You Sound Off On Level Of Service At FedExForum
George:
I have been a (University of Memphis) season football ticket holder since I came to town in 1980 and a season basketball ticket holder since 1985 when I learned about the Tiger Clubs donation. I have traveled to South Bend, Idaho, Arizona, Hawaii, Florida, New York (a few times), Kansas (a few times),Chicago, South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Milwaukee and more that an old man memory is not bringing up, just to watch the Tigers play basketball.
I have also traveled about as much to watch the Tigers play football. I never went to Memphis, but in 1991 the Alumni Board voted and allowed me to become the first lifetime Alumni who had never attended a course. All this being said I feel it is a sad day in U of M athletic history, when we not only don’t own either a football stadium nor a basketball arena and are made to succumb to the price gougers.
Not only are my tickets double what they were in the Pyramid and I am now in club level as opposed to 8th center court (my choice to go upstairs), but parking is $100 more than the Pyramid parking (although a little nicer).
Because it was an early game my wife and I decided to eat at the Forum (a major mistake). Not only did it take 15 minutes to get the food, we order the chicken fingers and fries for $8.75 and got three fingers and soggy fries. They had been cooked in what had to have been over cooked oil, they were both foul tasting -- I believe I could have done better at a truck stop on the highway. The price of a small coke was $3.50, although being the beer common sewer that I am, I would have rather had a beer. There was no way on God’s Holy Earth I was paying as much for one domestic tap beer as I would pay for a six pack of Imported beer at the grocery store.
Our seats are an average price (with donation) of $80 a seat which is more per game than the Grizzlies package price. To say the least I am fast becoming disenchanted with college athletics. I gave up on the pros years ago, Rhodes is stating to look awfully good to me.
I failed to mention why I became such an avid Tiger fan -- my father raised his children to support the local economy and sports whereever we lived. He graduated from Minnesota, taught night school at Pitt for free and later was on the board of directors for Penn State's Beaver County campus. So when I moved to Memphis I picked U of M to support. I was in my early 30’s, and I don’t know how a young family of four or five now can support college athletics. So far, football is still reasonable and maybe that’s why our average fan attendance is up even with the lousy performances.
Also maybe I am the only whiner, this whole picture might be fine with everyone else, but in your daily contacts and forum you might find out if I am the only whiner or if this is a building concern.
Rob Hendry
(Answer From George: From all accounts, service at FedExForum at the Tigers opening game was worse than terrible. My sources at the U of Memphis tell me that the folks at the Forum anticipated attendance at the game to be 6,500 and, therefore, planned for that at the concession standard. It was a terrible mistake.)
