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Post by obf on May 25, 2017 15:17:25 GMT -8
Integrity is easy when it doesn't cost you anything. This, of course, is the truth. Doesn't mean we shouldn't aspire to it, or want our favorite institutions to aspire to it!  |
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Post by bennyskid on May 25, 2017 17:02:10 GMT -8
And who's lying? It doesn't say "Paid Attendance" on the box score. It just says "Attendance".
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Post by Werebeaver on May 25, 2017 17:12:34 GMT -8
How much money should OSU give up in the interest of "integrity"? Because when everyone knows that tickets are easily available, they are much less likely to buy tickets in advance (let alone, season tickets). And when folks don't buy tickets in advance, they are much less likely to attend at all, as any change in weather or circumstances can easily cause a change in plans. In addition, people tend to follow whatever seems popular. So every program does everything it can to reinforce the idea that tickets are a hot item and people are coming out in droves to see the games. Even the networks know it. They go out of their way to *not* show the empty stands, as a courtesy to the schools and to reinforce the idea that the game they are showing is important and the viewer should stick around to watch it. It's just Marketing 101. Integrity is easy when it doesn't cost you anything. Quoting Frank Lloyd Wright: "Some folks know the price of everything, and the value of nothing". |
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Post by nexus73 on May 25, 2017 18:31:24 GMT -8
What surprised me is how USC is doing so poorly with attendance. Megapolis location, great weather, storied program, good visiting teams, lots of alums...what went wrong?
Rick
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Post by usmc1958 on May 25, 2017 21:41:40 GMT -8
Actually, the only formal reason for the count is for the fire marshal. The NCAA and the conference do enter it into the record books, and the press usually reports it in the box score, but none of those organizations have any stake in the number at all. They don't publish any rules for how it's calculated. Only the fire marshal really cares. So why be honest? Everyone knows that everyone else fudges. There is no profit in being the one honest venue. "So why be honest?" Because lying and dishonesty are bad? Because credibility, accuracy and truthfulness are good? Because it takes more energy to gin-up a b.s. number than to just report out the true number? Jesus, I'm sounding like a conservative. It's good to sound/be like an honest conservative.  |
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Post by ochobeavo on May 26, 2017 6:20:24 GMT -8
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Post by kersting13 on May 26, 2017 9:25:04 GMT -8
Didn't read the article, but most larger venues require you to scan in your ticket, so actual ticket usage ought to be a relatively easy number to come up with. Tickets sold/distributed should also be really easy for anyone to count. Total # of people actually in the stadium, including paid staff and participants, is kind of an odd concept for anyone other than the Fire Marshal to think is a relevant #. I mostly found the article interesting in reference to the "Well the announced attendance was 40k, but by my eyes there was no more than 20k" type of comments that we see a lot. Sure the announced attendance may not be right, but our human skills as estimators and counters of large numbers are pretty poor as well, not to mention the biases we have coming into it (just like the announcers have a bias to inflate, the audience member who is disgruntled at the product on the field is biased to under estimate) Most of all I just found the article interesting... specifically in the article they were estimating things like marches and inaugurations and such, no tickets sold, no turnstiles, the best they could do was take a picture and try to count actual heads, which even then only gets you to a 90% confidence range... I have to agree with you there. The people who post how empty the stadium looks always annoy me, partly because I often see it differently. Sometimes the west side looks really full, while the east side looks empty, and vice versa, so often it depends on where YOU are sitting. I'm often confused when people make game to game comparisons when what I see is opposite of what they state. |
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Post by mbabeav on May 26, 2017 11:16:37 GMT -8
At Goss, they used to only count/estimate bodies in the seats. Now they appear to count tickets sold regardless of empty seats. One other thing that I tell people when they point out empty seats is that much of the time there probably are as many as 300+ people at the concessions, walking to and from seats, standing in spots to get a better view, etc. So there are many explanations for total count vs. observation.
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Post by obf on May 26, 2017 13:25:13 GMT -8
At Goss, they used to only count/estimate bodies in the seats. Now they appear to count tickets sold regardless of empty seats. One other thing that I tell people when they point out empty seats is that much of the time there probably are as many as 300+ people at the concessions, walking to and from seats, standing in spots to get a better view, etc. So there are many explanations for total count vs. observation. Whenever I bring my kids to games (especially when they were younger) I spent MAYBE 20% of the game sitting in my actual sit, smh Go get them hot dogs, as soon as you get back from that one needs to go potty, after that one has restless leg syndrome and needs to go on a walk, etc, etc. Good thing I keep Mike Parker in one ear or I wouldn't even know the score |
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Post by kersting13 on May 27, 2017 22:41:21 GMT -8
At Goss, they used to only count/estimate bodies in the seats. Now they appear to count tickets sold regardless of empty seats. One other thing that I tell people when they point out empty seats is that much of the time there probably are as many as 300+ people at the concessions, walking to and from seats, standing in spots to get a better view, etc. So there are many explanations for total count vs. observation. Today, there were TONS of people hiding out in the shady parts of the stadium to avoid sitting for 3 hours in 90 degree direct sunlight. |
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