First, a plea for mercy:
> For those who weren't at the West Regional or didn't hear about it,
> not only was the attendance poor (Joe Louis Arena looked like a
> Cleveland Indians game in late September), but 1/3 to 1/2 of those
> in attendance left the Michigan-NMU game to watch basketball in the
> JLA concorse. Pathetic!
>
> John (never been to Worcester MA) Haeussler
> University of Michigan
>
Ouch!!! John, you really know how to hurt a long-time and VERY long-
suffering Cleveland Indians fan. A small bit of satisfaction (only
kidding, hockey-l style) is that the Indians have an excellent chance of
finishing ahead of the Tigers this year, despite the Tribe's less than
world-beating record. I usually rely on the Browns to restore my
confidence in major league sports, Cleveland style, although the last
two years plus one game this year have not been too great in that
regard, either :-( (Beat those Dolphins tonight, Brownies!!)
>
> Last week people were commenting about the "Dayton" rule, or teams that were
> Div. I that had Div. II or Div. III programs in other sports. From what I
> read in my Valparaiso University alumni magazine, the Dayton rule will be in
> full force next fall when Dayton (Div. III) and Valparaiso (Div. II) and
> about four or five other schools form the Div. I Pioneer Conference in foot-
> ball. This conference will exist only for football, allowing the small
> schools to have a Div. I football program without all of the headaches.
>
Does this mean the formation of a (forgive the phrase, and after all
my own NMU is or has been a co-conspirator in football with Valparaiso)
"phony" Division I football conference? Presumably the schools
involvedhave no intention of mounting anything like a Division I
football program (i.e. 95 full rides, 15 or whatever it is assistant
coaches, etc.). Even if they go Division I-AA in football, the
financial limits are such that you either pony up big bucks or you are
totally noncompetitive with true Division I teams. Of course, if all
they want to do is play one another, and they all follow the same
"rules" about not spending a lot, and they thereby keep their Div I
basketball programs out of trouble with the NC$$, I guess it's a shrewd
move. And, I have to admire a group figuring out a way to put one over
on the NC$$!!!
And on the Detroit hockey regionals issue:
> One of the "problems" that we Minnesotans suffered from in regards to the Wes
> Regional being scheduled in Detroit was the fact that Joe Louis Arena places
> hefty charge on any TV station that wants to broadcast from there. We were
> effectively "shut-out" of ALL TV broadcasting of the game.
>
If this is true, i.e. Joe Louis Arena charges an unreasonably high fee
for the right for a school or area to broadcast an event from it, even
if the reception area is way, way outside the area which might be
affected in terms of attendance by the telecast, then I strongly agree
with Carol. I know how frustrated nearly all Northern Michigan fans
were last year when we learned there would be no telecast from Detroit.
Hey, we're a 535-mile drive from there!!! Very few of us could take the
time to make it, especially on a Thursday-Saturday format. And the LSSU
fans don't have it a lot better in terms of driving time, either.
> In answer to another comment, "how would MPLS have fared if Minn and Wisconsi
> had gone East" (and the regional was in MPLS) We would have done LOTS better
> than Detroit! (AND they both DID GO EAST last year!! ;-) ) If the Gophers
> and/or the Badgers are involved, that noticeably BOOSTS attendance, but this
> is a HOCKEY TOWN so we will go and watch GOOD hockey. It doesn't matter who's
> playing! We packed them in at the Olympic Festival in '90 and in '91 many
> people drove to St. Cloud to see the Olympic camp games.
>
> -Carol.
>
I suspect Carol is right on with this, too. I was tremendously
impressed when I attended the 1991 NC$$ Division I final in St. Paul and
saw a 14,000-seat facility come within 2,000 of being filled to see two
teams from pretty far away (especially one of them!) play for the
championship--especially when you consider a Norths Stars game in
Minneapolis the same night played to a sellout crowd. Now that's a
hockey town!
Incidentally, believe it or not all you others out there, especially you
Easterners, Minneapolis-St Paul is no further away from Marquette than
is Detroit, and Milwaukee is signficantly closer!
***********************************
* Steve Christopher, NMU *
* "Go 'Cats!''Goin' for it again in *
* '93--With a little less "O" *
* and a lot more "D"! *
* [log in to unmask] *
***********************************
|
