Tom Osborne addresses the students about attendance

[topekahusker]

I'll keep checking my sources but I saw this on the net and I'll update this when I can confirm...but I've received and read correspondence from TO and this is typical of his 'prose' style. Anyway, here it is:

 

Dear Husker Fans,

 

Thank you for your support of Husker football and thank you specifically for braving the cold north winds at the Kansas game on Saturday. While there has been some discussion in the media about lack of student attendance at recent games, I believe there is an additional explanation that accounts for some of the empty seats at the top of South Stadium.

 

We observed that students are packing in the lower portion of the sections and are standing two deep in the rows with students in the footwells as well as on the seats. We completely understand how the desire to stay warm last week may have precipitated some of the downward movement, but we hope you will help send a clear message of your support by filling all rows to the top for the last home game.

 

When we host Colorado at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, it will be our 297th consecutive sellout crowd and the final home game for our seniors, and we want to send them out as winners and feeling great about their experience here at Nebraska. I think you know by now that they will leave everything on the field and play hard for you. What you may not know is just how much your support means to our team and coaches. A packed house not only will send a strong message to our team, to a national television audience and to our visiting recruits, but also will give your team a definite home-field advantage.

 

This year we increased the student allotment of tickets and accommodated every student on the wait list. We hope that you will make plans now to come to the Colorado game as well as the Creighton men’s basketball game at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Nov. 29, even though both events fall during Thanksgiving break. If you cannot attend, please pass on your tickets to any other UNL student or take advantage of the ability to have your ticket validated at the Athletic Ticket Office and available for you to resell.

 

Thank you again for your support. We look forward to seeing you Thanksgiving weekend.

 

Best wishes,

 

 

Tom Osborne

[husker2010]

yep got it in my email...

[indianahusker]

Do you guys have season tix? I don't, and I didn't get the email. That must be why.

[Vince from ShamWOW]

I think it's wrong and stupid that he moved the most rabid and voiceterous fans as far from the field as possible. Instead of having them on top of the field where they can he heard, he moves them to areas of the stadium where they can't.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but other programs don't keep their students as far from the field as possible. Why would NU?

 

You students should be all together and as close to the field as possible.

[topekahusker]

I've been blessed. My dad has several pairs of season tickets he still has in the family so my wife and I get to pick and choose which games we drive up for every year from Topeka.

 

And I'm active in the Alumni Association so I get offered tickets to both games in Lincoln and road trips away games.

[topekahusker]

I've been in the North Stadium for a couple of games this year, and in the West Stadium too...you guys in the South Stadium rock and we hear you!

 

TO knows football and basketball and NU athletics. It was a great letter he sent to the students IMHO.

[Ohio Pete]

I guess nobody likes change. Ohio State used to have a small student section and then allow some to sit in small groups through out the stadium. Now they've moved to 2 end zone student sections which some people aren;t happy about:

Saturday afternoon marks the commencement of the Ohio State football team's journey toward an unprecedented third-consecutive outright Big Ten championship. To accomplish this feat the squad will try to get closer to the students -- literally.

 

Minnesota's date with the Buckeyes begins a new era of two student seating sections surrounding both end zones. The change replaces the previous model which provided students two options: placement in private groups dispersed throughout the stadium or in the "Block O" section located in the south stands.

 

"Ohio State provides more student tickets for football than any other school in the nation, so we would like to capitalize on this enthusiasm and create an intimidating atmosphere for the visiting team regardless of which direction they are heading at any point in a game," said Bill Jones, assistant athletics director for ticketing for the Ohio State Athletics Department.

 

Nationally known for a raucous environment created by sheer numbers, the new structure aims to increase continuity among the student body.

 

"I love the idea of a Block O north and a Block O south," said junior Jason Frazier, a three-year member of Block O. "We can coordinate cheering easier and help fire up the adults in the rest of the stadium."

 

While supporters laud the athletic department's decision, some don't share the optimism. Previously, upperclassmen benefited from seniority and had the ability to sit away from the end zones.

 

"I really don't understand why they put students in pretty much the worst seats in the stadium, considering that we're the people paying to attend this university," said senior Jennifer Hutkowski. "We are the core of the support for the team and placing us in a small area makes me feel like Ohio State sold out."

 

Though disappointed in the results, disgruntled students aren't likely to parallel the spring version of Brett Favre by jumping ship.

 

"I'm going to just deal with it and support the Buckeyes," Hutkowski said. "This, coupled with the USC loss, makes it tough, but I won't waver in my commitment."

 

Without a consensus, the deciding vote might belong to the players. For a team ranked 10th in the conference in scoring offense and sixth in scoring defense, the 12th man may loom large in 2008.

 

"When the opposition is (inside the Ohio State 25-yard line) that's where you really need a home field advantage and it's been very loud," junior Jim Cordle said. "In the Troy game, the fans helped force a couple false starts and I expect more big plays to come."