It was formally announced on Tuesday that the Houston Cougars football team will play three of its games this year on Thursdays. This will produce the predictable, and understandable series of complaints from fans who like the tradition of Saturday football, not having to wake up for work the day after a game, etc.
I won't argue that. But if you look a little closer, there are silver linings to the moves.
Game at UTEP, moved from Saturday, 10/1 to Thursday, 9/29 -- But it's okay, because you weren't making the road trip to El Paso, anyway. Not if you're smart. It's the farthest road game of the year, there's nothing to do in El Paso, their fans aren't always the most hospitable (the fine folks over at Miner Rush excepted), etc. If there was a road game to skip, this would be it. It's also worth noting that this game comes the week after Houston hosts Georgia State, and the week after UTEP travels to South Florida. So the Miners will be coming off maybe their toughest game of the year, and Houston will be coming off of a glorified bye week, so it seems like the Cougars should be the more rested of the two teams dealing with a shortened week.
Game vs Rice, moved from Saturday, 10/29 to Thursday, 10/27 -- But it's okay, because maybe on a Thursday evening, with no other college football games to compete against, the battle for the Bayou Bucket will get all of the attention that it deserves from the city of Houston. There are lots of casual college fans in the city who would probably watch Big XII or SEC football on Saturdays, but with the home teams facing off as the only game on, people may actually tune in.
Game at Tulane, moved from Saturday, 11/12 to Thursday, 11/10 -- But it's okay, because the Cougars should be able to beat the Green Wave with the metaphorical arm tied behind the back, so a shortened week really shouldn't be that much of a concern. Besides, this allows you to take a long weekend, watch the game on Thursday, and then go get trashed on Bourbon Street on Friday, as opposed to drinking heavily the Friday night before the game, and dealing with hangover symptoms during the game.