After attending 392 Ute games I’m done!

[cobraute]

I finally reached the end. I have finally lost all interest. The direction college football is headed and the direction Utah is headed is not for me anymore.
I attended my first game in 1970 and haven’t missed many home games during that stretch. Some seasons, we’d do 2-3 road games. I’ve only missed one Ute bowl game in my lifetime. I’ve been a dedicated fan. Far more than most. Season tickets, crimson club dues, bookstore swag, concessions, game day festivities, it all costs money. It all takes time.
I simply decided it’s time to move on. It’s time to allow someone else 5 decades of Ute memories. I’ve had mine. It’s time for someone else to carry the flag. I’m done. I know my presence will not be missed by the team or the university. They will simply go to the portal and find another fan to sell my tickets to.
We will see next year if I miss Utah football, but as for today, I feel very good about my decision. I’ve seen enough. I pulled my weight while I was there and I’ve earned the right to retire as a fan.
I had it in the budget to go to the playoffs so there’s that extra cash I have to go someplace fun.

[BleedsRedUte]

Say it isn’t so. I have had been disgusted with the way we have been losing and I don’t know if I can get used to the new recruiting and transfer situation where money is involved.

The days of recruiting and developing players has changed completely. If you have enough NIL backing you can transfer and recruit in the talent and have a contender right away. If a coach is not knowledgeable of the new situation they may get left in the dust with mediocre teams.

I am 82 now. Graduated from the U in “65. I had a run of attending home games for many years, but I don’t even come close to the fan support you have shown. I didn’t think that we would win the PAC12 in my lifetime, and along came Rising.

I now always put on something “Ute” or Red at least, sit down in front of the Flat screen and watch the games.

Keep supporting Utah football.

[Anfernee]

Just a reminder: there’s plenty of parity in college football this year and PLENTY of teams without huge NIL backing that are having very successful seasons. I understand the frustrations to an extent. But I won’t give into the dramatic hyperbole of “COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS DEAD” nonsense. I’m excited for Morgan as HC. I think the NIL situation and collective bargaining agreement to happen soon will help a lot. Go enjoy some Matlock instead of Utah football. Go Utes!

[AlohaUte]

LOL, you want me to believe that if Utah comes out firing next season or the season after and is back to their winning ways that you aren’t going to another game ever?

What bull crap. Talk about soft, snowflake, fair weather fans. One bad season and it’s all hell fire and damnation. Good lord, get a grip.

[Anfernee]

💯

[2008 National Champ]

Speaking of losing their grip.,,

The man (I guess I shouldn’t assume) said that he’s been to an average of 7.25 games per year for 54 years and you are calling him/her “fair weather” and a “snowflake”. You usually have decent ideas @AlohaUte, even if I don’t always agree with them, but you’re way over your skis today. Might be a good time to step back from the keyboard

[AlohaUte]

Yep, you’ve been a fan that long and one bad season is enough to throw it all away? Give me a break.

[2008 National Champ]

You’re projecting. OP said nothing of the kind

[ProudUte]

I do not agree, but I completely understand. This is the most painful season for me in over 60 years of watching Utah football. And it is not even close. Sometimes you have to take a break.

Good luck!!!

[Ted Lasso]

Honestly, I’ve been feeling the same way, though for slightly different reasons. I love college football and sports in general, and I actually enjoy things like NIL and the transfer portal. I think they’re contributing to better parity in college football, which is exciting.

That said, I’ve realized this year that investing too much time and money into watching sports just isn’t worth it for me. I’ve spent so much time watching games, listening to podcasts, and tuning into ESPN that it’s taken away from my own productivity and personal growth. I’ll always enjoy sports—they’re a great form of entertainment—but this year has shown me it’s time to step back, watch a little less, and focus more on improving my own life.

[RoboUte]

Based

[2008 National Champ]

I’m probably late to the party but a light bulb just went on for me. Since the players are now going to be getting money straight from the schools, whether they are called employees or not, there has to be a contract involved. Seems like a standard 3 year deal for incoming freshmen and remaining eligibility for transfers would be the smart way to go.

That way you lock in a couple of years of development and have long enough to see if a kid is going to pan out but still have flexibility to fill holes out of the portal. And since the kids had signed up for that amount of time, there should be less overhauling your whole team every year. Because right now these “one year NIL deals” suck for both sides unless you are truly elite and can stay healthy.

Someone would have to figure out a fair way to get around non-competes for kids who just don’t like being at their first choice for whatever reason but if it’s mutual between player and school, there would be no restriction for entering the portal every year if necessary. Let’s face it, both sides have a pretty good idea of how the pecking order will play out within a couple of weeks on campus so why keep a kid around that doesn’t want to be there if you know you probably won’t ever use them anyway.

That was probably redundant for a lot of you but the implications just became clear to me when reading Ted’s post

[22Ute22]

Yup, I said this since the beginning of NIL and the announcement of USC/UCLA leaving the pac 12. For the last 15 years, I’ve spent all day Saturday watching CFB from 9am-10pm. But I’ve spent 3 Saturdays this years not watching any CFB live, and only watching some highlights. I simply do not care that much anymore. NIL and the P2 has killed most of my enthusiasm for CFB, and Utah being bad was just the final nail in the coffin. That doesn’t mean that if Utah has good seasons, I will never watch them, but most likely I will be watching highlights from now on. Hope the TV executives are happy with the NFL minor league they want to create.

[USS Utah]

Wait, is the OP serious or just a metaphor for something?

[Jim Vanderhoof]

I hear you cobraute. You are the epitome of a true Ute fan. You’ve been through all the early lows (70s-80s) middle (90s- 2004) highs (2005-2023). It’s been an amazing journey for us. Going to the Sugar bowl with my dad ( my mom passed away a month before) and brothers was one of the highlights of my life.

There are many of us older Utes on Ute hub. It’s a new generation of fandom. Remember the day when you could talk about the game (fb bb) with the other season ticket holders during the game? Now you have to yell in someone’s ear to communicate. The commercial breaks and “ under review” disrupt the flow of the game. To me the game experience has gotten worse not better. I’m sure I will get down voted for being “old” and ought of touch but our fan experience is viewed in a different light.

[Proud to Be a Ute]

Cobra,
Where are your seats located? I’m looking for an upgrade. I Have two seats in section S3, which doesn’t work since there are 5 of us. I plan on keeping my existing while added a few additional somewhere else.

[UteBaron89]

I gave up my season tickets this year after 19 years of having those seats and 33 years of living and dying with the program ever since I moved here. I haven’t been as supportive as CobraUte above, but I have been to numerous road games and Bowl games. I still watch every game (most twice) and I went to two games this year with cheaper secondary market tickets in better seats than I had. I admit my level of passion and excitement dropped with the loss of the PAC 12, even with the pre-season anticipation of making the playoff. I doubt I’ll ever be totally done, but I don’t regret giving up my season tickets at all. The main reason I gave them up is they priced me out (raised 43% per game) and we had a hard time going to all the September and October day games with my sons playing Ute Conference football and also had a hard time selling the games we couldn’t go to.

The clincher for me has been that I’m quite put off and tired of the injury secrecy/intentional misinformation the program insists on which really has been on full display the last two seasons. You don’t have to tell me what the injury is, just let me know who I’m paying to go see in person and what my expectations should be when I turn on the TV. I hate the surprises out of nowhere (Cam at Wazzu in 2022 after a bye week was the worst)! I hate having to spend the first quarter of every game I watch or attend “taking inventory” to determine which secret injury is keeping a starter out this time (this week was Tanuvasa and Munir, last week was Van). Even Broadway gives you a slip of paper and announces when the headliner is being replaced by an understudy so the audience doesn’t spend the whole show sitting there wondering what happened to so and so (are they injured, sick, family reasons, suspended, resting, how long are they out?). It makes the experience we’re paying for far less enjoyable.

I totally get Cobra’s position. Things have changed fast and the losing this year is only part of it. I know some tend to think the fans are just along for the ride and have nothing to do with the programs success, but I disagree. One of the reasons that contributed to the decline of the PAC12 were numerous disinterested fanbases that led to poor game-day atmospheres, that led to losing footprint recruits to other conferences, which leads to a poorer product on the field, which leads to less fans…rinse and repeat. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the two programs with the best fan support were at the top of the conference year in and out at the end of the run (Utah and Oregon). Players want to play in a great environment with great fan support. Fans like Cobra have provided that and the fans here absolutely have helped to build this thing into what it has become. So thank you Cobra for years of support and passion! You, along with all our other fans, have made a difference. That being said, I’m at the point where season tickets and donations are no longer for me. I’ll attend the games I’m available and want to go to, with those who are able to join me, when the timing and weather cooperate, for the price I’m willing to pay on the secondary market, in the seats I want to sit in. My “want to go” may increase the day the conference makes an injury report mandatory for all teams OR the program decides to do the right thing by the people they’re begging to give them money and stops leaving them in the dark regarding what they’re actually paying to go see.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

You bring up a lot of valid points Baron. Each year we are asked to pay more for our seats and donate to NIL. We are considered part of the Ute family. When the game starts we have to figure out who is playing and who isn’t. Closed practices and no media coverage. Leaving everything to speculation from social media.

ESPN and Fox rule the roost. Instead of fan friendly game times determined when the schedules come out we have to wait until the week before to find out what shi* time slot. Night games in sept -oct (youth sports) and day games in Nov.( youth sports done) should be the norm. Premier time slots for the sec and big 10 have given them a huge advantage in recruiting.
Like everything in today’s society money rules. As long as ratings are up that’s all that matters.

[Author]

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