Great Bo quote about night games
In the freep today there was a quote from Bo Schembechler about night games and his thoughts on them. I greatly cherish hearing new quotes that I hadn't heard from two of my all time favorites, Ernie Harwell and Bo.
We miss ya Bo.
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2017/09/28/jamie-samuelsen-mi…
The last time I had the distinct pleasure to be in the company of the late Bo Schembechler, he had a few thoughts about the current state of college football.
Among the topics he discussed were the varying start times for the games. Needless to say, Bo wasn’t thrilled with the notion of playing under the lights. In his distinct Schembechler voice, he scrunched his eyes behind his trademark sunglasses and delivered the following line.
“We used to tell the TV stations that we’re going to tee the ball up at one o’clock. If you want to come down and take your little pictures, feel free.”
September 29th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 10:10 AM ^
I mean, I personally prefer noon games too but the sun doesn't rise and set on my whims.
We recruit west-coast kids and if we only ever played on noon we're gonna be sledding uphill to attract eye-balls from them if we play at 9 am PST. Let's be realistic.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:12 AM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 10:17 AM ^
I prefer a packed house with standing, raucous fans. That will never happen at Michigan until we are the 85 year olds -- but a night game is as close as it gets. Noon games are dead for three quarters unless it's osu.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:32 AM ^
Oh, the "one can only be raucous and loud if they're standing up" take.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:45 AM ^
Night games are not inherently bad. Noon games are not inherenty good. They both have their positives and negatives. The situation is more complex than you want it to be.
Back in Bo's day you couldn't even watch every Michigan game on TV. Imagine that. Now, we have football from noon to past midnight. Pretty much every Michigan game is available to a national audience. That's good for fans and Michigan.
The kickoff time is never going to work for everyone. Harbaugh prefers noon, but I guarantee the players have different preferences. Some might prefer noon, some 3:30, and I'm sure some of them love playing night games.
I prefer chocolate ice cream. That's my preference. But am I going to get mad if the only choice is vanilla? No. Just because I have a preference to one flavor doesn't make the other flavors bad.
September 29th, 2017 at 11:15 AM ^
You're take is bad, and you should feel bad. Just because Bo liked something doesn't mean that we have to live by that thought only. I grew up watching Bo - you watched him in Youtube videos. Don't give me this conceted view that only this can be correct. Bullshit. It's fine to say you prefer noon games - who cares? But to say things are all fucked up now, and will never be as good as they were until they are again like they were 30 years ago, is a completely fucked up take.
30 years ago we were happy to see one game on TV, and damn lucky to see two. I usually support your posts, but this one is stoopid.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:08 PM ^
But to say things are all fucked up now, and will never be as good as they were until they are again like they were 30 years ago, is a completely fucked up take
Not really.
If you think it's a good thing that TV networks can now force night games on us, I don't know what else to tell you. Makes me sick to my stomach. Minnesota could very well be a night game this year and probably will be. November 4th.
I love earlier games. And Bo did too just like Harbaugh does now, so that only strengthens my view on them.
Blah blah blah others teams play plenty of nights, rivalry night games.
I don't care. Leaders and Best. We don't need night games for exposure because MICHIGAN IS EXPOSURE. You know who we are.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:20 PM ^
Getting "sick to your stomach" over the start time of a football game? The extent to which you try to speak for every constituency involved, and then make it an intensely personal struggle for yourself as a fan, is kind of amazing.
Bo is dead. Harbaugh doesn't have much power here. College football is now a front for TV networks, apparel companies, university development offices, undergraduate admissions numbers, academic rankings, and corporate sponsors. This is the reality now. It sucks in a lot of ways, night games can be a hassle, but that's the way it is. Getting nostalgic about "how it should be" because Bo said some thing that was relevant in an age before you could watch cable television content on your freaking watch is pointless.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^
Sick to my stomach because it's been taken over by greedy people who likely have never played a down of football in their lives.
Bo may be gone, but his words and things he did while he was here live on forever. You cannot escape his influence on the athletic campus. So he is not "dead".
September 29th, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^
No, Bo is dead. Like, actually dead. Come on.
September 29th, 2017 at 2:43 PM ^
but does one really ever die if their words and deeds are reembered by even one person?
September 29th, 2017 at 2:57 PM ^
MGoMetaphysics?
September 30th, 2017 at 8:23 AM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 12:21 PM ^
Damn...why is it always about money with you re: night games. Can't they just be fun? I mean, seriously, can't they just be cool events that our players and recruits love?
September 29th, 2017 at 1:35 PM ^
Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the rebels' hidden fort
September 29th, 2017 at 3:49 PM ^
Don't the TV contracts for football and basketball help fund your beloved non-revenue sports?
September 29th, 2017 at 7:35 AM ^
Holy shit you have got to be kidding me -- women can vote!?
September 29th, 2017 at 7:38 AM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 8:36 AM ^
I've said it before and I still think its something that "hurts" Michigan to an extent. When Meyer got to OSU he wanted as many night games as possible. He knew that it allowed top recruits time to travel in, games were national primetime, and the atmosphere was at its peak.
I understand people love tradition, but this is something that shouldn't just be reserved for once every few years. We have an elite/prolific coach, an elite program, and wide recruiting base. There needs to be more night games.
September 29th, 2017 at 9:16 AM ^
I had severe disdain for the early games when at school in Ann Arbor and I still feel like the early games hurt now for recruits and national coverage.
A 1pm game Eastern is 10am Pacific time and there just aren't as many people watching football then. Even the West Coast sportswriters don't start watching football until mid-afternoon Eastern time as all the Pacific games are later. They are needed to highlight Michigan as well to west coast recruits. I think 3:30pm Eastern is a better time and the occassional night game is super for ratings (as someone posted earlier, there are just less football choices on tv then which is an ok way to get ratings).
The night game vs. Penn State in 1997 was a great way to get national coverage. Michigan was #4 in the AP undefeated. After beating Penn State, Michigan jumped 2 other undefeated teams to become the new number 1. The tv crew were hyping up the case for how Michigan could jump the others in the polls before the game was even on. It was dubbed Judgement Day or some other marketed label on the game as Florida State and Nebraska (the other undefeateds) were also playing tough games. So less football was on, more coverage dedicated to Michigan, and a full country watching it led to us to the new number 1 after stomping Penn State.
The Denard game vs. Notre Dame at night was good too. He made a lot of new fans after that night.
Night games almost always more fun for students (barring bad weather) and more available for the whole country in tv coverage.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^
In an age of DVRs and YouTube and the internet and ESPN3, is "it's too early for people to be watching" really a thing? If someone wants to see the game, they're going to see the game. I'm sorry, I just don't believe for a second that recruiting really hinges on "they played that game at noon that one time and I slept in and missed it, so I'm going to go to Ohio State." That's not how the world works.
Michigan gets exposure because it's Michigan. It gets exposure at noon, and it gets exposure at 3:30. This is a 24/7 media landscape, and Michigan is one of the most storied programs in college football. They're not fighting for attention.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:31 PM ^
But it is something. Games at night draw more viewers, atmosphere is more alive, something different seems to be going on. Outside of the noon OSU games nothing has been on the level of UTL2 that I was at (I didn't make it to the first one).
If people don't like going to night games then just sell your tickets for that. Get a nice dinner and enjoy it from your favorite chair.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:37 PM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 8:01 AM ^
It was a great quote at the time, but if Bo were alive today, I bet he would feel differently about it.
September 29th, 2017 at 8:08 AM ^
He would feel the same way about - i.e., that's how it should be. But he would also recognize that the nature of the economics of the game had radically changed, and consequently, the schools and programs get little say over their own scheduled start times.
September 29th, 2017 at 8:09 AM ^
I love Bo. I still worship Bo. But he was wrong on this. Night games are awesome.
Some of Bo's thoughts are a little outdated but the majority of his opinions still hold true today. As soon as the BCS formula was announced in 1998, Bo immediately said it was stupid. What happens if you have more than two undefeated teams? What happens if the top four teams each have one loss? Both those scenarios ended up happening.
Love Bo. In the spirit of him, here's him giving the refs hell for their incompetence.
September 29th, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^
I can't watch the footage of Bo losing his mind in Iowa City in 1988 without thinking he's going to have a massive heart attack any second. That guy almost died on a hospital table during the offseason, and there he was n a total blind rage. Bless those arteries.
September 29th, 2017 at 8:11 AM ^
Bo lived and coached decades ago. I grew up with him and Ufer - two stalwarts for noon, or 1PM, kicks. But times change... I love that UM finally has lights, and that they're being used - even only occasionally - for a night game in prime time. I wish the opponent was more worthy than MSU, but whatever. My preference is for a 3:30 or 4 PM kick because you get the best of both worlds - the beauty of fall sunshine and the prime time looks and feel of a night game.
Hell, back in the day, it took an act of God to bring in temporary lighting for a 3:30 start. That was a big deal! TV would show the generators and raised light banks because you could finally get prime TV start times at the Big House. Bo went with it, and he also coached in night games. So don't complain that he would just say no.
September 29th, 2017 at 8:16 AM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 8:16 AM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 9:22 AM ^
They have gotten out of control. I was hoping Fox would have been better than ABC and ESPN but I should have known better. I swear there were times in the Purdue game when they were easily running 3 minutes of commercials after 3 and outs. I should have expected that w/ their experience w/ the NFL. Well at least they aren't running commercials after kickoffs (yet).
September 29th, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 9:33 AM ^
toe meets leather at high noon.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:03 AM ^
Want to be relevant, play night games.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:08 AM ^
the Ohio State @ Michigan games in 1973, 1975, 1977, and 1979 were not played at 1 PM. They were all played at 12:30 PM, so ABC could get a DH in including the UCLA/USC game at 4 PM.
Also several 1:30 PM ET games thru-out the 1970s, at ABC's behest. A 3 PM kick for a home game in 1979 against Notre Dame.
Those are subtle changes vs a 1 PM kick. But they did exist. U-M had leverage to tell a Channel 50 or PASS that our game is kicking off at 1 PM no matter what. But the national big boys like ABC and CBS have always mattered as regards TV kick off times. The TV tail wagged the football dog even in the 1st half of Bo's U-M career.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:34 AM ^
For more, see:
https://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Year-Seduction-Television-Manipulated-Foot…
TV and college football have expanded together.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:12 AM ^
Time to move on from pretending it’s still 1972 with Bo running the show. He’s an icon around here and for good reason. But we need to change with the times.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:26 AM ^
I think its disrespectful to Bo to keep bringing his voice in to speak on topics out of context. You attempt to cast his vote without his approval. Respect Bo for who he was and what he did for this program. Let him rest in peace.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^
You can wake up at 6:30 AM, start drinking, watch an EPL double header. Then break out the strong stuff at 11 for the Michigan game. Passed out by 2:30 and ready to go out again at night. That's a perfect Saturday.
September 29th, 2017 at 11:08 AM ^
You always knew where he stood.
September 29th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
September 29th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 12:52 PM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 11:34 AM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 2:10 PM ^
There are many issues. I completely agree with those who say that it really is irrelevant what we think. Why? Because the reality is that TV is dictating the start time.
However, from my perspective, a mixture of start times is good. There is something very cool about the atmosphere playing a huge opponent at night, especially in September or early October. Under the Lights was an EVENT. But when most of your games are at night, including against cream puff opponents, the novelty and luster wears off. I mean, while we know that Rutgers and Purdue are RIVALS, why should they be a night game? (As sarcasm drips.) Even worse are Cincinnati or Air Force. From my perspective, limit night games to the likes of Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, LSU, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, and in the Big 10, PSU, MSU, and Wisconsin. The reality also is that we are going to have night games away: Rutgers last year, Northwestern regularly, PSU, others as well.
On another note, it may be cool to play in sleet and snow and bitter cold the first couple times it happens at night, but that will wear off quickly. For both fans and athletes. The idea of a 7pm start against Minnesota (November 4,) with sleet and wind, ending around 11pm, is very ugly. Wouldn't want to see the roads and golf course aftere that happened.
There is something very pleasant about having breakfast on a sunny fall day, parking and walking the stadium is the sunlight, having a brat or two and some cider, seeing the band drum line. The glory of Michigan in the Fall. But as I said to begin this post and as others have said, the tail is wagging the dog. Our preference is don't matter. It is all driven by TV dollars. Ultimately, for home games, I think we will usually have two or three 12:00 noon starts, 2 or 3 starts at 3:30, and a couple night games. And I'm okay with that mix.
September 29th, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^
Jesus Christ, he was just a man, not a fucking god. Just look at the way you guys talk about him. His opinion on this matter is irrelevant.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^
Knows.
GO BLUE!!