It's Like Saturday Football...Only Not Saturday

Alright, Mountaineer football is a just a short 5 weeks away and I guess it's time to start finding things to complain about. So, my first complaint of the new football season: Weeknight Games.

The Mountaineers play 12 games this year (11 if you don't count Eastern Washington...10 if you don't count Marshall). And 4 of those games fall on days other than Saturday. And I really, really dislike that. The first would be Maryland on Thursday, September 14. By all accounts, WVU's biggest out-of-conference foe. And, well, it's on a Thursday night. You know what a bummer that is for the hardcore tailgaters who have to go to work on Friday? And it makes it difficult for many people who drive up from Huntington or Charleston to make the trip.

The next is UConn on a Friday. I can forgive that one because most Mountaineer fans aren't going to travel to UConn and, well, Friday night won't take away too much from gamenight festivities. But Louisville on a Thursday night? Away? Come on, folks. You know how many rabid Mountaineer fans want to make that trip? I know of a lot of people who want to go to the game but can't because, once again, a Thursday night. They would have to take Thursday off work to make the trip and Friday off because, well, you're not getting back from Louisville following the Game of the Big East. I still plan to go...but, the Thursday night thing makes it more difficult.

And, lastly, at Pittsburgh on a Thursday night. Unacceptable. If it were another Thanksgiving game, I'd look the other way...but, no. It's on November 16th. Why? A ton of Mountaineer fans fill Heinz Field for the Pitt/WVU game...maybe that's why it's on a weeknight (those Pitt fans getting mighty embarrassed when the "Eat Shitake Mushrooms Pitt" chant gets loud at their stadium.) And why are there two more games after the Pitt game? Who's making the freakin' schedule? And why didn't they consult me?

I know what the reason for the weeknight games are: Television. And, yeah, exposure is nice. But college football should be on Saturday. And West Virginia shouldn't have to play 4 weeknight football games. I could forgive 1 or 2, especially away games. Hopefully this will be the last year where a third of our games occur on days other than Saturday. Predictions for the season are still forthcoming. I'm still nervous on a pick (or 3).