Regarding the discussion of changing the schedule from Thursday/Saturday 
different days... NO, NO, NO! Sorry, was I yelling when I said that? I 
think it is a terrible idea to mess with the days. It works just great the 
way it is. And regardless of which days of the week are scheduled, the 
duration of the event will be the same, so what can be gained? Unless they 
tried to compress the event and eliminated the day off (when would they 
hold the all importtant Skills Challenge?), it will still require the same 
number of days to run the event. The Championship Game needs to be in prime 
time, so the NCAA will never schedule it earlier, even if it fell on a 
Sunday. Besides, unless the game started before noon, those flying home 
couldn't book a flight before 5 or 6pm anyway (can you say triple overtime) 
and even that wouldn't be possible unless you had a short/direct flight.

As it works now, most people (at the latest) have to travel on the 
Wednesday preceding the games (except on occasions when the local team is 
in the FF and many people are a short drive away). So, currently, you 
likely take three days vacation (two if you arrive late Wednesday) and you 
are home on Sunday. If the games are on Friday-Sunday, people who have to 
travel any distance will need to arrive on Thursday and depart on Monday. 
And Monday morning flights are vastly more crowded with business travelers 
(believe me, I'm one of them) and are often more expensive. Shift by one 
more day if the games are on Saturday-Monday (now you get the less crowded 
Tuesday morning flights, but end up competing for the ALWAYS crowded Friday 
flights - see note above).

Another great benefit to the current schedule... a day off between games on 
a weekday! This year our group was able to get in on the Harley Davidson 
Factory Tour. In the past we have done the Air Force Museum, Niagara Falls, 
wine tastings, brewery tours, etc. Granted, if the day off moves to 
Saturday, these type of activities would still be possible, but the places 
would be a lot more crowded with the locals. One of the amazing things 
about this event is how many times my group has traveled quite a distance 
on that Friday off for a tourist activity and run into bunches of 
non-Skills-Challenge-attending (I know it's a new event this year) hockey 
fans. Everyone is enjoying a day off in a usually less than packed tourist 
site. Move the day off to Sunday and some of these places are not even an 
option. Worse yet, the Sunday of the FF weekend is often Palm Sunday or 
Easter. There have been Frozen Fours that have ended the day before Easter. 
I just don't think the NCAA would ever schedule a game on Easter Sunday, or 
straddle the games over Easter Sunday. Anyone know if this has ever 
occurred with the UnFrozen Four?

Sorry to ramble, I just don't think there is any justification for a change.

Go Saints! (OK, that was for Sara who was kind enough to sell her tickets 
to a couple members of my group. Thanks Again! It's so much nicer buying 
tickets from a Hockey-L-er at face value instead of competing in the 
ridiculous bidding wars on ebay.)

Ten years attending the Frozen Four with my group, and counting...

Dale Thomas


>------------------------------
>
>Date:    Sat, 8 Apr 2006 12:22:37 +0300
>From:    Henry <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: you can influence the committee
>
>Charlie Shub <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> ...whether hockey-l folk would like a
>> change to a saturday/monday format.
>
>You mean, as opposed to the current Thursday/Saturday?
>
>Perhaps I'm missing something, but if a change is being considered it
>seems to me that the most sensible timetable for the fans would be
>Friday/Sunday!
>
>cheers,
>
>Henry
>
>------------------------------