I've been apathetic (compared to previous rabid years) about this season for reasons I've already discussed. I was excited to be able to take my nephew to his first UT game. Got all the goodies. Played the LHB for the 2.30 drive to Austin. Primed him on all the traditional game day happeneings. Then ... at halftime ... the guy behind me doused me with his beer. We don't do alcohol but try to have patience with those who do. I know it wasn't intentional but the deed was did. Because a particular AD thought it'd be great to have booze in a confined space with thousands. ... then another "interim" didn't show the spine to revoke the policy. It's a shame people think they can't have a good time withou alcohol. So ... here I sit for the second half ... in a quiet corner of the student center. In my skivvies while my shorts/socks dry-out from the sink washing. I'll be HAPPY to give a statement to UTPD. I may have attended my last UT game as I don't see a realistic chance of putting the genie back in its bottle ... so to speak. . Pitiful. Flame on.
Ditto. Just a matter of time before this happens more, fights break out, etc. But the program gets more revenue so...
I've experienced lots of sloshy drunks at TX-ou games for decades. It doesn't stop me from going, but I hate being around them. I honestly think flasks have a bigger impact than way over-priced beer. I don't disagree with the sentiment though.
I will be sober 35 years on October 2nd. There is always alcohol available in my home to my guests. My great opposition to selling beer in Memorial Stadium has nothing to do with me not wanting to be around alcohol, my opposition is to being around drunks. When the program returns to the halcyon days of the 2000's, and SRO crowds are back, what you endured today will turn a lot of people away from seats that will be $125 face value and the left testicle donation required for the honor. Texas-okie games at 11:00am are a pain. But taking away 3 1/2 hours of pre-game guzzling is well worth it to me. I am the most live and let live guy around. Just keep your drunk *** away from me. Hook Em.
I sell alcohol for a living and I also think it was a bad idea to allow beer sales throughout DKR. Good for revenue, sure, but at what overall cost to the game day experience for those drinking and those sober folks alike?
ShaaRK92 Sorry you had that experience with your nephew at the game. I was in 6th grade when I attended my first UT game. Graduated in 1978 and have had season tix since. I honestly think there are fewer drunks in the stadium now than in the tailgate/flask period. It may just be me getting older and no longer sitting on the student and east side but I just have not seen as many drunks on $8-10 beer as I used to see on $2 flask full of Jack after a 4 hour tailgate. We have lots of different folks in UD104 and mostly single game fans above row 48 but very few drunks. The old scoreboard had a text# to notify of security problems and it worked well with argumentative fans in the past. Just text row and seat #. Next time just text the problem but don't let them ruin a good time for you and nephew.
I'm sorry to hear of your game-day experience ShaARK92. I drink but not often at sporting events - especially UT games. I don't like frequently climbing over people to go to the head, while spending countless $ on way overpriced beer. I also do not want to miss ANY plays during a game due to standing in line to pee or at the concession stand. Anyway, I don't mind others drinking around me if they don't interfere with everyone else enjoying the game. I do object to the over-served, obnoxious fan, "that guy" that gets in a fight or in your case spills his beer on you, spoiling your outing. After all you came there to watch the damn game in the stands and have a good time!
Guess I haven't integrated into the 21st century. It didn't occur to me ... OTOH ... with alcohol being "legal" in the stands, what are they really going to do? I expect ... nothing. Part of the "acceptable losses" in the spreadsheet. I did send the AD a report ... Maybe I'll at least get a "we're sorry" but I'm not holding my breath. It's a big organization with a lotta big money. I'm not part of that strata. Actually ... this WAS section 104/105. in 27 years, never had this problem over here. Had folks pass-out this time of year when they had similar prohibition on water carried-in and $8 bottles for sale. Never had a lost-control fan, though. This guy left promptly, too, so IDK what would have happened ... what COULD have happened. Thanks Sangre.
Not sure I have ever seen a post where everyone pretty much agreed with everyone else. That is called a trend and leads me to believe the majority of fans likely feel the same. Interesting.
Just about everybody around me drinks beer during the game but so far no such incidents. I'm too cheap to do it but it doesn't bother me at all. I am sorry you had this experience but I would say it's just one of those things and does not represent the majority of the fans in the stands, just as the fan-throwing last week did not represent a majority of the fans, either.
Thanks Phil ... Yessir ... I don't hold it against the other 99,999. (well those who are intoxicated need to be shown the door, however many that is) I just relay the experience to document this policy isn't a good one ... and it happened on a special occasion for me and my nephew. (Dad was in training and couldn't go) As has been stated, the policy is certainly not likely to be restored ... because ... $$$$. ... oh and @Htown77 ... I DID see the change of the flags above the jumbo tron. Sigh.
If you are going to drink at the games, and especially if you are going to be sitting around kids, then be responsible. Adults at games should know when they have had enough and should be responsible enough to wait until after the game if they have hit their limit. The man that spilled should have at the very least apologized and offered to buy you or your nephew a coke or a snack from the concession stand. I once accidently spilled a coke (not alcohol) on someone when we all jumped for a big Texas play. I apologized and bought them a coke and a candy bar or something (whatever they had wanted) because that's the right thing to do. The beer douser should have at least taken some responsibility after the fact if he was not going to be responsible beforehand. Anyway, removing the Six Flags of Texas from the stadium was wrong and really does qualify as "erasing history" because whatever reasons Fenves had do not justify their removal. I always liked being the University of TEXAS, not the University of California at Austin. The Six Flags at DKR was one the coolest TEXAN features of our stadium.
I'm a lot more bothered by the fans throwing around f-bombs like mad. That has been going on longer than they've been selling beer at the stadium.
I noticed the flags gone. Erased history, all right. Next, they'll give all the states that seceded new names and to say the old name of the state will be hate speech.
https://www.hornfans.com/threads/about-those-maryland-uniforms.104966/ tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.....
Anyone who drinks and pays $9 per beer rarely "douses" any other patrons on purpose. Would OP have been happier if it was Coca Cola that soaked you to the bone, apparently? Relax. Forgive. Try to notice the other 95,000 folks that kept their beverages in their cups. Jeez
I thought @ShAArk92 was not saying it was intentional but an apology would have been in order. What's wrong with that? Maybe giving a heads up to others to be alert for possible drunks and their beers.
Well shoot ... I was hoping my first flame would have demonstrated the ability to read for comprehension. Why would I be happier to be doused with liquid sugar? Should I be happier? Shouldn't beverages remain in their containers? Shouldn't we behave? Shouldn't we have responsible stadium policies? Oh yeah, it makes more money for the richest University in the State, which means the world. I was reminded of a similar event many years ago which has been as influential to my abstinence as any teaching/instruction received from my folks ... drunk vomited his upon this then 10 year old at the HOT Fair/Rodeo just as bull riding was about to start. So ... I said I TRY to have patience. Though I wrote that once, no doubt it will be overlooked in the zeal to flame. I didn't smack the guy. I didn't even exclaim profanity at him. Neither did I, could I, remain in the stands smelling like a frat pledge. With the pool of beer at my feet and wafting with a significant degree of saturation ... this reporter had to exit before vomit was added to the mixture. Again, I appreciate the effort to diminish ... i was hoping for better. Perhaps the lacking championships in Bellmont has afffected us in ways we haven't considered.
If anyone seriously contemplates not supporting the Longhorn football team for the rest of their lives because of an accidental beer spill, I am suspecting Fake Angst. Considering calling the cops to report spilt beer?! C'mon man! Just wear your most colorful boxers next time and turn it into a positive experience for ll of us if you have to launder your clothes in the men's room. The real problem is the rows of seats are so close together, you can't walk without making everyone in the row stand up and slosh their beverages. Going and returning! My poor Uncle got his toes stepped on! I'm done with going to the games unless they add 6 more inches of leg space. Dammit. Howz that one?
Ugh .. OK ... mea culpa ... I was typing that on the mobile device in said corner of the student center and clearly didn't convey my meaning with that statement. I meant ... I half expected a co-ed to find me in that corner of the student center and call the cops, to whom I would then have to give my statement. I didn't intend to suggest I considered calling the cops on the drunk ... though ... that would have been OK, too, right? Or are we supposed to "be patient" with drunks and let them do their thing, whatever that may be, including the random spilling of beverage wherever they may? Enabled/facilitated/promoted by the AD's alcohol in the stadium policy, btw. Thanks for the opportunity to clarify that remark. You're getting better, though. PS ... does refusing to attend a game at DKR = refusing to support the team? Just asking, seems that's what you intended.
Sorry for your dousing. I haven't detected anything negative about the drinking in the stands. Just lucky I guess. Now about those hugely overweight fans who like to sit with their legs sprawled open taking up more than their allotted aluminum....
It will be interesting at the end of the season to see if APD and other area agencies note any season-based trends on DWI arrests. An afternoon in the sun and a handful of alcoholic beverages just is not a good combination...and I say that as someone that has absolutely no compunction about drinking several cold ones while watching a game. (I just try to make sure I am not somewhere that might require using my vehicle to get home when doing so)
To suggest that because you got a little beer spilled on you so UT should revisit their beer selling policy is crazy and inappropriate. The consensus is that it reduces binge drinking and helps pull us out of the financial hole that was part of the pre-Patterson era. Many folks weighed in and lobbied to have alcohol sales and unless you work for the government of the People's Republic of Austin, attempting to limit Customer Choice is inappropriate. Please renounce your request to put the Genie back in the bottle of Temperance. I'll be stopping at the Rockin' P bar next time i'm in your area, let's meet for a cold one. PS-I checked with my Usher friends and no one saw anyone in their skivvies, I think you may be prevaricating! And with all the closet Aggies that come to our games, be careful doing bathroom laundry, many of them still observe Dixie Chicken rules here (they piss in the sinks)
We were in a financial hole? Patterson saved us? What? How did the massive drop in season ticket sales due to firing Mack Brown for Charlie Strong affect finances?
In January of 2015 Brian Davis broke a Statesman exclusive story on the University of Texas athletics department’s finances for 2013-24. The Longhorns lost money last year for the first time since the 1999-2000 academic year. An 11.8 percent drop in ticket revenue was one of the main reasons for the fall into the red. Athletic director Steve Patterson also said a one-time cost of $4.375 million to buy out Charlie Strong’s contract from Louisville upon his hire also added to the deficit. Former coach Mack Brown received a $2.75 million severance package, but the payout is structured over four years. Then came the beer.
Wishbone ... you have a real knack for presuming. You highlighted an error in my OP. I thank you for that, but you're beaming off into your own misunderstanding again. The incident highlighted the recent bad decision to introduce booze sales at DKR ... allegedly a "family venue" not a 6th street night club. I think this is accounting trickery. Even if it's true, the AD made a decision like the State did 25 years ago (30?) with the Lotto ... it's gonna save all that ails us. Yeah, right. strawman. "Customer Choice" is limited in a great many scenarios and limited by law, not only a given AD's policy. I'll grant you that some of those scenarios are illegitimately limited by law, but to claim "customer choice" from some sort of "vote" is not true; at least not a vote of "everyone," but perhaps of those who occupy the luxury suites. Besides, the decision rests with the AD, not "the people." What weak leadership trying to refuse acceptance of responsibility. It's not a democracy for crying out loud. The "bottle of temperance" is a likely characterization only if one blindly supports the decision. AD was doing just fine without the allowance of alcohol in the stands. Selling alcohol at DKR was another in the laundry list of bad Patterson decisions. In fact, outside of hiring Charlie Strong, I'm not sure there was a Patterson decision with which I agreed at the time. i'll do ya one better than that ... a Flying V homegrown, grass fed Longhorn ribeye. PM me anytime. I'll need a few hours' notice to thaw 'em. (yeah, ... naw ... I've not adopted that grill from frozen technique) LOL ... great tip. I'll remind readers, this reporter was among the dozen/so motivated AFROTC cadets doing early AM workouts at DKR (though it was simply Memorial Stadium then) when aggy attacked the steerhead at midfield with kerosene soaked rope in Nov 1990 ... and was repelled. I wasn't sporting in the stadium so your usher buddies wouldn't have seen me. As I mentioned, it was the student services building ... N side of campus next to Kinsolving ... No one entered the lower floor where I was ... and therefore didn't have to have a conversation with UTPD. Bottom line: it was poor decision to allow alcohol into the stadium. It was based upon poor motivation from a spreadsheet-management ideal and failed mightily to account for the effect when what drove the spreadsheet problem was excess spending given field performance (lack thereof) ... I remind everyone again ... we've won TWO conference championships since '96. Are you kidding me? Selling booze isn't going to help that. The policy needs to be reversed ... and while we're at DKR stadium policies ... get real on the security measures, too. What was advertised wasn't what was upheld, so that influences people to smuggle more. Just stop making bad policy so policy isn't violated. Though, if we'd had our backpack of goodies at SJSt, it'd have gotten soaked in beer. So ... I guess they saved me that headache! ugh.
