Flashes from Gordon: Hockey, hoops twinbill unfair to BG (01-31-14)

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Kevin Gordon

Random thoughts while wishing Bowling Green State University would change its school colors from brown
and orange to black and orange:
WRIST SLAP: Mid-American Conference and Time Warner Cable Sports Network officials deserve a slap on the
wrist for causing Bowling Green’s hockey and men’s basketball teams to play at the same time last
Saturday.
The starting time for the men’s basketball game against Miami was changed from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. to allow
the game to be televised by TWCSN.
But the Falcon hockey team already had a home game against Lake Superior at 7:07 that night.
The MAC and TWCSN should be sympathetic to the three conference members – BG, Miami and Western Michigan
– which have hockey teams.
It isn’t fair to those schools to force their men’s basketball and hockey teams to play dueling home
games.
All three schools are mid-majors, and fans at each school often attend games played by both teams. Fans
had to decide to attend one or the other, but seeing both in their entirety was impossible.
The decision to televise the men’s game wasn’t announced until Jan. 6 – less than three weeks before the
game – under the MAC’s contract with TWCSN.
A number of fans expressed their unhappiness to me over the conflict, so we can only wonder how fans had
bought tickets to both, based on the original starting times.
Having multiple home games on the same day puts stresses on the athletics department staff and its game
workers.
At BG, some of the home events are staffed by the same workers which means a time conflict only adds to
the stress.
Moving the hockey game wasn’t an option. A 9 p.m. start would have meant Lake Superior wouldn’t have
arrived home in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. until 7 a.m. Sunday, barring any weather issues or problems
crossing the Mackinac Bridge.
With Saturday’s hockey game being the second of a two-game series, it isn’t fair to ask those players to
give up any of their rest, especially since their game already was on the schedule.
Adding to the conflict was the university had already scheduled the two games as part of its alumni
weekend An alumni dinner had to be rescheduled. That wasn’t fair to BG, either.
There’s no doubt the university appreciates all of the TV exposure it receives., but there’s no way they
were happy with the conflict.
And let’s be honest, TWCSN isn’t even close to being ESPN, or let alone Fox Sports 1 or NBC Sports
Network.
TWCSN hardly has enough original programming to be relevant at any level.
If the BG-Miami game was going to be shown at 6 p.m. on ESPN or one of the major broadcast networks, then
the conflict might be worth the headaches.
Fortunately, Falcon fans still turned out well for both games – 2,693 for hockey, and 1,797 for a
basketball team that involved a men’s basketball team that is struggling.
But it’s still a conflict BG shouldn’t have had to deal with.
SHADES OF GRAY: The Falcon men’s basketball and football teams recently wore gray jerseys, but the two
jerseys are terribly different.
The grays worn by the men’s basketball team looked sharp and could be a worn as a primary jersey, if so
desired. The gray and black tops worn by the Falcons really look good.
On the other hand, the gray jerseys worn by the football team in the Little Caesars Bowl easily rank as
one of the worst jerseys ever by a BG team.
The only other uniform to be as ugly as the football grays are the brown tops and the brown pants worn by
the hockey team during its glory days of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
THE END: It’s hard to believe the regular seasons in high school basketball and hockey are almost over.

The sectional draw for girls basketball is Sunday and the boys draw is Feb. 9.
The district hockey draw is Wednesday.

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