Half court football for NW vs. ILL

[dpodoll68]

Nope. It's one game and they basically do the same thing now at the end of first and third quarters.

Switching ends of the field twice in a game is now the same as switching it after every possession? Do you realize how many times possession changes hands in a typical game?

Ten years from now there will be 100,000 people saying they were at the game.

You're arguing against your own proposition that it's "not that big of a deal." People don't lie about being at meaningless games.

 

[GoAUpher]

Why didn't they put the field down the 3rd base line? Isn't the left field wall usually deeper than the right field wall?

That's the way it was set up for the Bears. Since the Bears moved to Soldier more seats were added in LF. The way they went was the only way to make it work.

 

[station19]

Switching ends of the field twice in a game is now the same as switching it after every possession? Do you realize how many times possession changes hands in a typical game?

Yes


You're arguing against your own proposition that it's "not that big of a deal." People don't lie about being at meaningless games.

But they do about games that are remembered.

 

[GopherOhana]

i heard they also considered using velco to attach flags to the waists of every player
removing a flag constitutes a tackle, because tackling could be dangerous

it's not like Ill and NU couldn't game plan for these conditions. nobody sprang this on them at the last minute

 

[SickAndTiredOfLosingToWI]

Padding only encourages them. They should have put up a wall of electrified spikes.

 

[howeda7]

While they certainly should have realized the issue sooner, there's a lot more complaining about this then is necessary. What's a greater distruption to the 'normal' playing of the game? This or playing in a blinding fog as ocurred in a game a couple weeks ago? This or playing in a monsoon? The results of the game will not be unfairly influenced and it won't be that noticable on TV. It will be a bit wierd for those in attendance, but so what? The only people who really have any standing to complain about this are those that bought tickets in the unused endzone. But even then, you knew you were buying tickets for a game being played in a 100-year old baseball stadium and there was some degree of risk as to thier quality.

I still think what Indiana is doing for thier 'home' game this week is a far greater shame to the Big 10. Can you imagine the complaints that would be waged right now if PSU was in contention for the title?

 

[GopherOhana]

Padding only encourages them. They should have put up a wall of electrified spikes.

Bronko regarding his playing days for the bears at wrigley:


One of his funniest moments was his style of running. Always head down barreling through tacklers when he ran right through the endzone and hit his head on the brick wall at Wrigley Field where they played. He went back to Bears coach George Halas and said, "That last guy gave me quite a lick!"



Next time the Gophers play NU in Chicago, I say use the wrigley field config, no padding!

 

[station19]

While they certainly should have realized the issue sooner, there's a lot more complaining about this then is necessary. What's a greater distruption to the 'normal' playing of the game? This or playing in a blinding fog as ocurred in a game a couple weeks ago? This or playing in a monsoon? The results of the game will not be unfairly influenced and it won't be that noticable on TV. It will be a bit wierd for those in attendance, but so what? The only people who really have any standing to complain about this are those that bought tickets in the unused endzone. But even then, you knew you were buying tickets for a game being played in a 100-year old baseball stadium and there was some degree of risk as to thier quality.

I still think what Indiana is doing for thier 'home' game this week is a far greater shame to the Big 10. Can you imagine the complaints that would be waged right now if PSU was in contention for the title?

Also playing night games at Lambeau Field in December. I'ts all about money as in TV and ratings.

What is Indiana doing?

 

[maroon and gold]

Let me get this straight .... Indiana is playing a HOME game vs. PSU AT FedEx Field in Landover, MARYLAND?

Was Indiana given extra money to make the switch .... this sets a bad precedent.

 

[GoAUpher]

Let me get this straight .... Indiana is playing a HOME game vs. PSU AT FedEx Field in Landover, MARYLAND?

Was Indiana given extra money to make the switch .... this sets a bad precedent.

Yep, they got a 3 million dollar guarantee payment.

 

[Seany]

This whole one end zone thing is going to be very interesting. It seems so outlandish as to be almost a gimmick a promoter might have dreamt up- but no, this is for safety reasons. I don't really have a problem with the game being held at Wrigley. It's good to experience and allow your fans to experience new and unique things like that, and this added element of the one end zone makes it all the more unique and unusual. I'll watch it just to see, and I'm sure other people with no rooting interest in the game will too. This game is going to draw far higher ratings and viewer numbers than a typical Illinois-Northwestern game would have, and that's pretty much guaranteed already.

And yeah, what Indiana is doing is just really kind of pathetic. I mean are they that hard up? Maybe that's why the players seemed to give up at Sconnie last week, because they knew they had a 'home' game in Maryland coming up, and I wouldn't blame them a bit for not feeling too happy about that. Hopefully this will not become a trend, selling off your home games all for the glory of the almighty $$$$, and never mind your players and fans who actually *would* like to see the team play its home games at its own stadium in Bloomington. It's pretty much a slap in the face, and the thought of a college football world in which teams are regularly selling off home games is just really too depressing to even contemplate.

 

[Ron Johnson Super Fan]

Let me get this straight .... Indiana is playing a HOME game vs. PSU AT FedEx Field in Landover, MARYLAND?

Was Indiana given extra money to make the switch .... this sets a bad precedent.

I agree that it sets a terrible precedent. I'm not sure how the Big Ten allows this to happen. It seems to me that it creates an extremely unfair advantage to allow the conference "haves" to buy their way out of road games.

 

[tato2001]

The reason this is a problem is that it basically makes a mockery of the game, just like the Indiana situation. Can you imagine the uproar if the suggestion was made to play a Michigan or OSU home game somewhere else?

Presumably teams switch ends of the fields for a reason. I don't think that was put into the game of football just willy-nilly.

In an extreme situation, it COULD unfairly impact one team vs. another. What if your game plan is significantly based on the fact that you have either a particularly good or particularly bad kicking game (the Gophers come to mind)? Under 'normal' circumstances any impacts due to weather will largely balance out due to switching ends. Here, suddenly your strength (or weakness) could be mitigated.

Sure I'm making up a doozy, but what if...

we have a tie game, one team picks off a pass and gets tackled at the 35 yard line in the defense's end of the field. They then switch directions and some stud kicker is brought on to try a 50+ yarder to win the game and falls short by inches into a stiff wind? You'd better believe people will complain about these rules...

The bottom line is the integrity. Basically the Big Ten is saying that rules and regulations can be bent if there is enough money on the line. That combined with the whoring out of Indiana is pretty poor form.

 

[tato2001]

I agree that it sets a terrible precedent. I'm not sure how the Big Ten allows this to happen. It seems to me that it creates an extremely unfair advantage to allow the conference "haves" to buy their way out of road games.

This is the correct way to look at the Indiana situation: a world where you can basically buy a neutral site game is a complete sham.