‘Friday Night Tailgate’ comes to annual Hoosier Hysteria

Big Ten Network anchor Mike Hall said as he travels to Big Ten schools each week, he feels like he’s reliving his time at the University of Missouri.

This week he’s coming to IU.   

“Friday Night Tailgate,” which airs at 11 p.m. Fridays, will be at IU on Friday in the show’s effort to visit all Big Ten Conference campuses. The show will film in Assembly Hall during Hoosier Hysteria, and though it is primarily a football show, Hall said it is not a traditional sports show.

“It’s not an X’s and O’s show,” Hall said. “It is about the bigger picture of campus life.”

The show features activities regular students would not normally see on a sports show. One of the most popular segments, “The Teammate Game,” is where two players from the school’s football team are paired up and asked questions about each other. IU’s episode will feature football players Matt Mayberry and Jammie Kirlew, and they will be tested on how much they know about their teammate. The show’s producer, Bob Schmelzle, said the show is trying to fill a void of college football Friday nights.

“All week they break down the X’s and O’s,” he said. “We wanted to give college football a lighthearted approach.”

The show has an emphasis on humor, and much of what is said by correspondents is ad-libbed. The show uses this content to market itself more toward a younger crowd, mainly college students.

“Our two correspondents are ex-comedians, and we normally let them have fun with it,” Hall said. “It is definitely a show students will like more than parents.”

The show will highlight some of the interesting and one-of-a-kind features on campus including the bowling alley at the Indiana Memorial Union and one of Andy Hollinden’s rock history classes, said Janel Blanchard, the coordinator for communications and university relations for the Big Ten Network.

“‘Friday Night Tailgate’ is a way to spotlight some of the less orthodox things schools have,” she said. “We look for things that are specific to certain campuses.”

Hall said the show was one of the original ideas the network had when it was started in 2007. Hall, the winner of the inaugural season of ESPN Dream Job in 2004, said he left the “dream job” for the Big Ten because of the stress ESPN brought.

“I loved my time at ESPN, and it was a crash course for the business,” he said. “But after seeing what it had done to other people I was afraid of getting burned out.”