FSU football fans now know when they will be heading to Tallahassee for the annual spring game, but it will be a slight letdown after what happened in 2018.
For those of you in the FSU football nation that have been looking for anything to put the 2018 season behind us, we might just have the remedy. If the early signing period or the release of the 2019 schedule didn’t work out for you, here is something that will get you to get your planner out and fill out your time off sheets at work.
The athletic department announced on Thursday that the annual garnet and gold spring game will take place on Saturday, April 6th at 4 p.m. inside of Doak Campbell Stadium – also announcing that a concert will take place afterward by a yet to be named artist. (Tickets start at $10 for the stands and $50 for the Champions Club).
This latest game will come one year after FSU football set an attendance record for their 2018 spring game, thanks in large part to the hype surrounding the arrival of head coach Willie Taggart. After the first losing season since the mid 1970s took place, the Seminoles seem content in making this latest event more low key.
With that being said, part of the excitement around last year’s game – in addition to the arrival of Taggart – was the events surrounding the game and the weekend. In addition to a post game concert featuring Salt N Pepa, Vanilla Ice and Rob Base (look them up, youngsters, and get some music knowledge), the baseball team hosted Duke for a series and there were other events.
This season, the Seminoles on the diamond will be playing hated rival Miami that weekend – all the way down in Coral Gables in their only games this season south of Tampa. That means fans and alumni of the Noles like myself won’t get a chance to see the Noles in baseball unless we hop on the Florida Turnpike and head north.
The weekend before this year’s game, the city of Tallahassee will host their annual Springtime weekend event complete with a parade, shopping and more – an event that brings people from across the southeast and stretches the city’s hotels already, so I get not putting it that weekend.
How about the following weekend? While FSU football could be playing their football game, the baseball team will be hosting ACC foe Clemson over at Dick Howser Stadium – a series that would be sold out in moments with all the football fans coming to town for the final season with Mike Martin as skipper.
Playing the game in the first weekend of April also means more exposure as, so far, LSU and Clemson are the only other big name programs playing that date. Doing it on the 13th would have buried the Seminoles behind teams like Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma and over a dozen more – and after last season, maybe a little less exposure at the start would be a good thing.
Ultimately, FSU football did what was best for the program and their spring schedule – but from a marketing standpoint, the selection leaves something to be desired. However, if it leads to a 15-0 finish and the school’s fourth national title, play the damn game whenever.