Fan Fest set for Aug 16th
- Thread starter Mike Gwinn
- Start date
I was asking people at church who are season tix holders about this and they had no idea it was today. To be fair, they haven't looked into their packet in detail. But the point is, nothing in mainstream media that I have seen. MU gotta promote this stuff better. No mention in the HD sports page or on WSAZ.
He was a trooper, signing past 6:15 for anyone who hung around.
The problem was he was the main attraction and drew a huge line, but people would just walk up to him from behind and skip the whole thing. My wife and I stood in line for almost an hour to get a picture of him with our kids and we couldn't figure out why the line was moving so slow. As we got to the table we watched dozens and dozens of people - mostly adults - walk up from behind and get their stuff signed. The cherry on top was that when we reached the table, a guy in his 60's (in a Patriots shirt, not even wearing MU gear) walks up behind DJ and tries to hand me his camera, asking if I'll take his picture. I declined. [No slight on DJ, it wasn't his responsibility to maintain the line, it was Marshall's - but most of the AD employees were just standing around in front of the Shewey playing with their [REDACTED]s.
Then came maybe the worst part when we tried to get a picture with Doc and our kids. We stood in line, waited our turn, and when we got to him, he turned his back to us, pretending we weren't there and talking to this other dude (I'm guessing a donor maybe?)...he looked at us, we'd been in line, he knew we were there, he just seemed like he was hoping we'd leave. Finally after a couple minutes my wife interrupts his conversation and asks if he can pose for a second. He put on a smiley face but he seemed a little annoyed by it all.
I got a camera full of cute pictures of our kids and I can't bring myself to look at. Need a day or two to let it pass, but right now I couldn't give a f--- if Marshall never won another football game again.
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I see what you are saying but I had Doc sign something yesterday and he was extremely friendly and spoke briefly with us. I understand there was a line and you didnt want to wait any longer but maybe that person had been waiting as well. I dont know the situation but I figure you waiting a couple minutes at the front of the line doesnt seem too extreme. It is hard to know what he was "hoping". Maybe it was a players parent who he told he would talk to in a few minutes. To be honest, I know I am not the most important person on that field yesterday and if he stopped signing and taking pictures for a couple minutes to speak with someone I figure that is ok. I am not sure why you are taking it so hard that you dont care if Marshall wins again. Look at it this way. He didn't have to have this event at all. There is no rule for it. He could have said his hand was cramped and didn't care about you or your family and not signed anything. But instead he put together an event to have the community and the players/coaches meet and sign autographs. Get over it.
I've been to Media Day/Fan Day many times over the years, over the course of multiple coaches' tenures, and had mostly positive experiences. I have had Doc sign things for me in the past and he has been very pleasant to me, but yesterday I had a very negative encounter with him. I will admit that my frustrations with some of the other elements of yesterday's fan day experience may have left my nerves a bit bare and sensitive, but the fact is, Doc was kind of a dick to me, my wife and my kids.
I am also well aware of how these days go, that in the past before they changed to the current structure, they used to just have us approach the players en masse, with no organization. Something you would see frequently would be kids skipping line, sometimes adults skipping line, sometimes adults sending their kids to skip line, so its not really surprising that it happened. You get some really trashy, low-rent people who come out to these things erroneously thinking an autograph from a low-division collegiate player is going to fetch high dollar on eBay, or that an autographed football on the mantle will buffer the fact they watch most home games from their couch.
My irritation had as much to do with my own inconvenience as it did with the inconvenience to the hundreds of good and decent tactful people in line behind me who were getting f--ked just the same, while MU AD people stood against the Shewey playing Candy Crush on their phones instead of displaying the work ethic expected from most 23-year-old entry-level marketing coordinators.
As for how lucky I am that Doc agrees to sign footballs for people, let me remind you that Doc makes high six-figures coaching football at a college that has to steal from itself and bilk its students with fees just to play in a D-I sandbox. If you removed the compulsory taxpayer and student support from Marshall athletics, the budget you would be left with would barely sustain a Division-II program. Given that Doc toiled for over three decades without getting a HC shot until we "stole" him from WVU, I would say that as far as the universe is concerned, he's probably pretty lucky to be getting his picture made next to my kid on that field.
I am also well aware of how these days go, that in the past before they changed to the current structure, they used to just have us approach the players en masse, with no organization. Something you would see frequently would be kids skipping line, sometimes adults skipping line, sometimes adults sending their kids to skip line, so its not really surprising that it happened. You get some really trashy, low-rent people who come out to these things erroneously thinking an autograph from a low-division collegiate player is going to fetch high dollar on eBay, or that an autographed football on the mantle will buffer the fact they watch most home games from their couch.
My irritation had as much to do with my own inconvenience as it did with the inconvenience to the hundreds of good and decent tactful people in line behind me who were getting f--ked just the same, while MU AD people stood against the Shewey playing Candy Crush on their phones instead of displaying the work ethic expected from most 23-year-old entry-level marketing coordinators.
As for how lucky I am that Doc agrees to sign footballs for people, let me remind you that Doc makes high six-figures coaching football at a college that has to steal from itself and bilk its students with fees just to play in a D-I sandbox. If you removed the compulsory taxpayer and student support from Marshall athletics, the budget you would be left with would barely sustain a Division-II program. Given that Doc toiled for over three decades without getting a HC shot until we "stole" him from WVU, I would say that as far as the universe is concerned, he's probably pretty lucky to be getting his picture made next to my kid on that field.
Doc and others in his position aren't your friend, your buddy, or your pal. They don't really want to be bothered, this is something that they are forced to do to keep the peace among the fans. However some coaches and such put on a better act than others. My advise, stay away and your perception balloon won't be popped.
Why are people not allowed to criticize anything Marshall related on here without a tide of retorts from people who don't know about the situation?
Nobody is perfect; Marshall fans, players, coaches, and administrators included.
'Liscious seems to have a valid complaint. He has a history of being level-headed on here without being one to unfairly criticize.
Yet, many people, instead of accepting that the Marshall administrators/coach may have made a poor decision(s), simply look for excuses or even blame the poster for the issue.
I don't know how it was done at Marshall, but every place I have seen will have a marketing/athletic employee with each of the popular players/coach. That employee keeps people from jumping in line, keeps people from coming up behind in a different line, and keeps the player/coach from being distracted from others so everything can be done efficiently and right.
Nobody is perfect; Marshall fans, players, coaches, and administrators included.
'Liscious seems to have a valid complaint. He has a history of being level-headed on here without being one to unfairly criticize.
Yet, many people, instead of accepting that the Marshall administrators/coach may have made a poor decision(s), simply look for excuses or even blame the poster for the issue.
I don't know how it was done at Marshall, but every place I have seen will have a marketing/athletic employee with each of the popular players/coach. That employee keeps people from jumping in line, keeps people from coming up behind in a different line, and keeps the player/coach from being distracted from others so everything can be done efficiently and right.
i'm willing to bet the vast majority of those just standing around were student managers, student trainers, etc. it's not their job to police lines on fan day, or whatever, they're just waiting on the players to get done, so they can get on with their job.
I didnt say one thing about how the lines should have been policed better and I dont think anyone else did. If that was occurring it obviously should be stopped. No one is arguing that that wasnt a problem. But saying "I got a camera full of cute pictures of our kids and I can't bring myself to look at. Need a day or two to let it pass, but right now I couldn't give a f--- if Marshall never won another football game again." because you feel slighted because a coach stopped signing autographs and turned around for a few minutes and then appeared displeased after being interrupted mid conversation (didnt leave and never come back or tell him hes not signing their shit) is not what I would call "level-headed".
In response to this:
"As for how lucky I am that Doc agrees to sign footballs for people, let me remind you that Doc makes high six-figures coaching football at a college that has to steal from itself and bilk its students with fees just to play in a D-I sandbox. If you removed the compulsory taxpayer and student support from Marshall athletics, the budget you would be left with would barely sustain a Division-II program. Given that Doc toiled for over three decades without getting a HC shot until we "stole" him from WVU, I would say that as far as the universe is concerned, he's probably pretty lucky to be getting his picture made next to my kid on that field."
First off I never said you are lucky. But I will say Doc was not the one yesterday who was hoping to get his picture made with a bunch of people. If he is so bad why didnt you just leave? Nothing forced you to stand there and get his picture. Tell your kids he is a piece of sh!t and leave.
Rifle I will complain about something if that makes you feel better. Why the hell would they advertise the autgraphs and pictures were from 4-6 and then have an hour of the team taking pictures. If I showed up at 5 I would have been better off. That makes no sense. Why would I want to go sit in the stadium so I can watch a couple players be interviewed (not so we can hear) and watch team pictures be taken.
