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 Mike HlasHi, I'm Gazette/TheGazette.com sports columnist Mike Hlas. This is the Hlog. We will meet here, discuss things, and then go [...] |
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Hey Big Ten football fans, do you want 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. kickoffs, or noon and 3:30?
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Photo: 330
Photo: noon
Better than 11 a.m.
I vote for noon and 3:30 p.m., and so, apparently, does Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany.
So wrote Don Doxsie of the Quad City Times the other day. If it’s true, go for it, Commish. The Hlog approves.
That won’t make me any friends in my sportswriting community, which gets smaller with each passing year. The earlier the game, the more time to write. And the earlier the game ends and the sooner you get done writing, the sooner you can hit the highway to head back to your home city.
But I’ve always thought the 11 a.m. games, which the Big Ten has now had for a long time, are ridiculous.
Some people travel a few hours to go to the games. Not everyone has the time or money to arrive the night before. And besides, no great sporting event starts before noon. Sure, major golf tournaments have tee times before noon, but the contenders on the weekend don’t. The early NFL games start at noon, Central time, on Sundays. That works.
Not as good as 2:30
Not everyone would love the 3:30 games, and I wouldn’t like them as much as 2:30 starts. Something about the 2:30 kickoffs just feels right to me after all these years.
But look at it this way: If your team is good enough to be playing in that 3:30 time slot, it gets to finish in prime-time and be seen by an even larger audience. If that sort of thing matters to you.
The games I dislike covering are the 7 p.m. starts. They’re great for atmosphere, but they’re hellish for newspaper deadlines. We had a night game at Penn State in 2009, and with all the stuff we put on the Gazette Web site afterward and then the drive we had back to our motel in Altoona, 45 miles from State College, it was 3-something in the morning when we got back to our rooms. Then we left at 6 a.m. or something like that to drive to Pittsburgh to catch a flight. I don’t even want to think about that anymore.
Oh yeah, Iowa plays at Penn State again this year. It’s the Big Ten-opener for the Hawkeyes. But Ohio State is at Nebraska the same day, so I peg that game for 7 p.m. Whew.
So anyhow, what do you prefer? 11 and 2:30 or 12 and 3:30? And why?
I’d prefer the 12 and 3:30 games. In years past, I’ve had to get up by 5:00am to get the tailgating spot I wanted. And I live in Iowa City. That’s not as big an issue now for me, but I’m sure it still is for others. Of course, to some extent tailgating starts at 6:00am regardless of game time.
I also agree with Doxie that some finishes of 3:30 games in November could be pretty chilly, but if Iowa’s playing a home game at 3:30 in November, it would generally be a pretty big game and I can wear an extra coat.
Last fall was my first in the Eastern time zone, it took a lot of getting used to waiting until noon or 3:30pm to watch the Hawks but I like it much better. You have time to prepare yourself and not rush to get a good seat at the I-Club game watches.
Leave it the way it is.
I’m a traditionalist: 2:30 kickoffs. And, would someone PLEASE do something about Tressel’s sweater-vests!
Before TV, 1:00 kickoffs were the norm. That’s the best time but we won’t go back to it
I know it’s not an option, but I like noon and 2:30 kickoffs, not too early, not too late.
12 and 3:30 for sure! Driving from the corner of the state to make the 11 am kickoff makes for an early morning!
I live in Eastern Time Zone and I find 12 and 3:30 to be great. That being said, I’d rather not have 1 and 4:30 ET games. Maybe they’d tier them so all start at noon local time?
I guess if they started at noon in Iowa, it would still be 1 o’clock for me. But it would be cool if they tiered the start times a bit so you could see more of the different games…kind of like the early rounds of the NCAA tournament.
I love the 11 AM kickoffs. I live in Indy, so it’s noon out here for that. The alumni game watches are at BW3 so the 11 AM kickoff is perfect for some lunch. The 2:30 kickoff is right in the middle of waiting to eat and risk being way too hungry all day, or eating a little and then not being able to enjoy the fried foods the way fried foods need to be enjoyed!
always hated the early starts when i lived in Linn Co. less so since i’ve moved to the Eastern time zone. noon starts Iowa time would be OK and the 2:30 central time starts would be perfect. i’m know that friends in the Mountain and Pacific time zones will not be sad to see the 11 am central time starts disappear.
i hear your pain. i live in hawaii and an 11am kick is 6am here (or 5 depending on DST)!
“I’m know” a senile error combining “I know” and “I’m sure” just to make sure i never make a post w/o at least one dumb typo.
Don’t sweat the typos, Rick. Happens to most of us.
Much as I try to be free of them, I have no editor here and no spell-check for writing on a Web page. I’m pleased with how careful the vast majority of posters here are when it comes to language and grammar.
“….but the contenders on the weekend don’t.”
keep the kickoffs at 11am then. Iowa won’t be a ‘contender’ any time soon. Even when they have the talent and favorable schedule (like last year), the Hawks manage to find a way to give games away. I mean, why win Rose Bowls and National Championships? Then we might expect it every year – when kirk can rake it in at going 7-5? no one wants to work any harder than they have to after all.
The 11am games are simply too early. I think the best would be 2:30 kickoffs for all Hawkeye games.
Jeez, McCauley, don’t you ever take a break? You don’t have to be a pain in the rump every day of your life, you know.
As to the question of the moment, I prefer the 11:00 and 2:30 time slots. I am an old guy, so the earlier the better for me. Prime time games just kill me, and last year’s Arizona game incapacitated me for two days.
i was just saying… Iowa will NEVER be a contender (only a pretender) under KF. last year was the best opportunity and the perfect example. Iowa will NEVER be in the same breath as the great ones. never. bank it.
I don’t care, as long as I can watch the Hawks in any sport. Two years ago I switched TV providers to get the Big Ten channel to be able to watch as much about Iowa as possible, so I’ll watch any Hawkeye presentation any time it’s on or record it if necessary.