WSU Football: Are Pullman Residents Really Complaining About too Much Noise from Martin Stadium?
By Josh Davis
Nov. 23, 2012; Pullman, WA, USA; Washington State Cougar players and fans celebrate after a game against Washington Huskies at Martin Stadium. The Cougars would go onto beat the Huskies by a final score of 31-28 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
The very quick answer to this question (which I never thought I’d hear… no pun intended) is yes, they are. Let’s take a look at the issue before discussing it briefly. Follow the link.
http://www.klewtv.com/news/local/Pulman-noise-234448191.html?tab=video&c=y
As you may have guessed, I have a very strong opinion on this and unfortunately I doubt that any of these complainers are the type that read our blog. But I’m going to say it anyway.
You gotta be kidding me people.
Are you really complaining about your stadium finally installing some state-of-the-art equipment?
Really?
Are you seriously complaining about the fact that your Cougars (or are they YOUR Cougars[?]) are finally able to simulate what a real big stadium might sound like to gain some sort of perspective?
REALLY!?
"When they play this crowd noise just to simulate a noisy environment, it is actually louder when played over the P.A. system than it is in real life. I can only liken it to living next to the freeway."
In case you’ve forgotten, Washington State is (by about a third of the population of Pullman) the smallest stadium in the entire Pac-12 Conference. What this means is that you hear about half or even a third of what a normal crowd in your conference puts out in sound on a regular basis on gameday. Yeah, if you’re going to simulate crowd noise of other places, it had BETTER be louder than it is ‘in real life’!
For those so spoiled from the terribly broken piece o’ junk sound systems of the past that you must complain that the sound is actually louder on the system than the crowd is, I’m talking to you. Gimme a break! You’re going to need to get used to it, because thank god we finally have the money (kinda) to put towards a system that you can actually hear the referee out of when he speaks.
Thank the heavens your football team can finally kinda simulate a crowd noise above their own, which may benefit them in their travels into the more regularly sized stadiums throughout the nation. And I love this statement by your city attorney:
"The kicker is that these practices are not open to the public."
Unbelievable. So the complaint is that it’s too loud outside of Martin and yet the “kicker” is that people can’t go in to hear the full brunt of it so they can watch practice?
Ridiculous!
On the plus side there was a presentation of a draft amendment that would make the stadium exempt from the city’s noise ordinance between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., but it wasn’t passed yet because residents aren’t for it. Ya know what? You moved in close to a Pac-12 University. Move away if you don’t like it. Simple.
I guess I just hate when people get the whole “entitlement” attitude about stuff like this. Nobody forced you to live where you live. To me, it’s like moving in on a hill in Pullman and then complaining to the city that your car can’t make it up to park it in your driveway because of the snow and ice. I mean it’s not that I can’t see it being a little bit annoying, but you put yourself in that position. The whole “I can only liken it to living next to the freeway” argument… you’re right, you do basically live next to the freeway, in the form of a legitimate FBS football stadium.
You think the players enjoy hearing this noise? They can’t hear each other! And don’t even start with the “well they signed up for that” bull, cause you did too, right when you signed the mortgage.
Hopefully for these people, the new indoor practice facility (when it eventually becomes a reality) can pump the noise necessary to use it more there.
Until that time you’ll just have to deal with loud noises for 3 to 4 months out of the year.