The Nighttime Is The Right Time

In the history of Kinnick Stadium there have now been 5 true night games (kick off is after 6:00 pm). I have now attended 4 of them (Ohio State in 2006, Syracuse in 2007, Michigan in 2009, Penn State in 2010). Leading up to the Penn St game I started to wonder why night games seem to have a more lively crowd.

ScoutzFiction and I touched on the subject as we were exiting Interstate 80 in Iowa City. His thinking is that it goes back to the performing arts and being on a stage with spot lights on you. This may very well be part of it. In the middle centuries the performing arts were huge, almost on the same level as athletics are today. The superstars were the actors and they were always in the light (this is where the term "limelight" came from). Maybe it has evolved within us that the ultimate stage is under artificial lights. Hmmm

I did buy into that a little bit. The example I always think of goes back to the spring of 1997, my freshman year of high school. My first track meet ran into the night time. I was scheduled to run the 4x800 relay, which occurred in the daytime, and the junior varsity 4x100 relay, which occurred after the sun went down and the lights came on. I remember feeling a lot more excited for the 4x100 and not just because I spent the previous two years chasing records as a sprinter.

To me, the artificial lights made the track look different. Things stood out a little more since the light was a lot more focused. I think this is where the added excitement comes from. As I ran I remember only seeing the track in front of me, where I could see a lot more when the sun was out. I think this helps the athletes focus a little more on the field. As for the crowd the lighting helps direct the focus onto the field also.

Another thing that could factor in is the anticipation. For a night game there are 8 hours of other games before the kick. The anticipation builds while the scores start rolling in and everyone is ready to see the team take the field. 11:00 am games are nice in that there is still some day left when you get home, but the anticipation hasn't been able to build as much.

I'm sure that some high-salaried scientists could do a human study and find out exactly why the excitement is higher for night games but I'm more interested in what real fans think. So what says you?