I blame Albany, Ga for part of our game attendance problems

[SeminoleSuber15]

For those of you that don't know Albany is about 90 miles north of Tallahassee. I have seen many threads on here that FSU's problem is its location with highly populated areas and a strong alumni base. Well the other day I had a conversation with a business owner here in town that explained to me why Albany is such a depressed area now a days. He explained to me that going back all the way to WW2 Albany was a thriving community with a huge Air force base here that they used to train not just American pilots but the french as well. They even built one of the largest run ways in the south east right here in Albany that was used to land big bomber planes in training missions. Well eventually the govt decided they no longer needed the facility so the city was left with acres of hangers and runways. The city leaders allowed bids on the property and supposedly an airline company wanted to buy the property and make it an international airport because of its infrastructure all ready in place to land large planes. The city who has historically been run by the rich owners of several of the plantations around town immediately shot down the idea due to they didn't want that kind of growth/traffic here and they already had there own private airport which is now the southwest Georgia regional airport. Today Miller Brewing owns the property. The same thing happened here also when I75 was being built. Albany and its "leaders" voted for the highway to bypass the area which in turn has severally hurt this area economically while Valdosta has grown over the years. Another rumor I have heard also is that the Army Core of Engineers wanted to dam up the flint river more than it already is to create a large recreational lake. Of course the farmers and plantation owners did not want this because that meant they would have to sacrifice their land for a lake. So if any of y'all in Tallahassee want to point fingers you can point them straight up at Albany and its old timing plantation owners for not allowing major growth which in turn could have resulted in a large number of alumni and fans living closer to travel to games.

 

[jamnolfin]

A alternate 75 that connects to I-10 west bound seems like a good idea. I hate driving my RV through there on the way back from Atlanta.

 

[Noles229]

229

 

[squiffynole]

Albany is part of a crescent of poverty that sweeps across the south just below the piedmont, the depressed economic conditions track the old cotton belt. Unfortunately Albany's problems are not local.

 

[scott1088]

229

My man

 

[fsujl11]

I drove all over S.E. Ga and for the life of me i cant understand why thomasville is not bigger.. and why macon is so bad. but some of the smaller cities just need to die off is so bad

 

[dA22bY]

Nice story but wouldn't they all be UGA fans anyway?

 

[freeman333_2005]

Nice story but wouldn't they all be UGA fans anyway?

Nah, too many of them can read. That is a very well read town.

 

[bryce15]

Sad how many towns stuff like that happens look at perry one family has killed that whole town from ever growing.

 

[SeminoleSuber15]

Nice story but wouldn't they all be UGA fans anyway?

No. I work in tifton and there are a lot of noles over there. Albany has a good bit but there are more dawg fans for sure. They have looked recently to make 300 a break off of 75 that would run from Cordele to Tallahassee but the dot didn't pass it. Albany had its chances to establish the right tools in place to grow but failed to do so.

 

[12Nole]

Would like to see a high speed rail set up in Jax shooting west on I-10 with stops in Lake City, Tallahassee, Panama City & Pensacola. Then shoot down 95 to the Keys.

 

[nolefromcarolina]

Not everyone wants their town to grow and become a metropolis. While I'm not saying it's a good thing for a town to have a depressed economy, some of us prefer the small town, country feel.

 

[-OB1-]

Damn Albanians... *shakes fist at sky*

 

[ocilla]

I live in Ocilla, Ga.. About 90 miles from Tallahassee... When the 4 lane from Tifton to Moultrie, to Thomasville, to Tallahassee was complete, my life was complete. I have no more road complaints. This is the only road I need.

 

[dA22bY]

Sad how many towns stuff like that happens look at perry one family has killed that whole town from ever growing.

Which family is that?

 

[Mugsy101]

Would like to see a high speed rail set up in Jax shooting west on I-10 with stops in Lake City, Tallahassee, Panama City & Pensacola. Then shoot down 95 to the Keys.

Another train that nobody rides......add a bridge and you've got everything you need

 

[Lanoles]

There's a lot to be said for the 'old' influential money keeping towns from growing.

*Political opinions are not welcomed here.

 

[seminal]

Damn Albanians... *shakes fist at sky*

Alban-ia, Alban-ia, it borders on the Adri-atic...

 

[d-ronanole]

TL;DR

Attendance is actually doing well with the success of the team. The shrinking of the capacity of Doak is brilliant and will only help.

 

[ReliableOstrich]

Not everyone wants their town to grow and become a metropolis. While I'm not saying it's a good thing for a town to have a depressed economy, some of us prefer the small town, country feel.

For that there are small country towns and farm lands.

 

[EveryoneBleedsGarnet]

Blame Canada.

 

[d-ronanole]

Blame Canada.

Rush loving people have been staying at home, not attending games and not developing their towns for decades.

 

[ReliableOstrich]

There's a lot to be said for the 'old' influential money keeping towns from growing.

Letting these wealthy plantation owners who suffocated their towns off the hook a little easy aren't we?
And also straying pretty far off topic as well.

Perhaps if places like Albany weren't suffocated by the comfotable folks who made their fortunes on the backs of other people's barely or unpaid labor, the folks currently in poverty wouldn't be in such dire straits.

 

[lastnametaken]

All I know is that WALB has quality news stories. Good stuff there.

 

[KevNole]

Albany is a dump, one of Georgia ' s highest crime rate. I turned down job offer twice to transfer there. No way, no how.

 

[gwgwi]

Mystery solved! If we could only get 100% of Albany's Nole fans to attend that would offset all the central and south Florida Noles that don't attend (for all the well documented reasons) all would be well.

 

[Nolefan23]

All I know is that WALB has quality news stories. Good stuff there.

Many nights I don't know if I'm watching the local news or The First 48.

 

[Noles229]

I live in Ocilla, Ga.. About 90 miles from Tallahassee... When the 4 lane from Tifton to Moultrie, to Thomasville, to Tallahassee was complete, my life was complete. I have no more road complaints. This is the only road I need.

319

 

[kaydeezy74]

I live in Ocilla, Ga.. About 90 miles from Tallahassee... When the 4 lane from Tifton to Moultrie, to Thomasville, to Tallahassee was complete, my life was complete. I have no more road complaints. This is the only road I need.

My grandparents live in ocilla!

 

[trky2]

For those of you that don't know Albany is about 90 miles north of Tallahassee. I have seen many threads on here that FSU's problem is its location with highly populated areas and a strong alumni base. Well the other day I had a conversation with a business owner here in town that explained to me why Albany is such a depressed area now a days. He explained to me that going back all the way to WW2 Albany was a thriving community with a huge Air force base here that they used to train not just American pilots but the french as well. They even built one of the largest run ways in the south east right here in Albany that was used to land big bomber planes in training missions. Well eventually the govt decided they no longer needed the facility so the city was left with acres of hangers and runways. The city leaders allowed bids on the property and supposedly an airline company wanted to buy the property and make it an international airport because of its infrastructure all ready in place to land large planes. The city who has historically been run by the rich owners of several of the plantations around town immediately shot down the idea due to they didn't want that kind of growth/traffic here and they already had there own private airport which is now the southwest Georgia regional airport. Today Miller Brewing owns the property. The same thing happened here also when I75 was being built. Albany and its "leaders" voted for the highway to bypass the area which in turn has severally hurt this area economically while Valdosta has grown over the years. Another rumor I have heard also is that the Army Core of Engineers wanted to dam up the flint river more than it already is to create a large recreational lake. Of course the farmers and plantation owners did not want this because that meant they would have to sacrifice their land for a lake. So if any of y'all in Tallahassee want to point fingers you can point them straight up at Albany and its old timing plantation owners for not allowing major growth which in turn could have resulted in a large number of alumni and fans living closer to travel to games.

I guess you can also blame Panama City as well. That was the first choice of Walt Disney to build his theme parks here in Florida, but the leaders of Panama City did not want "some carnival park" to come to their great city by the beach.

 

[mbernier]

I'm from Albany. While there are some Nole fans there, it is more of a UGA and Auburn town.

 

[jhtally04]

For those of you that don't know Albany is about 90 miles north of Tallahassee. I have seen many threads on here that FSU's problem is its location with highly populated areas and a strong alumni base. Well the other day I had a conversation with a business owner here in town that explained to me why Albany is such a depressed area now a days. He explained to me that going back all the way to WW2 Albany was a thriving community with a huge Air force base here that they used to train not just American pilots but the french as well. They even built one of the largest run ways in the south east right here in Albany that was used to land big bomber planes in training missions. Well eventually the govt decided they no longer needed the facility so the city was left with acres of hangers and runways. The city leaders allowed bids on the property and supposedly an airline company wanted to buy the property and make it an international airport because of its infrastructure all ready in place to land large planes. The city who has historically been run by the rich owners of several of the plantations around town immediately shot down the idea due to they didn't want that kind of growth/traffic here and they already had there own private airport which is now the southwest Georgia regional airport. Today Miller Brewing owns the property. The same thing happened here also when I75 was being built. Albany and its "leaders" voted for the highway to bypass the area which in turn has severally hurt this area economically while Valdosta has grown over the years. Another rumor I have heard also is that the Army Core of Engineers wanted to dam up the flint river more than it already is to create a large recreational lake. Of course the farmers and plantation owners did not want this because that meant they would have to sacrifice their land for a lake. So if any of y'all in Tallahassee want to point fingers you can point them straight up at Albany and its old timing plantation owners for not allowing major growth which in turn could have resulted in a large number of alumni and fans living closer to travel to games.

They could just as easily be UGA or Auburn fans.

 

[ShaolinNole]

I lived in Albany - Smallbany, Agony, whatever you wish to call it - for a decade through high school. I have fond memories of my time there, met my wife there, and I have family there now and still do love to visit them. There are a lot of good people in Albany, but similar to Atlanta, the current leadership can't get out of it's own way. There are countless big factories there that have gone out of business, or moved, often because of the lack of smart leadership, often because of the lack of highly trained labor, sometimes because of unions that think they actually run things. Cooper Tire, Merck, come immediately to mind. But, they have brought in some new businesses as well. They have access to water for manufacturing via the aquifers and river and should really be doing better than they are. But, even historically, they are not a cause of issues for FSU.

 

[JlawNole]

Not everyone wants their town to grow and become a metropolis. While I'm not saying it's a good thing for a town to have a depressed economy, some of us prefer the small town, country feel.

You do realize that country feel does not last with no jobs and kills a town after one generation. No growth means no jobs no jobs means poverty. That's not country living that's livin poor.

 

[dA22bY]

I guess you can also blame Panama City as well. That was the first choice of Walt Disney to build his theme parks here in Florida, but the leaders of Panama City did not want "some carnival park" to come to their great city by the beach.

Very interesting tidbit. That would have been a game changer.

 

[seminole72]

Alban-ia, Alban-ia, it borders on the Adri-atic...

This has real entertainment potential as opposed to blaming the FSU's attendance challenges on some small town in SW Georgia. We lived there right after graduation. Nice town. Good people; most of whom either loved UGa or Auburn.

The logic of this thread is lost on me. I75 travels right down the middle of Lake City. Why don't we blame them for not leveraging that for the benefit of FSU? I10 bring millions of people annually through Live Oak, Quincy and Monticello. What wrong with those people? Why haven't they developed that commerce into a major population centers for farm system for FSU? While we're at it, why hasn't Tallahassee grown bigger and faster? It has I10, state government and 2 universities. What's the matter with those people?

 

[warchant99]

Alban-ia, Alban-ia, it borders on the Adri-atic...

Underrated Cheers reference! I like it.

 

[CHOP-A-CROC]

Blame Jameis.

 

[ShaolinNole]

I guess you can also blame Panama City as well. That was the first choice of Walt Disney to build his theme parks here in Florida, but the leaders of Panama City did not want "some carnival park" to come to their great city by the beach.

Very interesting tidbit. That would have been a game changer.

Totally, because then whomever is in control of Disney, and therefore ESPN, would likely be partial to FSU instead of the exact opposite.

 

[Fijimn]

Well, you do know why Florida doesn't break off and float out into the Gulf.

Because Georgia sucks