Well, there was finally a hockey article on a front page of a section in the
Columbus Dispatch.  Granted, it was on the front page of the Accent section
which is analogous to the Lifestyle sections of other papers where all the
entertainment and human interest stories are, but it was ink.
 
Mainly, it talked about how street hockey using roller blades is really
becoming popular with the 7-10 year olds right now.  It used to be, according
to one sporting goods store, that one shipment of sticks would last for months.
 People only bought the roller blades.  With the success of the new ECHL
franchise, the Columbus Chill, the demand for sticks has really taken off.
This kind of story makes me hopeful for this area and also hopeful that with
increased interest, pressure will be put on OSU administration to improve the
facilities here.  According to the article, the only available public ice in
Columbus is that of the OSU Ice Rink.  Scary.
 
The success of the Chill was improbable given the dismal showing of at least
four earlier minor league teams, but with great marketing, they really found a
niche here.  Granted, they built the marketing around the violence of the
sport, and neither the fans nor the style of play are anything that does the
sport proud, but it is exposure, and that is an important first step in perhaps
getting more ice in the area, encouraging further development of hockey on all
levels in Central Ohio, and perhaps in getting those 7-10 year olds to trade in
their roller-blades for skates.
 
--
Dave [log in to unmask]
Cornell '91 OSU Med '95
Let's Go Red!