He may not realize it, but Director of Athletics Rich McDuffie is making himself look like a game show host these days.

He’s got the cash to spend the money on bling-bling clothes like Regis Philbin. Incidentally the term bling-bling can be found in the newest edition of the Webster’s dictionary – no doubt his picture is next to it.

But McDuffie isn’t playing “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” He knows the answer to that question already – the athletic department.

He’s more the Monty Hall type.

Behind door No. 1 is Field Turf, door No. 2 is Astro Play and door No. 3 holds another artificial surface to be named later.

The question of whether Eastern will have artificial surface at O’Brien Stadium in the next couple of years, if not by next fall, isn’t relevant. The question is, what kind of turf will it be?

McDuffie gets what he wants at Eastern and he wants new turf at O’Brien Stadium. For those who have forgotten McDuffie’s granted wish list, here’s a recap.

He wanted the football team to take another trip to Hawaii and travel to a quality Division I-A team – it did in back-to-back weeks.

Last year he wanted the Apportionment Board to pitch in money so students could have free playoff tickets – he got that too.

McDuffie wanted to expand the athletic department’s fund raising drive – he did that too in a big way.

He may have been looking for a raise when he threw his hat in at Ball State, and later withdrew, likely because he received word that the job wouldn’t be his. So Eastern gave him a raise instead, at a time when there likely isn’t enough money in the kitty for anyone else to get a raise.

His wish list hit a skid mark last week when the Apportionment Board said no to offering further funds to the athletic department.

But that’s no problem.

You can almost hear McDuffie yelling like Rod Roddey to potential fund donors, “Come on down! You’re the next contestant on fund the field!”

Break out the thermometer with the dollar amounts on the one side, now because it’s only a matter of time before McDuffie announces a fund drive to put turf down on the field.

He wants it, the football players want it, head coach Bob Spoo is on board, and how hard could it possibly be to get some rich alumni on the bandwagon?

But before McDuffie considers playing $750,000 pyramid with all the money he can amass from a state grant and fundraisers, he should take a step back and explore other options.

Couldn’t that money go somewhere else in the athletic department?

Artificial turf doesn’t solve everyone’s problems.

The soccer teams can practice on it, the band can practice on it, if they were so inclined, and the cross country team could run around on it.

But where does that leave the wrestling team, volleyball, basketball and swimming teams? Letting the football team reap all the benefits from a prospering bank statement wouldn’t be right.

The price is wrong Rich – and you know it.