[NU Sports] 9 am, er -- ll am games

[Jim Bendat]

As a west coaster, I must state that I love Saturday mornings in the fall, rolling out of bed, turning on the computer, going on the internet to wgnradio.com, listening to the pregame show at 8:30 am, then watching our games at 9 am.  I'm sure there are plenty of alumni and fans who feel the same way.

All of those 11 am Central games were televised, and having so many games on the tube can only help recruiting.  If we were to tell the Big Ten that we no longer wish to have our home games televised at that hour, well ... ESPN Broadband, whatever that is, here we come.  A number of Big Ten games involving Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin were shown on that so-called network -- which most people cannot receive.  

I traveled to Evanston this year for the Purdue game.  It started at 11 am.  So what?!  I was fired up for the game, no matter what time it was going to be played.  If our team is playing well, the fans will come.  And let's not forget -- most of our games in 1995 and 1996 also started at 11 am.  

Jim B.