MSU shows off visitors locker room in welcoming Iowa
Michigan and head coach Jim Harbaugh weren’t happy with Purdue’s visitors locker room last Saturday, from a lack of air conditioning to the availability of medical equipment.
Iowa figures to have no such issue Saturday in East Lansing.
A tweet from an account belonging to the Michigan State football equipment room on Wednesday offers a welcome to the Hawkeyes, complete with photos of a spacious locker room, training room, and an X-ray machine.
That last item was a source of frustration for Harbaugh following the Wolverines’ visit to West Lafayette. Injured Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight had to be transported by van to a student health building to undergo an X-ray after what Harbaugh on Monday called an “egregious” late hit that he believes should have been ruled targeting.
Harbaugh also said his team endured sweltering conditions in a cramped locker room that did not have air conditioning on a day in which outside temperatures were in the 90s.
“Gamesmanship should cease at the line of health and safety for the players,” Harbaugh said. “It’s become apparent after going around to all the visiting schools in the last couple of years that a conscious effort of gamesmanship that is unsportsmanlike when you have locker rooms that are too small, that are not heated or cooled properly, in this case, there’s no air conditioning. Such a tight, cramped environment where you have to open the doors to get some kind of ventilation going in a very small area. People are walking by, they’re watching you dress. The number of urinals or bathrooms for the players and staff, I think there were two. There was not even a private door around it.”
Harbaugh on Tuesday said Big Ten athletic directors will be discussing the quality of visiting team accommodations next month.
Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm said visitor locker rooms are never high-end.
“I know a lot of the locker rooms across the country, it’s not like you’re going to the Marriott hotel,” he said. “They’re normal locker rooms and definitely don’t have all the frills that you’d love to have, but it’s a visiting locker room and you take it for what it’s worth and you deal with it. That’s kind of my experience in visiting locker rooms. I haven’t been in a whole lot of collegiate visiting locker rooms that are extremely nice and comfortable for the visiting team.”
The Boilermakers' first-year head coach apparently hasn't been to Spartan Stadium yet, though they'll meet in East Lansing next season. Michigan State and Iowa, meanwhile, square off at 4 p.m. Saturday.