At 2:31 PM -0500 3/22/98, Cheryl A. Morris wrote:
>On Sun, 22 Mar 1998, Luiz F. Valente wrote:
>
>> Mark, you seem to be speaking more as an RPI fan than as a college hockey
>> fan. I am convinced that most fans, players and coaches would much rather
>> go to Lake Placid than Albany. Lake Placid is both beautiful AND fun, the
>> atmosphere is great, and the townspeople are kind and hospitable.The
>> Tri-City area, on the other hand, is one of the most unappealing regions
>> in the Northeast.
>
>Actually, no.  I think Albany is also a better venue.  Lake Placid is a
>pain to get to, and tends to become home ice for Clarkson.  Yes, the Knick
>would be home ice for RPI, not that it would matter with their current
>record being 1-2 at the Knick.  And thanks for the show of support for our
>city, we'll remember that in 2001.
>***************************************************************************
 
I have to agree with Luiz.  While Placid is not geographically central,
it's close to being so, and is more than accessible to the teams with the
large travelling fan bases (Clarkson, Cornell, and Vermont).  (I make take
some heat for this remark, but I think that past experience has held this
statement to be based in nothing but truth and fact).  To hold the
tournament in Albany giving Union and RPI essentially home ice is a
terrible idea, when you have a great neutral venue.  Placid is a fantastic
town to hang around in, and the hockey is the only game in town which makes
the experience all the better.  I've been to Troy for this year's series
and to Albany for the regionals two years ago, and I can safely say,
there's nothing to do in town.  It's an extraordinarily boring place to
spend a weekend.  The ice surface is a concern at Placid, it does change
the game, but so be it.  I'm willing to live with that to avoid having to
spend my weekend in Albany and instead spend in one of the most beautiful
and pleasant places I've been.  You can argue about the Capital District's
fine points all you want, but there really isn't much to say for the area.
 
As far as Placid being home ice for Clarkson, it was more home ice for
Vermont the last two years (even though they didn't make it last year.)
Sure, Knight fans have a shorter trip, but if you're complaining about the
Albany-Placid trip, well, it's only 3 hours or so at most, which isn't that
much.
 
I am interested, though, does anybody what the attendance in Placid was
like for Friday and Saturday.  Given the schools there after Thursday's
game, I can't say I expect much of a crowd to have seen the games.
Especially since I heard that Princeton returned ALL of its ticket
allotment to the ECAC.  That is, their fans bought ZERO tickets from the
Princeton box office.  A shame, since they played so well.
 
So much for arguments about the 4-5 game teams being unable to advance and
win the tournament.
 
Question:  What does it say about the Western leagues bottom eschelons that
there wasn't a single western upset series?  (Or what does it say about the
Eastern ones that 5 of 9 series were upsets?)  In the spirit of earlier
arguments on the strength of the bottom of conferences I think it does say
something good about the top to bottom strength of the East vs. the same
factor in the West.
 
Larry Weintraub '98,
Cornell University
Let's Go BIG RED!!!!!
 
Quote of the Semester:
        "They wear their hearts on their sleeves here at Cornell...and also
their faces."
 
        -- TV Announcers at the Cornell-Colgate game,
           while the camera was in a close-up on my painted face.
 
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