From what I have seen of the rinks around the CCHA the BGSU Ice Arena can
hold it's head up along with any in the league.  What ought to be noted
is that the complex is far more than just the home of the Falcon hockey
team.  Also housed inside the building is a very large Curling rink,
complete with a spectators lounge in the main lobby, and the Center Ice
club which overlooks the Curling rink and is used for a varity of
events.  Between that section of the building there is the main lobby, it
houses the BGSU sports hall of fame photoes (which includes the entire
1984 NCAA national championship team), near the main entrance there
stands the award cases.  George McPhee's Hobby Baker trophy (the schools
copy) and the NCAA trophys, and a section with all BGSU grads working as
coaches, staff, or actually playing for any team from the HS leval on
up.  On your left side as you enter the main entrance is the arena
itself.  It is laid out in a horse shoe shape.  At the end of the shoe
there is the Zamboni shop, and the skate shop.  the open end of the shoe
is stand up room for people to stand behind the goal tender.  It is also
the end of the ice where the Refs leave the ice for their private locker
rooms.  Typically between two or four of the BGSU police have to escort
them off the ice.  Inside the shoe there are the normal rest rooms,
coaches offices, Mascot dressing rooms, and on the north end the
emergency access for the ice, and two of the four concession stands.  The
northeast section is the entrace for the players, next to Section E,
which is where I sit. (all the better to heckle the other team)  The
locker rooms are on the East part of the building.  Also in this area is
a large figure skating rink for lessons and percision skating.  The whole
thing was completed in the late 1960s.  It was expanded to accomedate
5,000 people about 6 years ago, that is when the horse shoe was
completed.  It is a fairly modern place, comfortable, has few "bad" seats
in my view.  It was a purpose built facility designed to fill many needs
(skateing, curling, hockey, etc).  BGSU has several club hockey teams for
both men and women.  A full range of classes are held in the arena, by
the University.  I personally learned to skate there last year.  Curling,
figure skating, team skating, hockey, regular skating among other things
are offered by BGSU.  When classes, club teams, and Varsity groups aren't
there, and when there are no games, the main ice is open for public
skating, and is crowed on the weekends.  Little league hockey teams play
during the week, and High school teams play there after BGSU varsity
games are over.  We just added womens club hockey, so that is new.
 
There are the in house Curling leagues and such.  All in all the whole
place is busy 24 hours a day all year round.  It pays for itself even
without the Falcon games.
 
As for BGSU fans........
 
I myself am one to be at the gates at or before 5 pm on gamedays.  I pick
up dinner at the Quad across the road and eat and read before the gates
open at 6.  By then there are about 20 or 30 people there.  If it is OSU,
MSU, or Mich., you can count of crowds of about 50 nearly half an hour
before the gates open.  Some guy with an Ego problem gets his jolleys'
out of keeping people out of hte main lobby untill 6.  At 6 a guy who has
been around longer than anybody knows, and who runs the gates drops his
hand to signal the crowd and we walk/run to the gates.  Once in the door
it is a dead heat to the "glass" seats in the four courners of the
arena.  We pass the time untill players come out to practice about 30
minutes before game time.  The wildest people sit aginst the glass in
sections A, and E, E being the craziest.  We make up perversions of the
other teams names, etc etc.  When the score gets run up for or aginst us
we start chanting for the third string netminder to be sent in (presently
that is local BG boy Noel Crawfered)  When somebody from the other team
is called on a penelty as he aproaches the box we
go:"aaaaaaAAAAAAHHHHH-SSSEEEEEEYYYYAAA!"  peaking as he steps in.  As the
annoucer reads the opposing line-up he pauses between each name.  The
fans in the stands by then has their copies of the BG News held up in
front of them.  As he reads the name the crowd goes:"WHOES HE?" and then
answers itself with: "NOBODY!!" When the visiting coaches are read
everybody crumples the papers up and throws them every-which-way.  When
a visiting team regains full strength and the announcer reads: "*** is at
full strength" the crowd goes:"THATS DEBATEBLE!!"  When Brain Holzinger
gets a break-a-way, and he does every game, you can hear people yelling
"ZINGERS GONE!!!!" He is sooooo bloody fast.  Frankly you don't catch
this guy when he gets away, you basically have to try and trip him up, or
he can and does score on you.  Lately Section E will yell to section A
"HEY SECTION A, B-G' to which section A replys "S-U" and that repeats for
a while.  BG games are just a hell of a lot of fun to go to.  There is
huge community support (BG has only 38,000 residents including 17,500
students) and the games serve as a jumping off point for a night on the
town.  I am in a position to know that BG students are not generally farm
boys or lower middle class however.  Cleveland is biggest recruiting
area, followed by Franklin county which for those of you who don't know,
is home to Columbus, and OSU. These are not little towns.  Now we do have
a lot of people from smaller cities, and suburbs around Dayton, and
such.  But on the whole BGSU is a middle to upper middle class
University.  It is in a farm town, and it is home of the National Tractor
pull championships, but we are not a farm boy academy.  Hockey to most of
us comes as a suprise.  9 out of 10 people are actually suprised to hear
we play the likes of OSU, MSU, ND, U of M, and others in a sport.  More
over many Are taken back to hear we beat the *ra* out of the likes of
OSU, and ND.  People just don't come hear for hte sports, and that is the
truth.  We are good in many sports, among the best in a few, but people
come hear for a degree, they become sports fanatics shortly there after.
We don't feel bad losing to OSU, or MSU, or U of M, or anybody in
anything that much.  We generally make a respectable showing, and we know
we are going to a very good University. Maybe not as large as U of M, and
not as huge and imperialistic as OSU ("We are OSU, you will be
asimulated, resistence is futile"), but we know we are getting a first
rate education, and we buy any lines about "well I go to OSU, whats so
big about BGSU?"  We don't buy these lines becasue we know who we are,
where we are, why we are here, and we know what is great about this place.  We
 are a
confident buch, some interpret it as arogance, but it comes from our
knowing what we are about here at BGSU, and that we have a great deal of
reason to be proud of going here.  Most students won't say that in so
many words, but meeting as many alumni as I do in my activites here, I
think I have a fairly good idea of what they will feel and say.
 
Oh well if you read all this I hope it was both elighting, and
educational, and perhaps a little entertaining.  But in any case I hope
it gave you an idea of what is like going here, and what Falcon Hockey is
all about.  Write me if you are inclined and or have questions.
 
AY ZIGGY ZOOMBA!
Nathan W.L. Boyle
"The Fan."