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| "You silly fans don't understand the nuances like I do!" |
First, Morgan says that he lobbied for the Michigan game to be an afternoon game and not a night game "so it wouldn’t be late for our people to get home." Seriously, he said that. You need to be snug in your beddy-byes in time to watch the prime time games being played at other college football venues around the country. Where, one assumes, the fans all bring sleeping bags and go to sleep in their seats right when the game ends. Wouldn't want them trying to find their way home at 10:30 PM on a Saturday night!
Then Morgan says that one of the reasons not to have lights is because he and Purdue don't control the start times of football games.
But wait, I thought Burke "lobbied" for the Michigan game to be in the afternoon and not at night? So he sometimes, kind of... does have some control or at least input into the times of games. Either that or he is making up that he had some influence on the Michigan start time to make it seem like he's more of a big shot than he really is.
As always, though, my favorite part of any Purdue communique from the Athletic Department is the snide, backhanded remark about Purdue fans.
“I know there’s a vocal group who feel that’s the right thing to do but they don’t have any logic other than it would be nice to have a night game. It’s a double edge sword. I’m glad we got the Michigan game.”
Wait, what? Is Morgan Burke so detached that he really doesn't understand the benefits of having games in prime time? The visibility of those games alone is worth a tremendous amount. Many more eyes are seeing Purdue commercials, Purdue's campus and Purdue athletics. But seriously, I'm not going to enumerate the reasons why having games in prime time could be a good thing. They should be obvious. It's 2012.
I also don't understand how having games in prime time is "a double edge sword." He has stuck to this line of reasoning for quite some time but never fully explains it -- only that we don't understand because we haven't "[stood] back, as do I, and look[ed] at it from every possible angle." Right. Like landscaping or a new paint color. Stand back and look at it, people!
Well, I have looked at it. For years. And I'm a moderately intelligent human being, and I think lights would be a good idea. But what do I know?
Oh, also... "I'm glad we got the Michigan game"? Uh... what? It was on the schedule. What did Purdue "get"?
As for the lights, the fact that the estimated cost is only $1.5-$2.0 million to install actually seems reasonable to me, especially given how much is spent on arena renovations and coaches salaries. And speaking of arena renovations, we didn't technically need the Mackey renovations, either, did we?
I mean, wasn't the "logic" there just people who thought it would be nice to have better seats?
18 comments:
Well, we've lost every night game that I can remember. Maybe we don't want any night games...
You have to read between the lines.
"So it wouldn't be late for our people to get home." That means that the rich old moneybags that actually give a decent chunk of change to the AD so they can sit on their butts and not clap want to be out of there in time so they can either get the early bird special at Denny's or they can get to MCL Cafeteria before the line gets long.
Come on now, Morgan's got to think about his peeps.
I would tend to agree that constantly getting drubbed in prime time isn't exactly a thrilling prospect. This was lightly address by Burke when he came through my fair city with the coaches caravan, and he stated that further Ross Ade renovations require the ability to consistently win... cited last year as an example when we "laid an egg in our only sell out and prime time game."
My buddy used to joke that it looked like we were trying to steal cable from the press box for every game we had to have the temp lights.
Makes us look dumb and cheap.
What's the athletic department going to do when all the blue hairs die off and they are forced to siphon money from a generation that watched them count beans and never take a financial risk for the good the program?
If Burke's take was that it's a tradition to play during the day (like the Cubs used to say back in the day), I could buy it. There are certain traditions that make Purdue, Purdue. But, the very fact that we have had numerous games over the last 10 to 15 years under temporary lights means that what has truly been the deciding factor is the money from the networks. If this is the case, there is no good reason to not have permanent lights.
I think it's totally about the Blue Hairs, and the families from Chicago or other places several hours away that do get up early for a day game, but might not come if they aren't going to get home until well after midnight.
That just seems ass-backwards though, COD. Games are on a Saturday, so it's not like getting home late is going to ruin a day of work or a child's homework or whatever. And for people from Chicago, I feel I hear more complaints about the fact they need to wake up at 5am Central time in order to drive 2.5-3.5 hours to Purdue, fight traffic, park, and tailgate at least an hour before the game starts. If we had lights, at least we could get more 3:30 games that if for live TV purposes can get a delayed start time and cause a finish after dark, especially late in a season. That's 3 more hours of tailgating for these people, or 1 hour but not have to wake up at 5am.
Never mind true night games; even 3:30 kickoffs are impossible by October without lights. How many Bucket games at IU have there been lately at 3:30, even when both teams weren't great? Conversely, when was the last non-noon Bucket game at Purdue? Considering that by late November it's possible to not let people in to Lots D and T until after 9:00 to let the grass defrost, killing tailgating before the game, not being able to host anything but noon games in November (unless ESPN saves the day) is a drag!
Saying that we could have lights if someone would donate the couple million dollars for them while simultaneously letting the central administration take at least that much in BTN money is absolutely infuriating. How do we always find ourselves in this kind of situation?
Morgan Burke has done some nice things, but his time here is up. The university needs to move in a new direction. Hopefully, the new president will make some changes that will breath new life into our athletics department.
Maybe he's worried that if you shine lights on the stadium, people will see how empty it is?
Oops... No. I. Didn't.
True, Michigan is on the schedule this year but they won't be the case every year since they're in the other division. Morgan's probably just saying he's glad Michigan is on the schedule this year.
True, Michigan is on the schedule this year but they won't be the case every year since they're in the other division. Morgan's probably just saying he's glad Michigan is on the schedule this year.
If I was a restaurant owner or a motel owner in Tippecanoe County I'd be so pissed right now. Arrogant AND stupid is no way to go thru life, Morgan.
Dumbass.
CalTravelGuy -- Well, I laughed anyway.
U-P Boiler: you would be pissed, excpet if you owned a Denny's or an MCL cafeteria...
J Money or Boilerdowd, will one of you PLEASE do everything in your power to some day become AD at Purdue? I agree with nearly every rant you have about our athletic department and MB has become a blue hair. A change is coming, be ready to stake your claim! (Let's hope anyway)
Pretty PLEASE!?!?!?!?
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