Eeyore you are dead wrong.  Yes, hockey is dying in the city schools just
like most sports (other than basketball) are dying in the city schools.
But, to say that Edina, for example, doesn't support high school hockey is
crazy.  Go to one of the Edina games.  They are well attended (and full of
old Edina players) although perhaps like all HS events not nearly as well
attended as before TV inundated us with 8 basketball games each weekend day.
(My old Illinois HS used to fill a 6,000 seat arena for HS basketball on
weekends, but no more). And actually a lot of people read the Edina
Sun-Current if for no other reason than to see their kids or friends kids
names in the paper.
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eeyore [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, April 19, 1999 8:45 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: All Minn hockey
>
> Satow, Clay wrote:
>
> > I have a different impression of Minnesota.  Since my impression has
> been
> > formed from a distance, it may be all wrong, and I'd appreciate feedback
> > from Minnesotans.  In Minnesota, I have the feeling that the strongest
> > programs are the public schools.  So there's a much closer link between
> the
> > community and the school hockey teams.  The hockey team is an important
> part
> > of the local culture.  The communities, not just the schools, think of
> "our"
> > hockey team.  I think an interesting parallel may be with Indiana and
> > basketball, as exemplified in the movie "Hoosiers."
>
> I'd have to say, yes and no.  When hockey was dominated by the urban and
> rural
> schools, I think this was very much the case.  It still is in the rural
> ones;
> hockey is dying in most of the Mpls/St Paul high schools.  The suburban
> Twin
> Cities schools have increasingly come to be the major powers, and like
> suburbs
> everywhere, they tend to have less community feeling in general.  My
> impression
> is that this has been more true in Minnesota, probably because it doesn't
> have
> many suburbs that are long-standing towns that have some of their old
> character
> in the way that Arlington is in Boston.  If anyone can actually tell the
> difference between Minnetonka, Edina or Apple Valley, I'd be pretty
> surprised.
> I doubt that any of these "towns" has its own paper that's read by more
> than 25
> people.  In the few cases where there is a older suburb where they play
> hockey
> (South St. Paul is the only one that comes to mind), there is quite a bit
> of
> community loyalty.
>
> > I think that if there is only one "our" university, there is pressure on
> the
> > in-state heroes to go to that university, and for that university to
> recruit
> > from "our" high schools.  In Minnesota there is -- I think some would
> argue
> > was --  one dominant "our" university.
>
> Based strictly on size, there is still one dominant university in
> Minnesota;
> UMTC is almost an order of magnitude bigger than any other campus
> (measured by
> number of students) in the state.  It still gets far more state-wide media
> coverage than any of the others and, given the general population
> distribution,
> is probably also the closest university for most of the population.  I
> suspect
> that the "U" will always be able to get a disproportionate share of the
> in-state
> players that it wants.  Whether that's enough to win with these days is a
> different question.
>
> J. Michael Neal
>
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