University of Tennessee Athletics
Ask Mike - February, 2004
March 3, 2004
Thank you for your continued interest and your response to the "Ask Mike" feature
on utsports.com. I appreciate all the comments, questions and suggestions.
Go Vols!
Mike Hamilton
Mr. Hamilton, Are there plans to improve the scoreboards in Thompson-Boling,
particularly the tiny boards that have the players names, how many points
they have scored and how many fouls they have? For an arena the size of Thompson
Boling, these scoreboards are very inadequate.
Bob Bailey
Knoxville, Tenn.
Mike Hamilton: Thanks for your e-mail. We are currently working
with an outside consultant to evaluate our scoreboard options.
Go Vols!
Mike
Dear Mr. Hamilton, Even though I am a season ticket holder, I am concerned
about the recent hike in the price of UT single game tickets. While I realize
that a large portion of this cost will be passed on to visiting fans, I have
to believe that UT fans will also bear part of this burden, if not at the box
office then on the street an hour before game time. Even at current ticket
prices, it is difficult for a middle class family of 4 to afford a UT game.
If families can't afford to attend UT games, I fear that future generations
of Vol fans will be diminished. I've heard the arguments that ticket prices
are in line with other SEC schools, but other SEC schools don't have the income
provided by a 100,000 seat stadium. How about a little long term thinking to
ensure that we can put 107,000 fans in the stands 25 years from now?
J.J. Lovegrove
Raleigh, N.C.
Mike Hamilton: Thanks for your e-mail.
Raising ticket prices is never an easy decision. We have been working to make cuts in other areas, but unfortunately escalating costs of tuition for our student-athletes as well as increasing operational costs made it a necessary move.
A majority of the tickets at Neyland Stadium are season tickets. We believe that by separating our pricing structure for season tickets and for games with teams who bring a large number of fans, the increase will be paid primarily by our visitors.
Thanks for your support of Tennessee athletics.
Go Vols!
Mike
Mike, As a season ticket holder since 1984 I have always been disappointed
in the atheletic dept. inability to provide a parking pass for small donors
anywhere other than the ag. campus. For may years I have donated 500.00 to
UT and each time I request and pay for a parking pass it's on the ag campus.
I realize that priority must be given to major contributors, but I attend
tailgates in the lots on campus and am always surprised at the number of
empty spaces. Unlike the past, UT football now has increasing competion for
fan base from the Titans. A little appreciation to old alums/supporters would
go a long way. Otherwise we will continue to see attendance slide as it did
last season. Know that I love the university and will continue to do my small
part to support it. Best of luck and thanks for all you do! Sincerely, Geoff
Holden,Class of 84
Geoff
Holden, Class of 84
Soddy Daisy, Tennessee
Mike Hamilton: Thanks for your e-mail.
Since the athletic department shares parking with the Alumni Office, students and other departments on campus, we are limited in the number of spots we can provide. We greatly appreciate all of our donors. Every year we reassign football game day parking based upon the VASF point system. We believe the point system is a fair way to assign donor benefits because it takes into consideration not only the amount of the gift but also years of giving.
We appreciate your support of Tennessee athletics.
Go Vols!
Mike
Let me start by saying I love UT basketball very much. I have been going to
the games for several years now both as a student and now as an alumni. As
much as I enjoy the games I must say that Thompson/Boling Arena is not a very
pleasant basketball enviroment. It does not allow us to create an enviroment
especially in the big games like you see at several other schools across the
country. There is probably nothing that can be done in the arena to allow a
more basketball friendly atmoshere, but I was wondering if that is something
that has ever been addressed and if so is there anything that can be done to
make things better? Our coaches and teams deserve a better enviroment and also
us fans as well.
Gary Cable
Maryville, Tennessee
Mike Hamilton: We are currently working with an outside consultant to try to find ways to improve the atmosphere at Thompson-Boling Arena. We are also trying to find ways to increase the impact our students can have on the game by creating a new pep club called "The Orange Nation". For every game we block off two sections of tickets in the lower bowl for Orange Nation members to ensure that we have fans in key areas to cheer our team on. We believe that as the group grows, so will their impact on the game.
We appreciate your support.
Go Vols!
Mike
Mr. Hamilton, I was curious as to why our coaches only speak to the
fans for just a couple minutes on Vol Calls? I travel and hear other coaches
who have 1 hour call in shows giving many fans opportunities to ask questions.
Seems a lot of our coaches salary is classified as radio-TV pay and seems
it would be not that difficult to have public access for an hour each week.
Thanks for answering this for me, I've wondered for along time about this
especially when I hear coaches such as Tubby Smith and Rick Pitino taking
hour long questions. Sincerely, R.G.
Rod Gallagher
Mascot, Tennessee
Mike Hamilton: Hi Rod, Thanks for your e-mail and suggestion.
The original concept of Vol Calls was to feature all the sports. We keep the main coaches on for the first 20 minutes when their sport is in season and feature the news of the day or special guests for the remainder of the hour. We have discussed having the coach on for an hour, and it might be something we look at in the future.
Thanks for your support of Tennessee athletics.
Go Vols!
Mike
What is your response to this article in the Daily Beacon (http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/article.php/13498)?
I saw this happen first hand at the game, and think this is bad for UT Basketball.
The flyer did not contain any nudity (I had a copy), so why did the ushers
take up the flyers from the students? My personal opinion is that UT Basketball
is lucky that the students even show up considering the history of TB Arena,
and this is a major set back. Thank you for your time.
Matt Rains
Knoxville, Tennessee
Hi Matt,
Thanks for your e-mail. I apologize that it took so long to respond.
I appreciate the support our students have been giving the men's basketball team. Their attendance has turned up the level of enthusiasm in the arena and provided our team with a definite home court advantage.
In regards to the issue at the Florida game, we have been working closely with UT Police and talking with other schools to develop guidelines on appropriate behavior to ensure we continue to create an atmosphere of excitement that shows respect to all of our fans. From those discussions, we are establishing guidelines that we hope will keep incidents like that from occurring in the future.
We want Tennessee fans to be known for their enthusiasm, team support, hospitality and sportsmanship. Our image is shaped not only by our student-athletes, coaches, students and faculty, but by our fans as well. Our goal is to create a first-class environment to lend support to our team while maintaining a fun atmosphere for all fans. While we want students to serve as the sixth man, we ask that you use good judgment on the materials you bring to the game.
Thanks for your support of Tennessee athletics.
Thanks and Go Vols!
Mike
