Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Under the Dome Point ✦ Counterpoint: Should The Irish Schedule More Night Games In Notre Dame Stadium? That's Too Much Of A Good Thing Any Way To Improve Stadium Environment Helps By Dan Murphy By Andrew Owens There are plenty of reasons why Notre Dame Slowly, Notre Dame is making moves to crawl out shouldn't add any more late kickoffs to its home of the Stone Age and into 21st-century collegiate schedule: To keep NBC happy with its primetime athletics. In 2011, the program introduced flashy schedule; to keep Joyce Center parking lots from helmets, piped-in stadium music and the first home devolving into bacchanalian denight game in 21 years. (Future bauchery on a regular basis; and potential changes include a Jumto keep harrowed sportswriters botron and FieldTurf, but that's from more sleepless nights peckfor another Point-Counterpoint.) ing away in a futile battle against The atmospheres at the recent deadlines. But most importantly, primetime matchups have been night games should remain rare in fantastic, save for the flat perforSouth Bend to keep them special. mance by the Irish against the Two years ago, Notre Dame Trojans two years ago that mostly hosted USC in its first night deflated Notre Dame Stadium. game at home in more than two Certainly, Notre Dame does decades. The atmosphere was Notre Dame went 21 years not want to — nor should they nerve tingling when the teams between home night games — overdo it in this department, took the field. But with each late before hosting USC under the but two night games in certain start that follows, the novelty lights in 2011. years would be a wise addition photo by bill panzica rather than a detriment to the wears away. Prolonged anticipation makes just about anything in life better. home-game experience. A generation ago, wearing green jerseys used to NBC's ratings improve for night games and a inspire the same kind of fervor among Irish fans. second home matchup would give the network Then the team busted out the alternate ward- three primetime telecasts per season when you inrobe almost every year in the first decade of the clude the off-site Shamrock Series game. In other 2000s and it lost its appeal. The Pavlov response words, a vast improvement over an old "Law and of green jerseys equals something special ceased Order" rerun. to ring true. A night game represents the best college football If Notre Dame adds more 7:30 starts to its has to offer. It's a sign the game matters more schedule the same will come true for night games. than usual, and you can feel the buzz in the air. At most major programs today playing at night It provides a boisterous change of pace from the doesn't inspire much extra excitement. Notre typical 3:30 kickoffs. Seeing the sun set just beDame isn't immune to that happening in South fore kickoff the past two years has been a special Bend as well. scene at Notre Dame Stadium and has been well Playing one game per season under the lights is received by students and, by all accounts, the more than enough. administration.