Somewhere out there, legendary coach Lee Hedges just rolled over in his grave.
So did Jerry Burton, one of the most widely respected coaches in the area’s football history.
Tonight at Lee Hedges Stadium – a crisp October night made for football – the grand tradition of Friday night football will take place with … oh wait, scratch that.
Tonight at Jerry Burton Stadium, it’ll be the highly anticipated battle between … no one.
No teams. No games. On a Friday night at stadiums named for two men who lived for what high school football is/has been all about, the lights will never get turned on.
Why, you ask?
I’ll get to that in a moment.
But you can probably figure that out on your own, especially when you see that there were six games scheduled at local sites this Thursday, when there are typically no more than one or two.
I have railed in the past about teams being overly pro-active and moving games from Friday to Thursday when a forecast on Monday shows that it might rain. That’s absurd, especially since every Shreveport-Bossier stadium is field turf so there is no danger of the playing surface being torn up.
As offensive as that might be to my football sensibilities, it has now taken a spot behind our new winner in the clubhouse when it comes to feeling the need to play on Thursday.
Hold on, I promise we are almost there.
There is a definitive referee shortage in the local association. It’s so prevalent that games are being officiated with five-man crews on a regular basis. Playing on a Thursday can help alleviate that issue.
But that’s not it either, though there are some who will try to float that one by you.
Don’t buy it.
The reason why six games were played all over Caddo-Bossier last night can be summed up in nine letters: The first one is “H” and the last eight are “alloween.”
And yes, I’m serious.
There was a little informal text poll I conducted earlier this week among local coaches who were about to play on Thursday with this question: “Bigger factor in playing Thursday night – referee shortage or Halloween?”
One sheepishly sent me the screen shot of having to ask the visiting coach to switch the dates. Didn’t seem like he was all for it, but he was doing was he had been asked to do.
Others flat-out said yeah, it was all about Halloween. “No families with small kids attend” was the response. (And let’s be honest about it; getting an early start on a hunting weekend doesn’t hurt).
I get it: Attendance is going to suffer when you play a game on Halloween. The allure of Fright Night at the neighborhood elementary school can be a powerful force.
Don’t get me wrong; I know that matters in the grand scheme of things.
But you know what else matters? Friday nights matter. That’s what high school football was built on. A new week of practice starts on Mondays, the preparation continues throughout the week. Game day should lead into the weekend, not a Friday morning algebra class. Especially one where there is more interest in swallowing Skittles than solving quadratic equations.
The weekly schedule is already screwed up enough with everyone bailing on playing on Fridays during Fall Break. Throw in a couple of bad weather Friday forecasts and now the schedule looks like what Conference USA and Mid American Conference have been doing that last few years. If you’ve got a Tuesday, they’ve got a game for you!
Yes, this might seem to be a one-off calendar event (Halloween isn’t on Friday every year), but it is on a Saturday next year. Watch and see how many games get moved off Friday, October 30 so that kids could possibly go to a game on Thursday and still be able to bob for apples at the middle school Monster Mash the next night.
If you get a chance, drive by Lee Hedges Stadium or Jerry Burton Stadium tonight. What you’ll see (or not see) will be more than just a little bit scary.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com