> Sorry, but couldn't let this one go by.  I love parochial woofing.  I'm not
> suggesting that it wasn't a great tournament at Bradley.  But let's not go
> too far.
 
I said "local pride", you say "parochial woofing".  I won't argue.  This
*was* an article in a local paper targeted to the local market.
 
> Don't mean to be too cynical, but I think the fact that Wisconsin is
> probably THE most college-hockey mad area in the United States (no offense
> to Minnesota and Massachusetts) certainly helped things a bit.
 
In other areas of the state, hockey is *much* bigger than in the Milwaukee
area :-(.  Boxing (sheesh!) gets more ink around here than hockey on the
college and high school level.  During the hockey season, I get virtually
*all* of my info from hockey-l (apart from the Badger home games re-broadcast
late at night on public TV).  The Milwaukee Journal rarely lists Badger box
scores, and forget about seeing results from *any* other games.
 
Is this lack of coverage due to lack of interest, or vice-versa?  I think
that the author may be guilty of trying to "fan the flame".
 
> And I wish I knew what "bad" Sauers took from previous tournaments which he
> turned into positives.  I didn't think the previous NC$$ tournaments were
> too bad at all.
>
> >Compared to last year's problematic event at Albany, N.Y., the
> >Milwaukee tournament was virtually error free.  "There were no
> >problems at all," Buttafuoco said.  "The people here were
> >excellent."
>
> WHAT?  The only "problems" I witnessed at the Knick were caused by a couple
> of out-of-control Wisconsin players.  I assume that crack didn't emanate
> from Jeff Sauer, because his team received great treatment during their stay
> in the Capital Region.  It was no secret that Wisconsin became the virtual
> home team last year with local fans adopting the Badgers as their own, and
> even the local media picking up on the antics of the Cheeseheads and their
> entourage.
 
I don't know what events led to the "problematic" reference.  I do know
that one of the main goals of the tournament committee was to make the
attendees aware from the moment they stepped off the plane that Milwaukee
wanted them to feel welcome in our town.  From coordinating publicity at
local establishments to the tournament banners up on lamp posts throughout
the downtown area (if you could see 'em through a layer of snow), they
wanted to say, "Milwaukee is proud to host this great event."
 
My guess (and it *is* a guess) is that events outside of the actual tournament
games are being referred to in the above comment.
 
I'd be interested to hear any comments from those who were here last weekend
on this subject.  I'd also like to hear from people who traveled to Albany
(or any previous championships) on how you felt that you were treated by the
host site.
 
Just as I can't comment on how visitors were treated this year, I doubt that
Brian can speak to this point regarding Albany, unless any visitors he talked
to last year mentioned it.  Perhaps the "problems" referred to were off the
ice.  I seriously doubt that anyone associated with Milwaukee's tourney would
try to slip in a snide reference to the unfortunate events at the end of the
final game last year.  *Maybe* the reporter himself would, since there is no
direct attribution for the "problematic" reference, but that's not the
impression I got from his piece.
 
NOTE: This is emphatically *not* a fishing expedition for praise for this
wonderful city and it's populace :-) :-).  I'm actually not that enamored of
Milwaukee myself, though it has many great attributes.  If the opportunity
presented itself, I'd move back to Madison in a flash.
 
> I'd like to see the NC$$ site the regionals there next year as an alternative
> to the Joe (and with Wisconsin returning most of their team next year I
> would bet the attendance would be substantial.)
An understatement, I think.  I wonder, though, if the WCHA finals being held
at the Bradley Center two weeks earlier will have any impact on this.
 
> But please...a little respect.
No disrespect intended.  Just some brain food to fend of the post-hockey
season depression.  |8-(
 
--
Steve Manning         Milwaukee, WI           [log in to unmask]