(And many times)....I drive up from L.A. as a season ticket holder. This year I plan to miss only the Sac State game and the Oregon "home game in Fremont". I come up to be on campus, to hear the vocal groups, the Cal Band, see the card stunts, yell "Go Bears" and share "The California Spirit" with friends and strangers who have a common love of Berkeley on game day, REGARDLESS of wins and losses. Every erosion of that......the silencing of the band especially, makes the cost of coming up (lodging, food, gas, wear and tear on car etc.) less worth the trip.
At least at home, I have great vision of the plays via HD, and can mute the commercials and promos. I get food and drinks at my whim, and I have leg room. I can sleep in, I don't have a 5 hour drive each way, and have the opportunity to play back any play I want at any time I want.
I renewed my season tickets again this year, in hopes that someone in the athletic department finally "gets it" after this subject has been brought up both here and in conversations ever since Memorial Stadium was re-opened. If I want the NFL experience, I can go to an NFL game. (And I haven't gone to an NFL game in 7 or 8 years).
When Cal plays poorly, at least I have my Cal traditions to hold on to. The Cal Band is always a class act. The card stunts are......well, at least interesting. The stadium is (except for the glare off the plastic grass) beautiful.
Cal football, for years, was my escape from the plasticity, noise and pollution of everyday marketing, advertising, and stress of society. But that same plasticity, and pollution of everyday marketing and advertising is being force fed to me in the womb of one of my greatest recreational loves.
For me, the debate over whether or not to renew season tickets gets more intense every year. I keep giving the Cal Athletic Department another chance to get it right. But you know the definition of futility.
For the last several years, I've debated options, and each year I have decided to renew my tickets as the erosion of the Cal Gameday experience has been whored out and eroded. Once again, I had that internal debate about renewing this season. I decided I'm in for this year. I'm not sure about after this year.
