Today's Press Herald has an interesting story on a possible replacement for
the Cumberland County Civic Center.  Link is:

http://www.pressherald.com/news/local/030522civic.shtml

Suppose the extra tax might also fund the Bangor complex I mentioned in an
earlier post this week ?

How could Maine support two new venues of roughly the same size ?

As to a potential regional hockey bid, would not Portland be a better fit
for travelers than Bangor, and why only 8,500 seats instead of trying to
match the 10,019 capacity of the Verizon in Manchester ?

I would rather pay my Dos Amigos mexican food tax for the extra seating
capacity (and expense) in Portland than in Bangor, especially if one goal
was to secure several NC$$ bids.  Incrementally, the cost of the extra
1,500 seats or so is not so large as the cost of building the
infrastructure in the first place.

Please don't compare the East with the West either...Maine's competition
for one of the two East regionals in hockey is now at the level of arenas
whose capacities are ALL over 10,000 seats.  It's seat inflation, much like
for the Frozen Four, which will never travel to smaller venues the likes of
Lake Placid (or even Providence) any more.  NC$$ Squeakball finals are only
in domes now, for that matter.

I do NOT enjoy the prospect of Maine being sent to a regional in
Manchester, nor the advantage conferred upon of U of No Hardware being host
to anyone else there next year (but why not let them win a regional, they
can't do much when they reach the Last Four under Umile...)

Dan Doucette (one of the thirty percent)