<"This was a true community effort, said Marinatto.  "Everything ran so
smoothly.  The only complaint that got back to me was the long lines for
the men's rooms between periods.">
 
Lindsay said the women's rooms lines were really short, which she couldn't
explain.
 
My complaint was parking problems and traffic on Thursday, and that there is
apparently no rule in Providence on posting prices for lots/garages.
 
I arrived in Providence at 1:05 on Thursday and sat in a long queue of 10
minutes duration up the Exit 22 ramp onto I-95.   All lots in the garages
adjacent to the arena were marked full.  Police officers aboard bicycles,
when I asked where available parking could be found, directed me in the
first case to a lot which was full, then another officer directed me to a
lot via a street which was closed by the same police.    I rode around
another half-hour, even going up to Federal Hill looking for a space, and
ended up in a lot costing $ 30 for both games, arriving at my seat just
after the playing of the Anthem.
 
Thursday business trade certainly filled spaces which became available on
Saturday.  Why couldn't available parking options have been communicated so
that motorists would know ?   Did they consider satellite lots and a bus
shuttle ?
There were shuttles operating; the only ones as I could see were from strip
joints.
 
I hate to say it, but as I recall Albany won't be any better for parking,
especially for Thursday games, with the state workers' cars filling that
state's capital city also.   I now know how some of you felt with regard to
the FleeceCenter in 1998.
 
And, I disagree that the Anaheim venue made you feel unwelcome.
 
Intimate neighborhood = lousy parking, usually.   Lots of parking = sterile
atmosphere.
 
Fortunately, the high caliber of the games Thursday, and the HOCKEY-L
dinner made me forget my driving adventures.
 
 
 
 
Dan Doucette
 
Bill Gates should be sentenced to using a Macintosh
for the rest of his natural life.
 
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