re: Rabalais: Empty seats reflect poorly on LSU

We can debate and debate the reasons why the TS is not the same, but the reason is that the fanbase is spoiled. LSU is a victim of their own success.

Due to the great success LSU has had over the last 10+ years, many fans feel that an LSU win is just a foregone conclusion. This has led to the tailgate becoming more of "the even" than the actual game. People spend lavishly on their tailgates, and once gametime comes they just decide that it would be more comfortable and less of a hassle to stay at the tailgate and watch the game on TV rather than going into the stadium to watch LSU get the expected victory. Then you have those who do actually go into the stadium. Just like everybody else however, they go in expecting LSU to win comfortably. Therefore, once LSU goes up even by as little as 10 points, many just assume "we got this", and just head on back to the tailgate or out to a bar to resume the party that they had to stop to go into the game. It's no coincidence that games where it is not a foregone conclusion that LSU will win (see recent Alabama games)are the ones where the fans stay until the end and are most involved.

I genuinely thought UF was going to be one of those games being that it was clearly the 2nd most anticipated home game of the schedule, however fans didn't show up, and left early. That leads to another level of spoiled fans, the group that refuses to show up to day games because, "We're LSU. We only play at night!" That is a tradition of a past era where relatively few games were televised. CBS has had the TV contract with the SEC for 15 years, and in those 15 years they have almost always put the best conf. game of the week at 2:30. While I don't particularly love day games, I sure in the hell will put up with it because it generally means that LSU is one of the best teams in the country. It's long time for the day game haters to get over it. Unless CBS changes or loses the contract, LSU will play more marquee games in TS at 2:30. Of course, LSU's program could always drop back down to the level of say a Miss. St., who seems to have no problem landing night games week after week.