On Mon, 6 Feb 1995, David Weinberg wrote:
 
> Just finished watching the BC_Harvard game. Not the greatest game I've
> ever seen, but very entertaining.
>
> Here are my questions:
> 1) How do they determine the first round matchups?
> 2) Between the 2nd and 3rd periods ESPN2 interviewed Gerald Phelan of BC
> football fame.  Does he have any connection to BC hockey or was ESPN just
> looking for a famous alumni?
> 3) Being from Michigan I've always heard great things about the Beanpot
> and how hard it is to get tickets but during the BC game there seemed to
> be an awful lot of empty seats and when ESPN showed highlights of the
> first game there also appeared to be a lot of empty seats. Was it the
> Camera angles or were there a lot of empty seats?
>
> David
>
I'll answer questions 1 and 3 although Jack Parker alluded to the first
in an interview on the ESPN2 telecast.  The first round matchups are
predetermined *forever* in a round robin rotation, so one can figure out
each year who the opponent will be.  The tournament results and team
records are not used.  There is no attempt at seeding.
 
As the announcers tried to explain, the Beanpot is an alumni gathering
and the major social event of the year.  The Beanpot semis are the
hardest ticket to obtain in Boston because no one gives them up, thus
unlike the Stanley Cup, World Series, etc. there are few if any
scalpers.  However, at the beginning of the first game, which starts at
6PM, even some BU and NU people from out of town may not have yet
arrived.  If you have ever experienced a Boston rush hour, or parking
around North Station, you would understand why.  This is a Monday game,
not a weekend, and some unfortunate souls cannot get time off from work.
OTOH, BC and Harvard people often choose to party in restaurants and
catch the third period of the first game.  Harvard people are notorious
for being late. (No flames, I speak from experience and my graduate
degree is from Harvard.)  Thus the only time all the seats are filled is
the third period of the first game and the first period of the second
game, after which the first game victors feel like going somewhere to
party and the first game losers skulk home.
 
Incidentally, I do not speak for my own actions.  I attended 21 straight
Beanpot tournaments and did not even leave in 1978.  We had an unexpected
houseguest that year for the better part of a week.
 
Hope this clarifies issues.  I would not give back BU's three national
titles, but the NC$$'s don't have half the atmosphere of the Beanpot.
 
Arthur Berman  [log in to unmask]
GO BU!!!