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Fans lukewarm on timing of game
Tommy Conard, left, and Jason Jackson wear white, and that would be white paint to the Herd's game against Cicinnati Friday, October 3, 2008, at the Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
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HUNTINGTON -- Marshall fans packed the Joan C. Edwards Stadium parking lot with their tailgating parties Friday, despite the later kickoff time. Some fans said they were not so sure a Tuesday game would be as well attended.
The event strayed from the usual Herd schedule to accommodate an ESPN broadcast of the game. A similar arrangement has put a Tuesday game on the Herd schedule when they face Houston Oct. 28 at 8 p.m.
"It really doesn't affect me, we are here and we are going to have fun no matter what," said Herd fan Roger Lewis from Huntington.
Jason Jackson, who shunned a T-shirt for green and white body paint, said the Marshall team should be able to attract an audience even if a game is on a weeknight.
"It may affect the older audience," Jackson said. "But at least 70 percent of Marshall's enrollment should be coming out to the games. We should be able to attract enough people from Charleston, Ashland and Ohio to pack out the stadium. They need to target that young audience."
Zandra Lawrence of Barboursville said she prefers earlier Herd games.
"I hate these late games," Lawrence said. "It's too late and you get to bed to late. With television time-outs the games can stretch out over four hours long."
Lawrence said Tuesday games also hurt tailgating, because of needing to wake up to go to work the next day.
Chris Hill, a resident of North Carolina said traveling Herd fans may suffer even more on weekday games.
"I live in North Carolina and I know there are a lot of Marshall alumni fans there getting rid of their season passes," Hill said. "It's hard to come down when you have to take off several days of work to travel to and from the games. It also seems that a lot of premier games are scheduled during the week."
The usual justification for a weeknight game is the exchange of convenience for national exposure on television. Herd fans were split on the benefits of rescheduling the game.
"It's a big publicity thing, it shows a lot of the local things and hometown stuff we are doing at Marshall," said Marshall student Solomon Fizer. "It is nice for us to not be competing with other college games going on. We have our own slot on weekday games. We are the game that is going on.
Hill said he was skeptical of whether Marshall actually benefited from the exposure.
"I just wonder who is going to watch these games, even if they are on television," Hill said. "Like tonight, are more people watching our football game or Major League Baseball? I don't have the ratings or percentages so I just don't know. I am just not sure how much it benefits Marshall versus how much it hurts attendance."
