Stay till the end

[Panther-Sheik]

Re: Stay till the end

If the traffic exits too quickly, I get home before the post-game is done and end up sitting the driveway anyway.

HAHA! Me too!

[northwest iowa panther]

Re: Stay till the end

As I tell my friends never count the Panthers out at home if they are behind and never expect them to win big! I will admit that my family has edged toward the door a few times, but we have a 4 hour drive.

[Born-a-Panther]

Re: Stay till the end

if UNI wouldn't have had the autograph session after the game on Sunday I would have packed my family of four up (wife, I, four year old and seven year old) with about 5 minutes left in the game and a 15 point lead.

We all know those coaches are going to foul and drag out that last five minutes. ESPN is going to throw in 3 commercial breaks, and the parking lot (at best 15 minutes) issue which doesn't just end when you get to hudson road. The stop and go traffic goes to 20. Leaving at the five minute mark gets me home almost 45 minutes earlier. If its a 3:00pm tip that gets my kids in bed at a regular bed time. If its a 7:00pm tip that gets me off the road and home by midnight.

Should I just not come next time?

No you should absolutely keep coming and do what's best for your family. I take no issue with people leaving a few minutes early if we have the game in the bag. It only bothers me if it's in doubt or question. I have a bigger problem with people leaving football games at halftime and saying outside the entire 2nd half to tailgate.

['70 Grad]

Re: Stay till the end

I have a 2 hour drive up/home. From the PSC lot for football, it can take a while, especially for homecoming, etc. Sometimes we get in line, sometimes we tailgate for 50 minutes and drive right out.

For basketball, we have a McLeod lot pass (extra $). There have been a very few occasions when we watch the last one minute from the concourse. Otherwise we are in our seats for the whole game. Then we sprint to the car so as to beat the people that walk across the street to the west lot & other cars. Getting home at 11:10 vs 11:30 makes a difference on a weekday.

[Born-a-Panther]

Re: Stay till the end

I have a 2 hour drive up/home. From the PSC lot for football, it can take a while, especially for homecoming, etc. Sometimes we get in line, sometimes we tailgate for 50 minutes and drive right out.

For basketball, we have a McLeod lot pass (extra $). There have been a very few occasions when we watch the last one minute from the concourse. Otherwise we are in our seats for the whole game. Then we sprint to the car so as to beat the people that walk across the street to the west lot & other cars. Getting home at 11:10 vs 11:30 makes a difference on a weekday.

Thank you for investing your time and money from two hours away!

[Panther-Sheik]

Re: Stay till the end

Everyone has either unavoidable or extraordinary issues that come up from time to time. Jeg having to drive and get kids home, NW IA Panther having a 4 hour drive, people having to pick up a kid from church etc. But that isn't the majority of the people leaving early or the reason I started this. It is the people that leave early EVERY game, who live locally and have nothing else better to do than sit for 10 more minutes and support their team.

Even though I had a 2 hour drive home, I stayed for the whole Drake game (blowout) last week because I had no reason not to. My kids are old enough to stay up and that was what I had set aside for my Saturday. Drive to DSM early in the day, pre-game, watch UNI beat Drake and drive home. I also miss games, show up late or leave early because my kids have events going on. It happens. But when 1,000 seats are empty with 2 minutes left in a tight ball game I don't think it is because Jeg had to get his kids home or everyone had a 4 hour drive. It is because our fan culture is becoming "leave early and beat the crowd" for many. I think it stinks and is a horrible "tradition" that seems to be growing. Do people leave Gallagher with 5 minutes left in the symphony? You'd never dream of doing that, and if you did you'd be lucky if all you got was dirty looks. But turning your back on our team for no other reason than "the parking lot traffic drives me nuts" is no better than streaming out of the symphony, a play, a movie theater or church.

[PantherChic]

FYI it's the CF police, not the university, who sets the parking lot routes for leaving. At least that's what we've been told when complaining why we can't turn toward 27th but instead have to go north around the dome. Usually during football the gravel/non PSC lot empties before the cement PSC lot. But we stay to the end no matter what.

Back in 2003 we left the UNI/SIU football game early because we were new parents to a 6 week old and had left her with a sitter for the first time. We were behind a whole bunch. Worst decision ever by us. Best UNI football comeback ever. We'll never leave early again!

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk

[TravelingPanther]

Re: Stay till the end

I don't believe you.

The Loyola game was about that long. For some stupid reason the gate to exit the lot to 27th st was closed. It was insane.

[DownGoesKansas]

Re: Stay till the end

The South Dakota State game was the only game I've been to this year and getting out of the parking lot was awful.

[sivert]

Re: Stay till the end

FYI it's the CF police, not the university, who sets the parking lot routes for leaving....

My two cents would be that they should base this on attendance, not event type.
I go to a Men's Basketball game, CF police direct traffic, and everyone is out pretty quick.
I go to a Volleyball game with similar attendance and no police. That's when it takes forever.

[Panther'73]

Re: Stay till the end

It does have something to do with getting out of the parking lot, with the stupid set up that the University has in place if you don't want to sit in the parking lot for 45-60 minutes you have to leave a little early.

We've NEVER sat in the parking lot waiting this long to leave! I don't like the exit set-up much but we really like listening to Rima's post game show. I agree with Panther Sheik, please stay til it's over. Also, we stay even when the game is a blow out UNI win - the bench players practice just as much and hard as the starters. They need our support, too!! It's disappointing....

[CF84]

Re: Stay till the end

Left Sunday with three minutes to go and 15 point lead and don't feel bad about it at all. It's not like a movie or play because the outcome was decided. If it was younger kids playing, I'd stick around to support the guys who don't play much. Wanted to go watch the end of the football game. Nothing wrong with that. Certainly don't leave early in close games.

[95UNIGRAD]

Re: Stay till the end

I park in the West Gym lot, in front of the music building, or if those are full in the A lot between Rider and Gilchrist. Then walk across the pedestrian bridge. A slightly longer walk, but you drive right out of the main university entrance with no waiting.

Me too...it's a cold walk from Hudson to the Dome or McLeod, but you can usually go through buildings up to that point, so it's not bad at all. Get out MUCH faster.

[UNIdad]

Re: Stay till the end

The Loyola game was about that long. For some stupid reason the gate to exit the lot to 27th st was closed. It was insane.

Iowans are so nice. Somebody should have just opened the gate. Seriously, it was probably just a mistake. Some of the security people who put up the barricades do not have degrees in Traffic Science.

Or if you prefer to get permission, it isn't usually too hard to find a supervisor or police officer and ask them to open it. Many of us will often have a better idea of what things should be like. The security staff and even some of the police officers rotate positions so they may not know what is normal, but they have radios and can check with someone.

[TravelingPanther]

Re: Stay till the end

Iowans are so nice. Somebody should have just opened the gate. Seriously, it was probably just a mistake. Some of the security people who put up the barricades do not have degrees in Traffic Science.

Or if you prefer to get permission, it isn't usually too hard to find a supervisor or police officer and ask them to open it. Many of us will often have a better idea of what things should be like. The security staff and even some of the police officers rotate positions so they may not know what is normal, but they have radios and can check with someone.

I also don't remember any police that day and I believe the gate was locked. We were in the middle of the lot snd had no idea what was going on other than the fact that we couldn't go anywhere.