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| "You silly fans don't understand the nuances like I do!" |
Morgan Burke gave a few nuggets on his thoughts regarding lights at Ross-Ade Stadium to the J&C recently and the gist is, as always, that you dumb fans just don't get it. You can read the H&R take on this here, but we'll add a few thoughts, too.
First, Morgan says that he lobbied for the Michigan game to be an afternoon game and not a night game "so it wouldn’t be late for our people to get home." Seriously, he said that. You need to be snug in your beddy-byes in time to watch the prime time games being played at other college football venues around the country. Where, one assumes, the fans all bring sleeping bags and go to sleep in their seats right when the game ends. Wouldn't want them trying to find their way home at 10:30 PM on a Saturday night!
Then Morgan says that one of the reasons not to have lights is because he and Purdue don't control the start times of football games.
But wait, I thought Burke "lobbied" for the Michigan game to be in the afternoon and not at night? So he sometimes, kind of... does have some control or at least input into the times of games. Either that or he is making up that he had some influence on the Michigan start time to make it seem like he's more of a big shot than he really is.
As always, though, my favorite part of any Purdue communique from the Athletic Department is the snide, backhanded remark about Purdue fans.
“I know there’s a vocal group who feel that’s the right thing to do but they don’t have any logic other than it would be nice to have a night game. It’s a double edge sword. I’m glad we got the Michigan game.”
Wait, what? Is Morgan Burke so detached that he really doesn't understand the benefits of having games in prime time? The visibility of those games alone is worth a tremendous amount. Many more eyes are seeing Purdue commercials, Purdue's campus and Purdue athletics. But seriously, I'm not going to enumerate the reasons why having games in prime time could be a good thing. They should be obvious. It's 2012.
I also don't understand how having games in prime time is "a double edge sword." He has stuck to this line of reasoning for quite some time but never fully explains it -- only that we don't understand because we haven't "[stood] back, as do I, and look[ed] at it from every possible angle." Right. Like landscaping or a new paint color. Stand back and look at it, people!
Well, I have looked at it. For years. And I'm a moderately intelligent human being, and I think lights would be a good idea. But what do I know?
Oh, also... "I'm glad we got the Michigan game"? Uh... what? It was on the schedule. What did Purdue "get"?
As for the lights, the fact that the estimated cost is only $1.5-$2.0 million to install actually seems reasonable to me, especially given how much is spent on arena renovations and coaches salaries. And speaking of arena renovations, we didn't technically need the Mackey renovations, either, did we?
I mean, wasn't the "logic" there just people who thought it would be nice to have better seats?