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Leaving Early - Not a Rant

RoarLions1

RoarLions1

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May 11, 2012
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I was reading a thread on HR that I'd like to ask others about. You represent a small number of overall fans, but when you're being serious, good info follows.

So my questions are (some general, some specific, so all can contribute);

What percent of a Rec Hall crowd leaves at the last bout, mostly prior to?
Why do they leave early?
If you have season tickets or attend regularly, what do you do?

Background: I'm just curious. In my lifetime, I've heard; "won't be stuck in traffic", "heavyweight is boring", "we had the dual won", "my wife made me", and others.

While most matches end at 285, the Lehigh dual, for example, ended at 184...and it appeared just as many left early...so I'm not convinced the heavyweight thing holds water...but I'd like to know.

Interesting that this happens in every sport. My interests are broad, so we attend a variety of different sports.
 
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I don't make it up to see many matches for various reasons, but the last one I went to I stayed until the very end! Wanted to get my $$ worth.
 
1. These days, it seems like <5%. I can see most of the crowd from my seat in NU.
2. The parking garage is a bear to get out of after the match. I think that is the primary factor.
3. I have season tix and always stay because I don't park in that garage or I'm staying over.
 
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RoarLions1 said:
Yes. Hydration is very important in my line of work too. Sneaking suspicion it's not what you intended, though :).
Click to expand...

Not ME, Roar, i carry oversized flask, but it MAY be a popular reason.

I dont get to many duals either, and I want to enjoy every second. Especially in Rec.
 
RoarLions1 said:
I was reading a thread on HR that I'd like to ask others about. You represent a small number of overall fans, but when you're being serious, good info follows.

So my questions are (some general, some specific, so all can contribute);

What percent of a Rec Hall crowd leaves at the last bout, mostly prior to?
Why do they leave early?
If you have season tickets or attend regularly, what do you do?

Background: I'm just curious. In my lifetime, I've heard; "won't be stuck in traffic", "heavyweight is boring", "we had the dual won", "my wife made me", and others.

While most matches end at 285, the Lehigh dual, for example, ended at 184...and it appeared just as many left early...so I'm not convinced the heavyweight thing holds water...but I'd like to know.

Interesting that this happens in every sport. My interests are broad, so we attend a variety of different sports.
Click to expand...

Had tickets for the 4 P. "Mosaic" show at Eisenhower and could not risk being stuck in the Nittany Parking Deck nightmare after the tenth bout. Some architect could make a fortune by figuring out how to design a parking garage in which no cars have to back out of spaces to leave the garage.
 
I personally stay until the end but the guys I go with leave for 2 reasons. They don't like getting stuck in the hallway shoulder to shoulder with all of the people and the parking deck is the other reason.

I usually just meet them at the bottom of the parking deck.
 
I leave football games early unless the game is very much in question. Look, if PSU is up by 20 at halftime and they're playing a patsy that they're likely to continue to beat like the proverbial red-headed stepchild, I have a long drive to get home and it CAN be hard to get out of the lots near Beaver Stadium.

Wrestling is an entirely different animal because while it's a team sport I guess, the individual athletes wrestle individually and at different times. You can leave a football game in the 3rd quarter and still get to see all of the starters play, but not so in a wrestling dual. Furthermore, even if you wait until the end, it only takes a few minutes to get out of the lots at Rec Hall.
 
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Gave up on parking garage for duals, way better off parking in lot on Atherton side of Rec.
Arrive early,go in back side of Rec, check out Lorenzo,then try to navigate thru narrow halls to get to arena, good chance you’ll even bump shoulders with a few of the boys.
 
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KBay said:
Had tickets for the 4 P. "Mosaic" show at Eisenhower and could not risk being stuck in the Nittany Parking Deck nightmare after the tenth bout. Some architect could make a fortune by figuring out how to design a parking garage in which no cars have to back out of spaces to leave the garage.
Click to expand...

backing out of the parking spot to me is more aggravating then sitting in the stalled traffic that you wait in.

and....

I know its some of you guys not letting me back out :mad:;):eek::cool::)
 
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go down to the floor, visit with the wrestlers, meet new people-the traffic clears and it is easy to get out, and you get to meet some really great people! Even got to say hello to CS, who didn't remember the last time we had visited while he was still at ISU :(

II spent most of my time that afternoon yelling "SPYKER, WHERE ARE YOU" only to find out he had left early to go to a hockey game.

That being said, I sometimes leave a dual early if someone in the family has been foolish enough to schedule something else too close to time-like lifting, wrestling practice, holiday party, etc. Price of having kids.
 
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CowboyUp61 said:
get there early, take the time to back in, then you have a clear view of who is not letting you out of the spot :rolleyes::D
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I got a ticket for backing into a space at the Eisenhower Parking Deck for a football game 3-4 years ago. $40 fine. I could've parked on the sidewalk or next to a hydrant for the same amount of money. It's quite an offense, apparently.
 
matter7172 said:
1. These days, it seems like <5%. I can see most of the crowd from my seat in NU.
2. The parking garage is a bear to get out of after the match. I think that is the primary factor.
3. I have season tix and always stay because I don't park in that garage or I'm staying over.
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#2
 
BOSCO2 said:
I got a ticket for backing into a space at the Eisenhower Parking Deck for a football game 3-4 years ago. $40 fine. I could've parked on the sidewalk or next to a hydrant for the same amount of money. It's quite an offense, apparently.
Click to expand...
:eek: wow, never heard of that. Must be a local rule. Don't think I would back in either.
 
BOSCO2 said:
I got a ticket for backing into a space at the Eisenhower Parking Deck for a football game 3-4 years ago. $40 fine. I could've parked on the sidewalk or next to a hydrant for the same amount of money. It's quite an offense, apparently.
Click to expand...


We too got a fine for backing into a spot in the parking garage:

we don't always leave early but IF we do it is to get out ahead of the crowd. We have a 2 hour drive to our home watering hole and if we save 20 minutes or so 6 times a year it adds up to several "extra" beverages:)
 
  1. Seems to be about 5-10% to me, though at times, it has been higher.
  2. It's gotta be the whole traffic thing and the garage egress specifically--I did do that for the first time in forever for the Lehigh dual, and yeah, it was a bit of a wait in the garage.
  3. I don't think I've ever left early--but I almost always bike. Even when I don't, beating traffic isn't a game I tend to involve myself in. Just, go with the flow, man.
All that said, I'd support starting Friday's Dual at 184. :D
 
BOSCO2 said:
I got a ticket for backing into a space at the Eisenhower Parking Deck for a football game 3-4 years ago. $40 fine. I could've parked on the sidewalk or next to a hydrant for the same amount of money. It's quite an offense, apparently.
Click to expand...
"Head-in parking only" listed on all the Parking Garage Info Pages...here's the one for Nittany Parking Deck.

https://transportation.psu.edu/nittany-parking-deck

Never noticed signs at the parking deck, though it would be appropriate to post, and post often...if they're not there already.
 
Way back when they first instituted the head in parking only I got a ticket for backing in.. in fairness when you are backed in and pull out you are sort of pulling out into the traffic flow instead of with traffic flow.. but yeah.. they are sticklers for it now.. I never leave early.. always stay and just chill out, sometimes go down and hang out on the floor with Roar and other folks I know and occasionally chat with the team.. I mentioned in another thread that as tough as the ticket is to get in, it does surprise me that folks don't want to take in every minute of the match, regardless of traffic/garage issues etc...
 
For pro sports, the issue differs in that leaving early isn't necessarily considered a sign of disrespect, but rather fans exercising the right to vote that they earned by buying a ticket. In college sports or sports where the athletes don't make money, it's a different atmosphere. For small events the crowd is mostly family and friends of the athletes, and leaving early feels like a sign of disrespect, especially if the ticket price was nominal, like leaving a play before the final act. In wrestling the disrespect in leaving early falls disproportionately on heavyweights since they almost always go last and because it feeds into the notion that HWTs aren't entertaining. In team sports the disrespect is at least evenly distributed among the players.

But people are busy and have to get home before midnight, I get that. At Rangers games at Madison Square Garden there was typically a large, sudden exodus with maybe five minutes to go in the game, sometimes even if the score was tied. And this was because the Long Island RR (which train station is also in MSG) had, for years, run trains back to Long Island on the hour at 9:55 pm, 10:55 pm, etc. (I forget the exact time). So if you missed that 9:55 train you were waiting another hour. They eventually fixed the problem by moving that train time out a bit.

For venues where everyone drives it's obviously a different issue, but if you told every driver that if they left before the HWT match they'd get home a full hour earlier many would be reaching for their keys. Some parking lots aren't smartly-considered in the civil engineering sense; beating the traffic can mean a lot of time, probably not an hour.
 
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For me it's the fact that HWT is typically a boring weight class. If 184lbs is the last match I am not leaving early. The difference, at least this year, is that Cassar is not a boring wrestler and I'm staying 10/10 times to watch Cassar wrestle.

It's difficult to watch seven minutes of two guys pushing each other around the mat.
 
I stay to the end mostly because you only have so few home matches. Wish they would start matches at another weight than 125 so the masses would stay. After the match I listen to Byers recap the match while in traffic. But I understand family obligations.

A question on the lot beside Atherton. How early can you park in that lot for Fridays match?

Thank you!
 
raslen007 said:
I stay to the end mostly because you only have so few home matches. Wish they would start matches at another weight than 125 so the masses would stay. After the match I listen to Byers recap the match while in traffic. But I understand family obligations.

A question on the lot beside Atherton. How early can you park in that lot for Fridays match?

Thank you!
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It's a Red A lot, I believe, so officially after 5:00pm if I remember correctly. Might be different this week (the signs won't change, but they may not enforce the rules), as finals will be over...and departures from State College will be in full swing.

...and keep the info coming, compiling as we go...

...and I'll add a question for you to consider, Do you feel it's disrespectful to the team/wrestler to leave early? Please keep this in perspective, as it can become polarizing quickly.
 
Last edited:
RoarLions1 said:
It's a Red A lot, I believe, so officially after 5:00pm if I remember correctly. Might be different this week (the signs won't change, but they may not enforce the rules), as finals will be over...and departures from State College will be in full swing.

...and keep the info coming, compiling as we go...

...and I'll add a question for you to consider, Do you feel it's disrespectful to the team/wrestler to leave early? Please keep this in perspective, as it can become polarizing quickly.
Click to expand...
I do think it is kind of disrespectful. The big guys put in the same amount of work and same amount of effort that night. Always felt bad for the heavies at states. The gym is just about empty and they start rolling up the mats as they are finishing up. I imagine due to a hockey game or something that evening.
 
I've never left a dual early. I come for the competition, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it. I don't care what weight the dual is ending it, or how competitive the last match is (or the entire dual is), I wouldn't even consider leaving before it was completed.
 
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RoarLions1 said:
It's a Red A lot, I believe, so officially after 5:00pm if I remember correctly. Might be different this week (the signs won't change, but they may not enforce the rules), as finals will be over...and departures from State College will be in full swing.

...and keep the info coming, compiling as we go...

...and I'll add a question for you to consider, Do you feel it's disrespectful to the team/wrestler to leave early? Please keep this in perspective, as it can become polarizing quickly.
Click to expand...

I can see how the wrestlers or other fans may view it as disrespect, I certainly don't think it's intended that way.

Bo told Byers in the post match a few years ago that fans need to stick around for Nevills, show him respect. I tried to convince my crew of that.

I don't understand my crew actually, we have to arrive an hour early but must not stay late. Don't get that at all.
 
Instead of leaving early do as I do and just don't attend Hawkeye and Nittany Lion events.
 
RoarLions1 said:
It's a Red A lot, I believe, so officially after 5:00pm if I remember correctly. Might be different this week (the signs won't change, but they may not enforce the rules), as finals will be over...and departures from State College will be in full swing.

...and keep the info coming, compiling as we go...

...and I'll add a question for you to consider, Do you feel it's disrespectful to the team/wrestler to leave early? Please keep this in perspective, as it can become polarizing quickly.
Click to expand...
unless it is an emergency i will stay
 
I have never left early. I just enjoy the atmosphere after the matches, as the crowds are clearing out. Plus, if you leave early you don't get to see the post- match awards being handed out. That guy that presents the awards seems like he must be a pretty nice guy.

Here's a leaving early story...

I was at the Devil's v. Flyers game on November 28, 1990 in the Meadowlands. The only reason I remember that is because I left early.

It was 5-2 Devil's midway through the third. The game was under control, so we decided to beat the traffic. By the time we hit the ground floor, we heard the crowd roar. 5-3 Devils. About the time we got to the car, the crowd roared. 5-4 Devil's. By the time we got on the highway, listening to the radio, the Flyers stuck another one in. 5-5. It was a tense, scoreless overtime.

Never leave early. You never know what you might see.
 
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RoarLions1 said:
Do you feel it's disrespectful to the team/wrestler to leave early? Please keep this in perspective, as it can become polarizing quickly
Click to expand...
I get that it may not be intended thus, but yeah, I do think it is disrespectful from the competetor's perspective. You gotta do what you gotta do--but in general, I think people hurry too much overall.
 
matter7172 said:
If you've ever watched people trying to back into a space, you will understand the reason for the rule. :D
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My reasoning is, 500 people backing out of spaces at the same time seems a bit dangerous and is certainly disruptive. People don't all arrive at the same time but they certainly all leave at the same time. I emailed the parking people about this and they didn't seem to take my side.
 
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I used to bail on heavy every single time. I hate traffic and the parking garage and Atherton lot were very frustrating. Then I discovered the Fraser Street parking garage. Always empty on Sundays. A nice walk to and from Rec Hall. So now I stay. When the match is over, however, it’s all business.
 
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So many people are so important that they must leave early to avoid downtime In the parking garage ..... so they can get home to do more important things. I do notice that the former coaches, wrestlers, and fans who just plain love to watch college wrestling all stay to the end in order to savor every minute of the great environment.
 
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