Thursday night games create publicity, causes conflicts

There's something special about an ESPN Thursday night game. Just flip on the television every week and behold the college football spectacle for yourself.

Or you could make the trek to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium this coming Thursday and see the action unfold in person as the Worldwide Leader in Sports brings its traveling road show to Greenville for the first time since ECU dropped a 39-34 decision to Louisville in 2001.

The Pirates also played Virginia Tech on a Thursday night in Dowdy-Ficklen in 2000 when ECU was dropped 45-28.

ECU will boast an all-time record of 3-6 when playing on Thursday but has won three of the past five.

The Hokies are no stranger to Thursday night games in sporting a 15-5 in the pre-weekend prime time slot. However, VT did drop a close contest in Blacksburg last week to North Carolina, 20-17.

Of course, playing on a Thursday night is an honor considering the fact that it will be the only college football game on television, but the event has its pros and cons.

Think about how many times you will see an ECU or VT promo that highlights each respective university's strengths and accomplishments in an effort to attract not only athletic recruits but also academic ones as well.

But as with anything, playing the game on a weekday means that it also comes with disadvantages.

"All weeknight games that are televised nationally by ESPN provide prime time exposure for the universities who play the games," ECU athletics director Terry Holland said. "But weeknight games are (also) disruptive to academic schedules as well as inconvenient for a large percentage of the fans who buy tickets to games expecting them to be on Saturdays."

However, the game will bestow ECU on a national stage that will be watched by tens of thousands around the nation, which has the Pirates' head coach Skip Holtz excited.

"There is an awful lot of buildup and excitement for this game, venue and atmosphere," Holtz said. "I think Greenville will come alive a little bit Thursday. We're really excited to not only play Virginia Tech, but to play the team at home, on Thursday night, in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium with a national-television audience."

While Holtz might be pleased to host a game of such magnitude Thursday, Holland is not a vocal supporter of playing the game in Greenville, but according to him, there is little say that ECU has due to contracts that ESPN has with the Atlantic Coast Conference and Conference USA. According to Holland, this means that the university and its athletic department can "beg and plead" all it wants, but the ultimate decision falls between the respective conferences and the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

"Like most AD's, I would prefer to play non-Saturday games away from home, if they have to be played," Holland said. "We were able to avoid playing a non-Saturday game at Dowdy-Ficklen in the first five seasons I have been here. The Thursday night game has become a featured game and less intrusive than other nights as well as more acceptable to fans."

Unknown to sports fans that tune into the game on Thursday are the headaches that such a game can cause behind the scene.

For instance, the Chancellor's executive council has encouraged that university classes and operations close at 3 p.m. on account of the game. However, when it comes to classes, the decision is strictly up to professors.

Also, there is the problem with parking as students use parking spots that are usually occupied by tailgaters and fans during the course of a normal Saturday contest.

At noon, the commuter parking lots at Minges and Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium will close, while at 4 p.m. the commuter lots at Curry Court will close. Also, College Hill Drive will close at 3:30 p.m.

Football parking rules will go into effect at 4 p.m. as well.

Traffic is also a concern to university officials as the roads are already crowded enough on weekday evenings without the complication of a national powerhouse football program visiting Greenville.

If the Hokies were visiting on Saturday, the issues involved would already be worrisome enough, but playing the game on a Thursday amplifies the problems dealt with during the course of a weekend game.

"Handling 40,000 fans, the traffic and other issues involved with a game are difficult on Saturdays," Holland said. "You can multiply that several times when you have to do it literally 'in the dark' and without any recent experience for staff or fans in staging such an event on a weeknight."

The fact that ECU has hosted a Thursday night game in the past is almost a footnote as the prime time contests played on that given day has increased in exposure and national audience with each passing year.

But as the old saying goes, "any publicity is good publicity" and no matter the headaches caused by that Thursday night's game, the positives will almost surely outweigh the negatives come Friday morning; especially if the Pirates pick up a victory.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.