What are you guys' thoughts on the first game back in Gwinnett?

Just curious on (at least from the first game) how the experience differed at Gwinnett than Philips..

My overall impression was that ABC might have limited somewhat of the action, since everything seemed to be about time, time, time.

The noise level was disappointing, including the crowd and music level.

Though I was impressed with the Kickoff Party, and how convenient it was being able to park in the VIP lot for all of the STH and tailgaters.

As far as the venue is concerned, I think it is perfect for the Force (Given that someone does something about the noise level!)

What did you guys think?

Given the magnitude of this game, between the DAL/GA matchup, the national TV, the season opener, and the return to Gwinnett, I was pretty disappointed in the turnout. It filled in so-so, but it was bad at kickoff. Why we had a late-arriving crowd for this game I'm not sure.

As for the quality of the crowd, no I'm not surprised. It's the same polite, sitting-on-their-hands bunch we had the two years we were out in Gwinnett before.

Parking and tailgating was, as expected, light years ahead of what we had at the Phil.

Also, this doesn't really have anything to do with Gwinnett, but I was very grateful I didn't have to deal with downtown connector construction traffic!

The Force promotional department still has a ways to go marketing wise, but it was good to know that most of the sold seats were actually sold versus the gimmes of previous years.

The 1:00 start probably hurt the actual attendance, with many of the no shows probably involved in the opening day for many youth leagues. The late arriving crowd was strange for Gwinnett. Perhaps people were just caught up in the fun outside.

Part of your "quality" issue with the crowd is Force operations related. DJ Cowboy sucks...does nothing to get the crowd into it. The music is mediocre at best. I felt the crowd energy was about the same as the game I went to at the Phil last year. They just didn't do much to get the crowd into it at the start at the Gwin...it did seem somewhat rushed, but that was probably TV related and Force operations didn't take that into account. However, for the hockey game, the place was jumping. Great crowd energy, good music, good at pumping up the crowd, great video board work.............the Gladiators continue to outshine the Force in actually putting on the game, but I think some changes may be on the way.

Another thing that I'm not impressed with is BLU...........terrible mascot in my opinion.........what the heck was the underwear "routine" about? Nobody I spoke with thought BLU was worth a hoot. Heard quite a few kids asking about G-Force.
Again, the Gladiators are much better in this area with Maximus.

I'm curious how do you know that there weren't as many "gimmes" as in the past. The Falcons packages aren't available, but neither is 1/3 of the seating capacity, and they weren't giving away 1/3 of Philips Arena, so that's not even a wash.

The fact that you want to blame the dead crowd on Force operations would seem to me an admission that this is not a sports demographic. If you need fireworks and hooplah to get you into the game then you don't get it. The AFL by nature is already a lot of fireworks and hooplah, which the Force operations did include, not to mention all the pre-game attractions, so I don't know what the substance to your gripe is. Perhaps you could embellish?

The Gladiators benefit well from a large number of HOCKEY fans. Not to say they aren't loyal to the Gladiators, but they are by and large people who are passionate about the game of hockey. No offense to him, but I don't think that has a lot to do with Maximus.

DJ Cowboy is very good at getting the crowd into it. He definitely did not play as big a part in yesterday's game as he did in previous years, whether that was a function of the game flow with more TV implications, or by decision of management, but given more opportunity he has proven in the past (not that you were there to know), that he can do a very good job. Now that being said, being back out in the burbs the urban nature of the crowd that may have responded more is likely not as prevalent, but DJ Cowboy deserves a lot of credit, especially for the National Conference Championship game in 2005.

I too wasn't wild about the overall music programming.

I'm taking up for DJ Cowboy too. He has been great for the Force throughout the Philips years, so I doubt that he all of a sudden sucks now. Smaller or not, I didn't think Gwinnett was much difference in volume than where I was in Philips. They were weak on replays, and it isn't nearly as much fun with the screens on the sides, and without rights to movie clips, etc.... Don't know what of this has to do with Force operations and what has to do with arena operations, but the in game experience was lacking. Now, get a sold out arena, and it will help offset the shortcomings. But, I'm still waiting for the Force game where I feel like that arena is rockin'. No doubt, the parking and tailgating availability is a huge plus, but I want to see the product improve once the game starts.

Also, regards to the marketing, there was heavy rotation of commercials for the Force on 790 this week. Granted, I don't know if they were utilizing any other mediums, but they did advertise on their flagship station, so can't blame them there for not trying.

[/I]Also, regards to the marketing, there was heavy rotation of commercials for the Force on 790 this week. Granted, I don't know if they were utilizing any other mediums, but they did advertise on their flagship station, so can't blame them there for not trying. [I]

FOR the 100th time 790 is not an AFL market I promise you that.

I was a little disappointed in the sound but overall, my family had a great time. (Notwithstanding the LOSS) We went into the arena after tailgating about 12:20pm. I went back out to try and get my sons friend a 14.00 jersey and looked out into the parking lot, I was shocked to see how many people were still outside about 10 mins prior to the game. I bet it will be different for the night games coming up.

As far as the "show" not being as good, I was going to chalk it up to being "rusty" and I am looking forward to the Force and the arena hopefully taking the ideas and criticisms from everyone - then fixing it! I realize this first game should have been a rocking, sell out but I think that will come very soon! They certainly had enough time to plan and do it right but that didnt happen.

I cant wait for the 15th and tailgating with the other Fanatics!!!!

GO FORCE!

I'm watching the Chicago/SJ game right now - I would be interested in knowing, those who watched the game on TV Sat night - how does it compare? The way the attendance looks and the noise?

It seems like they have more butts in the seats but the music doesnt seem very loud.

Thoughts? Thanks...

I can agree that 790 IS NOT a AFL station or is it even a flagship station.

They pissed me off royally Saturday. Yeah they started the live broadcast, then when the Tech basketball game started , BAM!!!!!!!!! they switched.

I was like iy88767 is wrong with these idiots????

And no one would answer the freaking phone.

are you kidding me? I didn't even know that !

Well I really enjoyed tailgating it was fun hanging with everyone and they had alot going on outside.Now the crowd disappointed me I thought we would have alot more people then we did.As far as the noise level face we didn't have alot of spots to get loud about.Our team just didn't look that great.Hopefully it will all get better as the season moves along.