Falcon Football Schedule Out--Fans Screwed

Complete 2012 BGSU Football Schedule
Sat., Sept. 1 - at Florida
Sat., Sept. 8 - vs. Idaho
Sat., Sept. 15 - at Toledo
Sat., Sept. 22 - at Virginia Tech
Sat., Sept. 29 - vs. Rhode Island (Homecoming)
Sat., Oct. 6 - at Akron
Sat., Oct. 13 - vs. Miami (Family Weekend/Varsity BG Weekend)
Sat., Oct. 20 - at UMass
Sat., Oct. 27 - vs. Eastern Michigan
Wed., Nov. 7 - at Ohio, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sat., Nov. 17 - vs. Kent State
Fri., Nov. 23 - vs. Buffalo (ESPNU/ESPN3*)

There it is.

Now, you'll miss the headline if you just look at that.  The real headline is that November 23rd game to be played against Buffalo, the one that looks like a home game, that game will now be played on a neutral field in Columbus, OH at the Crew Soccer Stadium.

Some quick points.  According to the post, if you have already bought your season tickets (which they have been hounding you to do), you will not be refunded for that game.  You can, however, use the ticket exchange to get two additional tickets to another home game (trading something you wanted for something that you didn't want).

The free parking you were promised?  Not for this game.  Sorry.

You want my opinion.  The game should be excluded from the package.

Let's look at the University's statement.  We haven't had anything this juicy and self-delusional to work with since Brandon left.  Here is the statement....

“With students away from campus for Thanksgiving Break, the Buffalo game became an opportunity for us to take BGSU on the road to one of our most populated alumni areas,” said Athletics Director Greg Christopher. “We view this as more than a football game and truly a university-wide effort and event. The Crew are excited about the partnership and we look forward to the unique event.”

Moving the final game to Columbus is an opportunity to provide something unique to our fans.  This will be the first Division I college game played in the Crew Stadium so BGSU will be a part of history.   Columbus is an important area for BGSU football recruiting and currently 12 players are from the Columbus area which will impact attendance.  This is not just a football game—this is a university event. It allows the university to take BGSU on the road to the capital city which will engage a strong base of students, alumni and allows an opportunity for admissions recruiting.  The day after Thanksgiving game has been a challenge from an attendance stand point in Doyt Perry Stadium and similar to Northwestern and Illinois playing at Wrigley Field and Ohio State and Michigan playing hockey at Progressive Field---this is an exciting opportunity for the Falcons to play on a different stage.  

Some comments:

History?  Yeah, history. Someday, we will tell our grandkids that we saw the first Division I college football game at Crew Stadium.  Maybe the last too.  (This argument is insulting).

Yes, Buffalo and Bowling Green at Crew Stadium is exactly like Northwestern and Illinois playing at Wrigley Field.  Great analogy.  (To be fair, they said "similar," which it is not either).

Yes, we have lots of alumni in the area.  Every single one of them now identify themselves as a Buckeye fan.  I'm sure that they are a lot more likely to show up on the day after Thanksgiving than the fans who watch you every week.

Did you think that this might actually be a game with some title implications?  And we are now taking it to a neutral field?

If the day after Thanksgiving is an attendance challenge, play on another day.  If it is ESPN's fault, that's the bed you made.

Finally, the idea that on the day after Thanksgiving, in Columbus OH, we will be having some kind of BGSU festival, where people do that rather than spend time with their families....yeah, that's going to happen.

It is great the Crew are excited, BTW.

So, I'm not a fan.  The Wisconsin game was fine--it was early in the year, they brought fans, and it wasn't a conference game.  And we never get Wisconsin to the Doyt anyway.

Honestly, selling season tickets and moving one of the games 119 miles away is false advertising.  This is bull.

Hey look though.  We finally get to play Akron.