Why did we get lights?

[camkru9701]

I was a senior when we got lights at The Doyt, and at that time it seemed that 6:00 games worked well. But I don't get the times this year. One night game on Saturday, two noon games (including Homecoming) and one 3:30 game. It seems like the only thing those lights are good for is so ESPN can stick it to us each year with a couple of weeknight games in the cold. I know this is discussed every year, but it seems like the times are especially bad this year. I guess it's on my mind because I just found out today about the Wyoming game time.

[bgsufalcon24]

Playing Wyoming at noon is a tactical move - west coast teams don't play well when they have to go east and play at 9 or 10am their time.

[Flipper]

I think we got the lights to show the FAA who's the boss...

[1987alum]

I blame Gregg Brandon for getting the lights AND for the crazy start times.

[Falcon137]

Since when did noon become a crazy start time?

[Bubba Bo Bob Brain]

We got lights for three reasons as far as I can tell:
1. The team can practice after dark.
2. We can leave them on and upset the locals in a five mile radius.
3. We can spend all our excess money we have on electric bills.

How much do they cost to run anyway?

[Redwingtom]

I think we got the lights to show the FAA who's the boss...

LOL...remember when we put them in we didn't get pre approval from them and they had a hissy fit due to their height.

[Flipper]

Yep..people bitch about GC...but not getting FAA clearance for the lights was a pretrty big screw up by...was it Paul Krebs by then?

[h2oville rocket]

Yep..people bitch about GC...but not getting FAA clearance for the lights was a pretrty big screw up by...was it Paul Krebs by then?

People complain about Christopher? Really? Who? the guy 's a money making, facility improving machINE! I really can't imagine anyone knocking him.

[OrangeSocksFalcon]

Since when did noon become a crazy start time?

Ugh! noon is a horrible start time! They want people to come to games but put the games at noon...really? Parents have to take their kids to their sporting events in the morning so an afternoon or evening game is perfect. Not to mention the students, how many of them will even be up and sober by noon?

And then homecoming! Stupid! Even before we had lights homecoming start time was always 3:30. They want alumni to come and participate in activities. How can you possibly have activities when game time is noon? I'm not marching in Alumni band for that very reason. Alumni have jobs and families, of course the schedule can't be adjusted to our schedules but they could make it a little bit easier for it to realistically fit into our lives if they tried. I've hardly missed a game since I graduated but the schedule gets crappier every year and discourages game attendance. We'll be lucky to have 6,000 people at the 2 home games in Nov.

[kdog27]

Yep..people bitch about GC...but not getting FAA clearance for the lights was a pretrty big screw up by...was it Paul Krebs by then?

I think I can remember seeing them in 2001.

[Falcon Commander]

hey listen, the start times are like the team Uniforms - consistent!

just like the lights, so we don't have to compete against start times of the Scarlet and the Blue!

(except now they put up lights so we have to start at noon to avoid them)

got it?

[bgsufalcon24]

Since when did noon become a crazy start time?

Not to mention the students, how many of them will even be up and sober by noon?

And then homecoming! Stupid! Even before we had lights homecoming start time was always 3:30. They want alumni to come and participate in activities. How can you possibly have activities when game time is noon? I'm not marching in Alumni band for that very reason. Alumni have jobs and families, of course the schedule can't be adjusted to our schedules but they could make it a little bit easier for it to realistically fit into our lives if they tried.

These are two completely relevant points. Let's face it, most students are not getting their asses out of bed for a noon start. I hate to be the bearer of bad news on that one, but I was one of the weird ones that was usually up by 930 or 10am on Saturday and Sunday, and even within the honors student-laden dormitory of Harshman Dunbar there weren't many folks stirring at that hour. Walking or running across campus there were weekend mornings where I could go across the main path from Harshman to Offenhauer and not see a soul. So if you want to depress student attendance, yup, by all means have a noon start.

And then to have a noon start on homecoming is RIDICULOUS. Absolutely, flat-out stupid. The whole day is built on various campus organizations and groups inviting their members back, putting on events, etc. Usually they have the whole morning and much of the afternoon to do that before either a late afternoon or nighttime start for the football game, which is obviously the marquee event. But now you've forced most of our campus orgs into a difficult situation, where they might have to put on their events on Friday night (up against the parade perhaps?) or very early on Saturday, where they likely won't get much attendance. This is ugly, and it shocks me that our athletic department could be this insensitive to everything else that goes on homecoming weekend.

What about the band? Have fun telling them they have to be together and practicing by 8am on homecoming morning. Yuck.

The ONLY conceivable reason I could see them even thinking about having Toledo vs Bowling Green on homecoming, at noon, is if the game was going to be nationally broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2. Unless somebody can confirm that for me, then this makes no sense whatsoever. Maybe both teams will be unbeaten (mwahahahahaha) by that date and save GC's bacon.

[transfer2BGSU]

These are two completely relevant points. Let's face it, most students are not getting their asses out of bed for a noon start. I hate to be the bearer of bad news on that one, but I was one of the weird ones that was usually up by 930 or 10am on Saturday and Sunday, and even within the honors student-laden dormitory of Harshman Dunbar there weren't many folks stirring at that hour. Walking or running across campus there were weekend mornings where I could go across the main path from Harshman to Offenhauer and not see a soul. So if you want to depress student attendance, yup, by all means have a noon start.

And then to have a noon start on homecoming is RIDICULOUS. Absolutely, flat-out stupid. The whole day is built on various campus organizations and groups inviting their members back, putting on events, etc. Usually they have the whole morning and much of the afternoon to do that before either a late afternoon or nighttime start for the football game, which is obviously the marquee event. But now you've forced most of our campus orgs into a difficult situation, where they might have to put on their events on Friday night (up against the parade perhaps?) or very early on Saturday, where they likely won't get much attendance. This is ugly, and it shocks me that our athletic department could be this insensitive to everything else that goes on homecoming weekend.

What about the band? Have fun telling them they have to be together and practicing by 8am on homecoming morning. Yuck.

The ONLY conceivable reason I could see them even thinking about having Toledo vs Bowling Green on homecoming, at noon, is if the game was going to be nationally broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2. Unless somebody can confirm that for me, then this makes no sense whatsoever. Maybe both teams will be unbeaten (mwahahahahaha) by that date and save GC's bacon.

As usual........

It does not matter what time we schedule a game for. People will always complain it is too early or it is too late.

Students that want to attend the football game will attend the football game whether it is at 12:00 Noon, 3:30 PM, or at 7:00 PM. Quit making EXCUSES up. Students seem to have no problem showing up well before noon for a game in Columbus. Students seem to have no problem showing up for a 3:30 game in Ann Arbor and I'm guessing they won't have a problem showing up for an 8:00 PM game this Saturday night in Ann Arbor either.

I swear that some of you complain just to complain. Think we might need to put a big box of Kotex out in the tailgate area.

As far as the band goes, you have absolutely no idea as to what you are talking about. Because if you did, you would know that showing up at 8AM on homecoming morning for rehearsal means Quigleys! (Do they still call it that?) Practice starts at 6:30 AM on Homecoming morning (according to Dr. Heyward this past Monday night at Frickers).

[hammb]

I definitely agree with the OP's sentiment. The schedule is absolutely STUPID.

Yeah, it may be an excuse, but guess what...we're NOT OSU. We're NOT Michigan. We're NOT Notre Dame. Hell we're not even freaking TCU or Boise State. We're Bowling Green, and it is not above us to admit that our fanbase (such that it is) is largely made up of secondary or even tertiary fans. A good portion of our fanbase is going to be primarily fans of OSU/UM/ND. It is, largely, in our best interest to schedule around those teams, and those teams play a bulk of their games on Saturday afternoons.

It also may be an excuse, but I don't think it's stupid to just admit that our fanbase won't be as dedicated to come out and watch our team at noon...or weeknight evenings...etc. Let's face it those times are inconvenient for watching a football game. The best times are Saturday late afternoon and evening. It's when you're likely engaged in social activities anyhow, so why not make the game your social activity for that night?

Yeah, it sucks that we can't fill 100k person stadium at 2 AM on a Tuesday like the schools in Columbus or Ann Arbor would, but I don't see it as just "making excuses" to admit that fact. If we want fan support it is in our best interest to make it easy for our fans to get to, and enjoy, our games. Unfortunately, a large portion of our fanbase is not going to go out of their way to attend.

And as somebody who DOES go out of his way to attend games, the more convenient times would be a helluva lot better/more fun for me as well. I think most of us admit that tailgating and game day atmospher is just as, if not more, important than the game itself. Well, that stuff sucks for noon games (having to get up so damned early), and is nonexistent for these weeknight games we play every year. There have even been kickoff times that it was actually IMPOSSIBLE for me to make the kickoff, no matter how fast I drove when I left work.

I'm sorry, but this schedule sucks ass. Call it an excuse or whatever the hell you want, but it's still batshit retarded. There is no shame in admitting that our fans won't go the extra mile, so we should make our product accommodate them. Yeah, I wish it weren't that way as well, but it's not going to change, so it'd be in the best interest of the athletic department to make the schedules at the times that maximize attendance, and that is most certainly on Saturdays with kickoffs between 4-7 PM.