If we hired marketing professionals and gave them a real budget and committed to it, we would be substantially closer to achieving any financially driven endeavor we wished for. We can't even figure out Cal vs Berkeley. We ponder why this has to be something mutually exclusive. And on. Currently our only strategy is "make a winner they will come" well that's the hardest way to do it (pay a ransom to a staff that responds to ransom) and many examples of winners with not so full stades too.

A functional offense would get me out from Hawaii to a couple of games.

Many times I'd rather spend my travel money to go Hawaii than Cal football games but I end up going to the game.

Southwest starts service from OAK to HNL on March 17. Tickets went on sale today...starting at $49 one way. Sold out already. Heck, weekends in Hawaii might become real again. Seeing prices in the $119 range one way.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/grantmartin/2019/03/04/southwest-airlines-starts-selling-tickets-to-hawaii-for-49/#78ef644c4ea8

upsetof86 said:

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If we hired marketing professionals and gave them a real budget and committed to it, we would be substantially closer to achieving any financially driven endeavor we wished for. We can't even figure out Cal vs Berkeley. We ponder why this has to be something mutually exclusive. And on. Currently our only strategy is "make a winner they will come" well that's the hardest way to do it (pay a ransom to a staff that responds to ransom) and many examples of winners with empty stades too.

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Winning is not a panacea to the attendance issue. As noted in a number of comments here, the problem is much more nuanced. Early notification of game times along with family friendly game times and a fun Cal-centric game day experience are other key factors.

Although an on-field winning performance cannot be guaranteed every game, a great experience can be assured if Cal chooses to go that route. As we saw during the Barbour years, all the eggs were placed in the "on-field winning performance" basket and that was a serious mistake. Once the winning stopped, the attendance dropped significantly. Bringing back an atmosphere that would appeal to alums and their families would be the first step to repairing the damage caused by Barbour and her minions.

Unfortunately, the game time notification/family friendly game times issues are something over which Cal has no control. Mitigating them is something that will need to wait until the next media contracts are negotiated.

chalcidbear said:

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For me, it's fairly simple: "Something else". to wit: I'm a fan of the Bears, and I go to every home game I can.

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Ditto.

I've probably missed a couple dozen home games over the last 45 years, but always due to important personal conflicts, or on rare occasion, illness or other health matters, but never because the team was lousy. It is all about unconditional love.

I made 7 of 9 conference basketball games this year. In 2013, I attended all home football games except the FCS game we won (I was having emergency surgery) plus the horrific Big Game -- if I'll suffer through all that because I'm a fan of the Bears, none of the items listed in the OP will matter.

Cal8285 said:

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chalcidbear said:

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For me, it's fairly simple: "Something else". to wit: I'm a fan of the Bears, and I go to every home game I can.

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Ditto.

I've probably missed a couple dozen home games over the last 45 years, but always due to important personal conflicts, or on rare occasion, illness or other health matters, but never because the team was lousy. It is all about unconditional love.

I made 7 of 9 conference basketball games this year. In 2013, I attended all home football games except the FCS game we won (I was having emergency surgery) plus the horrific Big Game -- if I'll suffer through all that because I'm a fan of the Bears, none of the items listed in the OP will matter.

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Ah, a member of the "hard-core 30,000". A group, of which, I was a member for about 50 years.

I think the OP was focused on what is necessary to expand upon that number.

heartofthebear said:

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What will motivate me?
When Cal is successful recruiting, coaching and playing on both sides of the ball.
The good news is that they are half way there.

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This.

Practically an identical experience, except my summer jobs were at a slaughter house in South City. Swift and Co. I've seen sausage made and i still love it.

71Bear said:

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Cal8285 said:

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chalcidbear said:

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For me, it's fairly simple: "Something else". to wit: I'm a fan of the Bears, and I go to every home game I can.

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Ditto.

I've probably missed a couple dozen home games over the last 45 years, but always due to important personal conflicts, or on rare occasion, illness or other health matters, but never because the team was lousy. It is all about unconditional love.

I made 7 of 9 conference basketball games this year. In 2013, I attended all home football games except the FCS game we won (I was having emergency surgery) plus the horrific Big Game -- if I'll suffer through all that because I'm a fan of the Bears, none of the items listed in the OP will matter.

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Ah, a member of the "hard-core 30,000". A group, of which, I was a member for about 50 years.

I think the OP was focused on what is necessary to expand upon that number.

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I think after 50 years, you get a lifetime membership... No renewal necessary.

6164bear said:

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Practically an identical experience, except my summer jobs were at a slaughter house in South City. Swift and Co. I've seen sausage made and i still love it.

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Beats fruit cocktail, and you don't want to see it made.

Remember the slaughter house in South City, and also the tannery back in the day in Redwood City.

I used to ride home on the train from Sunnyvale to Menlo Park, and a HS mate of mine would get on the train in Mtn. View working in the barrels with brine at the pickle factory. That would clear a train car out in a hurry.

71Bear said:

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Cal8285 said:

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chalcidbear said:

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For me, it's fairly simple: "Something else". to wit: I'm a fan of the Bears, and I go to every home game I can.

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Ditto.

I've probably missed a couple dozen home games over the last 45 years, but always due to important personal conflicts, or on rare occasion, illness or other health matters, but never because the team was lousy. It is all about unconditional love.

I made 7 of 9 conference basketball games this year. In 2013, I attended all home football games except the FCS game we won (I was having emergency surgery) plus the horrific Big Game -- if I'll suffer through all that because I'm a fan of the Bears, none of the items listed in the OP will matter.

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Ah, a member of the "hard-core 30,000". A group, of which, I was a member for about 50 years.

I think the OP was focused on what is necessary to expand upon that number.

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Yeah, I don't think BearGreg's post was addressed to people like chalcidbear or me. Are there really 30,000 of us? I would have thought 20-25,000, but who knows. Season tickets sold when things have bottomed out minus those who aren't necessarily in it for the long haul, plus those who attend regularly without season tickets, I don't know what that number is.

I do know that, as of late in the 2001 season, there were only about 75 of us who were willing to sit to the end of a blowout loss in an unexpected rain without being undercover, but that probably goes beyond "hard-core" into idiocy.

Cal8285 said:

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71Bear said:

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Cal8285 said:

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chalcidbear said:

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For me, it's fairly simple: "Something else". to wit: I'm a fan of the Bears, and I go to every home game I can.

---

Ditto.

I've probably missed a couple dozen home games over the last 45 years, but always due to important personal conflicts, or on rare occasion, illness or other health matters, but never because the team was lousy. It is all about unconditional love.

I made 7 of 9 conference basketball games this year. In 2013, I attended all home football games except the FCS game we won (I was having emergency surgery) plus the horrific Big Game -- if I'll suffer through all that because I'm a fan of the Bears, none of the items listed in the OP will matter.

---

Ah, a member of the "hard-core 30,000". A group, of which, I was a member for about 50 years.

I think the OP was focused on what is necessary to expand upon that number.

---

Yeah, I don't think BearGreg's post was addressed to people like chalcidbear or me. Are there really 30,000 of us? I would have thought 20-25,000, but who knows. Season tickets sold when things have bottomed out minus those who aren't necessarily in it for the long haul, plus those who attend regularly without season tickets, I don't know what that number is.

I do know that, as of late in the 2001 season, there were only about 75 of us who were willing to sit to the end of a blowout loss in an unexpected rain without being undercover, but that probably goes beyond "hard-core" into idiocy.

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I was there that day, too. We thought it was the nadir of Cal football. Little did we know that things could (and would) get worse (Dykes' first year)...

Another Bear said:

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Southwest starts service from OAK to HNL on March 17. Tickets went on sale today...starting at $49 one way. Sold out already. Heck, weekends in Hawaii might become real again. Seeing prices in the $119 range one way.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/grantmartin/2019/03/04/southwest-airlines-starts-selling-tickets-to-hawaii-for-49/#78ef644c4ea8

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Southwest leading the way again. Thanks for the heads up on this.

1) Flying up from Long Beach - having ample time to know kick-off times.
2) Having at least one family member available to join me. Remember the days when we were all younger and able to make it. My "kids" have their own kids now and frankly the Bears aren't the "show" they used to be considering other entertainment/media options these days.
3) No other incentives needed. I'll love Bear football til the end!

RhetoriCal Bear said:

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That mother f'er should have died in prison after a nice long life. He paid $200 million in settlements spread among 20 victims. My law school classmate got an acquittal for that demon but he didn't do so well for his other client, The Pudd'in Man.

What I'd like to see is Cal get an elderly man to be the Mic Man. I think it would be totally unique and could really work.

Fiatlux isn't elederly, he's just well seasoned.

Bobodeluxe said:

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okaydo said:

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What I'd like to see is Cal get an elderly man to be the Mic Man. I think it would be totally unique and could really work.

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That was tried two years ago, and the Rally Committee elected to stick with people who didn't know if the ball was stuffed or pumped.

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To be fair, that could also describe Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

Sebastabear said:

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Bobodeluxe said:

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okaydo said:

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What I'd like to see is Cal get an elderly man to be the Mic Man. I think it would be totally unique and could really work.

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That was tried two years ago, and the Rally Committee elected to stick with people who didn't know if the ball was stuffed or pumped.

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To be fair, that could also describe Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

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Belichick? Man, you whiffed on easy Robert Kraft joke.

Bobodeluxe said:

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okaydo said:

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What I'd like to see is Cal get an elderly man to be the Mic Man. I think it would be totally unique and could really work.

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That was tried two years ago, and the Rally Committee elected to stick with people who didn't know if the ball was stuffed or pumped.

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Actually, I was thinking about this guy. He's currently without a team since the Chargers. Cal should hire him to be a Bears fan for 6 games a year.

GMP said:

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Sebastabear said:

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To be fair, that could also describe Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

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Belichick? Man, you whiffed on easy Robert Kraft joke.

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I'm glad SB took a pass. The Kraft story involves women in a form of slavery so as much as I dislike the Patriots from the top on down, I'm good with a missed opportunity for a good punchline there.

I will go every year because it's a nice tradition for my parents and I.
But, God, would I love kickoff times before 6 pm with advanced notice.
Also, I'd love for the offense to work.
I'm fine with the piped in music, but would also love for the band to play more.
Many of the timeout fan games are annoying, but I can deal.

3146gabby said:

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YWalking thru campus, remembering, and most of all appreciating what this university meant to me then and now; the ability to think about things beyond myself, to be exposed to intellectually remarkable people.

It is something in the air, maybe it was what Proust wrote about, but something intangible and lovely.

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Ding,ding,ding!

Bulwar-Lytton Contest entrant!

B.A. Bearacus said:

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GMP said:

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Sebastabear said:

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To be fair, that could also describe Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

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Belichick? Man, you whiffed on easy Robert Kraft joke.

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I'm glad SB took a pass. The Kraft story involves women in a form of slavery so as much as I dislike the Patriots from the top on down, I'm good with a missed opportunity for a good punchline there.

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Yeah I was going with deflate gate. Kraft story ain't amusing.

B.A. Bearacus said:

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GMP said:

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Sebastabear said:

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To be fair, that could also describe Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

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Belichick? Man, you whiffed on easy Robert Kraft joke.

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I'm glad SB took a pass. The Kraft story involves women in a form of slavery so as much as I dislike the Patriots from the top on down, I'm good with a missed opportunity for a good punchline there.

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The question has actually been raised on whether that's true. Apparently law enforcement sometimes claims voluntary sex workers are being trafficked in order to justify lengthy and expensive investigations.

https://deadspin.com/what-was-really-going-on-at-orchids-of-asia-1832896112

Quote:

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But among sex-worker advocates another narrative was proffered: The sting wasn't in fact about human trafficking at all, it was targeting consensual sex workers.

The debate centers on the argument that rates of human trafficking are wildly exaggerated, and that anti-sex-trafficking stings are in fact moralistic anti-sex-work stings. Such operations often end with police finding few or no victims and arresting consensual sex workers instead. Although sex trafficking does exist, it is not nearly as common or as large a problem as law enforcement and the media make it out to be. So which version of the events in Florida is the true story? It's pretty tough to tell.

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Often what starts as consensual turns into something else, especially when there's international travel involved, i.e., they're stranded in another country and the PIMPS take away passports. On the back end of that, extortion or pressure that "someone" might hurt a family member back home can keep people from running, or there's a financial debt involved. Pretty grim circumstance.

The report I read stated the locals police noticed the workers were living on premises (didn't have cars?)...which usually means they're being held against their will. That seems like reasonable, common sense thinking. If it were consensual, wouldn't workers be free to leave?

BTW, while sex work involved in human trafficking (aka slavery) gets the most news coverage, the majority is domestic work or industrial work like the garment industry.

GivemTheAxe said:

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okaydo said:

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What will motivate me is bringing back California Field.

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Thanks for the aerial photo
Very interesting but confusing
Orienting off the Campanile, Doe Library and Wheeler. It is difficult to see Hearst Gym (unless it is the small building next to California field between that field and the Campanile)
More important why is there a track field adjacent to California field? I thought Edward Track Stadium was built in 1905. It should be just outside of the bottom of the picture.

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Hearst Gym burned to the ground on June 22, 1922. The above photo does not include the original site located at Channing and Piedmont Way. The "new" gym was built at the south end of the California field.

William Randolph Hearst Jr. led reconstruction of a new gym with selection of architect Bernard Maybeck to design a new fireproof building. A change was made and Julia Morgan was engaged to design the interior of the new Hearst Gymnasium for Women.

See the photos (link below) from the April 10,1924 Telegram and Hearst Gymnasium Building Sketch from Maybeck and Morgan as sent to Hearst.

http://pe.berkeley.edu/history/facilities.html

>"In 1899 Phoebe Hearst hired the architect Bernard Maybeck to build a reception hall adjacent to her home at Channing and Piedmont Way, which she rented during the international competition for the campus plan. By 1901, she had donated the hall to the university as a gymnasium and social center for the women students on campus, where it was re-erected and renamed Hearst Hall for Women. A condition of the donation was the requirement for women students to take two years of physical culture classes..."<

Actually two slaughter houses, Swift and Armour, complete with feed lots. There was also a Hormel plant but they did not kill there, just packaged.

Yup, when I lived in SF, a neighbor worked at Hormel. Sometimes he's hand out freebies, "Here, here's a ham."

GivemTheAxe said:

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okaydo said:

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What will motivate me is bringing back California Field.

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More important why is there a track field adjacent to California field? I thought Edward Track Stadium was built in 1905. It should be just outside of the bottom of the picture.

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Wikipedia says 1932 on Edwards Stadium.

It's definitely a cool aerial