The seats do have cup holders, and yes there is less leg room than one
would like.  But the leg room is a tradeoff for the steep pitch of the
rows.  The last row of seats is (I believe) only 60 feet from the ice
surface.  And the seats themselves are very comfortable.  No benches,
they're cushioned, and every seat has an arm rest.

The people on this list know me as a Terrier disciple, and you won't be
surprised by my reviews of the new joint.  I am very pleased and very
proud of Harry Agganis Arena.  It is the most beautiful arena in New
England.  The sight lines are unparalleled, the acoustics are great, and
the video display on the scoreboard is crystal clear (we cheered the
replays).  But it also has its problems.  Remember, this was the rink's
first night of business. Much of whatever is wrong that I am about to
talk about can be corrected over time.  It's not as if someone put the
visitor's bench way off-center so that teams have to switch ends midway
through the third period.

The concourses were congested.  People are learning the traffic patterns
for their seats, concessions, and rest rooms.  The rest rooms along the
straightways are small, with only 3 urinals in the men's rooms (I don't
know how many urinals are in the women's rooms, but I think there are
fewer).  The men's room at the north end of the arena, however, has
dozens of urinals; so beer drinkers take heart.  When people figure out
how the concession stands and rest rooms flow, the congestion will go
way down.  Plus much of the traffic jams on Monday can be attributed to
folks enjoying the displays.

The rows are very long, in some sections double the length of Walter
Brown Arena, so people on the ends will have to get up and down often.
The concessions are great, and they do serve beer.  The Boston Braves'
grandfather clause lives!

There is no clock in the arena other than on the scoreboard, so bring a
wrist watch.  Arena management is treating this as a professional
facility, so parking costs $8.  For those of you unfamiliar with Boston
area parking that's not too bad.  The Fleet Center costs $21.  Be
patient driving home.

My biggest peeves have to do with two murals.  The first is the display
of all-time Terrier All-Americans.  It looks great, but is badly flawed.
The mural displays only 1st team All-Americans.  Where are the 2nd
teamers?  For example, John Cullen is one of the greatest players to
ever wear a scarlet and white sweater, but because of the numbers was
never a first team All-American.  He did make second team in 1986, so
why is he not worthy of being listed with all the others?  In fact you
cannot find in any BU publication a list of second team All-Americans,
even though for a 12-year run between 1991 and 2002 BU had a least one
representative on the second team.  These players deserve to be
recognized.

The other peeve concerns a Hall of Fame mural.  The mural displays only
hockey players.  This is a terrible slight to every student athlete who
proudly represented the University.  Harry Agganis Arena is named in
honor of a legendary football/baseball player (spare me the flames), and
basketball will have a growing presence there.  HAA is the new
cornerstone of all BU athletics, and every Hall of Fame honoree should
have his/her place on this wall.  That's one thing BC got right at Conte
Forum.

What remains to be seen is how well attendance holds after the luster
wears off and low-demand teams like Merrimack come in.  A cavernous
arena could be a killer.  I remain optimistic in this regard, because
with HAA BU has created a new campus focal point.  And if ever a
university needed a campus focal point it's BU.

Edward N. Moller
Controller and Assistant Treasurer
Mount Ida College
777 Dedham Street
Newton, MA  02459-3323
Tel  617-928-4515
Fax 617-928-4581
[log in to unmask]



-----Original Message-----
From: - Hockey-L - The College Hockey Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Indy Rutks
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 12:32 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Agganis Arena


S.J.Bongiorno wrote:
> Just got back from opening night at the new BU rink the 'Agganis
> Arena'. Had to smooze alot of people to get the tickets, especially
> being  a Lowell fan. Its a beautiful building and the sightlines are
> great. BUT the seats are the most unconfortable I have every sat on
> with no leg room. Worse than the wooden seats at Fenway and the old
> Boston Garden. Really surprised for a brand new facility. My wife said
> not to bother to ask her to another game tere. Oh well I guess it was
> a bigger priority to get more seats into the building than the comfort
> factor.

And cup-holders! I thought I heard that each seat has it's own
cup-holder!

-Indy