On Wed, 9 Feb 2000, Satow, Clay wrote:
 
> Charlie Shub wrote:
>
> > below are matrices showing approximate distances between schools in
> > each of the leagues.
> >
> Erik Biever wrote:
>
> Sample travel distances and times
> (information drawn from www.mapquest.com):
>
> Erik, and Charlie, those are interesting figures, but there's got to be more
> to it than that.  For example, there were no Boston teams in the Eastern
> Regionals last year, so the Boston to Worcester number wasn't relevant last
> year.
>
> On the first day of the Eastern Regionals last year, the closest team
> playing was Maine, which (using MapQuest for consistency) is a shade over 5
> hours away.  The other three teams were Denver, Ohio State, and Michigan,
> all pretty distant.  The announced attendance was 8509.
>
> On the first day of the Western Regionals last year, the closest team
> playing was Northern Michigan, about 7 hrs. 15 minutes drive.  The other
> three teams were Boston College, St. Lawrence, and Colorado College, all
> pretty distant.  The announced attendance was 2414.  So for the extra
> difference of a two hour drive for one team, there was a difference of about
> 6000 people.
 
I think the distances matter, but not in the way that has been suggested.
Going to a Regional (and certainly a Frozen Four) is a decision typically
made long in advance. First, assume that a school's core of fans lives in
(or is relatively close to) the school. What the distances tell us is that
if you are an eastern fan, the Regionals are almost certainly going to be
closer to you than if you are a western fan. This makes it more likely that
you will go, regardless of the teams involved. This also means that, even
though Boston was not represented in the first day of the East Regionals,
that there were probably many Bostonians who had bought tickets, in
anticipation of seeing a Boston team (I'm sure there were some annoyed BC
fans). I'm not sure how much the participating teams matter nowadays in the
East. This was made especially true last year because the Frozen Four
wasn't within reach. This year, I am inclined to wonder if some eastern
fans won't give the Regionals a miss in favour of the Frozen Four (I
suspect this is part of the reason the Knickerbocker Arena* offered the
two-tournament package).
 
In the West, it is a different story. If you are a western fan, the
Regionals are almost certainly farther away. Minneapolis to Grand Rapids is
estimated to be an 10-hour drive, and Minneapolis is relatively central in
WCHA terms. (It also involves a drive through Chicago, which is not to be
attempted by the faint of heart. :-) ) It is less likely that someone will
drive that far just to see the Regionals, regardless of the teams. Thus the
participating team matters in the west.
 
That means, given the one-regional system, that we can effectively
eliminate most of one conference's fan base. That leaves the regionals with
having to draw from the remaining conference's base, which is also likely
to be spread out. I believe that two western regionals will work as well as
the one does now.
 
> Of course there's other factors involved, but that difference seems pretty
> extreme to me.  The Maine fans are an unusually devoted bunch.  Another
> possibility is that Michigan fan base it pretty devoted, and even seems to
> have a Boston area presence.  But I still find it hard to explain the 6000
> difference.  What do you think?
 
Aside from what I mentioned, I think the fact that you had two Big 1(1)0
schools there helped. Large schools have large numbers of alumni, helping
the East fill up whatever unsold seats there were. In the west, CC and SLU
have smaller alumni bases to draw from, are not within reasonable striking
distance.
 
See you later,
John
 
*-Completely unrelated question: When it was called the Knickerbocker
Arena, was there a smaller, crappier arena in Schenectady or Troy named the
Nets Arena? And if so, did it have to change its name to the RC Cola Arena?
 
--
 John Edwards - Carleton (Ont) '96, Manitoba '00 - [log in to unmask]
                  "You're telling me the fun's over?
      Man! I'm still waiting for the fun to start." - Brad Hamilton
The opinions expressed are mine alone, because everybody else says I'm weird.
 
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