Wayne - You said "P.S. I think I'll scream the next time a sports
information "writer" refers
> to "notching a goal". Cut it out!"
You would, perhaps prefer, putting the biscuit in the basket?
On Apr 12, 2010, at 1:22 AM, Wayne Smith wrote:
> Ben and I had a fine time in Detroit ... much better than I
> thought, but far
> from perfect. In no special order ...
>
> - Detroit is certainly car friendly.
> - We didn't have a car. No shuttle; $50 cab ride to downtown from
> airport.
> - More bars and drunk young men and women than I've seen in one
> place.
> - Friendly people all over.
> - Baseball on our days off!
> - Impressive Renaissance Center, Detroit People Mover (elevated
> train
> loop downtown) and many other sites.
> - We enjoyed our stroll down the RiverWalk, more so before we
> were told
> by worker bees at Joe Louis Arena that they don't walk there
> anymore,
> fearing trouble. A friendly box office lady said she'd love to
> give us a
> tour, but couldn't that day. She gave us the numbers of two
> people that
> probably could later or the next day, and even dialed one for us
> to leave a
> message. Alas, her enthusiasm exceeded her colleague's, as
> there was no
> callback.
> - The wide range of weather from soggy to sunny and 40's to 60's
> had to
> have a few moments to please any taste.
> - I was surprised to see no city tax on the hotel bill, but (by
> memory)
> 6% state, 5% COBO, 2% convention bureau (I think), and 1%
> stadium tax rates
> were non-trivial.
> - (sorry this came out so negative ... we really did have a good
> time ...
> and people that went outside the city had a much wider range of
> sites and
> activities. Ben and I enjoyed our downtown wanderings).
> - While Charlie Shub had an aisle in from of him, site lines
> were not a
> problem for almost everyone else. We were a dozen rows back and
> it was
> fine. The temporary stands erected on the 50-yard line did not
> have
> sufficient loft for great ice view.
> - Had the place sold out quickly and the ice placed at the 50-
> yard line,
> it would be more like watching hockey on a 5" TV screen, but as
> it was,
> distance to the ice wasn't too bad. (No, I didn't try from the
> upper bowl,
> but for a football stadium, this was sufficient for an ice
> hockey national
> championship, IMHO.
> - The ice was better than Cincinnati, but just OK when compared
> with good
> hockey rinks. Ford Field temperature and air quality were
> excellent.
> - Distance to the ice was substantial for most seats, and the
> huge space
> above the ice made the place the most quiet of venues. Yes, I
> know this was
> one of, if not the most, lop-sided of tournaments wrt final
> scores, but each
> game had exciting moments and Ford Field absorbed the noise.
> - Fans should have some appreciation for the fact that about
> twice as
> many people attended than could have attended at Joe Louis
> Arena. I do.
> - A middle-aged Badger fan was fairly annoying Thursday, just a
> few seats
> beside me and couple of rows behind Garrett, but he appeared to
> sober as the
> games progressed.
> - Above fan had me cheering for BC early, but the bunch of avid,
> knowledgeable Wisconsin students behind me Saturday sent me back
> to my
> normal cheering good plays for both sides. Of course, Ben
> cheering for his
> namesake on the BC side, and BCs domination did make it look
> like I had a
> preference going in. ;-)
> - I very much liked the AT&T radio sold at the games. It was
> preset with
> audio from Westwood I (national broadcast) and each competing
> school
> broadcast. Sean Grande and Cap Rader were surprisingly good.
> - Too bad the Hobey Hat Trick autograph session wasn't in the FF
> brochures. Each of the finalists handled themselves very well ...
> completely focused and friendly to the fans that paraded by, all
> those
> strangers wanting a moment of their time. No doubt they all
> wish for more
> of those moments in their hockey futures!
> - The sound in the permanent seating was very good; the sound in
> the
> temporary stands was almost as good as at the Alfond at UMaine,
> which is to
> say ... horrid.
> - The skills show was semi-interesting. Fans filled the
> temporary stands
> for the Humanitarian Award, Hobie Baker Award, announcement of D-I
> All-Americans, and sled hockey demo. My biggest suggestion
> would be to
> instruct skills-show contestants in the next event before the
> focus of the
> arena is put on them.
> - The gal doing interviews with various people during breaks was
> excellent. Good idea .. well done.
> - Oh yes, entering Ford Field, we headed down the shortest line,
> to be
> told quickly that it was the "woman's line". How quaint, I
> thought. What
> an idiot, I next thought, as I realized at the line end was a
> woman doing
> the pat-down before stadium entry. Ben and I went down the very
> nice
> 250-pound gorilla line.
> - If the cab taking you back to the airport goes 85-95 the whole
> way, it
> really doesn't take long.
>
> Special thanks to all those folks that helped make this another
> enjoyable
> Frozen Four: to Garrett for arranging a successful Hockey-L dinner
> and to
> all those that attended, to Rick (please give my best regards to
> Chris), to
> Charlie, to Frank, to Tim and Gustaf, to the welcoming staff member
> that
> knows of "Pat's Pizza", to the gentleman from Millinocket, to an
> anonymous
> pair of Hobie committee members, to many others, and to all of you
> that
> showed interest in "my kid", I thank you!
>
> Cheers, Wayne (now back in civilization near/in the north woods)
>
> P.S. I think I'll scream the next time a sports information
> "writer" refers
> to "notching a goal". Cut it out!
> P.P.S. When done the above scream, I'll scream more each time an
> interviewer
> with too many dead brain cells brings her question with "How much"
> or "How
> important". Eeeeeek! ;-)
>
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