George Ferguson Column: I'm Begging: More Grizzly night games part two, please

I wrote a column a couple of falls ago praising the University of Montana for holding night games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, and asking for more of them.

Here I am again, and I'm going to do the same thing, expect this time, I'm not asking, I'm begging.

Here's my plea to the UM. Next year, your Grizzlies open the season with a huge FCS showdown against Northern Iowa, scheduled for Sept. 1. Please Montana, make that a night game. A 7 p.m. kickoff if you have to. Anything to avoid what the players and fans had to endure last Saturday inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Most times, I'm in favor of night games because they're fun, they change the atmosphere and the excitement level for the game - especially a big game. But for next year's opener, I'm simply asking for a night game because the conditions for Montana's season-opener against Valparaiso last Saturday were absolutely brutal.

And I'm a guy who likes the heat. I'm a guy who likes summer.

Still, between the 90-plus degree temperatures, the searing sun, and the smoke from wildfires raging all over western Montana, the conditions were insanely bad for football, and it could have been avoided.

Now, I know all the reasons against night games. Travel for the visiting team, less people in the bars, restaurants and at the mall spending money during those traditional hours after a 1 p.m. game gets over. Traffic issues after dark, logistics for out of town fans who, for years, have been going to Griz games from places like Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell and Butte with the same routine.

I understand all of it. But, given what has transpired in Montana this summer, it sure looked like a night game may have drawn better than the 23,000 Saturday's opener did. It was the lowest attended opener in Missoula in a long, long time, and the weather had at least a hand in that, no doubt.

Even the folks that did show up, many of them left earlier than I had ever seen them leave, and while the Griz didn't play their best, and Valpo wasn't a big-name opponent, I know for a fact that didn't have anything to do with the fans streaming out of the stadium in the fourth quarter. No, many of them just couldn't take the tough conditions any longer.

And the players? Well, I simply can't imagine how nasty hot it was down on the field. It had to be extremely taxing on the players in the game. Football is supposed to be hard, and it's supposed to be played in all types of weather - any type of weather for that matter. But, Saturday's weather had to be rough on even the toughest of football players.

Look, I know Montana doesn't want to schedule too many night games, and there was already one big one on the books for this season, as the Griz will play arch rival Eastern Washington under the lights later this month.

But man, given the way the summer was already trending when Montana set its kickoff times for the home schedule, it would have been pretty easy to anticipate that Saturday was going to be hot and smoky.

So again UM, I beg, make next year's game against UNI a night game. A real night game where kickoff isn't until 7 p.m. I've already seen weather experts saying Montana is likely to be hot, dry and fire-ridden again next summer. I hope those predictions turn out to be wrong, but after what's happened to our state this summer, I doubt they'll be that far off.

And besides, night games are really fun for the fans and the players. Washington-Grizzly Stadium looks amazing lit up, and so does the new hi-def Griz Vision. Night games are a blast, as I'm sure will be the case on Sept. 23 when Eastern Washington comes calling.

But above the fun and excitement of a night game, it would really be the best thing for everybody to avoid playing a season-opening game in conditions like last Saturday.

I mean, I love the heat, I love summertime, and I love the Griz. And on the flip side, I've sat through every one of the coldest games ever played in Wash-Griz. And I still think cold is worse.

But I have to admit, even for me, Saturday was a tough one, and if it can be avoided next year, I hope UM chooses to do so.

So, for the second time in three years, come on Montana, more night games. This time, I'm begging.