Rant about Thursday night games

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gopherjay said:
I was understanding this will be only two years more after this year. Out of my 12 tickets, 3 people can go or at a minimum be very late. Last year was the same thing and in my section and group of friends, this is not well attended. It is what it is I guess but I think it is a poor choice to open the season.
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I get it, jay. If they would move the start time later, it would be better. The issue really is the "community" screaming about 1 week night a year.
 

LakerFan said:
That is the point I was trying to make. I want the Gopher fan base to grow. It grows by turning casual fans into serious fans and bringing in more casual fans. IMO it doesn't grow playing chumps on Thursday nights. If people think everything is fine the way it is then you must be happy with a half filled student section and sitting next to more Nebraska fans than Gopher fans at a home game like last year. What's wrong with acknowledging we have a big state fair and starting the year with two road games and playing the next two at home. It's the same number of home games.
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Ish...
 


People are complaining WAY too much. I find it hard to believe that folks cannot take a half day of vacation in order to get to the stadium for the single weeknight game.
 

stocker08 said:
People are complaining WAY too much. I find it hard to believe that folks cannot take a half day of vacation in order to get to the stadium for the single weeknight game.
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What? And interfere with their personal time???
 



Good grief this is such an idiotic discussion. It's not that difficult! Get your ass to the game, have a few cocktails and enjoy a great outdoor Gophers game. Suck it up, it is one Thursday night a year. Besides, Station 19 is right...great way to kill a Friday work day by being hung over...and this comes from someone that will have plenty of work to do on Friday. Go Gophers!
 

stocker08 said:
People are complaining WAY too much. I find it hard to believe that folks cannot take a half day of vacation in order to get to the stadium for the single weeknight game.
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For some of us that is not an option. If I am not at work, I don't get paid. No vacation in my contract :( . However, I did state to my co-workers that I can't work past 2pm. I will come in early and leave early. The nice thing is I can ditch my car east of the river and catch the Greenline for FREE by showing my game ticket! See I found the Silver lining!!!


Go Gophers! Beat directional Illinois!!!
 

STPGopher said:
For some of us that is not an option. If I am not at work, I don't get paid. No vacation in my contract :( . However, I did state to my co-workers that I can't work past 2pm. I will come in early and leave early. The nice thing is I can ditch my car east of the river and catch the Greenline for FREE by showing my game ticket! See I found the Silver lining!!!


Go Gophers! Beat directional Illinois!!!
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I realize that not everyone has the same options.....but you figured it out. I can understand complaints about the 6:00 game start (even though it works out better for me) however.
 



If you come from a distance, as I do, Thursday night doesn't work well - you have a Friday stuck before the weekend and may have to drive home at night, late, after the game or stay over four days to get in a weekend visit.
 

coolhandgopher said:
...... I've never seen the Gophers at The Bank on a beautiful fall afternoon or evening. I'm sure my story's not that dissimilar from many other Gopher fans who are spread throughout the world. Enjoy the opening game.
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Ditto, coolhand. Ditto. Had plane tix and everything booked for the home opener against UNLV last season and had to cancel last minute. That would have been my first.

It's unfortunate that the Thursday evening start is so "inconvenient" for some. Wish I could be there
 

Coolhand, last year's UNLV game was not a beautiful fall afternoon. It was a broiling hot summer day with no breeze, shade, or cloud cover.

But the point remains: This happens once a year. Deal with it.
 

Game times Gopher fans complain about:
Thursday night at 6:00
Thursday night at 7:00
Saturday morning at 11:00
Saturday afternoon at 2:30
Saturday night at 7:00
 



Depodo said it best. Take a vacation day. It is not like the game was scheduled just last week. We live in Nisswa and
I would crawl on my belly too be there. JHC, the mentality of the Minnesota sports fan.
 

CP Gopher said:
Game times Gopher fans complain about:
Thursday night at 6:00
Thursday night at 7:00
Saturday morning at 11:00
Saturday afternoon at 2:30
Saturday night at 7:00
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Ha! Well played. If there is one thing most passive-aggressive Minnesotans are good at, it is complaining about every little detail of everything. Nothing is ever good enough. Or "just how THEY would have done it", so therefore it must suck.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
Depodo said it best. Take a vacation day. It is not like the game was scheduled just last week. We live in Nisswa and
I would crawl on my belly too be there. JHC, the mentality of the Minnesota sports fan.
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This is exactly what I am doing and now that this is the second year in a row, dare I say it is a personal "tradition"? I take both Thursday and Friday off. Head to the bars at noon, move to tailgate lot ASAP, enjoy the Thursday opener, sleep in on Friday a bit but get a head start on the holiday weekend by leaving early to go to the cabin.

I have a slight wrinkle to this plan this year as my oldest kid plays HS football and his game is Friday night. So, I'll enjoy the day at home and leave directly from the game to get up north late this year.

I keep dodging bullets as my kid's game could very well have been on Thursday, which would have meant I would have missed the Gopher game. The seas keep parting for me because I have yet to miss a Gopher game at the bank. But, I know sooner or later I will have to miss one. A few weeks back I got a wedding invite for my cousin's nuptuals. The first thing I did was cross check the date and had a moment of terror when I saw it was on the same date as a home Gopher game. I then read the small print and saw that the wedding was in Chicago. Whew. Wedding gift will be in the mail.
 

Schnauzer said:
This is exactly what I am doing and now that this is the second year in a row, dare I say it is a personal "tradition"? I take both Thursday and Friday off. Head to the bars at noon, move to tailgate lot ASAP, enjoy the Thursday opener, sleep in on Friday a bit but get a head start on the holiday weekend by leaving early to go to the cabin.

I have a slight wrinkle to this plan this year as my oldest kid plays HS football and his game is Friday night. So, I'll enjoy the day at home and leave directly from the game to get up north late this year.

I keep dodging bullets as my kid's game could very well have been on Thursday, which would have meant I would have missed the Gopher game. The seas keep parting for me because I have yet to miss a Gopher game at the bank. But, I know sooner or later I will have to miss one. A few weeks back I got a wedding invite for my cousin's nuptuals. The first thing I did was cross check the date and had a moment of terror when I saw it was on the same date as a home Gopher game. I then read the small print and saw that the wedding was in Chicago. Whew. Wedding gift will be in the mail.
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A man with a plan. Tip of the hat Schnauzer!!
 


supadupafly said:
Ha! Well played. If there is one thing most passive-aggressive Minnesotans are good at, it is complaining about every little detail of everything. Nothing is ever good enough. Or "just how THEY would have done it", so therefore it must suck.
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+1
 

Schnauzer said:
This is exactly what I am doing and now that this is the second year in a row, dare I say it is a personal "tradition"? I take both Thursday and Friday off. Head to the bars at noon, move to tailgate lot ASAP, enjoy the Thursday opener, sleep in on Friday a bit but get a head start on the holiday weekend by leaving early to go to the cabin.

I have a slight wrinkle to this plan this year as my oldest kid plays HS football and his game is Friday night. So, I'll enjoy the day at home and leave directly from the game to get up north late this year.

I keep dodging bullets as my kid's game could very well have been on Thursday, which would have meant I would have missed the Gopher game. The seas keep parting for me because I have yet to miss a Gopher game at the bank. But, I know sooner or later I will have to miss one. A few weeks back I got a wedding invite for my cousin's nuptuals. The first thing I did was cross check the date and had a moment of terror when I saw it was on the same date as a home Gopher game. I then read the small print and saw that the wedding was in Chicago. Whew. Wedding gift will be in the mail.
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I will be doing similar. Took Thursday and Friday off. Flight leaves San Diego at 8 am. Flying first class so I can tailgate at 30,000 feet for 3.5 hours. Landing and sending my bags with my wife and daughter while I hop the light rail and head towards campus. Will be checking out campus and Ski U Mah lot before meeting back with my family at the Mac Alumni Center. Have a great game experience and pass out on the way home :) Friday State Fair, Saturday and/or Sunday boating. Fly back home Monday.
Go Gophers!
 

BJN said:
If it comes to choosing between my job and a football team, I ain't choosing the football team.

One of the reasons football has become so popular is because its has been consistently played on Saturday and Sunday. It's a become a tradition and a break from the week that people can look forward to.

If the state fair prevent opening week home games from being played at home, start scheduling away games that week.
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Football has been played on Mondays all (NFL) season long since the 70's. I don't know how long Thursdays have been used, but I remember the Vikings playing some Thursday night games in the 80's (and not just on Thanksgiving). The genie is out of the bottle - a once-a-year Thursday night game is fine with me. Some people may have trouble getting to a Thursday night game, true. And some people who are normally busy on a Saturday may be able to make it to a Thursday night game, giving them a rare chance to get to the stadium.

Having said that, I agree that a 7:00 start would be much better for everyone involved. I don't care if the local neighborhood doesn't like it - you live next to a Big Ten University and that means that it will be loud and busy at times. Live with it.
 

LakerFan said:
Football holds the premier position above all sports in America when it comes to game day. Friday night High School, Saturday College, Sunday NFL. There is no other sport that comes close to owning a specific day of the week for it's events and that dominance helps keep the casual fan base cognizant of when the next game is and that helps keep the stadiums full and the broadcasts watched.

I think putting games on Thursday's is hubris. For the NFL and college TV money it may be profitable but in the micro sense for a team like the Gophers it isn't helpful. People reading this and on this website aren't casual fans, we are already locked in and I'm not saying don't go to the game in protest, I'm just saying that if we are trying to grow our fan base a Thursday night game against Eastern Illinois sounds like a scrimmage to a casual fan and not a must see or attend event.

Personally I can't wait for that first game, but I bought season tickets for football over hockey/basketball specifically because I like knowing the games are on Saturday and I can make a whole day event of it and not worry about going to work the next day. I dropped basketball season tickets because i got tired of the grind of driving down on a weekday, going to a game and just trying to get home at a reasonable hour so I can get up the next day for work.
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I read this and then looked to see who wrote it. That figures.
 

BJN said:
If it comes to choosing between my job and a football team, I ain't choosing the football team.

One of the reasons football has become so popular is because its has been consistently played on Saturday and Sunday. It's a become a tradition and a break from the week that people can look forward to.

If the state fair prevent opening week home games from being played at home, start scheduling away games that week.
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Yes, this is true. Well, except for Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
 


maxwellsmart said:
I read this and then looked to see who wrote it. That figures.
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I read this and didn't looked to see who wrote it. Don't care. I know there are trolls on here just looking to getting into pissing contests. God forbid anyone offer an opinion up for discussion.
 


Not trying to be a troll here - but I will point out that, thanks to TV, the starting time for a number of games is not set until a week before the game. The point being that in today's college FB world, fans have to be able to adjust. It's not like the "good old days" when every game started at the same time.

Of course, in the good old days, the TV options were also very limited. If you were lucky, you got 1 or 2 games shown on Saturday - and they tended to be the same big-name teams every week, like OK, ND, or Bama.

In one sense, we are really living in the golden age (no pun intended) for sports fans, with multiple viewing options and almost all of your favorite team's games available on TV.

The price we pay for having all of the games on TV is that there is more flexibility in the schedule, requiring flexibility from the fans. That probably doesn't mean much for the fans who prefer to watch the games in person - but for those of us who live further away, or have jobs that make it hard for us to attend the games in person, the greater TV options are greatly appreciated.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Not trying to be a troll here - but I will point out that, thanks to TV, the starting time for a number of games is not set until a week before the game. The point being that in today's college FB world, fans have to be able to adjust. It's not like the "good old days" when every game started at the same time.

Of course, in the good old days, the TV options were also very limited. If you were lucky, you got 1 or 2 games shown on Saturday - and they tended to be the same big-name teams every week, like OK, ND, or Bama.

In one sense, we are really living in the golden age (no pun intended) for sports fans, with multiple viewing options and almost all of your favorite team's games available on TV.

The price we pay for having all of the games on TV is that there is more flexibility in the schedule, requiring flexibility from the fans. That probably doesn't mean much for the fans who prefer to watch the games in person - but for those of us who live further away, or have jobs that make it hard for us to attend the games in person, the greater TV options are greatly appreciated.
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Don't forget the extra $100 per month for sat. or cable.
 

Thursday nights rule. 2nd year in a row that I'm taking Friday off. My wife and I and another couple bought 2 rooms downtown Minneapolis Thursday night. It will be a blast. Calling the day an early one on Thursday to tailgate starting around 2:30. I love night games and I also love being able to watch CF on the opening Saturday uninterupted by a Gopher game.
 

Even though I can't make it this year, I think from a football standpoint, it's good. The players most likely can't wait to hit a player that's not from the same team, and the coaches most likely are for it as it gives another two days for preparation & health-wise between the 1st & 2nd game.

Much better that a Thursday game is the first game of the year rather than in the middle of the season, where you have less days between games.
 

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