Lariat Letter: Avoid hot days, play night games

By Hayden Murphy

Baylor football unleashed all its weapons on Buffalo when the Bears stomped all over them en route to a 70-13 win. From Bryce Petty’s passing to Bryce Hager’s fumble return that I can only compare to a stampeding mammoth, we hit them with everything we had. One weapon that didn’t get as much press was a little gift from Waco: murderous heat.

Why? Because the game started at 2:30 p.m. And this week we have a 3 p.m. against Louisiana-Monroe! Good grief!

I know why we’re playing at these times: to get a TV slot. I can’t completely blame Baylor for this decision. TV money is where the bread is buttered for college football, so I’m sure the decision makes sense to the those who get to watch from air-conditioned parts of “The Case.”

Those of us who have to sit in the student section, however, are questioning the logic. I don’t even want to know what the heat index was for those us sitting on metal benches in direct sunlight, half-drowning in humidity. I stuck it out the whole game but 95 percent of us didn’t. What good is TV publicity if viewers are seeing Baylor draw about as many fans as our Division-III Baptist brother Hardin-Simmons?

I recognize that the complaints of one or a few students probably don’t compare to all the other factors in this game time equation, and Waco in late summer is always going to be hot barring apocalyptic climate change, but is there anything else we could try?

I hear that Baylor Stadium is being designed so that even us poor peons in the cheap seats will get some shade, so good job there. If we’re so desperate to get a TV slot, why not play the nightcap game? Late Night At “The Case,” anyone?

Well, at least we’ve finally managed to figure out what to do about water bottles.

Hayden Murphy
Lubbock Senior