Petition to Stop Hurd Premium

20Trae · Post by **20Trae** » February 15th, 2019, 6:42 pm

After the past couple of student attendance threads, it's obvious that the priorities of the HURD needs to change. First off, the Hurd Premium is something that needs to go to give equal opportunity for every student to compete for the best seats, and bring the excitement of camping out for games back. This is a big part of spectrum magic.
Hurd Premium is 25 dollars and offered to 500 students. Once that is reached, no other students can buy it. Many didn't even know about it. Premium comes with many perks, and one is 15 minute early access into games. This is the part I am opposed to. Spectrum magic is created with crowds, and crowds will come with the possibility for the best seats, allowing diehards to get be on the front row even if they didn't purchase a premium pass 8 months ago.
I am in favor to start a petition to get rid of the early entry component of Premium Pass, but I want input on what everyone thinks, and if there are those who see the positives of Hurd Premium.

Blue23 · Post by **Blue23** » February 15th, 2019, 6:58 pm

I honestly don't know what the Hurd's purpose is beyond hogging the first few rows and acting like a frat party the whole game. I like the heckling, the cheers, and the energy they bring to the games, but they aren't doing anything to spread that energy to the rest of the spectrum. I'm not sure what exactly needs to change, but I would be in support of some kind of petition to show the Hurd or Aggie Athletics that something new or different would be appreciated.

LoveMyAggies · Post by **LoveMyAggies** » February 15th, 2019, 7:41 pm

This is what needs to be resurrected

LoveMyAggies · Post by **LoveMyAggies** » February 15th, 2019, 7:43 pm

Maybe get the opposing coaches to mock the spectrum like Fox did?? lol

Roy McAvoy · Post by **Roy McAvoy** » February 15th, 2019, 7:53 pm

I agree. Whatever they’re doing isn’t working so they need to change it.

Here’s an example of how there were just random pockets of students all over bringing originality and going crazy.

Dkdavis · Post by **Dkdavis** » February 15th, 2019, 8:17 pm

It’s pretty easy to point out a problem, but unless you see a real solution your argument stands no ground. I agree to the unfairness of Hurd Premium. I am a die hard fan and have been planning on doing front row since last season. If we had to we would be to those games 5 hours early every week or more, but because of hurd premium we don’t. People look back at when the spectrum was at its peak, but that was a decade ago. There’s so many other things a student could do on a Wednesday or Saturday night that a lot of students choose not to go unless they can get something for free. Also I have no association with the Hurd other than talking to them at the basketball games. From what I’ve learned they are really responsive to constructive criticism. If you’ve been to last few games they really are trying to get stuff going, but that takes time and a steady fan base. The Wyoming game proved that we don’t have that yet.

trombone_ninja · Post by **trombone_ninja** » February 15th, 2019, 8:59 pm

“The Hurd” is supposed to be the entire student section, not just the first few rows of people.

LarryTheAggie · Post by **LarryTheAggie** » February 15th, 2019, 9:20 pm

trombone_ninja wrote: ↑
February 15th, 2019, 8:59 pm
“The Hurd” is supposed to be the entire student section, not just the first few rows of people.

That's what I thought. At least I always considered myself part of the hurd and I never sat that close to the front. But that was 3 years ago... So I guess I'm getting old...

Dkdavis · Post by **Dkdavis** » February 15th, 2019, 9:37 pm

LarryTheAggie wrote: ↑
February 15th, 2019, 9:20 pm

trombone_ninja wrote: ↑
February 15th, 2019, 8:59 pm
“The Hurd” is supposed to be the entire student section, not just the first few rows of people.
That's what I thought. At least I always considered myself part of the hurd and I never sat that close to the front. But that was 3 years ago... So I guess I'm getting old...

When I said The Hurd I ment the Hurd committee.

trombone_ninja · Post by **trombone_ninja** » February 16th, 2019, 12:13 am

Dkdavis wrote: ↑
February 15th, 2019, 9:37 pm

LarryTheAggie wrote: ↑
February 15th, 2019, 9:20 pm

trombone_ninja wrote: ↑
February 15th, 2019, 8:59 pm
“The Hurd” is supposed to be the entire student section, not just the first few rows of people.
That's what I thought. At least I always considered myself part of the hurd and I never sat that close to the front. But that was 3 years ago... So I guess I'm getting old...
When I said The Hurd I ment the Hurd committee.

I figured as much, but still, it’s something the committee needs to understand. From what people are saying here it seems like there’s not enough engagement between the committee and the rest of the student body, which kinda ruins the whole point

scotlandog · Post by **scotlandog** » February 16th, 2019, 1:35 am

I just posted in a different thread about my thoughts on the HURD but I’ll repeat part of it here. I think it is the HURD that caused the downfall of the atmosphere in the Spectrum. This HURD premium thing is a perfect example of why the HURD is the worst thing to happen to the basketball environment. Only 500 students get HURD premium. I would bet that our average student attendance is around 500 students.

Imagine now for a sec that an average fan, not a fanatic, comes to a game with some friends, excited to see the storied fabled Spectrum in action. He’s finally an Aggie and wants to be a part of it all. He gets to the game early and is waiting in line. Right around 15 minutes before he can get in, this huge crowd of people shows up and from his point of view “cuts” in front of him and his friends. They finally get to go in 15mins later and all the good seats are taken. Now this fan and his friends wanted to be a part of something, instead they were explicitly told they are NOT part of something.

Many people remember and put blame on THE Apology for the downfall of the Spectrum. Another thing that was happening right at the same time was the HURD had just started to become a legitimized entity within the student government; people that had no idea about what made the Spectrum great. This take over by the HURD leaders from the avid fans I believe is the real culprit.

I pointed to the BYU tent city camp out thing that they implemented. They said the previous BYU game was unfair because some people didn’t get to have a seat and there was chaos. An easy solution would have been put up some barriers to make a line and give some direction. Instead they decided it would be better to have people camp out for a week. If you weren’t in your tent at night then you were kicked out of the line and lost your place. First all, a week of that was stupid, people had classes, work, other responsibilities. Many students felt they couldn’t spend all their time all week doing that so they could go to the game. Also, it was widely believed that that nepotism was rampant, as long as you were kissing the butt of the HURD leaders. That BYU game was the worst attended BYU I can remember. The student sections was barely over half full. Students felt if they didn’t camp out for a week or kiss leaders rings they weren’t going to get in so they didn’t bother.

From the get go, the HURD has caused division rather then unity. This HURD premium i guarantee is extreme nepotism and people see it. People don’t want to be around people who are basically saying they are better than them. Some down there are wearing badges like they are something special. This really pisses me off. That is not an environment that will bring people out.

Also, the students already had a name before the HURD came around. We were Aggies da**it! The HURD needs to get out of the way and let things get back to the way they used to be before it took over. The HURD should promote games and do more along that front and let the game day experience be unfettered.

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Dkdavis · Post by **Dkdavis** » February 16th, 2019, 7:47 am

scotlandog wrote: ↑
February 16th, 2019, 1:35 am
I just posted in a different thread about my thoughts on the HURD but I’ll repeat part of it here. I think it is the HURD that caused the downfall of the atmosphere in the Spectrum. This HURD premium thing is a perfect example of why the HURD is the worst thing to happen to the basketball environment. Only 500 students get HURD premium. I would bet that our average student attendance is around 500 students.

Imagine now for a sec that an average fan, not a fanatic, comes to a game with some friends, excited to see the storied fabled Spectrum in action. He’s finally an Aggie and wants to be a part of it all. He gets to the game early and is waiting in line. Right around 15 minutes before he can get in, this huge crowd of people shows up and from his point of view “cuts” in front of him and his friends. They finally get to go in 15mins later and all the good seats are taken. Now this fan and his friends wanted to be a part of something, instead they were explicitly told they are NOT part of something.

Many people remember and put blame on THE Apology for the downfall of the Spectrum. Another thing that was happening right at the same time was the HURD had just started to become a legitimized entity within the student government; people that had no idea about what made the Spectrum great. This take over by the HURD leaders from the avid fans I believe is the real culprit.

I pointed to the BYU tent city camp out thing that they implemented. They said the previous BYU game was unfair because some people didn’t get to have a seat and there was chaos. An easy solution would have been put up some barriers to make a line and give some direction. Instead they decided it would be better to have people camp out for a week. If you weren’t in your tent at night then you were kicked out of the line and lost your place. First all, a week of that was stupid, people had classes, work, other responsibilities. Many students felt they couldn’t spend all their time all week doing that so they could go to the game. Also, it was widely believed that that nepotism was rampant, as long as you were kissing the butt of the HURD leaders. That BYU game was the worst attended BYU I can remember. The student sections was barely over half full. Students felt if they didn’t camp out for a week or kiss leaders rings they weren’t going to get in so they didn’t bother.

From the get go, the HURD has caused division rather then unity. This HURD premium i guarantee is extreme nepotism and people see it. People don’t want to be around people who are basically saying they are better than them. Some down there are wearing badges like they are something special. This really pisses me off. That is not an environment that will bring people out.

Also, the students already had a name before the HURD came around. We were Aggies da**it! The HURD needs to get out of the way and let things get back to the way they used to be before it took over. The HURD should promote games and do more along that front and let the game day experience be unfettered.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Hurd has flaws, but you can’t blame them for the down fall in spectrum magic. A losing program does that pretty quick. Take a look at Fresno and San Diego. Both have decent teams and still no one shows up either. Those places use to be rockin. I’m done repeating this though because it seems like half the people in these threads keep saying it.

Donald_Sullivan · Post by **Donald_Sullivan** » February 16th, 2019, 8:15 am

What does the Hurd Committee do with the $12,500 they get from the cost of Premium?

NVAggie · Post by **NVAggie** » February 16th, 2019, 8:39 am

They donate it to the frat parties

Post by **treesap32** » February 16th, 2019, 10:28 am

I'd sign it. Hurd Premium is a terrible idea. At least, as currently implemented. They should instead give other "perks" such as a t-shirt, scarf, pre-game food, or other things that don't alienate the rest of the fanbase and destroy the atmosphere.

aggieguy13 · Post by **aggieguy13** » February 16th, 2019, 10:32 am

The early entry thing definitely needs to go, but I'm not completely against the Premium thing existing beyond that because it seems like the only way to get this generation of students to do anything is to give them free stuff, which costs money, and the Premium fees likely subsidize that a fair amount.

My only other point that hasn't been brought up is that if you're a front row person and can't even be bothered to wear blue to games, then I'm completely out on you being a part of the solution to the student section woes. That's about as basic as it gets.

AggieWinz · Post by **AggieWinz** » February 16th, 2019, 11:22 am

Personally I am not a fan of Hurd premium either (this is coming from someone who has it). Me and my friends just happened to see it over the summer and got it knowing that if we wanted a shot at the front row we would need to get it. We show up early for all of the games on the premium side and consistently there are only 15-40 people who actually take advantage of early access to games(which has to be really annoying to the hard core fans who really wanted one). At 6:00 when they let everyone in, the courtside and usually behind the basket from the second row and all the way back is always empty. So unless the idea is that the "best seats" are front row or nothing there are still really good seats available despite the Hurd premium. And once again I do agree that Hurd premium is unfair, but it isn't the reason that your typical students aren't coming to the games, it is just more annoying to hard core fans who want a shot at the front row. (hopefully they get rid of it before the BYU game next season)

Jdav · Post by **Jdav** » February 16th, 2019, 11:53 am

We can all whine and complain about not getting front row. But honestly, second row and beyond are usually available to anybody who wants to show up at 6. Like, you might not get front row. But that doesn’t you wont get a good seat. In the past showing up early had nothing to do with getting front row and more about getting A SEAT. I am a Hurd Premium holder and we just signed up over the summer because we were planning on gunning for front row anyways. But, to say the least, I have been disappointed with the lackluster attendance and spirit coming from the FANS. Fans dont stand for the fight song and Scott’s man. The fact we have people that sit during the games came during Duryeas tenure. Fans dont do the cheers, chants or really anything.

Now, I feel like I am talking to an audience here that knows how to do it right. And I’m glad y’all show up and do your best. But we cant keep blaming spectrum woes on a Hurd Committee. It’s a scape goat excuse. I know the HURD premium situation is not ideal. But its gonna take more than the boys on the front row to bring back spectrum magic. We need a student section full of people ready to go nuts no matter where they are sitting. If you are mad about this HURD premium thing, that is totally fine and I understand your frustration. But I better see you showing up at least an hour early to get the good seats on the second row. Not everybody gets to be front row. Last year me and my friends sat on the second row behind the legendary Derek (bald guy) We had a blast and didnt think anything of it. Now we have taken their spot when Derek decided to “retire” (I still invite him down from Time to time). And now we have some new guys come in every week and get spots on the second row right behind us even though they dont have a Hurd premium.

I dont care who you are or if you are a HURD premium Member. But one thing for sure. We need more than the HURD committee to bring back spectrum magic. WE NEED YOU! So show up, invite your friends and show them that more than the kids on the front row can go WILD.

Aggie nation, you rock. I got a lot of love for the people that show up and try to contribute. It’s what makes us Aggies!

Pacobag · Post by **Pacobag** » February 16th, 2019, 12:56 pm

I'm sure there are several factors that contribute to attendance and atmosphere but I believe a consistently good team is usually the most important. It may take a couple of successful seasons (and a little bit of Marketing) to really influence the more casual fans.

I'd love to see the Spectrum return to its former glory but I'm ok with others having priorities and preferences that trump Aggie Athletics. I'm surprised a few have posted critical remarks towards those who choose not to attend for whatever reasons. There is no obligation or requirement to attend unless you are part of the team or your job requires it.

BeNo · Post by **BeNo** » February 16th, 2019, 1:26 pm

LoveMyAggies wrote: ↑
February 15th, 2019, 7:41 pm

This is what needs to be resurrected

Agreed. But not going to happen. That would require restoring student seating along the south side of the court.

trevordude · Post by **trevordude** » February 16th, 2019, 1:45 pm

Though I think Hurd Premium is dumb, I don't think it has much of an effect on student attendance. I think the major reasons are millennial culture and losing some high profile games with big attendance the past few years. I'm happy the Hurd committee is willing to put in effort for shirts and things, and it works for those games with free t-shirts.

I'm not sure there's much more the Hurd can do event wise, maybe their social media needs some work.

TheAKAggie · Post by **TheAKAggie** » February 16th, 2019, 2:39 pm

So, because 1/8 of the student section is filled, nobody wants to go? And talking about bad seats? Other than the lack of legroom in row 9 there aren’t any bad seat in the spectrum.

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TheSauerkrautKid · Post by **TheSauerkrautKid** » February 16th, 2019, 5:38 pm

1. Programs like Hurd Premium are what big boy programs do. If you want to stay busch league keep acting busch league.

2. The program is in its infancy. In time coordinators will work out blemishes and figure out ways to make it work. This includes the 500 student limit. Setting parameters for a pilot program is a common practice. Once it goes full steam I'm positive it will be an open buy in as they learn how to handle large volume, and at that point anyone willing to pay up deserves their spot.

3. The Hurd committee didnt cause the "downfall of the Spectrum." A (I can't express myself without swearing) basketball team did. That's how it works. When teams are bad people dont like to come see them. Surprising, I know. But I guess if you want to chalk it up to "magic" that's your call.

4. I sat on the Hurd committee for multiple years while in school and its clear most of you have no clue how it works. Committee members volunteer time to help with activities and such. They don't decide on ticketing programs, and several dont get front row seats. My seats were often half way up whatever section I got into. Honestly it's often the organic front row fans who have more elitism and make people feel like they can't be involved.

5. If you know anything about buyer behavior you'll know the real payoff will come next season. You'll have several months to hype up a quality basketball team and bring in new student in the middle of positive times. Attendance has nothing to do with a ticketing program or some indictment on millenials. It's a matter of timing.

I miss when this site was a place to talk about sports and not make critical statements about students. It impressive how much fun you guys can suck out of a year when two marquee programs are putting out good performances.

tinplater · Post by **tinplater** » February 16th, 2019, 5:59 pm

TheSauerkrautKid wrote: ↑
February 16th, 2019, 5:38 pm

I miss when this site was a place to talk about sports and not make critical statements about students. It impressive how much fun you guys can suck out of a year when two marquee programs are putting out good performances.

Winning consistently is the key. The Aggies are so much better this year than I expected; I'm disappointed they haven't attracted larger crowds (yet). Increase in student attendance has to be generated from within...I would suggest dorm to dorm, frat to frat, class to class, person to person dialogs and get the Aggies out, just like you would try and get the vote out.

scotlandog · Post by **scotlandog** » February 16th, 2019, 6:45 pm

TheSauerkrautKid wrote:1. Programs like Hurd Premium are what big boy programs do. If you want to stay busch league keep acting busch league.

The Spectrum was a top arena for a long time. Nationally known for how tough it was to play here and how crazy and intense the atmosphere is. You can call that busch league all you want, I’ll take busch league any day. Especially since most “big boy” arenas have never reached anywhere near the atmosphere that the Spectrum has had at its peak.

Also, the “big boy” programs don’t give a lot of seating to students. We are one of the unique schools who give a large percentage of the seating to the students. Big schools have high demand and very little seating, that’s why they have programs like that, which I think is really cheating the students and missing an opportunity. It’s all driven by money. We don’t need a Premium type program because we have lots of seats available to the students. We haven’t even reached close to a sellout in a long time so why did the HURD even implement something like this? What was the need? What was the point?

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Imakeitrain · Post by **Imakeitrain** » February 16th, 2019, 7:35 pm

I have very strong opinions on ASUSU and USUSA. I had a long post that got off topic and absolutely burned people by initials but thought twice about it.

You’re wasting your time. You’re correct. I think the practice is BS especially if they were less than forthcoming about it.
But the only way to beat USUSA is to run for athletics VP and win.

I ran for an IFC position once on a single issue that really upset me (they were blowing our IFC dues on polo shirts for those on ifc- which was like 30% of the budget)- i was for members paying for their own polos. I didn’t win. I lost the run off. But my single issue campaign made it so that the next year there were no polos using IFC $$$.

Attend the meetings, and run. You can’t beat USUSA from the outside. They’ll literally shut you down.

Imakeitrain · Post by **Imakeitrain** » February 16th, 2019, 8:02 pm

Dkdavis wrote: ↑
February 15th, 2019, 8:17 pm
It’s pretty easy to point out a problem, but unless you see a real solution your argument stands no ground. I agree to the unfairness of Hurd Premium. I am a die hard fan and have been planning on doing front row since last season. If we had to we would be to those games 5 hours early every week or more, but because of hurd premium we don’t. People look back at when the spectrum was at its peak, but that was a decade ago. There’s so many other things a student could do on a Wednesday or Saturday night that a lot of students choose not to go unless they can get something for free. Also I have no association with the Hurd other than talking to them at the basketball games. From what I’ve learned they are really responsive to constructive criticism. If you’ve been to last few games they really are trying to get stuff going, but that takes time and a steady fan base. The Wyoming game proved that we don’t have that yet.

Solution: first in line gets first choice

TheRealTO · Post by **TheRealTO** » February 16th, 2019, 8:30 pm

At the risk of bringing down further ire, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tim Olsen and I work in the Student Involvement office at USU. One of the programs I oversee is the HURD, as I am the adviser to the Athletics and Campus Rec Vice President. That elected student selects the HURD and Campus Rec committee presidents and oversees the HURD committee each year. HURD Premium was a vision of my students who held those positions last year, and myself.

The background. . .

The HURD Committee is well aware of the decline in student attendance/atmosphere of the Spectrum. As a USU student myself from 2007-2009, I fully understand what the Spectrum can and should be. In an effort to try and address student attendance issues last year, we met with Athletics, with student groups and we looked at what other programs across the country were doing. Out of that research and those conversations, HURD Premium was born.

The purpose of the program is to enhance the student-fan experience and get more students out to games, get them engaged in the games and get them there earlier. By building up a large section of die-hards (initially 500 students), the goal/hope was that atmosphere would spread throughout the student section as a whole and grow.

For those that may not know, the HURD was initially a club on campus. It was not the entire student section. Students purchased memberships, got t-shirts and other perks and were part of a community. That was no longer the case when the entire student section became the HURD in 2012. During our research into how to improve the student section, a lot of the feedback we received from students was a desire to have a community – a close-knit group like the original HURD.

Something else from the posts I've seen that I'd like to address, is what the HURD has done with the "extra" money this year. Overall, that money has gone towards benefitting the entire student section and all the students — not just premium members. The HURD Committee has paid for food giveaways to students as well as t-shirts and other swag giveaways to get more students at games this year. More-so than in year's past. All the big head cutouts and pool noodles (now not allowed because they're noisemakers according to the MW conference) were also purchased with those funds to enhance the entire student section and try to create an atmosphere that all students want to be a part of. Gloves, pom-poms, the cornstarch for the whiteout game ... all purchased by these funds at a benefit to the entire student section. The Committee also planned more watch parties, provided more food and even arranged for a bus to take students to the BYU football game this year. All things that were open to all students and aided by the funds raised from Premium memberships.

Some of the funds were used for Premium member t-shirts, membership cards and a few members-only events, but by and large the money raised from premium membership fees has been spent on enhancing the entire student section.

This is getting (really) long, so I'll finish up by simply saying that the HURD Committee and myself as the adviser are trying to do whatever it takes to fill up the student section. We will evaluate the Premium program. We've already sought feedback from members and will be surveying nonmember students as well. This is the inaugural year of the program and we will look for ways to improve it, as well as the student section as a whole. I'm happy to chat with any of you who would like to reach out and discuss the program or other ideas you have to increase student attendance. Despite what some may think, the HURD committee welcomes feedback and criticism – as long as it's more than simply, 'You suck.'

If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read. And hopefully you have a greater understanding of the program and its goals, which is simply to grow the die-hard student fanbase while enhancing the student-fan experience for all! Go Aggies!

LarryTheAggie · Post by **LarryTheAggie** » February 16th, 2019, 9:04 pm

TheRealTO wrote: ↑
February 16th, 2019, 8:30 pm
Despite what some may think, the HURD committee welcomes feedback and criticism – as long as it's more than simply, 'You suck.'

How about "you you you you you you you suck!"

Post by **AggiesForever** » February 16th, 2019, 9:14 pm

It might pay to send a flyer around to all student housing and remind each apartmement that for the $XXX they are paying in athletic fees on each semester's bill, they get no-extra cost tickets to all the athletic events. Unless they're not interested at all in recouping any of the per semester investment, they ought to show up, have fun, and take full advantage of it!

Imakeitrain · Post by **Imakeitrain** » February 16th, 2019, 9:22 pm

Thank you for your input Tim. Sir, it’s interesting you say USUSA is open to criticism while simultaneously dismissing the criticism and ignoring a former member of the HURD committee dismissing criticism as well.

USUSA is a typical bureaucracy. Meetings are typically open to the public but information about topics, meeting times and location are not made clear to everyone. If someone has a grievance they better make sure they dot every i or cross every t. Even a member of USUSA was once nearly pushed to resign because they discussed a disagreement with media (I believe it was the Statesman). If someone does show up to the meeting they are made to feel extremely uncomfortable. Then if someone doesn’t know every point made at these meetings, but overall is concerned with something affecting their student life USUSA officials will generally play the “Well you’re just ignorant of x, y or z” card. It’s very similar to many local city government officials.

Although I agree there are things that $12,500 pays for- we have had busses in the past. My freshman year we had busses to the Utah football and basketball game. My sophomore year, I camped out for tickets to the first game at ESA, there were only a handful of us, and there was an available bus to that game as well. These things occurred without needing to disenfranchise people. The changes made from needing tickets in FB instead of simple scan to this- have come across as burdensome and unfair to many students.

You say you listen, but it doesn’t seem to me that the 2 who’ve affiliated themselves with Hurd committee on this thread have listened much- and have more or less doubled down.

Dkdavis · Post by **Dkdavis** » February 16th, 2019, 9:31 pm

Imakeitrain wrote: ↑
February 16th, 2019, 8:02 pm

Dkdavis wrote: ↑
February 15th, 2019, 8:17 pm
It’s pretty easy to point out a problem, but unless you see a real solution your argument stands no ground. I agree to the unfairness of Hurd Premium. I am a die hard fan and have been planning on doing front row since last season. If we had to we would be to those games 5 hours early every week or more, but because of hurd premium we don’t. People look back at when the spectrum was at its peak, but that was a decade ago. There’s so many other things a student could do on a Wednesday or Saturday night that a lot of students choose not to go unless they can get something for free. Also I have no association with the Hurd other than talking to them at the basketball games. From what I’ve learned they are really responsive to constructive criticism. If you’ve been to last few games they really are trying to get stuff going, but that takes time and a steady fan base. The Wyoming game proved that we don’t have that yet.
Solution: first in line gets first choice

And what does that solve? The money that the early entry passes generated got a lot more students to those games than a couple of students who maybe wanted to be front row for a couple of games. Second row is still wide open most games when 6:00 rolls around.

BeNo · Post by **BeNo** » February 16th, 2019, 9:31 pm

BeNo wrote: ↑
February 16th, 2019, 1:26 pm

LoveMyAggies wrote: ↑
February 15th, 2019, 7:41 pm

This is what needs to be resurrected
Agreed. But not going to happen. That would require restoring student seating along the south side of the court.

At the risk of taking away from Rolle’s exclamation point, this shot captures well what the south side used to be. Students from the floor to the rafters. All organic. Electric.

jpswensen · Post by **jpswensen** » February 16th, 2019, 9:50 pm

TheRealTO wrote: ↑
February 16th, 2019, 8:30 pm
At the risk of bringing down further ire, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tim Olsen and I work in the Student Involvement office at USU. One of the programs I oversee is the HURD, as I am the adviser to the Athletics and Campus Rec Vice President. That elected student selects the HURD and Campus Rec committee presidents and oversees the HURD committee each year. HURD Premium was a vision of my students who held those positions last year, and myself.

The background. . .

The HURD Committee is well aware of the decline in student attendance/atmosphere of the Spectrum. As a USU student myself from 2007-2009, I fully understand what the Spectrum can and should be. In an effort to try and address student attendance issues last year, we met with Athletics, with student groups and we looked at what other programs across the country were doing. Out of that research and those conversations, HURD Premium was born.

The purpose of the program is to enhance the student-fan experience and get more students out to games, get them engaged in the games and get them there earlier. By building up a large section of die-hards (initially 500 students), the goal/hope was that atmosphere would spread throughout the student section as a whole and grow.

For those that may not know, the HURD was initially a club on campus. It was not the entire student section. Students purchased memberships, got t-shirts and other perks and were part of a community. That was no longer the case when the entire student section became the HURD in 2012. During our research into how to improve the student section, a lot of the feedback we received from students was a desire to have a community – a close-knit group like the original HURD.

Something else from the posts I've seen that I'd like to address, is what the HURD has done with the "extra" money this year. Overall, that money has gone towards benefitting the entire student section and all the students — not just premium members. The HURD Committee has paid for food giveaways to students as well as t-shirts and other swag giveaways to get more students at games this year. More-so than in year's past. All the big head cutouts and pool noodles (now not allowed because they're noisemakers according to the MW conference) were also purchased with those funds to enhance the entire student section and try to create an atmosphere that all students want to be a part of. Gloves, pom-poms, the cornstarch for the whiteout game ... all purchased by these funds at a benefit to the entire student section. The Committee also planned more watch parties, provided more food and even arranged for a bus to take students to the BYU football game this year. All things that were open to all students and aided by the funds raised from Premium memberships.

Some of the funds were used for Premium member t-shirts, membership cards and a few members-only events, but by and large the money raised from premium membership fees has been spent on enhancing the entire student section.

This is getting (really) long, so I'll finish up by simply saying that the HURD Committee and myself as the adviser are trying to do whatever it takes to fill up the student section. We will evaluate the Premium program. We've already sought feedback from members and will be surveying nonmember students as well. This is the inaugural year of the program and we will look for ways to improve it, as well as the student section as a whole. I'm happy to chat with any of you who would like to reach out and discuss the program or other ideas you have to increase student attendance. Despite what some may think, the HURD committee welcomes feedback and criticism – as long as it's more than simply, 'You suck.'

If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read. And hopefully you have a greater understanding of the program and its goals, which is simply to grow the die-hard student fanbase while enhancing the student-fan experience for all! Go Aggies!

Well, I hope that built into your bureaucracy is a plan to evaluate whether your initiatives are actually effective at accomplishing the objectives you intended. The problem with a lot of committees is that they sit around and brainstorm, come up with ideas, suffer the effects of the law of unintended consequences, but then never have a mechanism in place to actually measure the deleterious effects of the ill thought out initiatives.

I hope that rather than cheerleading and defending your initiatives/pet projects, that you will take the feedback given here in this forum seriously and take it back to the committee. I hope that you are willing to define metrics and measurements to assess whether things like HURD Premium actually accomplished the goals set forth, or if it is really just pissing off and depressing attendance of the rest of the student population.

As my father used to say "A goal not written and measured is only a wish". It is great that you are innovating ideas and trying to bring back the Spectrum Magic, but you also have to be able to measure the outcomes and willing to declare some ideas an utter failure.

Aggie02 · Post by **Aggie02** » February 16th, 2019, 10:20 pm

Hey all! I hope this amazing basketball season the Aggie Men's Team is having gets you as pumped about the MWC Tournament as I am! I'm also excited for the last few home games which should be good matchups, and we will need a lot of student and community support at those games.

I just want to say thank you for all of the feedback on this page, my name is Braden Tomlinson and I am the current President of the HURD Committee. I'm excited to be running for VP of Athletics and Campus Recreation this month. Part of my platform is to ensure the HURD is an organization dedicated to increase attendance and fan experience through increased feedback from students about what they like and dislike about Athletics in whole, HURD Premium, Watch Parties, etc. I would love to be able to meet with any of you who are students and discuss what can be done to bring the Spectrum Magic back! Those who are not students may want to talk to the Athletic Department for their issues.

This is an exciting time to be an Aggie sports fan and like you I want to make sure our players and coaches know how much we care by getting butts in seats. I was interviewed earlier this year by a nice man from Dayton writing a master's research paper on the issue of a decrease in student attendance across the nation, I thought you might like to read it. He interviewed many different colleges and provides good feedback on how to make a strong student section based on his findings from multiple universities. Here's the link

https://www.athleticbusiness.com/sports ... tions.html

Again, I'd love to meet with any of you who are students and discuss how we can continue to build the fan attendance at USU. My email is bradentomlinson@gmail.com. Go Aggies!

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