OK..I was wrong

[Flipper]

I thought that playing midweek games to suit ESPN was a good idea a few years ago. Looking at the direction the conference and the program has gone in the interim, I'm willing to admit that I was wrong.

Attendance is terrible, we don't seem to have the talent on hand that we used to (The ESPN era began in earnest after 2003) and the league doesn't compete with the BCS programs nearly as consistently as it did in the early 2000's. Harris, Jacobs, Magner, Sharon, Sanders, Pope, Mruczkowski, Patton, Newson, Thaler, ...these guys didn't come here because of ESPN...hell, we didn't even have the Sebo Center when those guys got here

Put me firmly in the camp of those that wants to tell ESPN to go screw themselves. We can do better playing on Saturdays. We can do better focusing on our reginal footprint. That goes for recruting, marketing and media realtions. When we have teams like we did in 2003 when BG, MIami and NIU were all ranked in the top 15 at some point, ESPN will be calling us....

On side note...we had an AMAZING coaching staff here in 2002. HC Meyer, OC Gregg Brandon DC Tim Beckman, OL coach Studrawa....has there been a group at one school like that since?

[factman]

I think our current staff is pretty darn good.
If you get a chance, talk some football and recruiting with them and see if you agree.

[freefalcon]

I think our current staff is pretty darn good.
If you get a chance, talk some football and recruiting with them and see if you agree.

The verdict is still out on the current group of coaches...and it doesn't look good

[It's the Journey...]

I think our current staff is pretty darn good.
If you get a chance, talk some football and recruiting with them and see if you agree.

The verdict is still out on the current group of coaches...and it doesn't look good

That's right! Our coaches are expected to have 10 win season out of the gate! They must all be like Urban Meyer, father and God of Falcon football, DAMNIT!!!!!

[RobbyFalcon]

Nice thread-jack attempt.

Getting back to the point, were there mid-week non-TV games scheduled back in the good old days?

The advantages of an ESPNU game on a Wednesday are debatable. The disadvantages of a mid-week non-TV game are self-evident and enormous.
A MAC game should either be on some kind of national TV or played on a Saturday.

Go BG!

[MarkL]

A MAC game should either be on some kind of national TV or played on a Saturday.

Or both.

[Class of 61]

Interesting that so many Azzers are violently opposed to the weeknite games, citing poor attendance etc. Hopefully, by now, you've ALSO seen other conferences (ACC, WAC etc.) playing these weeknite affairs too... while I agree that the MAC may have gone "overboard" in agreeing to Tues-Wed.-Thurs.-and... FRIDAY nite games (5:30 is Nite? ), the other conferences seem intent on jumping on the wagon too.

Tulsa played at home the other nite, and the stands looked to be almost as sparsely populated as Miami was (I watched the MU game on computer)...so it must come down to , what else... $$$$$$, and perhaps the "exposure" we're supposed to get... OTOH, I have brothers who live in Texas and Md. respectively, and they BOTH watched the BG-Buffalo game.

[AyZiggy97]

OTOH, I have brothers who live in Texas and Md. respectively, and they BOTH watched the BG-Buffalo game.

IMHO, that's the key. If the Worldwide Leader guarantees clearance on one of their outlets, then play the game whenever. Especially if it's ESPN or ESPN2. If there is no guarantee, it's not worth it.

[factman]

I don't mind the weeknight game so much if they are ACTUALLY on TV, but this thing of having weeknight games and not being on TV is RIDICULOUS!!! Why don't they just schedule the number of games they need and get as many teams on each year as possible and leave it go at that. This idea of scheduling 2-3 games for a Thursday night and only having one on TV has got to STOP!

[Flipper]

That's great that people in Texas or Montana or even Californeeya can watch us....what exactly do we gain from that? Whatever it is, is it worth scheduling games on days and at times when the majority of the regional fan base can't make it to the games? Are we killing our fan base here in the State of Bowling Green to gain exposure in areas where there isn't going to be a payoff from being in the market?

And what about recruiting? Wouldn't it be easier to get kids in for visits (kids that aren't in the playoffs anyway) for weekend games. Wouldn't it look better if we had people in the stands? As it sits now...the entire final month of the season is played during the week, some games in the conference are on Tuesday, some are on Weds, some are on Friday...it's getting to be a chore to even keep up with the league because it's a pain in the ass keeping the schedule straight.

We've given away a lot here and from my perspective, the payoff hasn't been worth it.

[1987alum]

Selfishly, I love the weeknight games when they are on the Deuce, but I think Flip is right - the overall benefit probably doesn't outweigh the impact on the regional fan base.

The Akron game is a good example for me - the game will be shown on ESPNU here in Philly, but my cable package doesn't include the U. So in my world, it's not televised.

I'd love to see the ratings on this game considering the day/time combo absolutely s*cks. How many viewers did we get for this pipe job?

[hammb]

Selfishly, I love the weeknight games when they are on the Deuce, but I think Flip is right - the overall benefit probably doesn't outweigh the impact on the regional fan base.

The Akron game is a good example for me - the game will be shown on ESPNU here in Philly, but my cable package doesn't include the U. So in my world, it's not televised.

I'd love to see the ratings on this game considering the day/time combo absolutely s*cks. How many viewers did we get for this pipe job?

There is no exposure in a 5:30 Friday game whether its on ESPN or not. People aren't watching TV at 5:30 on a Friday.

The only people who will be watching this game are the die hard fans of Akron or BG that are out of town and don't get to watch games that often. Even then it's probably a chore for them to watch. More importantly, those viewers are worthless to what you try to accomplish by getting televised games. You don't gain exposure when the games are aired at 5:30 on a freaking Friday. May as well play at 3 AM on a Wednesday.

Flip has it 100% right; following this league is a chore. They have made it a pain to be a season ticket holder because it's actually work to get to so many of the games...it stops being FUN. It's almost impossible to actually follow the league standings because I have no idea who/when teams are playing. Couple those things with the fact that quality of football in this league has gone completely to hell. I think that the results we've seen have pretty well shown that whoring ourselves out to ESPN has proven to be a colossal mistake. The product on the field bears this out.

Like others have said, it was okay when it was aired nationally on ESPN or ESPN2. Once it got to scheduling 3 games on a weeknight so that ESPN can choose which one they want to air that's too far. Once the other leagues like the ACC & Big East started scheduling weeknight games it was time to give up on that idea. The negatives to the local fanbase far outweigh any benefits you're gaining by having a game aired on ESPNU.

[1987alum]

Like others have said, it was okay when it was aired nationally on ESPN or ESPN2. Once it got to scheduling 3 games on a weeknight so that ESPN can choose which one they want to air that's too far. Once the other leagues like the ACC & Big East started scheduling weeknight games it was time to give up on that idea. The negatives to the local fanbase far outweigh any benefits you're gaining by having a game aired on ESPNU.

That's a good summary.

[Lord_Byron]

How about what it does to alumni in locations outside the state of Bowling Green?

The team visits Buffalo every other year. It's a great time to get to see the team in person, visit with other alumni STAY CONNECTED TO OUR UNIVERSITY.

So what happens, we sell ourselved out to TV and get a Tuesday night game. Well, I can't get out of work soon enough to get to Buffalo, and even if I could, I can't take my daughter because it's a school night.

Sign me up for Saturdays only.

[NWLB]

What I care about is seeing the game. I can't do that with this load of crap we are served by way of the schedule. There was a time, which is now past, when having these big mid-week games had a point. But now you have the MWC and WAC with headline teams able to fill their stadiums. The MAC doesn't have headline teams. They try to spread the TV coverage out too much. They schedule games in the hopes to be able to shift coverage if one team or another gets hot. In short, they do a lot, which amounts to nothing, and looks bad in the process.

Not that things were easy before TV got to be the trendy "must have." We used to argue about BGSU being a bedroom campus and students leaving each weekend. Just when we finally started to stem that tide, we shifted to this BS weekday habit.

There is no routine. There is nothing you can consider doing year-in-year out. You can't say "next year, when we play Miami/OU/Toledo" because you have no effing idea if it will be a weekday, weekend, 11 a.m. start.

Likewise, if there was wisdom to the BGSU-UT game being at the end of the year before, I no longer believe it must be scheduled at the end of the year. I do not think it should be early in the year, but surely they could set the game mid-year, when both teams are warmed-up, in decent weather, on a Saturday, when students are on-campus, and regular people can attend.

Lets be realistic. This isn't about broadcast/cable TV anymore. This is about the Internet. This games ought to be on the net, at all times, period. I think it is more important to push that way, with some highlight games on TV when the teams are decent. Right now we are highlighting how much the MAC stinks with the politically correct spread of who gets to be on the air.