Washington Post Today ~ Empty Seats Irk Arrington
 

Empty Seats Irk Arrington

Linebacker LaVar Arrington was disappointed when he looked into the stands at FedEx Field during last week's 27-0 victory over the Atlanta Falcons and saw openings despite an announced crowd of 72,892.

"I feel so good about this team, I'm personally challenging the fans. I saw a lot of empty seats," he said. "We talk about having the greatest fans in the world and different things like that. I think this is the year for the whole shebang.

"I just think about RFK -- you hear all the legend and all the stories about the stands shaking and stuff like that. It was just a horrible place for teams to come in and play. I think this is the year that the fans really need to be a part of it. If you don't want to come, give your tickets to somebody else. I saw a couple of people who were looking for tickets, couldn't find tickets and there were all those empty seats.

"I think this is the year of the 12th man. I honestly believe that. We need all areas clicking. We're going to make a good run this year. It would be sad to say that we lost a game because the [opponent] felt comfortable coming to FedEx Field."

Disappointed??? Preseason games means 2nd and 3rd stringer are playing so alot of fans don't waste a friday night in traffic to see these guys play. I am a huge Arrington Fan but if he is irked try being the fan that pays full fare and gets 2nd and 3rd stringers. The fans always show up for openning day and beyond. If you want fans there for preseason then the starters should play for the enitre game and the games should count. Othererwise shut up and colect your paycheck. And by the way get a new competent agent. This is arrogance that I just don't like.

he just wants the fans to love the redskins as he does. there is no arrogance there. lavar is one of the best people ull ever meet.

I wouldn't say he's being arrogant. He just calling out for the fans to come and support. I was there friday and honestly it was pretty sad to see all those empty seats. My whole row was empty and I was in section 111, right in front of the band! Hopefully everyone will come out this Sunday and Fedex will be rocking!

ah man, its not arrogance. its a challenge. he's hyping the city up. he's saying this is the year, Gibbs is back, he's citing RFK! this is awesome, what are you talking about.

[QUOTE=illdefined]ah man, its not arrogance. its a challenge. he's hyping the city up. he's saying this is the year, Gibbs is back, he's citing RFK! this is awesome, what are you talking about.[/QUOTE]

Thank you Ill! Arrington loves the fans and we know it. He knows that the fans will respond to him.

its a 30 year waiting list, biggest stadium in the NFL, most valuable team, supposedly the most rabid fans, Gibbs is back and they were pitching a crushing shutout. he didn't want to look up and see empty seats!! he's just making sure that doesnt happen again.

GO LAVAR. you'll hear me screaming from nyc!

[QUOTE=illdefined]its a 30 year waiting list, biggest stadium in the NFL, most valuable team, supposedly the most rabid fans, Gibbs is back and they were pitching a crushing shutout. he didn't want to look up and see empty seats!! he's just making sure that doesnt happen again. go LaVar[/QUOTE]

Not to mention it was the 5th PRESEASON game. The starters only played on series.......no big deal.

If LaVar wants to arrange a season ticket for me I'll fly out from LAX to be at every home game.

FedEx will be a crucible of noise on gameday and I don't think any team will look forward to an easy time. I hope that the excessive amounts of Cowturd fans usually seen at FedEx get turned away this season.

Great job finding that quote CRT3! You're being kinda rough on Arrington though. I think he wants what we all want: the glory days back. The RFK reference gave me chills. I remember back when the stadium was packed with the most diehard of the diehard and I loved it. The fans now are great too, he is just saying that since the team has taken it up a notch, so should the fans.

[QUOTE=RedskinRat]
FedEx will be a crucible of noise on gameday and I don't think any team will look forward to an easy time. I hope that the excessive amounts of Cowturd fans usually seen at FedEx get turned away this season.[/QUOTE]

man is that true about cowboy fans?? whatsup with that? thats tragic.

Fedex is the biggest stadium in the NFL with the longest list to get in. it SHOULD be the noisiest. it should be HELL.

too many limp VIPs in DC...

F that!! Maybe he looked up at 7pm while 50000 people were still in that CF of a parking lot situation! He should blame Danny boy for his Parking Permits and $25 cash parking lots which are a 1 hour shuttle ride away from the game! I live in NJ and left at 12 noon and did not get in my seat until after 8pm when the score was already 24-0. I arrived at the beltway ecit in time for the game then had to sit on a shuttle that sat in traffic for an hour. If you are going to use shuttles then you have to find a way fro them to get to the stadium with being stuck in traffic. Rediculous...but Danny doesn't care if the seats are full at game time just as long as they are payed for.

I don't see any arrogance with his comments, he wants a full house that's rocking and a tough place for vistors to come in to.

He does have some basis for his comments and it goes beyond crabbing about a preseason game. Everytime they show a crowd shot on TV and the gold section is practically empty I just shake my head, so I can see where Arrington is coming from.

I'll never understand why people pay for a seat then spend the entire game inside. Why not stay home and save the $$??

We need some players to speak out and say stuff like that. The redskins havent had home field advantage since the new stadium was built, imo. Ive been to almost all the games and there are very few times when it was really loud in there. This year is going to be different, I cant wait to get out to the games and lose my voice screaming for my team!!

Right on, Lavar!!! We've got the biggest stadium in the NFL. Other teams should fear to play there.

Hey Laavar has only dealt with this for 5 years. I've put up with this since Gibbs left 12 years ago. FEDEX will never be anther RFK. To big and not partially enclosed. The sound just doesnt' resonate in there. I am always loud and so have been most of the regulars. But expecting 92,000 on a Friday of Labor Day weekend, no way. I suspect that this will be a full house like every other openning day. But will be a bit louder due to the Gibbs factor. I just don't agree with Arrington about preseason games and him being irked at the turn out. Star player or not I will call them out as I see it. I do wear a Arrington jersey to the game and stand directly behind the team as they warm up before every game. I am the loudest down by the sidelines before the game and have called Snyder out on many occasions. I pay, I speak, I yell, and I cheer. If he is irked for lack of fan support for 1 game then I am irked at the crap I have put up with for 12 years.

I think the two preseason games this summer were just bad timing. The first one against Carolina we were expecting hurricane Charley and the second one last week was at 7 p.m. on a Friday before Labor Day. I have full confidence that Fed Ex will be packed and loud on Sunday. I can understand Lavar but in the fans' defense there have been plenty of big games the last 6 or 7 years that the fans have brought it as the 12th man and been ready to go and the Redskins have just plain flopped and looked unmotivated (I'm thinking of a lot of Dallas games). So they owe us a few in my opinion.

A lot of the "fans" can't get tickets, the WP owns em all =p

[QUOTE=CRT3]Hey Laavar has only dealt with this for 5 years. I've put up with this since Gibbs left 12 years ago. FEDEX will never be anther RFK. To big and not partially enclosed. The sound just doesnt' resonate in there. I am always loud and so have been most of the regulars. But expecting 92,000 on a Friday of Labor Day weekend, no way. I suspect that this will be a full house like every other openning day. But will be a bit louder due to the Gibbs factor. I just don't agree with Arrington about preseason games and him being irked at the turn out. Star player or not I will call them out as I see it. I do wear a Arrington jersey to the game and stand directly behind the team as they warm up before every game. I am the loudest down by the sidelines before the game and have called Snyder out on many occasions. I pay, I speak, I yell, and I cheer. If he is irked for lack of fan support for 1 game then I am irked at the crap I have put up with for 12 years.[/QUOTE]
Did you see the VT-USC game last week??

FedEx can be loud, it's the fans that are the problem, not the stadium.

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]Did you see the VT-USC game last week??

FedEx can be loud, it's the fans that are the problem, not the stadium.[/QUOTE]
yes i agree. What do you think was the median age of the crowd?

[QUOTE=Daseal]A lot of the "fans" can't get tickets, the WP owns em all =p[/QUOTE]

haha, yea thats it!!

FedEX will be loud again now that all the stupid bandwagon fans jumped back on the bandwagon.

Excuse me, but I am tired of Lavar Arrington being upset about this or irked by that. He gets mad at teammates and at coaches and at fans. Who's next, they poor guy that sells hot dogs but doesn't put a full squirt of mustard on them?

I don't mind taking criticism but shouldn't the guy who is the highest paid player on the team and the guy who says that he wanted to have input into who came to the defense and who got cut do something like produce wins on the field before he tells me what to do?

Since Lavar arrived in DC and bestowed his greatness on us unappreciative slackards of fans, how many division titles has he won? OK, how many games over .500 has he pushed the team to be?

Memo to Lavar: STFU until you show that YOU are a winner and not a whiner.

I'm a bit irked at LaVars contract dispute.

[QUOTE=CRT3]yes i agree. What do you think was the median age of the crowd?[/QUOTE]
Certainly a lot younger (and enthusiastic) than the wine and cheese crowd sundays at FedEx.

LaVar is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

We complain when we don't have a team leader, someone to speak up and lay down the law now and then. Then we complain when someone voices their opinion a little too strongly.

He just wants a hyped up crowd, I really don't see where he's saying anything so out of the ordinary and crazy. Again, the gold section of FedEx looks pathetic on sundays. I'd be ticked about it too if I was a player.

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]Certainly a lot younger (and enthusiastic) than the wine and cheese crowd sundays at FedEx.[/QUOTE]
So my point is that the higher the price of the ticket then the median age of the fan goes up. Therefore those who do go and use this as a business expense which is the only group that can really afford to go, makes the crowds a little less crazy. Hard to entertain a client and being going bizerk at the same time. I take clients to the game but I let it all out at the game. My vice. You either deal or don't deal with me on the everyday basis.

But if the price was lowered you would have a younger more enthusastic crowd. But to pay people like Lavaar you have to raise the rates therefore diminishing the overall enthusiams of the game day fan. So untill Lavaar wakes up and understands the reality, we have to call him to the carpet on his mistakes. But he is one bad ass football player.

Matty:

Lavar Arrington is not damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. Because all he ever does is complain about something so no one ever has had the chance to react to him doing anything else.

Oh, I forgot. He does something besides complain. He makes excuses when the team loses and blames someone else.

Telling fans to come to their seats isn't being a team leader. I want someone to move the team, not the fans.

LaVar isn't perfect, I just think you guys are overreacting a bit to his plea for a rowdy crowd on sunday.

He makes one comment and everyone drags out all of his dirty laundry. He's amped about the season, what Gibbs' return means to the team and to it's chances for finally getting over the hump.

Sorry, I just don't see his comments as 'complaining' at all.

[QUOTE=CRT3]So my point is that the higher the price of the ticket then the median age of the fan goes up. Therefore those who do go and use this as a business expense which is the only group that can really afford to go, makes the crowds a little less crazy. Hard to entertain a client and being going bizerk at the same time. I take clients to the game but I let it all out at the game. My vice. You either deal or don't deal with me on the everyday basis.

But if the price was lowered you would have a younger more enthusastic crowd. But to pay people like Lavaar you have to raise the rates therefore diminishing the overall enthusiams of the game day fan. So untill Lavaar wakes up and understands the reality, we have to call him to the carpet on his mistakes. But he is one bad ass football player.[/QUOTE]I thought your original point was that FedEx was too big and open to be loud.

I was merely pointing out the fact the stadium can be loud, with the right kind of crowd. :)

Lavar has every right to get on the fans.I have been to a couple of games the last two years and to be frank I was pissed off about how many fans from the other team were there.

Now about the gold seats in the club level,I would close that damn cigar bar with all those leather arm chairs to get all those "wine and cheese" fans back out to their seats.

Not to worry...
Theres a new fiesta in the making...
Sunday's game will be packed!
And I'm leaving 5 hrs before the game, just in case those extra 5000 people all decide to drive.

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]I thought your original point was that FedEx was too big and open to be loud.

I was merely pointing out the fact the stadium can be loud, with the right kind of crowd. :)[/QUOTE]
Ha ha, one of my points. It is different from RFK I said and could never reach the same type of decibels. But when you brought up the VA Tech-USA game it made me think of a nother reason why it doesn't get that loud. Both valid points, you agree?

[QUOTE=love them hogs]Lavar has every right to get on the fans.I have been to a couple of games the last two years and to be frank I was pissed off about how many fans from the other team were there.

Now about the gold seats in the club level,I would close that damn cigar bar with all those leather arm chairs to get all those "wine and cheese" fans back out to their seats.[/QUOTE]
HEy I sit on the club level and I take offense as they don't even serve wne and cheese. The cigar bar is outdated and the Hooters has to go(food sucks, service is awsome). Now only if my fast pass would work with the waiter service then I would never leave.

I agree with the other team fans showing up as I sat thru that Dallas game last year in the most miserable weather I can rember. Winning is the simplest cure and I think that will change

[QUOTE=CRT3]Ha ha, one of my points. It is different from RFK I said and could never reach the same type of decibels. But when you brought up the VA Tech-USA game it made me think of a nother reason why it doesn't get that loud. Both valid points, you agree?[/QUOTE]
Oh yeah, I definitely agree there's many factors that lead to the rather tame crowds at FedEx. Tickets prices are defintely a huge factor.

I posted this on the other Lavar thread:

Just as we do, Lavar sees those empty yellow seats and wants them to be filled....just like a lot of us fans do. Fans who can't afford tickets, or don't have a connection to get them, or live out of town, etc. If you want to watch the game from a bar, sell/give away your tickets and go to a f#cking bar!!!

It's nice to see that others feel the same way....including the ones that go to the games and actually sit in their seats! FedEx Field needs to ROCK this year!!!!!
:httr:

I think some of you are missing the point regarding why MANY people in Washington go to Redskin games. Hold onto your hats here; it has NOTHING to do with football or the Redskins or the opposing team or anything like that.

Many people go to the game as a social event because Redskins' games have become an important social event in Washington and therefore it is important TO BE SEEN there. When lots of people go there, they spend as much time looking around to see who else is there and trying to wave to friends so that the friends will attest to the fact that they were there too. If the game is not close and the real football fans are "sitting on their hands" lots of the socialites will often have their backs to the field while plays are being run because they are checking out who might be seated behind/above them.

Those "yellow seats" are not cheap; that's why they're are unsold. And so the people sitting there will continue to go there and enjoy their comforts simply because they can do just that. And if any of them are reading this board - highly unlikely - they will not give a rat's arse what anyone here thinks of them or their game watching preferences. They aren't going to a sports bar to see the game - unless they own the sports bar and want to be there to watch the money roll in.

You want them to make noise. I'll bet that if you hooked all of them up to lie detectors, you'd find that they would really prefer for you to keep your voices down...

This is the reality of Redskins' crowds. And as long as prices are where they are and as long as Washington is a town full of people who despearately need for others to know that they are "connected", it ain't gonna change.

Just a historical note, it was that way when I went to my first Skins' game at RFK in 1969 too; this is not a new phenomenon.

Maybe they can just paint the Gold section different so it doesn't stand out so much on TV.

Multi-colored seating perhaps?

Well for $400.00 you can have your seat made into burgundy, have a seat cushion put on it, and your own personal name tag. So you see while painting would solve this problem as yellow seats do stand out, Snyder has choosen a economic way of fixing the problem. HAVE THE FANS PAY FOR IT.

Excellent points, sportscurmudgeon. I've posted many times about my disdain for the corporate/political/socialite presence at FedEx, and the insane ticket prices that perpetuate this regrettable condition, but you're exactly right-- it isn't going to change anytime soon.

But if these non-fans want to spend the game talking business and politics, and expect us to respect their right to do so, then they damn well better respect the true fans' rights to scream and yell, jump up and down and howl at the moon! The blue collars and plebeians spend a much larger chunk of their hard-earned dollars to be there at the game, and have a right to enjoy the game as they see fit (within the parameters of the law and the ticketholder's agreement, of course). I'm not promoting the drunken stupidity and aggression that too often plagues sporting events; but standing and cheering for the home team throughout the game-- and belting out "Hail to the Redskins" at the top of your lungs-- should be considered standard and acceptable behavior, not unruliness.

There's a serious problem when vocal hometeam fans are the exception rather than the rule.

why dont i just bring some red paint, a name tag and a cushion myself from walmart (retail price: under $20)... that's some hellish mark-up there...