2008 Woodie Awards
Central/Western game returns to weekend
Faculty to get say in athletic contracts
By: Tm Ottusch
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: News
The Central/Western football game will not be on a weekday next season.
"It's going to be a standard weekend, Saturday afternoon (game)," said CMU Athletics Director Dave Heeke.
CMU brought up the issue of midweek Mid-American Conference games a week after it played Western Michigan on a Tuesday in Kalamazoo last season. The university sent a letter saying it no longer wanted to play midweek MAC football games.
Heeke said the football team will play two midweek games next season, one at home and one on the road.
Central and Western had a two-year contract with ESPN to air the rivalry game on a weeknight. However, both declined to renew the contract after it expired this year.
The full schedule will be announced in the next few weeks, he said.
At last month's MAC meetings, school officials approved a motion allowing faculty athletic representatives to be part of the group that discusses future contracts with ESPN at the group's winter meetings.
Kevin Love, faculty athletic representative, said being a part of the discussions and seeing the contract's potential effects is what they wanted.
"That's all we were asking for, is give us an opportunity to be consulted in the process. So that we can do our little hemming and hawing over what is the impact on academics here, what is the student athlete welfare, (and) what is the impact on campus culture from those changes, Love said."
The MAC meetings, which took place in late January, involved faculty athletic representatives, senior athletic directors and athletic directors.
Each group met in their own meetings, and on the final day, they collectively met in what is called a joint session. The issue was part of the faculty athletic representative's schedule during their separate meetings; they then brought the issue to the joint session.
"It is during the joint session that there are proposals for discussion and then voting as far as changing MAC policies," Love said.
"It's going to be a standard weekend, Saturday afternoon (game)," said CMU Athletics Director Dave Heeke.
CMU brought up the issue of midweek Mid-American Conference games a week after it played Western Michigan on a Tuesday in Kalamazoo last season. The university sent a letter saying it no longer wanted to play midweek MAC football games.
Heeke said the football team will play two midweek games next season, one at home and one on the road.
Central and Western had a two-year contract with ESPN to air the rivalry game on a weeknight. However, both declined to renew the contract after it expired this year.
The full schedule will be announced in the next few weeks, he said.
At last month's MAC meetings, school officials approved a motion allowing faculty athletic representatives to be part of the group that discusses future contracts with ESPN at the group's winter meetings.
Kevin Love, faculty athletic representative, said being a part of the discussions and seeing the contract's potential effects is what they wanted.
"That's all we were asking for, is give us an opportunity to be consulted in the process. So that we can do our little hemming and hawing over what is the impact on academics here, what is the student athlete welfare, (and) what is the impact on campus culture from those changes, Love said."
The MAC meetings, which took place in late January, involved faculty athletic representatives, senior athletic directors and athletic directors.
Each group met in their own meetings, and on the final day, they collectively met in what is called a joint session. The issue was part of the faculty athletic representative's schedule during their separate meetings; they then brought the issue to the joint session.
"It is during the joint session that there are proposals for discussion and then voting as far as changing MAC policies," Love said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 9
Bubba Hester
posted 2/27/08 @ 9:11 AM EST
I agree totally, the CMU/WMU football should have never been played on weeknight. This game is better suited for a saturday afternoon game. Although the game may not get the national tv exposure, but at least the stadiums will be packed and energized with fans. (Continued…)
michmediaperson
posted 2/27/08 @ 6:52 PM EST
Now that the faculty wants to run the athletic department, will the athletic department get to stop all the liberal guest speakers who come to campus on weeknights and eat up valuable student study and classroom time?
Will the Athletic Department be allowed to stop the numerous hyphenated-American month activities, everything from special foods to dances to guest speakers?
Seems like if students can't go spend a couple hours on a school night to football game, then they shouldn't be spending time listening to some liberal speaker promote a liberal, political agenda. (Continued…)
Jason Barczy
posted 2/27/08 @ 9:25 PM EST
Waldo Stadium although it may not have been at capacity was still pretty full this past season and the year before at Kelly/Shorts it was full before the weather got really bad. (Continued…)
michmediaperson
posted 2/28/08 @ 7:16 PM EST
Hey you Liberals..
If CMU is encouraging students and student-athletes to attend political propaganda events like multiculturalism, Hyphenated-American month activities, Rushdie political propaganda speeches, Michael Moore, Wes Clark and so on, I see no reason why students and athletes can't spend 3-4 hours on a school night at Kelly-Shorts Stadium with national TV exposure for CMU. (Continued…)
Kyle
Kyle Cessna
posted 2/29/08 @ 7:02 PM EST
Personally, I'm glad they're moving it back to the weekend. Alumni can't make it to Tuesday night games, which allows us to pack the seats a little more. (Continued…)
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