Charlie Shub posted the response he received from PC Asst AD Gregg
Burke on the subject of the Hobey presentation being included in the
Fan Fair, which will cost $6 ($5 with a coupon) to attend.  The
response included:
 
>Dear Mr. Shub:
>
>As presenting the Hobey Baker Award at FanFair was my idea, I thought
>I'd explain.
>
>The presentation has __never__ (never is underlined) been open to the
>public.  There have been times a few people have waited outside the
>room where it was presented.  Now, you can see it live.
 
I have only attended two Hobey presentations, in 1993 and 1994.  Both
times, I was not in any official capacity.  I tend to take a break
once the HE tourney has ended so I can enjoy the NC$$ games a little
better.
 
In 1993 in Milwaukee, when Paul Kariya of Maine won, we arrived to
find the room jam-packed with perhaps a thousand Maine fans.  I seem
to recall that the site of the presentation may have been given in the
paper.  And, in the hotel lobby was a sign directing us to the
room...on the sign was written, "Open to the Public."  I also asked a
woman working for the hotel (Hilton?) if the presentation was open to
the public, and she said yes.
 
Last year in St Paul, I don't recall how we found out where it was,
but we did.  There were not nearly as many people there to see Chris
Marinucci of UMD receive the award.  I do not recall seeing a sign
anywhere that said where the presentation was being held or if it was
open to the public or not.
 
Whether the public has ever been officially welcomed with open arms to
the ceremony or not, they have apparently been treated as if they were
and they treated it as if they were.
 
The problem is that it isn't right to claim that things are suddenly
different this year, and then charge folks for the right to see the
presentation as part of another event that people may not be
interested in.  If the idea is to charge for admission to the
ceremony, then that should be done up front.  It isn't unusual for
dinners to be held for such events that would be much more expensive
anyway.  But people should be allowed to choose whether they want to
pay for the Fan Fair based on whether they actually want to attend it.
They should not be forced to pay to attend it if all they want to do
is to see the Hobey presentation.  The Fan Fair may be a good thing,
but then it should stand on its own merits.
 
The end result is that people feel they are being told, "If you want
to see the presentation, then you'll have to pay to support our
extraneous event."  I don't think this is such a good thing for PC and
the Decathlon Club to do.
 
PC has done a superb job of hosting NC$$ hockey events in the past,
like the regionals in 1992, and I don't expect this to be any
different.  But I would hate to see this ruin people's impressions of
the school and the weekend.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93