Harty column: Saturday night was meant for Iowa hoops
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – A once-familiar buzz could be felt inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday night simply because it was Saturday night.
Those under the age of 30 probably can’t recall a time when Saturday was meant for play, while Sunday was mostly a day of rest at the collegiate level.
The rise and takeover of television changed that setup years ago to where now there are multiple games played on Sunday, sometimes as late as 6:30 p.m. CST.
It was shocking to learn that Iowa’s 85-72 victory over Ohio State was the first Saturday night game played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since March 2014.
That is almost three years without a Saturday night home game for the Iowa men’s basketball team.
That’s just crazy. And unfortunate.
Iowa is about to finish a January in which it played three Big Ten games on Sunday and just one on Saturday.
It doesn’t take a genius to know why Saturday is better than Sunday for scheduling games.
Sunday truly is a day of rest for some people, and it’s the day before the start of another work week. It is easy to stay home on Sunday to watch the game on television, whereas Saturday for many is a time of entertainment and to get out of the house, knowing you can sleep in the next day.
It’s reasonable to think that some of the 15,138 fans who attended Saturday’s game either had plans before or after the game or both. The game was part of a Saturday evening entertainment package, while Sunday is more a case of you attend the game and then go home.
I didn’t write this column in an attempt to promote change because nothing will change for as long as television rules the viewing landscape.
I wrote it because of crowd that showed up for Saturday’s game was noticeably different than a Sunday crowd. Saturday’s crowd wasn’t just large in number, but also in spirit and sound. The fans were engaged from start to finish, and part of the reason is because it was Saturday night.
The Bay City Rollers, if you recall, had a huge hit called Saturday Night. But that was in the mid-1970s and before the rise of cable television.
Today, that same song might be called Sunday Night if television had anything to say about it.
Following Tuesday’s game at Rutgers, Iowa will resume its Sunday schedule by facing Nebraska next Sunday at 1 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. If you must play on Sunday, early in the afternoon beats early evening.
It already is hard enough for fans to attend the 8 p.m. games during the week because of the late hours. Sunday just adds to the reasons not to come.
The fact that Saturday's game started at 7:05 p.m. instead of the usual 8 p.m. tip-off also made it more appealing.
Before the rise of cable television, following the Hawkeye was much easier. The games usually were played on Thursdays and Saturdays and at similar times. You arranged your schedule around those two days.
The good news is that Iowa still has three Saturday games left on the schedule. The bad news is that two are on the road, including a 5 p.m. game on Feb. 11 at Michigan State. The final Saturday game is at Maryland on Feb. 25 at a time still to be determined.
The lone Saturday game still be played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena will take place against Illinois at 1 p.m. on Feb. 18. The arena should be rocking that day, but not just because it’s a Saturday.
The Illinois game on Feb. 18 also will be a White-Out game with t-shirts being sold to support former Hawkeye star guard Kenny Arnold, who still battles the effects from having a brain tumor over 30 years ago.
The buzz felt inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on that Saturday should be truly special.