When Clemson comes to the Carrier Dome every other season, it’s a big deal.
The Tiger are the class of the Atlantic Coast Conference, a national championship winner, a mainstay in the four-team playoffs, a fun game to watch because the hometown Orange plays up to the challenge.
My dear wife Karen and I were psyched for Friday night’s game. She had the whole day off from work. I got out from my job at the library early. We celebrated her birthday with happy tailgating, the rain stopped so we could walk up from our parking lot to the dome, we enjoyed watching the teams warm up and come to the field.
Close game. No score in the first quarter. Exciting.
Then, a commotion to the right of our seats. Up from the ramp came a parade of young folks, students maybe, wearing SU clothing. Wait, many carried beer or hard seltzer in their hands, must be seniors over the drinking age of 21? Up the aisle they went, blocking our view of a good quarter of the field to the right side. Dozens spied empty seats to our left and immediately behind us and they thought nothing of climbing right over us.
None paid any attention to the usual etiquette of waiting for a stoppage in play to move up, down or sideways.
Into the seating they continued for five, 10, 20 minutes. The first quarter gave way to the second and the parade of new spectators did not halt.
The season ticket holders around us were not pleased.
Yes, this distracted us from the No. 1 game on this season’s schedule.
Karen decided to go down that ramp to ease her anxiety with a beer purchase of her own.
She returned with a tale of a skirmish she witnessed on the beverage line between a mask-wearing older customer admonishing a younger customer who was wearing a mask around the neck.
We watched as numerous people complained to the poor Carrier Dome worker always stationed at this particular entrance and heard him proclaim, hands raised, ”There’s nothing I can do!”
I looked across the way and noticed that our sister section on the other side of the stadium, also previously spare of filled seats by season ticket holders in the bottom rows, now too had a big crowd of what appeared to be students suddenly filling the upper seats.
My frustration grew.
If Syracuse University officials were intent on building crowd size by bringing in students for these seats, why did they not tell them to be ready to come into the stadium before the game actually started so they would not distract those already there trying to watch the game?
Did they think of us and the money we paid for our season tickets at all? Did they think of us and decide we didn’t matter as much as a filled stadium for the TV audience? Was it just plain, old, bad management, a boondoggle at the biggest game of the year?
Our good-time mood had been fouled, and we could not get it back.
Karen and I left at halftime, Syracuse trailing, 14-7. We decided we’d be happier watching the second half at home. I was not happy when Syracuse missed a late field goal and lost 17-14.
A decision has been made. The easy thing to do would be to let it go. More important things in the world to worry about in the world, and all that.
Not this time.
We will not be returning to the last two home games this season. I won’t spend any more of my money at the dome. I’ll still root for the team, from home, watching on my living room TV. When that season ticket renewal form comes in the mail, well, now I’m pretty certain our answer is no thank you. Sad, really, since we’ve held football season tickets a dozen years.
Mark Bialczak 
Oh I am so sorry! They have lost some good people and wonder why they can’t fill the dome.
I’m so sorry my friend!
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Yes, the end of my rope has been found, Nance.
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Oh man, Mark. Doesn’t sound like fun! And I agree with you, the university should be clearly spelling out not just the rules, but etiquette. I fear we’ve raised some kids who know more about screens than dealing with their fellow humans.
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You are right about that, Kay. Modern problems.
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Sorry it had to be that way, Mark. But there are advantages to watching on TV, especially in the time savings. Now that I’ve given up cable, I don’t watch nearly as many games as I used to. There’s a big time savings in that as well. And since my boys are all playing sports, I need that time for the really important games.
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Good for you, watching the really important games instead, Scott. Fantastic!
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I think I made the right decision to cancel my season tickets after over 25 years. I truly miss being in the Dome, but watching from home and the season they are having, seeing all the unmasked, so called fans, makes my choice the right one.
So sorry to hear about your experience, in my opinion, they need to stop selling beer at college games. These students are rude and crude. We had a few around us that would use inappropriate language, who I would asked to watch their language, I had my two young granddaughters with me, it was terrible.
Maybe someday we can return to the Dome and enjoy the games we came to enjoy.
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Sorry you had to experience bad times as well, Donna V. Enjoy the games on your home screen.
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Mark…I stopped going to the dome years ago for a lot of the same reasons. It just wasn’t worth the hassle anymore. SU has made the conscious decision to inconvenience the people who supported them from the community. Like you and Karen, I’ll watch them from afar.
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DJ, it makes me sad. We have been enjoying our fall ‘game dates’ for years. Now we’ll watch from home, like so many others around here.
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What a drag. Sorry to hear about this – some people are so selfish and it’s disappointing that the powers that be allowed this to happen, losing loyal season ticket holders in the process.
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You know, ZF, they wonder why they can’t fill the dome. I don’t wonder so much anymore. (Besides knowing if they won every game it would be full of course.)
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How frustrating, on so many levels. I hope like Beth that you let them know. There is no excuse for what happened.
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I’m so sorry to read this for so many reasons. that is horrible and I understand your feelings about it. I hope you will let the powers that be know your feelings as well. I guarantee many season ticket holders, as well as a family just out for the game, will let them know. what a terrible call on their part
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I know we are just a small section that was disrupted but to me it was the principle of doing that during that game at all that upset me. Thanks, Beth.
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