An apology to the early-leaving students--It's not your fault.

I've softened my view a little regarding empty seats at Spartan Stadium, and empty seats in college football in general.

In my last post, I came down pretty hard on the students. However, as has already been mentioned by others, it was a perfect storm of events that caused the mass exodus of students in the latter stages of the MSU/Nebraska game.

First of all, it was a night game, with a late start time of 8:15. The weather was wet and rainy, the game took a ridiculously long time to play with all the TV timeouts, and by the end of the third quarter, it appeared for all the world that MSU would win in a blowout. And, as I remember from my own days as a college student, those kids were not dressed properly for wet and cold weather.

Just as a Rod Serling-esque litany of bizarre plays allowed Nebraska to almost win the game, so too was the case (bad weather, late start, interminable game, lopsided score) in almost completely emptying the student section in the latter stages of the game.

This gets to the whole problem of night games--in the north--later than September. It's always a dicey proposition and frankly I'm against it. These games are scheduled with television, and only television, in mind. The needs and wants of the spectators are not considered.

So MSU students, this old fogey offers you a sincere apology.