>As opposed to hockey, lacrosse is a very regional sport in Canada.
Useless trivia - lacrosse, not hockey, has always been the national sport of
Canada, athough I think I remember reading recently that hockey as recently
been added as a "co-national" sport or something like that.
I think one area where college hockey can learn a lot fron lacrosse is the way
they handle their national tournament. All three NCAA divisions hold their
championships at the same location last weekend. The D-I semis were held on
Saturday, the D-III and D-II championship games held on Sunday, and then the
D-I title game on Monday (Memoria Day). There were 12,000 people at the D-III
game and something like 17,000 at the D-I game. The current on-campus system
used by D-II and D-III college hockey only allows around 2,000-3,000 people at
the most to see the D-II and D-III finals. There have been less than 1,000 at
some recent championship games, especially when the host school loses in the
semis. You also have the problem of having the finals site selected just 5
days before the games, limiting travel plans.
I've heard the argument that people attending the D-I championships wouldn't
spend part of the off-day (Friday) to see the D-III and D-II games. I don't
think lacrosse fans are much different, and they turn out in droves. Heck, if
only 10% of people holding tickets decided to use them, the crowds would still
be around what they are now for the D-III championships.
I'd be interested in the opinion of folks on the list who regularly attend the
NCAAs. Would you go see the extra games if they were included in the price of
your D-I tickets?
> yes, I believe we can! It comes out like: "Todd Krygier", UConn
> alumnus, who got the OT game-winner night before last for the Cap's against
> Buffalo!!
More useless trivia - Krygier, who is from Buffalo, was cut by Division III
RIT in 1985. This goes to show that you can't always predict a player's
potential.
Chris Lerch
US College Hockey Magazine
US College Hockey Online -- www.uscollegehockey.com
Color Voice of RIT Hockey on 89.7 WITR
http://members.aol.com/chrislerch/main.html
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