Well, here we go again!
 
First of all, college hockey (IMO) is, in general, a "local interest"
sport. Think about it: how many people came across the country (not
counting the Michigan & Minnesota fans) just to watch some good college
hockey? Of course, I did, but I live in Albany. :-)
 
E$PN just won't cover college hockey due to the lack of (known) widespread
interest. That is, unless they have solid evidence that millions of fans
love college hockey, they will not put it on TV. Believe me, I'm all in
favor of putting it on national TV. I just don't think it'll happen soon.
 
Just as Wayne's post indicated, it all come down to money. ESPN doesn't
realize what type of sport this is. They won't want to take the chance
in broadcasting a game that only Maine & BU fans care about, according to them.
 
Yes, they do talk about it. Highlights have been seen on SportsCenter
DURING THE SEASON, not just for the Frozen Four. The Beanpot had its
SportsCenter moments. An early-season game between Northeastern & Maine
was mentioned along with those highlights.
 
I think what we have to realize is that ESPN knows of college hockey's
existence, but doesn't want to commit to a major mid-week, during the
hoop season, holiday-time-where-everybody-watches-TV matchup because the
widespread interest IS NOT PUBLIC! Again, they need proof for that.  I'm
not sure what that proof will be. A Final Four in Anaheim? New York City?
Maybe a major venue like Madison Square Garden is what it takes.
 
College hockey needs a sponsor to do this. I don't think we should bash
ESPN for wanting college hockey to pay them. ($60,000 is a bit much, granted)
Does anybody think that if NCAA hockey had a major sponsor like, say, Pepsi,
Nike, or Bud Light (no flames regarding college and beer, please!) that
ESPN would still say no?
 
Lest we forget that we were about to see Colorado College and Minnesota in
a mid-season game on the REAL ESPN! Yes, I remember the NHL lockout, but
we were SUPPOSED to see that WCHA game. I think that deep down, they would
eventually work out some deal to show college hockey. We'll see how long it
takes.
 
So, maybe we should be bothering Pepsi, not ESPN? :-|
 
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+  Andy Weise                 Let's Go Tech!!     [log in to unmask]  +
=  SUNY Potsdam '93                                                       =
+  Union College '95?         Let's Go U!!        [log in to unmask] +
=  Performance Systems International (PSI)                                =
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