College Football Schedule Week 12: Nostalgic Nonsense

I can easily be derided as a sentimental traditionalist at times - I hate the designated hitter; I hate the yellow first-down marker on television; I hate replay but have grudgingly come to accept it. But sometimes tradition sucks. Old things are dusty and cumbersome and sometimes should be done away.

Take for instance this week’s Illinois-Northwestern game that will be played in the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field. I get that the Chicago Bears played at Wrigley Field until 1970 and that baseball stadiums used to regularly host football games, Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Forbes Field and Griffith Stadium included. But this is ridiculous.

The pictures of the field at Wrigley make the term “confines” a very generous statement. Only mere inches separate the sideline and endzones from the walls and dugouts. Yeah it’s cool in the same way watching the Dodgers play an exhibition game at the Coliseum was cool, but kitsch should not get in the way of the players’ health and figuring into the regular season.