Something along the lines of this post was discussed earlier thi
year.
 
Again, if you had paid any attention to the TV in the last few
weeks you would have seen at least one story about how the
average Joe Sixpack Student can possibly follow his/her team
to the Final Four at the Meadowlands.  It amount to a tiny
portion of the student body being elegible to get a ticket in the
lottery, hotel rooms automatically jammed into the "package",
vouchers to protect against scalping, mayhem and madness, etc.
 
This stuff is not a part of our sport, yet.  But remember supply
and demand.  The more popular the sport the more difficult it will
be to enjoy it live.  In fact, as far as I'm concerned, the basket
call playoff are a d*mn circus.  I would not be happy to throw my
hat into that mess to see the same playoff college hockey.
 
As one reader wrote, it is nice to be able to enjoy the RICH
tradition and history and AVAILABILITY of our game.  But the
downside will be, as another reader(s) complains, the pathetic
and sometimes insulting coverage (or lack thereof), lack of
public recognition, and forced subscription to hockey-l. B*)
 
If you want OUR sport to grow, take your friends and family to the
games next year!  Enjoy it!  And NETWORK with our group to aid
in your weekly knowledge, issues, and history.  But monkeying
around with League structure to accomplish a supposed marketing coup
is going to ruin the texture of our sport.  Frankly, with NHL prices
the way they are, I cannot really see our sport not becoming a media
tool in the long term (coming decades).  When I am a senior, (in about
40 yrs) I still want to go to the game and enjoy it for what it is.
 
Dan
 
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