Thoughts On The State Of Vanderbilt Fan Attendance

A Lot Has Been Made About Both Georgia And LSU Fans Taking Over Vanderbilt Stadium, My Thoughts

Vanderbilt fans, I'm the new guy on the beat so I hope you will indulge me for a few minutes as I share my thoughts, and possibly ramble a bit about what we witnessed on Saturday inside Vanderbilt Stadium.

Saturday was my first Vanderbilt game as a member of the media covering the Commodores, it was not my first time in Vanderbilt Stadium as a media member.  

When I arrived Saturday I felt like a freshman-most of of you know that feeling, having experienced it in either high school college or both- as I had to ask the ushers where to find the elevator to get to the pressbox and then were to find all the other important places a little reporter might need throughout the long day. How long was it? I arrived at 8am and left after 4pm with lots on my mind and thoughts to process.

Let me jump backwards in time here for clarification, ad I said above yesterday was not my first time there as a media member.  

My first experience working inside Vanderbilt Stadium was in 1992 as a member of a small Gallatin radio station. I was part of their broadast of the Clinic Bowl state championship game where Gallatin High School   defeated Clinton High School. I returned again five years later, still working for the same radio station, but in 1997 it was White House High School's victory over Memphis Melrose we had that day.   

Over the last 22 years I have attended a few games on West End, but only as a fan. That's why what I saw on Saturday suprised me, though I knew it had happened before.

I took the photo above from the pressbox roughly 15 minutes before kickoff where the only colors visible inside the stadium were purple and gold. Granted some of the gold could have been Commodore faithful, but not when it was attached to purple.

There were very few recognizable fans in black and gold visible from my vantage point in the front row of the pressbox. How is this possible? I mean in 1992 and 1997 I witnessed a reported 20,000 Gallatin fans settle in on the home side. The same was true of White House fans in 1997.      

There were more high school football fans at those two game-an many others over the years- tha Vanderbilt fans in their own stadium when the 4th ranked team in the country visited.

Yes, I know it was a foregone conclusion by most everyone- myself included-that Vanderbilt would lose. The same can be said of Georgia weeks earlier, but is that an excuse not to show up?

 Vanderbilt senior reciever Kalijah Lipscomb was asked about the home crowd following the game. His response was telling. 

"We play for ourselves. We play for our team. We play for the fans that come," said Lipscomb. "We don't control who comes to the games. We don't control how many fans come, who's watching on TV. We control how we play. We control the emotions of our team. We control who we play for, and that's us."

For the fans that come, all three thousand of them, maybe.

Vanderbilt got no favors when the schedule makers put Georgia and LSU wrapped around Purdue in the first four week of their season, and most people didn't realistically expect the Commodores to win two of those game.

The Purdue game was winnable but ended in disappointment, and for that I make no excuses for this team. But the other two.

How many teams could line up and play two of the top four teams in the nation in the first four week of the season and win both, or even one of the two? Clemson, Bama, Ohio St. or Oklahoma. That's about it. 

The rest of the Commodores season has very winnable games, and this team has the expectation of getting to a bowl game. It's a very resonable, and obtainable goal and it starts this coming Saturday with Northern Illinois coming to town. 

If you are a Commodores fan the I challenge you to show up, fill the stadium and cheer for your team. 

Yeah, I hear the "we been seeing this same thing for years" comments as I learned what #VandyTwitter was on Sunday. So what!

Yes I know the history of Commodores football. It's not elite, but it's still worth your support if you are a true fan. I can say this because when my school was going through a down time, I was still going. Still driving four hours to see them lose games I thought they should win. 

It's part of being a fan and I pray that these players who are giving their all for their univeristy get to experience supports, and this freshman beat writer wants to see what that stadium will look like when it's full oc Commodrre faithful.