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Texas AD Chris Del Conte


Machinator

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On 9/24/2018 at 9:34 AM, ClubWhatever said:

Yeah I'm going to have to disagree with the Bob Cole act like a fan thing.  We don't need a radio personality or a joe fan doing the announcements.  Just get a no-nonsense sounding guy and tell him to STFU except for down and distance and yardline and who made the play.

I miss Wally Prior

@ImissWallyPryor

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32 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

I recall the OU game being played late afternoon and ending at sundown. 

Made for a good day at the Fair drinking early and looking at all the craptastic displays & new cars, then drinking more while goofing off on the Midway after dark.

You can still goof off on the midway after dark on a Texas - OU weekend when the game starts at 11:00 or 2:30 - I’ve done it. Only after we win though. 

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21 minutes ago, hornian said:

You can still goof off on the midway after dark on a Texas - OU weekend when the game starts at 11:00 or 2:30 - I’ve done it. Only after we win though. 

Yeah but not as much time to get primed up before the game with an 11am kickoff. The 2:30 start is good.

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It's not going to be a night game, and it's not going to Jerryworld.  Some of you people really don't seem to get it.

 

However, it could eventually go to home-and-home, which would be awful and we should keep banging on the AD's office to make sure that doesn't happen.

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On 9/25/2018 at 10:02 AM, MirrOlure said:

Or as Bob fucking Cole calls it:  "MARCH................GrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraawwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnDIOsoooooooooooooooooooo!"

The only thing more, or as, nauseating as Polonsky whoring out the stadium and polluting it with ads was Cole getting introduced to the PA at DKR and ultimately getting more and more time behind the mic.   He's embarrassingly bad.  

 

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Putting the game at night would raise way too many safety questions that neither Texas, OU nor the city of Dallas feel like dealing with. As [mention=454]Not a Sock[/mention] put it, I'd rather not be hammered drunk walking through the dark with OU fans as well as the "neighbors" lurking around doing God knows what. 

Be like clark in nl vacation.
Lambs to the slaughter
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17 hours ago, Wally Pryor said:

The only thing more, or as, nauseating as Polonsky whoring out the stadium and polluting it with ads was Cole getting introduced to the PA at DKR and ultimately getting more and more time behind the mic.   He's embarrassingly bad.  

 

The sad thing is, he could be really good.  He just needs to dial it down about a half dozen notches.

14 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Why must we have such idiots in our fanbase?

 

I can't wait for CDC to respond to some nimrod complaining that the peanuts are too salty.

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50 minutes ago, Halohal said:

Has anyone asked about bringing back the Torchlight parade. Always looked forward to attending leading up to the big game...

City of Dallas shut it down when it started turning into Eastern-bloc level rioting

NVM thought you were talking about Commerce

Quote

Until 1992, though, it was all about Commerce Street.

That year, a fatal shooting of a 19-year-old after an argument over a traffic accident, coupled with an assault on a police officer, changed things on the eve of OU-Texas.

Before, fans walked up and down Commerce Street freely chugging from open containers of alcohol and yelling taunts at whoever wore the other team's colors. Fights weren't an uncommon occurrence.

But the year after the shooting, Dallas police blocked Commerce Street to pedestrian traffic and flooded the area with a heavy police presence, sending 900 officers into the area.

In 1994, 500 officers patrolled the area.

 

Edited by ztejas
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17 hours ago, Wally Pryor said:

The only thing more, or as, nauseating as Polonsky whoring out the stadium and polluting it with ads was Cole getting introduced to the PA at DKR and ultimately getting more and more time behind the mic.   He's embarrassingly bad.  

 

I came up with my handle while watching a Texas game on tv. I had hornfans on my laptop and could hear Bob Cole in the background during a sideline report. The rest is history. 

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1 minute ago, MrPhlegm said:
37 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Is there data showing a link between vaccines and autism?

Is there data showing a link between muledick piss vaccines and autism?

Don't be ridiculous you can't vaccinate against muledick piss. 

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5 hours ago, ztejas said:

City of Dallas shut it down when it started turning into Eastern-bloc level rioting

NVM thought you were talking about Commerce

 

thanks but I was referring to the one that happens on campus at the main mall. The "pep rally"...

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/texas-exes-end-torchlight-parade-in-light-of-charlottesville-rally_20180312074727477/1031426445

 

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On 9/24/2018 at 9:25 AM, markstanco said:

https://www.si.com/college-football/2018/09/24/texas-longhorns-tcu-tom-herman-stadium-experience

 

It was the morning of a critical Big 12 opener against TCU, and Texas officials had a problem.

“Aloe Blacc’s flight has been canceled,” senior associate athletic director Drew Martin remembers a colleague frantically saying. The artist you probably remember as the one doing all the vocal work on Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” was due in Austin early Saturday afternoon to play Longhorn City Limits, one of a series of gameday initiatives Martin and first-year athletic director Chris Del Conte cooked up to help make Texas fans actually excited to attend Texas games. Martin, who arrived only two months ago from TCU—where he worked alongside Del Conte for five years—didn’t panic. Instead, he remembered he works at Texas now.

“We have three police escorts,” Martin remembers saying. “One for Bevo. One for the team. One for the opponent. So let’s get a fourth. Get Aloe Blacc at the airport and blaze him to campus.”

He made it.

8KGp8-r2_normal.jpg

Heading down to campus to check out Longhorn City Limita, Bevo BLVD and the game. 🤘🏼

Looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about.

 

Are you kidding me, this is awesome! Where else do you get to see Aloe Blacc while tailgating a football game?

Cool stuff @_delconte and team 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼pic.twitter.com/mvITYc8l1K

 
c9UvbSGRUpdJIPGx?format=jpg&name=small
 
 

Aloe Blacc’s presence on what Texas officials call Bevo Blvd. didn’t help the Longhorns score a single point in their 31–16 win against the Horned Frogs on Saturday, but, along with several other changes Del Conte and Martin have made for this season, it did help create an atmosphere that has given Texas something it hasn’t had in years—an honest-to-goodness home field advantage.

Del Conte and Martin have reconfigured the seating to give Texas students a contiguous bloc of seats with the Texas band blasting from the middle. They have made that student seating first-come, first-serve to get those students in the stadium and yelling. They have cut down on ads on the video boards and forbidden on-field, thanks-for-writing-that-big-check presentations if those presentations bring down the energy level in the stadium. The newcomers are trying to remind Texas fans that football games are supposed to be fun. And it just so happens that for the past two Saturdays, the team has given fans a reason to keep partying in the stands.

I used to call the Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium crowd the quietest 100,000 people in America. Texas games in recent years felt more like golf tournaments—and not the U.S. Open or the one in Phoenix that’s sponsored by the garbage company. The gameday atmosphere was stuck in the 1980s, and the fans seemed as bored by the presentation as they did by the lackluster play on the field. Plus, Longhorns fans seemed to have a stuffiness about them that rivals often mocked. They acted as if all the yelling those Aggies did in College Station was terribly gauche. “I think they held themselves to a different standard, which is not necessarily bad,” says former Texas A&M employee Martin of Texas fans. “But they never really embraced the fact that your home field advantage is your weapon. Use it.”

People who have attended the Longhorns’ 37–14 win against USC on Sept. 15 and Saturday’s win against TCU have said the difference in the vibe is shocking. The energy feels more like a game at LSU or at Penn State. Here’s one attendee’s take. “Wow, was that really cool to see our students and our fans?” Texas coach Tom Herman said. “That was for two straight weeks and hats off to Chris Del Conte and Drew Martin for this new and improved gameday atmosphere. Our players really, really feed off that. And I can tell you this, when you go sing ‘The Eyes of Texas’ after a win against a Top 25 opponent in front of a student section that's as packed and as loud as that, that's special. That is a special, special feeling.”

So what did Texas do differently? Just about everything.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 22 TCU at Texas
John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Bevo Blvd. project on San Jacinto Boulevard was designed to get fans out to campus earlier. Auburn fans don’t need to be trained to show up early and party. They’ve done it for generations. Texas fans needed a push, and Martin figured the best way to attract Austinites was with two things Austinites have proven their love for time and again: food trucks and live music. Vendors charge happy hour prices for craft beer. Advertisers are allowed to set up in the area, but their engagements must add value. “When we activate, the onus falls on them to create an experience for the fan,” Martin says. “It can’t just be where you walk up and grab a coupon.” Texas officials also got permission from the company that stages Austin City Limits to call their concert series Longhorn City Limits. Texas-based Reckless Kelly headlined the show before the USC game. Aloe Blacc was there Saturday. Texas hasn’t announced who will play the remaining three home games, but Pat Green had better play one of them.

 

Inside the stadium, the change in vibe begins in the student section. Texas controversially displaced some season-ticket holders to create a contiguous student section, but officials considered this a critical element. (Texas sought the advice of consultant Guido D’Elia, the man responsible for creating the gameday atmosphere at Penn State, which is home to one of the nation’s great student sections.)

Martin and Del Conte eliminated a lottery-based student ticketing system that gave students assigned seats in favor of a first-come, best-served approach. “It’s like the difference between having a flight on Southwest Airlines versus a flight on United,” Martin says, referencing the Lone Star State-based airline that famously does not assign seats. “If you’re flying Southwest, you’re going to get your butt to the airport early.”

Texas has also tried to change the experience once the game begins. No longer will the Longhorns score a touchdown, fire their cannon and then pause to honor a big donor on the field. “The place wants to go nuts. But we say, ‘Hang on. Be quiet for a second while we present a game ball to the president of a company.’ It just sucks the air out of the stadium,” Martin says. “We need to keep the hype going.” Martin also has asked PA announcer Bob Cole to change his approach as well. “Talk like a fan would talk,” Martin says. “We need less news anchor and more buddy sitting in the seat next to you.”

Soundtrack matters, too. Martin wants something he compares to “the best wedding reception you’ve ever been to.” “The DJ is playing the current music that the young couple and the bridesmaids and groomsmen know,” Martin says, “but he also plays ‘Twist and Shout’.” Martin says the best gameday environments strike a balance between the current hip-hop hits the students and players want and the power ballads the donors want. He made sure the person who controls the music during the game sits outside. That way, it’s easier to discern when to play a singalong like Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” or something new by Kendrick Lamar. Or, when it’s the start of the fourth quarter and your team is up eight but needs a stop, perhaps it’s time to play something by DMX from the Golden Age of Bangers that is guaranteed to get every booty shaking.

 

Gamedays in Austin ain’t what they used to be. Kudos to @_delconte and @TexasFootball. Energized experience for everyone, and I can see it inspires the troops! Can’t wait till Baylor. 🤘🤘#HookEm

 

“Let them keep partying all the way until the next snap,” Martin says.

If Texas fans and players can recreate their performances from the past two weekends, they’ll be partying up all the way through “The Eyes of Texas”.

 

Nick Saban 'disappointed' in spotty Bama student-attendance numbers

Even BAMA struggling with Student attendance when weak Teams are played in Tuscaloosa.....

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24886323/nick-saban-sounds-alabama-students-not-showing-louisiana-lafayette-game

 

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2 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

 

Nick Saban 'disappointed' in spotty Bama student-attendance numbers

Even BAMA struggling with Student attendance when weak Teams are played in Tuscaloosa.....

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24886323/nick-saban-sounds-alabama-students-not-showing-louisiana-lafayette-game

 

Can't have it both ways Nicky. Schedule harder OoC's aka Home & Homes, or go to 9 conference games if you want more fans at home interested. Your meal ticket to the Natty by playing harder Power 5 teams at neutral sites and FCS teams on Saturday morning at 11 am isn't going to fill the stands every week. 

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17 hours ago, Halohal said:

thanks but I was referring to the one that happens on campus at the main mall. The "pep rally"...

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/texas-exes-end-torchlight-parade-in-light-of-charlottesville-rally_20180312074727477/1031426445

 

That’s fucking nuts, but it doesn’t surprise me. 

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