and then rushing around to get things cooked before I have to pack everything up to run into the stadium gets to be a big pain in the ass. 5 hours sometimes is not enough time, and that is assuming that they give us a full 5 hours... sometimes its less then 5 hours and really depends on which TSA parking lot you call home. I have missed a few kickoffs because either I'm not ready to pack up the tailgate, or my buddies are not ready. So increasing the hours to 6-7 hours, which is only two hours more, would do a hell of a lot towards fixing the butts in the seats problem.

(2) Maybe add extra seats in the open endzone concourse area for the games... atleast on one side of the stadium... I don't think you can add them to both with the pirate ship and all, also not really sure if this would be doable or how long it would take the Buc's to take down the extra seats before Sunday. I know a lot of people that buy seats and never sit in them because they hang back in the course areas and ********. I went back for one game a few years back to hang out with some people and honestly I lost track of the game and missed a lot of live action. When we get our own stadium this will be one issue that will be self correcting... until then I'm not sure what can be done about it.

(3) Listen to the "Building Tradition" group would be a start... they have polled the fans, students, and alumni and these groups have clearly spoken about what traditions they want to happen. The reason why we lack really any traditions at year 16 is because the University tries to develop them on their own which is back asswards... its the students and alumni that start traditions, but since we don't have our own stadium its not like the students and alumni have free reign to get anything started given all of the security and restrictions of the TSA/Buc's.

Lastly regarding the live bull the insurance to have one of these is very low... I called an insurance agent that writes policies for rodeo's at the St. Pete Times Forum and its only a few hundred dollars for one Brahma Bull that has been breed to be social around people. The price I got was $452 for a year... its really cheaper then a auto insurance policy for most. I also called the TSA yesterday and asked one of their directors and I was told that as long as USF has insurance for it, the it will be fine. So the insurance is not an issue, according to the TSA its not an issue, we have breeders who are willing to raise and train one... so to me its more of an administrative issue from USF's side... maybe the "powers that be" just don't feel like bothering with it.

[Skingraft]

WAR FLAMINGO!!!!!

WAR FLAMINGO!!!!!!!!!

+1 Onward WAR FLAMINGO!

[pmcbri2]

Speaking of the Rap, Rock, and Club Music that is played. Its trendy, and needs to be changed over time, its also inherently neutral by nature. So, it fires up the opposing players just as much as ours. This was evident during the West Virginia game when our music was pumping up their players before the kickoffs.

100% This ^...I notice that every game. Our loud hip-hop music pumps up the visiting team more than our team (since our team has heard the same songs 1,000 times). I'm pretty sure it was the only reason Syracuse beat us at home a couple of years ago.

[Triple B]

WAR FLAMINGO!!!!!

Sorry but in my humble opinion, Tamplona >>>>>>>> War Flamingo.

Your humble opinion sucks .... the McDonald's "I'm loving it" as a tradition >>>>>>>>>> Tamplona.

Please. One is an original ... the other is a straight ripoff. Are you sure you'd rather associate with greasy McDonalds over a Bulls original?

I guess I need to rephrase .... No tradition >>>>>>>>>> the McDonald's "I'm loving it" as a tradition >>>>>>>>>> Tamplona

[Bull-by-Marriage]

WAR FLAMINGO!!!!!

You know if we go with the War Flamingo thing we run the very real risk that someone from Alabama will come down to Tampa and kill our trees or place genitalia on a sleeping Bulls fan. I really don't know if I want to mess with them people.

Bama fans can't find their way past hogtown.

[Bull-by-Marriage]

WAR FLAMINGO!!!!!

Sorry but in my humble opinion, Tamplona >>>>>>>> War Flamingo.

Your humble opinion sucks .... the McDonald's "I'm loving it" as a tradition >>>>>>>>>> Tamplona.

Please. One is an original ... the other is a straight ripoff. Are you sure you'd rather associate with greasy McDonalds over a Bulls original?

I guess I need to rephrase .... No tradition >>>>>>>>>> the McDonald's "I'm loving it" as a tradition >>>>>>>>>> Tamplona

At least Tamplona and War Flamingo are USF originals. Not saying that we should use either, But at the very least they are both unique to USF. Plus wasn't Auburn our first huge road victory?