We realize that University of New Hampshire officials probably thought they were raising a selling point when they announced that putting lights in at Cowell Stadium would allow them to host high school championship games in outdoor sports, but as soon as they announced it we could hear many coaches around the state saying, “Don’t do us any favors.”

We hope the NHIAA gets that message, too and tries to keep championships as close to the I-93 corridor as possible.

The Seacoast is a lovely area and all, but except for a small slice of the state and the people who already live there, it bears the distinction of being particularly inaccessible.

That’s especially true for those who have to take a school bus from the Monadnock Region, the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Region, the North Country and most of the Lakes Region. It’s not an especially great ride from the Merrimack Valley, either, come to think of it.

Putting in lights at Cowell might allow UNH football to host NCAA playoff games, but there’s no reason most of the rest of the state should have to suffer for that.

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