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Free tickets and football, too Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 By Harry King LITTLE ROCK - Free is the proper price for admission to Arkansas' spring football game. The game is supposed to be a preview, a test drive if you will. Car dealers are only too eager to put a prospective buyer behind the wheel. If the product catches the eye, a sale might be made. For the introduction to Bobby Petrino's style of football, the atmosphere will be game-like. So far, the constant theme from practice has been the non-stop pace. At the very least, the curious should show up for the 6 p.m. kickoff. Anything less than 25,000 will be disappointing. Around the country, and in the Southeastern Conference in particular, new coaches have turned on the fans and they have turned out. Last year, Nick Saban's first spring game at Alabama attracted more than 92,000. This spring, estimated attendance was ONLY 78,200. Admission was free. Tickets were $10 for Ole Miss' first spring game under Houston Nutt and the crowd was 28,311. Sponsored by the M-Club Alumni Association, money from the ticket sales goes into a scholarship fund for the children (non-athletes) of former athletes who want to attend Ole Miss. Sophomore quarterback Jevan Snead, a transfer from Texas, completed 20-of-26 for 269 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Back when Bill Callahan was supposed to revive Nebraska with the West Coast offense, the Cornhuskers drew 63,416 in the spring of 2005. This year, the Cornhuskers sold reserved seats for the first time at $10 per, partly because this will be Bo Pelini's first spring and partly because beloved Tom Osborne is back as athletic director. There has been such demand that a ticket broker is asking and getting $95 per seat, according to The Associated Press. That's $4 less than it costs to see Nebraska play defending Big 12 North champion Missouri. Some Southeastern Conference schools charge to see the spring game and some don't. Around the SEC, only Vanderbilt does not have a spring game. The Commodores settle for a glorified practice labeled a scrimmage. Here's how others do it and attendance: Auburn: $5 per person, students free with ID. Attendance, 35,000. Florida: No charge for students, alumni association members, and booster club members. $5 for others. Attendance, 61,000. Georgia: $5 per adult, $3 per students. In bad weather, the crowd was 20,000. LSU: Fans had to go online and print a ticket, but it was free. Attendance topped 33,000. Mississippi State: $5 per, students free with ID. Attendance, 10,000. Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee held their spring games on Saturday and there was no charge. Last year, attendance topped 35,000 at Columbia. During the past 45 years, the Vols have averaged 17,333. At Fayetteville, the on-field participants will appreciate the fact that there will be a working clock. Back from Augusta, Ga., those who inquired about The Masters quickly got their fill of Tiger and Trevor and moved on to the extended scrimmage of April 11. They made it sound like torture. How lengthy was it? Well, only a few parents and a few girlfriends stayed to the end. All you need to know, said one observer, is that Casey Dick threw 39 passes. Not once in 13 games last year did Dick throw 39 times. His high was 32 in the Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri. In five games, he failed to crack 20. Officially, it was 150 something plays filmed with a purpose. Familiar with the oft-quoted "Fatigue makes cowards of us all," from former Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi, Petrino and his staff wanted viewable proof of the performance of players who are dog tired. For a first-year coach, spring practice is the appropriate time to find out about the various players and Petrino is not one to rely on somebody else's opinion. Whatever it takes. Of course, I didn't have to hit somebody or get hit or even sit through the thing. ---- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
