Little Brown Jug Game Time: TBD

Submitted by justingoblue on

ABC/ESPN has exercised its second six day option this season. Michigan v. Minnesota, MSU v. Nebraska, Illinois v. OSU and PSU v. Purdue are all currently up in the air and any could end up at either 12:00 or 3:30. Iowa v. Indiana is still TBA, but is on the BTN.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/62905/kick-times-for-nov-3-big…

What say you, MGoBoard? I know this is unpopular, but a 3:30 time fits much more easily into my life at this point, so I'm hoping for the later game.

justingoblue

October 22nd, 2012 at 3:34 PM ^

But none of those other games look great either. Illinois/OSU is a lot like Michigan/Minnesota (trophy game that will be totally lopsided), with Ohio having the record and us having the Rose Bowl hopes. PSU/Purdue looks like a "meh" game as well. I'd expect MSU/Nebraska is the best game this weekend, but it might be fairly meaningless if we take a virtual three game lead over Nebraska this weekend. If we lose it's the big game of the week, for sure.

Not a good slate for the Big Ten on 11/3.

ken725

October 22nd, 2012 at 3:35 PM ^

How many times do we have to play on the BTN?  We already have played 3 games and last year we played 4, so I'm guessing there is going to be at least one more.

go16blue

October 22nd, 2012 at 3:41 PM ^

For away games, I prefer 3:30 because I get to sit, relax, and watch a game before and after if I want to. But as a student, home games are difficult because it means going out an pregaming for 2-3 hours, which gets tedious and exhausting after a while. Combine that with the game, and the rest of your day is spend napping/sitting around, which doesn't have to be true for noon games. 

Hannibal.

October 22nd, 2012 at 4:19 PM ^

There are a ton of reasons:

  1.  There is absolutely nothing but dogshit to watch at noon nowadays.  A noon game at least allows you to get some early afternoon entertainment.
  2. If it’s a 3:30 game, there’s a good chance that you won’t get to watch one good non-Michigan game live.  Maybe you’ll get to watch one at night.  But now, almost all of the good games are stupidly being crammed into the 3:30 slot, and just about every network makes it impossible not to find out the scores of those games.  This problem is double if you attend the game in person, because you can’t watch the noon games either (not that there’s a ton to watch anyways).  If you are an overall fan of the sport, it sucks ass when your team plays at 3;30 or 8:00.
  3. If you attend the game, a 3:30 contest completely takes away the day.  A noon game leaves you with an evening.
  4. If the games make you nervous at all, a noon start gets it out of the way immediately.  A night game that ends up being close makes it completely impossible to sleep after without the help of controlled substances and/or alcohol. 
  5. Last, but definitely not least, a 3:30 game has the possibility of missing the kickoff, and sometimes even some scoring.  This happened last year against Illinois.  It happened in 2003 against ND.  The score was 17-0 by the time that game was joined.  Just writing this response has gotten me almost seething with rage just thinking about how completely pissed off I was that I couldn’t watch the first 20 minutes of that contest. 

StephenRKass

October 22nd, 2012 at 5:06 PM ^

Well said, Hannibal. With a noon start, you can get up, have Breakfast, park around 9 or 9:30am, watch the drum line, have a brat or two and some Cider. You can get to the stadium early and watch pregame. You can go out to dinner with friends after the game. And the evening is completely free.

With a noon start, I can get there from Chicago Friday night, watch the game, have dinner, and still hit the road to be home by 10pm.

At 3:30pm, it chops up the day, and I don't get nearly as much done before or after the game, if I even can watch the game.

I'm repeating myself and beating the same drum, but I need to say that I don't mind SOME night games and 3:30 games. I just wish there were 2 - 3 noon starts, scattered throughout the season.

michgoblue

October 22nd, 2012 at 5:21 PM ^

It's funny how perspectives on these things change as you get older.  Pre-kids, I was all about the noon games.  My wife and I would sleep in, wake up to catch the last hour of game day and then make a whole morning out of the Michigan noon games, including chocolate chip pancakes, waffles, etc. for "brunch" during halftime.  We would then have the rest of the day to do whatever else we wanted (including watching some of the better games that impacted Michigan).  

Night games were less frequent for Michigan then (going back 5+ years), but when they happened, it was a cool treat.

Now, we hate noon games.  Why:

With young kids, watching the games (I mean really watching, not just having the game on while you do other crap) is impossible.  For that reason, we DVR all games, go on COMPLETE media blackout (all phones, blackberries, computers, iPhones turned off, no televisions or radios allowed on, avoid all places with a TV, and avoid running into people who may inadvertently mention the game from kickoff on).  Noon games mean 8 hours of media blackout, which is very hard when you are trying to find stuff to do with young kids.  A 3:30 game cuts that down in half, so we are only in the cone of solitude for a few hours.  MUCH EASIER. 3:30 games allow us much more flexibility, and cut down significantly on my stress of accidentally finding out the score.  Of course night games are the best, because I get to watch the game live.

 

 

French West Indian

October 22nd, 2012 at 6:03 PM ^

....most college football games were played at noon.  The 3:30 business tends to be because of the television bullshit (and money, obviously).

Besides, the 3:30 start times mess up my dinner plans.  Yes, I'm old and like to be in bed early.

StephenRKass

October 22nd, 2012 at 3:40 PM ^

I'd never start a thread on this topic, but there is absolutely NO balance this year.

We have 3 night games scheduled, and 4 late afternoon games. So far this season, the AVERAGE start time has been 4:52pm, and there hasn't been a SINGLE noon start.;

Look, I went to the ND night game this year, and the NW night game last year. I'm not opposed unequivocally to night games. But come on, why can't there be some balance?

It is what it is, and I'll probably watch most of the games, regardless of the start time. But there are times when a noon start would be nice. Basically, any time I have any kind of evening date or commitment, I can't watch the game. I missed the Alabama game due to a wedding reception, and a bunch of the MSU game due to my own son's football game and a then dinner engagement I couldn't duck. Beyond that, I'll never go to a game in Ann Arbor that has a late start.

In the overall scheme of things, it doesn't really matter. My life doesn't revolve around Michigan football. But several noon starts would sure be nice.

stephenrjking

October 22nd, 2012 at 6:58 PM ^

I live here, and have to drive from Duluth that morning. The "noon" slot means I will have to leave at 6 am.



On the other hand, I'll get back in time for the Bama LSU game, so it's not all bad. But I'd rather not have to get up that early.



UAUM

October 22nd, 2012 at 4:10 PM ^

Normally, I like 3:30 games, but I'm sick of missing so many games this year because of other evening commitments like weddings and other family stuff.

michgoblue

October 22nd, 2012 at 8:16 PM ^

My first cousin (not super close as she is 15 years younger but we always got along) chose to get married on the eve of one of our games this year.



I skipped the wedding ceremony because I had to choose between watching the full game and making the ceremony.



It was the Illinois game. We were up by a million at halftime.



I am a bad person. But a good fan.

MVictors97

October 22nd, 2012 at 4:28 PM ^

I'd like to see the MInnesota, Northwestern, and Iowa games all be noon starts just for the fact that the OSU game is noon and I don't want Michigan to be thrown off rhythm for that game. OSU has had a ton of noon games this year and I'd hate to see it work to their advantage.

FieldingBLUE

October 22nd, 2012 at 5:07 PM ^

My son and I have been able to get in both his morning rocket games and attend three of the home games together...the Illinois game could have been a noon one for all I cared as I tailgated all day with my brothers and dad. If those other ones were noon, I'd either have missed all of them or had my son miss one of his games (or more). 

So, in sum, games working best for me might not be best for you. Shocking, I know.

LSAClassOf2000

October 22nd, 2012 at 7:39 PM ^

As ESPN's Top 25 goes by BCS rankings, the games which we have to compete with include Kansas State vs. Oklahoma State, Texas A&M vs. Mississippi State, West Virginia vs. TCU and a few others, so I wouldn't be completely shocked if this fell to the BTN. As for the time of the game itself, having kids, 3:30 PM works better since we are usually done with practices and other activities by then, so if I didn't want to worry about having to record it, that works better. The kids are on the downslide towards eventual bed that they will even sit quietly and watch a 3:30 PM game. 

Cleveland Wolverine

October 23rd, 2012 at 12:01 AM ^

Almost all games were 1pm kickoff when I waqs a kid, with the exceptions being noon for tOSU so that they could do a doubleheader with USC/UCLA as a "late" game, and bowl games. I drive from Cleveland for 3-4 games a year- noon games make it hell early to leave and 3:30 keeps me away until late night. Either way it's an all-day committment... and well worth it- GO BLUE!