During 95-98, I worked at the Kroger on Middle Tennessee drive and never got the feeling that the city was ever behind MT. That was when there were 2 Krogers (Middle Tennessee and Northfield) and they would get the entrances "painted" with a college football theme every fall. Sure enough, it was always Volunteer Orange with "Go Vols".
That coupled talking to several locals made me realize that there wasn't a lot of thought of MT in the day to day lives of locals. There was one older couple I got to know as I stocked fruit that thought the stadium expansion was one of the "dumbest things that school has ever done".
We are in the shadow of SEC schools. But somehow, the bridge to the community has not been built. Maybe a article like this will guilt some into going. If I were MTSU, sell it as a local event that doesn't require getting stuck in the traffic nightmares of Nashville.
I have 4 children. My bride and I are always interested in taking our children somewhere. If priced right, Middle could snag families just looking to get out.
I'm still not convinced we are priced right or we are offering family packs like we should.
