On Monday, March 29, 2004, at 07:22 PM, Rick McAdoo wrote:
r.  This was one great
> playoff game to watch as a fan, and I'm sorry more folks didn't get a
> chance to see it.  (I contrast this to the OSU-Wisconsin game on
> Friday,
> which was like watching paint dry for someone without a rooting
> interest
> in the game.

I agree wholeheartedly.  The BC/Michigan game was the marquee match-up
of the weekend.  Both teams played at a high skill level, and frankly I
thought Michigan was going to end up on another run a la 1998 when they
weren't the best team, but were the best team in the tournament.  It
was such a treat to spend the  waning hours of a glorious Sunday
afternoon watching the game on MSG.  BTW does anyone know what the
injury was to Ben Eaves?  Was it serious?  Any carry-over to the Frozen
Four?  I also caught the Minnesota/UMD game earlier on MSG, as well as
the Michigan/UNH game on YES Saturday afternoon before the nightcap at
the Pepsi.  So I saw six regional games this weekend, which is
unparalleled in Albany (at least without a dish.)  I would like to say
"thank you" to ESPN for buying the regionals from the NC$$.   I hope
lots of people got a chance to watch hockey without the boorish
violence of the NHL.

Also, in this morning's T-U, NCAA committee representative Tim Dillon
indicated they were quite pleased with Albany, despite the low turn-out
(5223 Friday, 5614 Saturday.)  "Would we have liked to see more?  Yes,
we would, and I think we will over the next several years."  He goes on
to talk about the public needing to get used to the change from campus
arenas to regional sites.  Of course the East has always had regional
sites.  Apparently Albany wasn't much behind Colorado at 5128 and 6047
or the two nights, and Grand Rapids, a paltry 5325 on Friday night.  Of
course the attendance pales considerably when compared to the last
hosting job for the Pepsi in 2000, which drew an average of 8742 for
the two nights.  (Let's see--UNH, good for 1500, Cornell/Clarkson,
another 1500...)
Well I guess I am just a little disappointed that I didn't get to see
some of the (IMHO) high quality hockey at the other venues, instead of
the rather ordinary efforts at the Pepsi.  Congrats to Maine, you
deserved to win.

Finally, I believe this is the first time the Frozen Four has been
comprised of only two conferences (that is since the birth of the
CCHA).  Am I correct on this?
***************************************************************
Brian Morris                   RPI Engineers
[log in to unmask]  Would have put 5000 in the Pepsi