There will be more Thursday night football in Chapel Hill.
UNC's Oct. 22 game with Florida State went smoothly enough - aside from a loss for the home team - that campus officials now say they want to host another mid-week home game.
"It was a trial balloon and we were really pleased with what we found out," said Dick Baddour, UNC's athletics director. "We will do it again."
The Oct. 22 game was the first Thursday night game ever held at UNC. Kenan Stadium is squarely in the middle of a congested campus, and planners had long feared the gridlock that might accompany such a large event on a workday.
The UNC hospitals complex, which employs thousands, sits just south of the stadium and many workers get out around the same time as many fans would head into campus.
But this year's game was held during Fall break, which meant fewer students would be in town. And employees were dismissed at 3 p.m. that day, an attempt to alleviate traffic congestion.
UNC lost the game, 30 to 27. The following Thursday, they won a big, national TV game at Virginia Tech. So which brings the bigger payoff?
Said Baddour: " [At UNC] They're looking at the Carolina blue. They're looking at your fans. They're looking at, I think, the magnificence of your stadium, and your university is being talked about more. So I think there's a difference. If you ask me how you measure winning away vs. losing at home, I don't know. It's always good when you win. Maybe the difference is that your home crowd, your university, enjoys more exposure and you get a better sense, if you're John Q Public, of the university, the program, when you host at home. But there's no question that victory up at Virginia Tech speaks volumes as well."
Read more on this issue in Saturday's News & Observer.
Comments
Oh Goodie goodie....more Tar Holes Football
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 01:03 — unc1dmolet me CLEAR my Daytimer to watch a Woeful and BORING offensive football team.......in a very mediocre season......
Y-A-W-N !!!!!!!
Thursday night football
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 21:04 — LetsGoPittThis event for student-athletes certainly stirred up a hornet's nest - or did it? It seem that the N&O likes to find the controversial vocal minority and sensationalize the incident/story. That being said, let us lay out some reality:
1. College football is big business. Yes, college is for academics, but college is about so much more. Football games get people talking about your school, get your school on tv, get people wearing your school colors. Everyone in the community can benefit from college football.
2. Thursday nite is something unique, so try and have a Thurs-nite game once a year, no more. It's the only game on TV and it gives your school, your campus, a chance to shine.
3. Athletics over academics. Not at Duke, Wake, Stanford, Northwestern, UVA, etc. Chancellors, AD's, professors, coaches - you need to hold everyone accountable, from the student-athletes to the tutors, to each other. If you make sure everyone goes to class, stays out of trouble, and punish those who don't, you, too, can be like Duke, Wake, etc.
4. For all you whiners about the traffic, changing work hours, etc., well, this is a time for leadership to be creative. Institute flex time: come in early, leave early, or stay late this week so you can leave early next Thursday.
How about doing something really cool: take the afternoon off, round up volunteers, and clean up all the litter around campus? IF there are no Thurs afternoon classes, you should have no problems rounding up volunteers. Again, be creative, turn that annual football Thursday on campus into something special, for everyone.
Greatly Over-rated .....
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 19:45 — AgentPierce"The stimulus effect" of hosting a Thursday Night Game may be the most over-rated myth since "getting to host the WNBA All-Star Game".
I'm fine with UNC having a Thurs Night Game once/month. But lets not hyperventilate about this. The "best thing" about a UNC Thursday Night Game is the self-righteous backlash from the "Carrboro Crowd" over TOO MUCH EMPHASIS ON ATHLETICS. Anything that torques that bunch is "a good thing".
Yo Dickie .... about "looking at Carolina Blue" ???? Someone forgot to tell Butch our colors are NOT Navy! Or has he simply changed the colors without telling anyone?