Michigan’s locker room at Purdue had no air conditioning

The Michigan Wolverines football team didn’t only have to battle the Purdue Boilermakers on the road, they had to battle the elements as well, on and off the field. Yesterday featured sweltering heat in West Lafayette, Indiana with temperatures over 90 degrees and loads of humidity to go along with it.

It’s 2017, and most facilities across the country, be it residential homes or athletic complexes, have air conditioning. That wasn’t the case for the away locker room at Ross-Ade Stadium.

Michigan’s starting players had to go and sit in the air conditioned team bus to get out of the heat. That was the only possible way they could escape the heat.

The news of no AC dominated the pre-game chatter in the press-box. It sounded awful to me, but then I was able to experience it myself after the game was over. Awful it was.

The locker room and visiting team press-conference area is the equivalent of a big utility shed, from the outside it even looks like one. In the short time I was in there, sweat was coming out of my pores quickly in an almost profuse manner. The small building was stuffy to say the least. When factoring this in, it makes Michigan’s performance even more impressive.

Purdue is a fine institution, but is there a cohesive plan here? Has it been the norm for years to gain a competitive advantage by giving the opposing team a bad facility, and no air conditioning? No team, nor person who is a guest at a stadium should have to endure a negative experience that can be fixed with an easy solution.

If it was 1947, this issue would be acceptable, but it’s 2017. Invest in some air conditioning, Purdue. You can afford it.