Pam Sweeney writes:
> In Saturday's St. Paul Pioneer Press it said that an NCAA committee was
> visiting St. Paul inspecting Aldrich Arena as a possible site for
> a 1993 Div III Final Four.  They're considering switching to a neutral-site
> format for the final rounds of the championship.
 
Excuse me while I deposit my dinner in the nearest trash can...
 
Division III hockey, as with many other div. III sports IMHO, is strictly
a local sport.  I can't imagine a lot of people in St. Paul going to, say,
a Stevens Point (well, they seem to be in every year :-) vs. Elmira game
and actually caring who wins.  I also can't imagine a lot of fans from
New York or Massachusetts making the trip to Minnesota.
 
I think the NCAA would be doing Div. III fans a real disservice moving the
Div. III Final Four to any neutral site.
 
This new development contradicts the NCAA's policy from a couple of years
back.  Back in 1989 the finals were here at RIT.  Usually, the finals are
held at the home rink of the higher seed (Stevens Point was #1 and RIT
was #2).  The NCAA assigned the finals to the Ritter Arena because it
is bigger than Stevens Point's building.  Stevens Point objected to
this -- they said that they could easily rent a much bigger arena (5,000
seat?) off campus.  The NCAA denied their request because the NCAA
wanted to keep the games _at_an_on-campus_site_.
 
I wonder what is so different now.
 
Rob