10-28-2013, 05:26 AM
The constant night games are a devil's bargain.
On the one hand, I detest any athletics program that is a drain on its university's academic budget. Having a brobdingnagian source of outside money helps to prevent that.
On the other hand, I love traditions. The more football dances to the ESPN tune and the less to the preferences of students and alums--the more disconnected from the college experience the whole enterprise becomes. There comes a point when going to a game feels more like going to a movie set than to a collegiate celebration.Â
On balance, think I would prefer less television, less money, and a lower key sport that is fun to attend on a Saturday afternoon. But I am local and an early riser, and those two factors bias me. In all those years I was on the East Coast, I would have preferred any opportunity to see Stanford on TV--they were few and far between.
On the one hand, I detest any athletics program that is a drain on its university's academic budget. Having a brobdingnagian source of outside money helps to prevent that.
On the other hand, I love traditions. The more football dances to the ESPN tune and the less to the preferences of students and alums--the more disconnected from the college experience the whole enterprise becomes. There comes a point when going to a game feels more like going to a movie set than to a collegiate celebration.Â
On balance, think I would prefer less television, less money, and a lower key sport that is fun to attend on a Saturday afternoon. But I am local and an early riser, and those two factors bias me. In all those years I was on the East Coast, I would have preferred any opportunity to see Stanford on TV--they were few and far between.