Carl Sussman writes:
 
>>In a way I almost kind of wish that no Boston team would have made it to
>>the final four this year, as the house would have been filled only with
>>solid hockey fans and not bandwagon jumpers. Now *that* would have been the
>>best way to judge if Boston is "hockeytown" or not.
>
>That's not necessary, I can tell you conclusively that Boston is not
>hockeytown.  I was at the Fleet last night for a Bruins game.  After one of
>the most impressive single-season turnarounds I've ever seen, the Bruins
>are headed to the playoffs.  You would think the Boston fans would be
>excited -- instead the place was dead and empty.  Now I'll grant that Bruin
>ticket prices are absurd (cheapest seats in the place were $29 -- even in
>New York you can get the cheap seats for under $20), but this was
>ridiculous.  (Of couerse, my perspective may have been a bit skewed -- I
>had to have been the only Rangers fan at a Bruins-Islanders game).
>
>Anyway, isn't it Detroit that calls itself "hockeytown"?
 
Please, if Boston is not a hockey town, where is there one - Albany,
Cincinnati, Denver, Providence?  Only on Hockey L could there be discussion
like this about a town which banged out the Fleet Center for three
consecutive games, setting NCAA attendance records in the process.
 
I may be provincial, but the newspaper coverage of this tournament far
exceeded what I have seen in any other town during the NCAA's.  Now
granted, BC being in the final had something to do with it but college
hockey consistently outdraws college basketball in this town year after
year.  It was nice to see the print media (television is hopeless) awake to
this fact.
 
As for the Bruins, the ticket price for a loge seat is, on average, $65
(compared to $40 for the NCAA final).  If I decide to go with my wife (who,
as we all know, is a serious fan), the night will cost nearly $200 (2
tickets, $15 to park, probably another $20 on concessions).  Who has that
kind of money, especially to see a watered down product go through the
motions at the end of the season?  You tell me, what is the better
entetainment value - $40 for the NCAA final or $65 for the Bruins?  BTW,
all those empty seats in the loge, they probably were all sold - to
corporations who can't give the tickets away.
 
Greg Ambrose, UNH '72
WE ARE PROUD OF OUR WILDCATS!
 
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