>Here are my questions:
>1) How do they determine the first round matchups?
 
I am not sure about the first 6 Beanpots, but begining with the 7th in 1959
they went into a rotating schedule, were each team would play each other in
the first round every three years.  BU play NU, then BC, then Harvard, and
back to NU.  So last year BU played Harvard, this year they played NU, and
next year they play BC.
 
>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?
 
I am a BU fan, but I only know of Gerald Phelan as a BC football player (of
course, Doug Flute, who played football for BC, now playes on BC's alumni
hockey team!)
.
>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?
 
Yes, there are many empty seats during the night.  Fans are arriving late
(especially fans for the two teams in the late game) and leaving early
(especially fans of the two teams in the early game).  Late in the third
period of the first game is when the Garden is at its fullest, and even then
not everyone is there and in there seat.  Boston college hockey is a *very*
polarized and most fans only like to watch and cheer for their school, not
the other Boston schools.
 
Sean Pickett
Go BU Terriers, 1994 Hockey East Champions!
BU Hockey Page:  http://www.tiac.net/users/spickett/hockey.html
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