LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Back-to-back PL champs 2016 and 2017.... but need to get back to relevance in the national FCS scene.
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RichH
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Re: LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Post by RichH » Thu Jun 06, 2019 8:39 pm

Richb-3 wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 5:37 pm Bethlehem and Allentown have 3 schools that use their stadiums, so each likely has 5 Saturday night games has except that since they play each other, it is more likely 2-3 Saturday night games a year. I doubt if there are even 12 scheduled Saturday night games a year in the whole valley. (probably more are played because of Friday night rain outs.)

Relative to our attendance, Lafayette's attendance seems like it is doubled since they got lights.

I am not sure why you can't tailgate at 4:30-6:30 instead of 10 to noon.

I think students would rather begin tailgating then rather than just after they get up.

Only possible reason that Sterrett isn't asking for $2M to do this is that Alumni a lot older than me don't want to drive home in the dark
Well, I cant speak for all of us old farts, but truthfully I would prefer late afternoon games. You must realize us old farts really dont like round trips in the same day. :D


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Re: LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Post by Go Lehigh TU Owl » Thu Jun 06, 2019 9:41 pm

What led to Lehigh not hosting PIAA State playoff games? I attended a few really big playoff games there in 1990's that had awesome atmospheres. Berwick-Allentown CC in 1994 when both were in the Top 10 in the USA Today Poll and Becca-CB West in 1999 come to mind. CB West beat my high school the week before and were riding a crazy win streak. They were Top 5 in the country at the time.

Both those games had 10k+. The Berwick-ACC game might have had close to 14k. The hype surrounding that game was insane after ACC beat #1 Berwick the year before in the state semifinals. The 1993 playoff game and Berwick's 1993 season highlighted ABC's Nightline's two part "Dawg Days, A Town-A Team" special about Berwick football.

I think there was an Easton game with Juan Gaddy in the early 90's as well.

I always thought those playoff games were good recruiting tools.
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Re: LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Post by Sundayamqb » Thu Jun 06, 2019 11:30 pm

Richb-3 wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 5:37 pm Only possible reason that Sterrett isn't asking for $2M to do this is that Alumni a lot older than me don't want to drive home in the dark
If we don't get undergrads going to the game now they certainly won't be going when they're alumni.
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Re: LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Post by ngineer » Tue Jun 11, 2019 2:02 pm

I don't see the lights as adding any significant numbers to attendance. More competition on Saturday nights than afternoon as well as a number of the 'elders' not wanting to travel in dark. Keep in mind a fair number of alums who attend games come from 1-2 hours away. A game ending at 9 p.m. won't set well. LC uses their stadium for multiple sports because they don't have the space we do with our multiple fields. And everyone forgets the necessary 'ancillary' lighting the would be needed in the outer lots for safety and security reasons. Liability is always lurking it's ugly head round every rock, stump, ditch, hole. Many schools also only have night games in September, when it's warm and not October/November in cold nights. so really only using 2-3 times a year. We drew 10,000 plus 20 years ago in the same stadium. The only thing that has really changed is the culture with it's electronic diversions and a more 'non-jock' focus of the student body (see declining attendance for wrestling, and basketball rarely draws more than 1,500 even when CJ was dazzling. Nationally, football attendance saw significant drop over past several years. Lights are just a "shiny object" that some think will be a talisman to a problem created by matters out of their control. Making the games free on the internet, to me is one of the prime reasons attendance is down. Everyone can drink beer in their lounges, rooms, apartments with the game on in the background. We are becoming more anti-social. People in their cocoons tapping away on their electronic teddy bears....
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Re: LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Post by Richb-3 » Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:06 pm

Berwick vs Manheim Central at least twice. They were easily the most well attended PIAA playoff games to that date. I would think that 14,000 for Berwick-ACC is a far bigger number than any PIAA game at HersheyPark Stadium, or Mansion Park (Altoona). One would think Traffic, Parking, just finding the fricking Stadium would be far easier for playoff teams than ASD(that always seems to have at least one state semi) or BSD.

The walkway from lighted parking at Stabler to lighted Goodman Stadium would simply be on the back side of the Field Hockey light stanchions.

Lafayette uses lighted Fisher Field for Pard Football and Mens and Womens LC. Lehigh could (maybe still) use lighted Goodman Stadium for Hawkineer Fball and Steele FC Pro Soccer

I just don't understand why people are so adamantly opposed to even a single experiment.
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Re: LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Post by RichH » Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:18 pm

Rich
Every time I've brought it up I get hit with the enormous cost to do Stadium , paths and parking. A couple of experiments would be relatively inexpensive. Temp lights for Stadium is about 55-60,000. Other can be lit with mobile spots. Our local county carnival did it that way for yrs. I expect it still does. How the crowds turnout will determine whether permanent fixtures are a feasible idea.
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Re: LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Post by Richb-3 » Fri Jun 14, 2019 10:11 am

Rich H: My thought exactly, test it with a 7:00 PM game in September, and a 4:00 game in October, maybe two years in a row.
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Re: LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Post by News » Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:07 pm

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Re: LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Post by CHIP72 » Sat Jun 15, 2019 8:08 am

I think the big benefit of lights from a football perspective is that Lehigh could have home games that start in the 3-4 PM time frame and not have to worry about a lack of sunlight later in the game making the game unplayable. I don't think Lehigh would play many true "night" games, especially after September, if lights were installed at Goodman Stadium, but it would be beneficial to have the option IMO.

For whatever it is worth, this season Lafayette decided to NOT have home night games for the first time in many years; all of the Leopards' home games start at 12:30 PM or 3:30 PM. I personally think night games make more sense for Lafayette than Lehigh because of Fisher Stadium's setting relative to Goodman Stadium's setting and the artificial turf at Fisher Stadium. The change also sucks because it makes it much harder to do the Lehigh/Lafayette day-night doubleheader (Lehigh at 12:30 PM, Lafayette at 6 PM); I've done that doubleheader a handful of times. If one tries doing that doubleheader now (as I'll probably try to do this season on Saturday 9/28), you either have to leave the Lehigh game early and/or arrive at the Lafayette game late. Parking also becomes more of an issue on College Hill.
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Re: LFN: It's High Time Lehigh Football Got Murray Goodman Stadium some Lights

Post by Sundayamqb » Sat Jun 15, 2019 8:49 pm

The idea of Lehigh and Lafayette actually working together on their football schedules -- and maybe more -- makes a lot of sense.

Why not market 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. double-headers to the community? Convenient for recruiting.

Other sports could be like that, too ...

Do Moravian and Muhlenberg have lights on their football fields?
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