with all the garbage surrounding the game. I don't want your stupid $0.99 plastic ball or your cheap oversized tshirt. I am not going to buy any of the products you're cramming down my throat via PA announcer, video on the board, big signs and banners . . . partly just because I'm so tired of it. I'm not going to eat your incredibly low quality, ridiculously over priced food (and be bloated and sick the rest of the day). I do not need loud music over the PA, or the cougar sound or the PA guy leading a first down cheer. I just want to watch the game.

And that is the problem . . . at these events, there is precious little of what I paid to see and a whole lot that I didn't pay to see that detracts from the experience. I can sit at home and watch the game in 2 hours (catching the last quarter live) without any distractions. I can enjoy the game. I put my money into an expensive satellite subscription that let's me watch all these games, primarily BYU. Since the games seem to be driven by tailoring to the television experience and all the money this brings to conferences, in that aspect I pay for my "ticket" year round.

I graduated from UNC and live close enough to attend all of their basketball games, but I haven't been to one since I graduated. Why? Too much dead time and hoopla. The last game I attended involved about 20 minutes of real time, three timeouts, a tv timeout and 80 seconds of game time . . . all around the 16 minute mark of a ten point game. I called it quits then and there on attending college basketball. (And I went to every home game and stayed for every last second of that 1-17 season.)

And as my experience continues to diminish I'm surprised to find I can be very happy without college sports in my life. I prefer to continue enjoying it, but with the coming paying players, ever escalating costs and the money/power grab by the 5 bigger conferences, it stops being worth my time and turns into a low quality semi-pro product.

It is very simple . . . ticket prices keep going up, but the game experience keeps going down. I support the teams, but they do not support me. So I quit complaining about it (well, not here of course) and I just quit going. According to the "die hard" fans, I won't be missed . . . I think the downward attendance trends say otherwise.