>I find the concept of a West Regional atthe Pepsi Center in Denver quite
>amusing.  I happen to really like one of the Denver sports columnists
>(Bob Kravitz of the Rocky Mountain News) a lot, so I takea look at the RMN
>sports page most days.  The college hockey coverage appears to be limited to a
>half-column recap of a previous day's game.  That's it.  It's not even
>written by an RMN writer; it appears to be a special addition by one of the
>locals, if it's an away game (the recaps of the DU-UMD series were by John
>Gilbert). This is a city where a 18,000 seat arena is going to sign up  for a
>college hockey event without knowing who the teams are going to be?
 
Not that this applies nor is the same situation, but Omaha's college
baseball coverage for 95% of the season absolutly sucks and is
non-exsistant. You could probably find scores and maybe some local team news
and that's about it. But then the tournament starts and you'll see it expand
to a half page covering the regionals. Then College World Series week
approaches, and by the time it starts, you get 4 pages of coverage and
20,000+ seats filled, with 25,000 (over 100% capacity) in the Blatt for the
final.
 
Obviously its different circumstances, Omaha has had the College World
Series  for 50 years and its become a tradition while Denver would get a
hockey regional once every couple of years. But don't base a city's response
on its newspaper coverage.
 
>For better or for worse, West Regionals are stuck in campus venues.
>Van Andel might be an exception, but I bet that's it.  And Iemphasize "might",
>since it hasn't looked like the one trip there was so wildly successful
that >the NCAA is falling over itself to have it there again.  Campus sites
are the >only places that are going to be willing to take the risk of
hosting a >regional,and then only with the assurance that local teams will
be seeded >there.
 
I guarantee you, if Omaha hosted a college hockey regional, it would be
filled to capacity whether UNO was there or not. I don't care if not a
single person from out of town attended, the local fans would pack the place.
 
>The sub-regionals at neutral venues idea is a pipe dream.  Forget it.
>No matter how many teams the tournament is made up of, the format is going
>to have to rely on campus sites for the western games.
 
I'd say Omaha, Minneapolis, Detroit, maybe Columbus, maybe Denver, maybe
Milwaukee/Madison could all host regionals with some success regardless of
the teams involved.
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      Ben Flickinger
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E-Mail:    [log in to unmask]
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(Stanley Cup Champion) Detroit Red Wings Fan for Life
Proud resident of Bugaha(Omaha)-Home of the 1st Jim Rome World Tour Stop.
U!N!0! U!N!O!
Everyone can have a bad century or two. Cubbies all the way in 1999.
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QOTW: "The corporate jewels have been shattered!" - Jerry "The King" Lawler
- WWF Royal Rumble '99.
 
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