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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Random Rant: College football should only be played on Thursdays and Saturdays


I heard on the radio this morning that two--count 'em, TWO--college football games were played last night. Marshall defeated Houston 37-23 and the mighty college of Buffalo took down the Bobcats of Ohio 32-19.


Is anyone else surprised or (like me) irritated that they're playing college football (FBS Division, mind you) on Tuesdays?

Maybe I'm getting old or set in my ways, but when the hell did this start happening?

(Continues)

And it's not just Tuesdays...Fridays, Wednesdays and even Sundays are fair game these days for college football, apparently.

According to the schedule at www.espn.com, for week 6 of the FBS Division schedule, running from Monday, September 29th-Sunday, October 5th, there were games played on Tuesday, Wednesday, three games on Thursday, Friday and then the remaining slate was played on Saturday. The kicker? While technically not in "Week 6," there was a game played the previous Sunday, September 28th, meaning that in a one-week span, there was an FBS Division game played on every day of the week except Monday.

This is madness.

It wasn't long ago that it was a big deal to play on Thursday night. You were the only show in town and the whole college football world was watching. Now folks have other options.

Here's my feeling on the matter: College football should go back to 99% of its games being played on Saturday, with one game played on Thursday night. That's it. When you cram a week full of college football, the appeal of the sport is kind of lost. College football is a weekend event, something to look forward to. Your team plays and you keep an eye and ear out for how the other teams are faring throughout Saturday. And if your team is lucky enough to play on Thursday night, then by God it's a big deal, because there truly isn't any other team out there playing.

There are other implications for sprinkling games across the week, as well. Football, as a physically demanding sport, requires time in between games for rest and healing. These mid-week games are typically scheduled with an accompanying bye week either before or after, but not always, and compressed timeframes between games for these schools can throw the bodies of these players out of rhythm, or possibly lead to an increased risk of injury.

The NCAA, the conferences and college football as a whole are all running the risk of killing the goose that laid the golden egg, so to speak. In the ever-expanding chase for more dollars, they risk damaging the appeal of college football to the average sports fan. Yeah, the football junkies, the gamblers and the fans of the two teams playing a Tuesday-night tilt may care, but do the rest of us? Moreover, if college football is on every night, will we really want to tune in on Thursday night or at any point on Saturday?

Too much of a good thing is bad news.

7 comments:

  1. I don't have a problem with it. Personally I don't ever watch these games, but if it was my team and this was the only opportuntity to be televised, I'd jump at the chance. I mean, how many chanecs does Buffalo get to be on a nationally televised game on ESPN (or even ESPNU)? They are doing it for the money, but certain fans are benefitting from it, too. It's for the kids... do you hate kids?

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  2. I'm doing this for my kids...I want them to grow up in a world where college football isn't over-exposed and devalued. It's for them, man!

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  3. I'm just sad that my sons have never ever gotten to see a World Series baseball game, since they start 45 minutes after his bed time. No wonder no one is growing up to be baseball fans...

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  4. i agree nothing beats tailgating and checking the phone for updates around the country, or going to a bar and having a bazillion games with national implications on at the same time...football games are supposed to be an all day event not get off an work and go to the game...

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  5. ahh come on zac...those are great father son memories...my dad would drag me out of bed to watch Nolan Ryan no hitters, cal's iron man streak etc...ma wasn't too happy though1

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  6. Hey, tonight's game should be over in about 45 minutes. Let them stay up and watch it!

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  7. my boys are 5 and 7.. when they're a little older, i'll let 'em stay up later to watch the important games... right now, though, they'll just have to do without..

    but, the last few sundays have been great with them watching the NFL with me. the older one is really starting to get interested in the game ... asking real questions about penalties and plays as opposed to simply asking "who's winning?"

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