More to this JP Parking all most sounds....

[fischy5000]

You win the thread.

Some of our fans are the worst. Our parking situation is light years better than most of the B1G stadiums even without JP. These same "fans" will complain about our facilities and how far we are behind our competition, yet they will not pay RU the same or less to park in the black or purple lot or the RAC. They would rather give money to the County and continue to complain how we are losing the arms race.

Can't speak for others but I try hard to not complain about the issues although some have def annoyed me. That being said I think with this and other past or ongoing issues it's the way things are handled that really get people going vs purely the issues themselves.
I'm willing to bet that if RU would have been upfront and not shady about it and said at the end of last season that parking options were changing and giving people time to workout their situation many would probably get annoyed briefly and then get over it.
Everytime there's a so-called big issue there's always miscommunications (purposeful or not)...just be upfront and it would go a lot smoother.

 

[Knight Shift]

Can't speak for others but I try hard to not complain about the issues although some have def annoyed me. That being said I think with this and other past or ongoing issues it's the way things are handled that really get people going vs purely the issues themselves.
I'm willing to bet that if RU would have been upfront and not shady about it and said at the end of last season that parking options were changing and giving people time to workout their situation many would probably get annoyed briefly and then get over it.
Everytime there's a so-called big issue there's always miscommunications (purposeful or not)...just be upfront and it would go a lot smoother.

I agree with this. Definitely the communication was fumbled so close to the season start, but perhaps the negotiations were ongoing and just broke down last week?
Having seen this happen many times in government organizations, the whispers and rumors are often times off base. I'm willing to give Hobbs the benefit of the doubt here and chalk it up to an ongoing negotiation that broke down just recently. Sounds like another bad deal negotiated by previous ADs that needed to be redone or killed.

 

[Scarlet83]

Maybe the Yankees can help us with parking.

Wayyy too funny. Bravo!

 

[Scarlet83]

...I'm willing to give Hobbs the benefit of the doubt here and chalk it up to an ongoing negotiation that broke down just recently. Sounds like another bad deal negotiated by previous ADs that needed to be redone or killed.

Exactly.

 

[Upstream]

I agree with this. Definitely the communication was fumbled so close to the season start, but perhaps the negotiations were ongoing and just broke down last week?
Having seen this happen many times in government organizations, the whispers and rumors are often times off base. I'm willing to give Hobbs the benefit of the doubt here and chalk it up to an ongoing negotiation that broke down just recently. Sounds like another bad deal negotiated by previous ADs that needed to be redone or killed.

Even if that happened, the communications were bumbled.

If the decision was just made because negotiations fell apart, then Hobbs should have indicated that in his statement to NJ.com. And he should have made sure the ticket office (which is the front line in communicating with fans) was telling the correct story instead of claiming it was a county decision.

Plus, if the problem was that negotiations just broke down, that is also on Hobbs. These negotiations should have been completed months ago, not two weeks before kickoff.

 

[WhiteBus]

Can't speak for others but I try hard to not complain about the issues although some have def annoyed me. That being said I think with this and other past or ongoing issues it's the way things are handled that really get people going vs purely the issues themselves.
I'm willing to bet that if RU would have been upfront and not shady about it and said at the end of last season that parking options were changing and giving people time to workout their situation many would probably get annoyed briefly and then get over it.
Everytime there's a so-called big issue there's always miscommunications (purposeful or not)...just be upfront and it would go a lot smoother.

This!

This isnt even a topic if they are upfront about it.
Instead they come up with a story and blame the county. Than they have to back track. Never ends with Rutgers

 

[Knight Shift]

Even if that happened, the communications were bumbled.

If the decision was just made because negotiations fell apart, then Hobbs should have indicated that in his statement to NJ.com. And he should have made sure the ticket office (which is the front line in communicating with fans) was telling the correct story instead of claiming it was a county decision.

Plus, if the problem was that negotiations just broke down, that is also on Hobbs. These negotiations should have been completed months ago, not two weeks before kickoff.

Disagree. Have you ever tried to get anything done with County or State government? Not an easy process. Perhaps the process just dragged on and on until he decided to cut the relationship.

And why should he have to reveal all of the gory details. Should he be a whiny baby like the SDSU coach and cry about what went wrong and point fingers? Not in my opinion. It's over, and he announced it. I don't really care about all of the details and the hows and the whys.

The police/fire/EMS lot turned into a bit of a fuster cluck. It started out good enough. Then the rules started to change and then it changed to a pay lot, which I have no problem with. It's an example of how well (ahem) the government runs something simple. Need information? Call the County and get an answering machine. Ask a question when they call back, and they don't know the answer. There is a thing called the internet, and the County could have simply posted the information on the Johnson Park website. But instead, everything was under some cloak of secrecy.

And why is it his problem if ticket agents are not telling the correct story. Maybe a memo went out and they did not read it. Should he arrange personal meetings with every ticket agent and have them make sure they understand? Seem to be holding him to a standard when all of the facts are not known.

 

[e5fdny]

Even if that happened, the communications were bumbled.

If the decision was just made because negotiations fell apart, then Hobbs should have indicated that in his statement to NJ.com. And he should have made sure the ticket office (which is the front line in communicating with fans) was telling the correct story instead of claiming it was a county decision.

Plus, if the problem was that negotiations just broke down, that is also on Hobbs. These negotiations should have been completed months ago, not two weeks before kickoff.

^^^What he said.^^^

 

[Upstream]

Disagree. Have you ever tried to get anything done with County or State government? Not an easy process. Perhaps the process just dragged on and on until he decided to cut the relationship.

And why should he have to reveal all of the gory details. Should he be a whiny baby like the SDSU coach and cry about what went wrong and point fingers? Not in my opinion. It's over, and he announced it. I don't really care about all of the details and the hows and the whys.

The police/fire/EMS lot turned into a bit of a fuster cluck. It started out good enough. Then the rules started to change and then it changed to a pay lot, which I have no problem with. It's an example of how well (ahem) the government runs something simple. Need information? Call the County and get an answering machine. Ask a question when they call back, and they don't know the answer. There is a thing called the internet, and the County could have simply posted the information on the Johnson Park website. But instead, everything was under some cloak of secrecy.

And why is it his problem if ticket agents are not telling the correct story. Maybe a memo went out and they did not read it. Should he arrange personal meetings with every ticket agent and have them make sure they understand? Seem to be holding him to a standard when all of the facts are not known.

I've negotiated agreements with government agencies plenty of times. I know it can be difficult. But that doesn't justify letting negotiations run to late August (if that is what happened) after the ticket books were printed.

The Athletic Department could have easily started discussions with the county last year and indicated that the agreement needed to be in place by April 1. On April 1, if no agreement is reached, then Rutgers walks away. Rutgers announces that it is not sponsoring JP parking this year. Fans have plenty of time to consider other options. And the county also has the time to consider if they'll run parking without Rutgers paying the costs.

Again, the problem isn't that there is no parking in JP; that only Impacts a handful of fans. The problem was the timing and miscommunication; and that is on Rutgers Athletics.

 

[e5fdny]

...I think with this and other past or ongoing issues it's the way things are handled that really get people going vs purely the issues themselves.
I'm willing to bet that if RU would have been upfront and not shady about it and said at the end of last season that parking options were changing and giving people time to workout their situation many would probably get annoyed briefly and then get over it.
Everytime there's a so-called big issue there's always miscommunications (purposeful or not)...just be upfront and it would go a lot smoother.

But that doesn't justify letting negotiations run to late August (if that is what happened) after the ticket books were printed.

The Athletic Department could have easily started discussions with the county last year and indicated that the agreement needed to be in place by April 1. On April 1, if no agreement is reached, then Rutgers walks away. Rutgers announces that it is not sponsoring JP parking this year. Fans have plenty of time to consider other options. And the county also has the time to consider if they'll run parking without Rutgers paying the costs.

Again, the problem isn't that there is no parking in JP; that only Impacts a handful of fans. The problem was the timing and miscommunication; and that is on Rutgers Athletics.

^^^What they said.^^^

 

[e5fdny]

So was Rutgers or Middlesex County responsible for the parking in Grove 5 (Fire/Police/EMS Lot)?

 

[WhiteBus]

Disagree. Have you ever tried to get anything done with County or State government? Not an easy process. Perhaps the process just dragged on and on until he decided to cut the relationship.

And why should he have to reveal all of the gory details. Should he be a whiny baby like the SDSU coach and cry about what went wrong and point fingers? Not in my opinion. It's over, and he announced it. I don't really care about all of the details and the hows and the whys.

The police/fire/EMS lot turned into a bit of a fuster cluck. It started out good enough. Then the rules started to change and then it changed to a pay lot, which I have no problem with. It's an example of how well (ahem) the government runs something simple. Need information? Call the County and get an answering machine. Ask a question when they call back, and they don't know the answer. There is a thing called the internet, and the County could have simply posted the information on the Johnson Park website. But instead, everything was under some cloak of secrecy.

And why is it his problem if ticket agents are not telling the correct story. Maybe a memo went out and they did not read it. Should he arrange personal meetings with every ticket agent and have them make sure they understand? Seem to be holding him to a standard when all of the facts are not known.

You must be on Rutgers payroll. To you its never Rutgers fault on anything. And still a Flood supporter.

 

[RU4Real]

It should be noted that anyone who listens to anything a ticket rep says would be better off spending that time making themselves a sammich.

In the final analysis, the mechanics of this were pretty simple. Johnson Park was a bad deal for Rutgers - we were paying the operating expenses while getting none of the revenue.

Trying to make it a better deal doubtless revealed to the county that revenue minus expenses rendered it a bad deal for them, too.

So everybody walks away.

Now, about that "lawsuit" thing... Not so much, as it turns out.

 

[e5fdny]

It should be noted that anyone who listens to anything a ticket rep says would be better off spending that time making themselves a sammich.

In the final analysis, the mechanics of this were pretty simple. Johnson Park was a bad deal for Rutgers - we were paying the operating expenses while getting none of the revenue.

Trying to make it a better deal doubtless revealed to the county that revenue minus expenses rendered it a bad deal for them, too.

So everybody walks away.

Now, about that "lawsuit" thing... Not so much, as it turns out.

Yep.

I think though as others have said, if communicated better we wouldn't have two threads (this one being 4 pages so far) on the topic.

 

[robcac26]

Disagree. Have you ever tried to get anything done with County or State government? Not an easy process. Perhaps the process just dragged on and on until he decided to cut the relationship.

And why should he have to reveal all of the gory details. Should he be a whiny baby like the SDSU coach and cry about what went wrong and point fingers? Not in my opinion. It's over, and he announced it. I don't really care about all of the details and the hows and the whys.

The police/fire/EMS lot turned into a bit of a fuster cluck. It started out good enough. Then the rules started to change and then it changed to a pay lot, which I have no problem with. It's an example of how well (ahem) the government runs something simple. Need information? Call the County and get an answering machine. Ask a question when they call back, and they don't know the answer. There is a thing called the internet, and the County could have simply posted the information on the Johnson Park website. But instead, everything was under some cloak of secrecy.

And why is it his problem if ticket agents are not telling the correct story. Maybe a memo went out and they did not read it. Should he arrange personal meetings with every ticket agent and have them make sure they understand? Seem to be holding him to a standard when all of the facts are not known.

Maybe YOU don't care about the details since it doesn't affect YOU, but obviously those of us who are affected about it would like to know why we suddenly had one week to figure out where we are parking this season, after everyone else's parking passes were allocated and it is now too late to increase our donation to get a better lot, so we are stuck out in the silver lot.

Multiple ticket reps were saying that it was the county's decision. Do you think they all missed the same memo and came up with the same story? Obviously Hobbs doesn't need to arrange personal meetings with every ticket rep, you are intentionally hyperbolizing this to make excuses for the ticket reps being told to lie to us. If they would have just said that the parking lot is being discontinued because Rutgers lost money on it, that is a logical and concise explanation that any sensible person would understand. Instead they had them tell us the county decided it. Well did they think nobody was going to reach out to the county to ask why?

So was Rutgers or Middlesex County responsible for the parking in Grove 5 (Fire/Police/EMS Lot)?

From my conversation with the parks department, it seems as though that one was on Rutgers too.

 

[e5fdny]

From my conversation with the parks department, it seems as though that one was on Rutgers too.

Interesting...maybe all is not lost here.

 

[ru66]

for the few who used JP--geez get a season parking pass if you do in fact have season tickets--and , no disrespect , but the ticket reps are generally, young , not very high on the totem poll RU employees, who can be very uninformed--honestly all the complaints about this issue fall on deaf ears unless you are the typical complainer about RU

 

[WhiteBus]

for the few who used JP--geez get a season parking pass if you do in fact have season tickets--and , no disrespect , but the ticket reps are generally, young , not very high on the totem poll RU employees, who can be very uninformed--honestly all the complaints about this issue fall on deaf ears unless you are the typical complainer about RU

Why would any new season ticket holder want a parking pass in lots that are long walks to the stadium when there was a parking lot available in the shadow of the stadium?

 

[ru66]

bus get real--if you want to be closer you can get closer--the issue is how much you want to give to your school--just like the BIG FUND many of our thousands of alumni can't compete in giving with other BIG schools

 

[Upstream]

Why would any new season ticket holder want a parking pass in lots that are long walks to the stadium when there was a parking lot available in the shadow of the stadium?

That was my thought when parking was first introduced in Johnson Park. I make a sizable donation plus pay a premium for parking passes in close lots, and other get to park across the street from the stadium for far less. I justify my expense as benefiting the football program, plus I am certain of getting a spot with my parking pass, while people who park in JP may find the lot is full when they get there or closed due to rain. I didn't realize that the university was sponsoring parking in JP.

 

[robcac26]

for the few who used JP--geez get a season parking pass if you do in fact have season tickets--and , no disrespect , but the ticket reps are generally, young , not very high on the totem poll RU employees, who can be very uninformed--honestly all the complaints about this issue fall on deaf ears unless you are the typical complainer about RU

I did get a season parking pass, but with only a week to go before the start of the season, our only option was the silver lot, which is a major change after having parked at Johnson Park for years. Did you not read any of my other posts? I acknowledged at least two or three times that the ticket reps aren't high on the totem pole. The issue isn't that they didn't know the details, the issue is that their superiors had them lie to us. I'm not holding anything against the ticket reps, I'm sure they didn't know that they were giving us misinformation, they were just telling us what they were told to tell us. I am not a typical RU complainer. I doubt you can find any other Rutgers issue on these forums that I've complained about.

To sum it up, we had Johnson Park parkers originally upset that we lost our parking lot, and then once the details came out we understood the reasoning but are unhappy about how it was communicated, and then we have people who aren't affected by this at all telling the people who are affected that they shouldn't be unhappy about it...

 

[e5fdny]

bus get real--if you want to be closer you can get closer--the issue is how much you want to give to your school--just like the BIG FUND many of our thousands of alumni can't compete in giving with other BIG schools

If communicated the right way this would have not been the issue it has become.

For example...

That was my thought when parking was first introduced in Johnson Park. I make a sizable donation plus pay a premium for parking passes in close lots, and other get to park across the street from the stadium for far less. I justify my expense as benefiting the football program, plus I am certain of getting a spot with my parking pass, while people who park in JP may find the lot is full when they get there or closed due to rain. I didn't realize that the university was sponsoring parking in JP.

I doubt any of us knew this.

 

[rurichdog]

Would be interesting to find out what the break-even point was for this deal, and to walk it backwards to a per-car charge...and whether people would pay it, versus donating to the school and buying parking from the school.

 

[WhiteBus]

bus get real--if you want to be closer you can get closer--the issue is how much you want to give to your school--just like the BIG FUND many of our thousands of alumni can't compete in giving with other BIG schools

If you are a new season ticket holder you have to pay a boatload just to get in the Blue Lot. You basically have no chance getting into Yellow, Green or Scarlet as your priority point requirment would be far too much. Or they could have paid $40 and be closer to the stadium than the Blue Lot.
Rutgers should be doing more to bring in new fans. Your idea is screw em. Make them walk far or pay a lot. Stupid.

 

[ru66]

rob--I didn't address you specifically --and by the way-- "their superiors had them lie to us" --you know this as fact?? try getting good parking at a PSU game--unfortunately if we demand BIG facilities and payrolls we have to pay the price

 

[cicero grimes]

Would be a hoot if the County decided to make parking at Johnson Park free for the season.

 

[e5fdny]

rob--I didn't address you specifically --and by the way-- "their superiors had them lie to us" --you know this as fact?? try getting good parking at a PSU game--unfortunately if we demand BIG facilities and payrolls we have to pay the price

Now that we know what was going on Johnson Park for intent and purposes was a Rutgers Lot. So our fans and visiting fans in theory should have been helping to fill those B1G Build coffers.

The fact Rutgers mad a bad deal at the outset is not our fault.

 

[ru66]

yeah,RU should allow everyone to park for free--we are flowing in revenue--personally if you have made the choice to pay a "boatload" you should get priority parking

 

[robcac26]

rob--I didn't address you specifically --and by the way-- "their superiors had them lie to us" --you know this as fact?? try getting good parking at a PSU game--unfortunately if we demand BIG facilities and payrolls we have to pay the price

When I told the ticket rep that the parks department said Rutgers made the decision, the rep said, "All we know here at the ticket office is that our management told us the county decided not to allow parking there this year."

I'm sure if PSU had a Johnson Park right next to their stadium, there would be parking there. Why do we need to compare to other schools though? "This part of our experience is more convenient than at other schools, we need to make it less convenient to be like everyone else." When NJ raised the gas tax, should we have just been happy about it so that our prices can be higher like other states?

 

[e5fdny]

yeah,RU should allow everyone to park for free--we are flowing in revenue--personally if you have made the choice to pay a "boatload" you should get priority parking

Is there a .gif or meme for tone deaf?

I'll use this guy for now...

 

[ru66]

e5--face it ,many of our fans don't support RU anywhere near that of other BIG schools -only 2 or 3 thousand Build Fund contributors is a disgrace

 

[ru66]

you're kidding--those 200 spots at PSU and any other BIG school would be sold in a second at more than "boatload" prices

 

[cicero grimes]

This is typical RU. Instead of instructing the Ticket Reps to tell the truth or to just say I do not know when asked about Johnson Park, the reps were either told to lie or lied on their own. Either way not a good look for the department.

In the scheme of things this lot is not a huge deal but boy it sure could have been handled better and a lot sooner.

 

[e5fdny]

e5--face it ,many of our fans don't support RU anywhere near that of other BIG schools -only 2 or 3 thousand Build Fund contributors is a disgrace

Again, this is not what this thread is really about.

If it was explained by RU how bad this deal was for Rutgers many if not all of us would say to cut bait. And done early enough it might have prompted some of those fans your talking about to pay up some more scratch to ensure they are on Busch.

But the way this whole thing is playing out gives some of us the "Same ole' Rutgers" vibe.

 

[ru66]

as I said--everyone reacts before facts are known and then does the RU blame game--and by the way, by how many truly affected RU fans--not even worth discussing anymore unless one needs to bitch

 

[robcac26]

Again, this is not what this thread is really about.

If it was explained by RU how bad this deal was for Rutgers many if not all of us would say to cut bait. And done early enough it might have prompted some of those fans your talking about to pay up some more scratch to ensure they are on Busch.

But the way this whole thing is playing out gives some of us the "Same ole' Rutgers" vibe.

Yep, with the decision coming this late, it is too late for us to increase our donation for this year, and parking has already been allocated, so our only option is the silver lot. If Johnson Park was still available, we would have ended up spending 50% more on parking than we are now with the silver lot pass, so we are fine with spending more to get a better parking spot. We understand the decision to get out of the deal they had with the county. I think most of us would be willing to pay even more to be able to continue parking there while ensuring Rutgers gets something out of it though.

 

[robcac26]

as I said--everyone reacts before facts are known and then does the RU blame game--and by the way, by how many truly affected RU fans--not even worth discussing anymore unless one needs to bitch

Are you following this at all? Almost nobody was blaming Rutgers before the facts came out, and then once we got the reasoning, nobody criticized Rutgers for ending it, the issue was the timing and the poor communication.

 

[e5fdny]

as I said--everyone reacts before facts are known and then does the RU blame game--and by the way, by how many truly affected RU fans--not even worth discussing anymore unless one needs to bitch

 

[Upstream]

yeah,RU should allow everyone to park for free--we are flowing in revenue--personally if you have made the choice to pay a "boatload" you should get priority parking

I think a big part of the issue is the timing of the announcement. If Rutgers announced at the beginning of April that they were no longer sponsoring parking in JP, then fans like @robcac26 could have looked at their options. For a $1000 donation and $40 per game, he may have ended up with a Blue or Yellow pass (depending on his priority points). But a week before the season, that option doesn't exist. (Sure, if he donated $50K, Rutgers would "find" a Scarlet pass for him, but at donation levels that are reasonable to most of our fanbase, there are no good season parking options this late.)

 

[WhiteBus]

as I said--everyone reacts before facts are known and then does the RU blame game--and by the way, by how many truly affected RU fans--not even worth discussing anymore unless one needs to bitch

Clueless. Blaming the fans again.
This was Rutgers problem and Rutgers only from the start. No communication from the start. Misinformation from Rutgers reps, blaming the county on this than finally coming clean with the facts.
Stop blaming Rutgers fans for the problems Rutgers creates.