Home > The Bear Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 04 > Entry
Long week equals longer wait
Talk to the Baylor football players, and they’ll tell you they can’t wait for this week’s game. That’s because the game they’re currently playing — the waiting game — is killing them.
Obviously there are benefits to having more than a week in between Games 1 and 2. At his weekly press luncheon, Baylor coach Art Briles said that the Bears were “ahead of schedule” on their preparation for Saturday’s Division I-AA (I don’t have to call it Football Championship Subdivision if I don’t want) opponent Northwestern State.
But the flip side of that comes when you lose, and do so in the humbling, disappointing fashion that Baylor did in last Thursday’s season opener against Wake Forest. When that happens, the players want nothing more than to return to the field as quickly as possible to redeem themselves.
Like, yesterday. Or sooner.
“I can’t wait, really,” said senior defensive tackle Vincent Rhodes. “Saturday can’t get here fast enough for me. We really didn’t give our fans a good show. We didn’t show ourselves what we wanted as a team. It’s real important to me and the team that we get out here and show people that we can still be a bowl-contending team.”
Rhodes’ teammates echoed his sentiments.
“It was so upsetting just sitting in the house Saturday watching all the games, thinking, ‘Man, I wish we could be out there playing again,’” said junior defensive end Jason Lamb. “Just because we know we can play so much better than we did. It’s so disappointing not to be able to perform to what you’re fully capable of doing.”
Rhodes, Lamb and company have a bit of waiting yet to do. As of this writing, game time for the NSU contest is still some 66 hours away.
Comments
By X-Bear
September 4, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this
Yeah well I went to the ticket office “Baylor” to pick up 6 tickets,the guy who waited on me acted like I was taking up his valuable time when I ask a few questions.Needless to say I left without the tickets cause the little short dark haired looking college student who wears glasses had a poor attitude.I refuse to do business with little junior.I will listen on the radio.GO BEARS!!!! P.S. Get rid of that guy,he has a junior ego problem!!!!!!!!!1
By KDF
September 4, 2008 6:18 PM | Link to this
X-Bear. I was that kid. Not really, but I know your attitude can draw sharp with that service. Most children today don’t understand what helping someone means. It is more of a what’s in it for me attitude. Baylor’s image does not bode well if that is who represents them, to both you and other buyers.
Anyway, hearing the players saying they can’t wait till the next game is something I am so tired of hearing. Stop waiting and win some games, boys, then you can enjoy your season!!! <><
By dallasbloke
September 5, 2008 2:44 PM | Link to this
Given that there are lots of BU home game attendees who are clearly currently masquerading as empty seats, it is really too bad to hear about the level of service at the BU ticket office.
Frankly, though, I think this has been a problem for years—not one or two, but at least since the 70’s, when I first experienced haughty and condescending behavior of exactly the sort described.
The most recent experience of this nature was at the SMU game in Dallas a couple or so years ago. I purchased four tix for that game with my season ticket package, and received the tix in due course. Assumed they were OK seats.
When we got to the game with the couple who were our guests, we discovered that the tix were on the first row behind the BU band. Big problem—they stand up during the game—on the actual seat—so, even if you stand, you can’t see over them.
Luckily, it being SMU, there were some empty seats, and we “self-helped” ourselves to some lesser-yard-line seats higher up.
But, if it had been a sell-out, it would have been awful.
I wrote to the ticket office, explaining the problem, and, and the letter did complain that they would not pay more attention to the fact of the band when they sold the allotment.
I received a letter from the BU ticket office in response, explaining that they had no idea where the band sat and had no control over that. (A point I didn’t believe then, and don’t today—mostly because I am well aware of both “willful ignorance” and “sloth” as rationalizations for lack of effort and work.)
All of that would have been well and good except that the writer just had to provide a punch line.
After giving the referenced explanation, he apparently felt obligated to close with something like (almost a quote): “You need to understand though, that our job is to sell the tickets, so, that in the future you might receive the same ticket location.”
Might be totally accurate, but, the inclusion of it, to avoid using a crude term that would be very descriptive, was an example of an attitude and arrogance that is as tone deaf to customer service and, more importantly, to “customers” who are also “stakeholders” as I have ever seen.
But, I have no one to blame but myself, I guess, for not then behaving in the one way that might get the attention of those folks: to exercise my right to not purchase any more tickets, season or otherwise.
But, that day may yet come.
By Attn: BU "fans"
September 5, 2008 5:10 PM | Link to this
BU fans……..You are a loyal bunch—still hanging on to the days of the Southwest Conference. When are you going to wake up and face reality? Why in the world would anyone pay to see Baylor’s excuse for a football team? That kid at the ticket booth is laughing at you for wasting your money! Then again, Baylor’s football games are comical.
By Attn: A&M "football team"
September 5, 2008 9:18 PM | Link to this
You lost to Arkansas State. Try to keep a lid on it for a while…
By bmcpherson
September 6, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this
It may be a long wait, but not for the poor play by play by John Morris on the radio. His high broken voice, along with his poor description of what is happening on the field is pathetic. Baylor needs a change there as much as they need to win football games.