Bob CollinsWe kept looking for clues in the Pioneer Press story that Gov. Mark Dayton was pulling a joke on reporter David Montgomery about one of his goals for the coming legislative session.
“They talk about the concern about attendance at the (University of Minnesota) Gopher games — they start them at 11 o’clock in the morning,” Dayton said. “I’m going to propose that we pass a law that no (Division I FBS) football game in Minnesota can start before noon.”
Go on..
“If you want to tailgate, you have to be there by 9 a.m.,” Dayton said. “Most students I don’t think are awake at 9 a.m.”
Perhaps they got their “tailgating” on the night before.
“(When) I grew up and went to Gopher games, they started at 1 or 1:30 … and you knew that for the whole season, so you blocked out those days,” Dayton said. “Now, it’s about, ‘What time does TV want to put us on?’ It’s all driven by television and the dollars involved there.”
Because college football is a business? (See today’s New York Times story).
“I’ve wanted to do this for 10 years,” he said. “I got talked out of it every year I was a (U.S.) senator, then I got talked out of it when I was having to face re-election eventually.”
You were going to make this a federal law?
The University of Minnesota declined comment.
Related: Education remains a top priority for Dayton (Star Tribune).
