First, let me say I have no opinion on whether Div.III playoffs should be played at home sites or neutral sites. My arguments are with regard to the Div.I NCAA tournament solely. Graham Pugh writes: > As a veteran of a number of trips to Boston Garden for the >ECAC finals, I'd say its dissapointing to find the Garden largely empty when >(as last year) there were no teams from the Boston area in the tournament. A >home ice site would be much more exciting - even if that meant travelling up >to the North Country (Canton/Potsdam) to see the game (as I have done). I >think the same argument can be extended to NCAA play. I agree it is much more interesting to see a game in an arena full of raucous fans. The sad thing is that Boston area fans don't turn out regardless of who is playing. We need more fans like Mike. (Does that require a smiley?) However I don't feel this argument should be extended to NCAA play. The distance from any WCHA or CCHA city is much greater to the North Country than from Ithaca(Cornell). But more impor- tantly, I would like to see college hockey attain a slightly higher profile. The NCAA tourney is THE national tournament and hopefully would be visible via TV to a regional audience. This is much more likely to happen with neutral sites set well in advance rather than sites determined a week before play begins and in small media markets. Perhaps someone will televise this year's pre-final four games. Any station will do so long as the local hockey bar can pick it up on satellite. We will shall see. > One more thing. If a small school like Clarkson can compete with a >large school like Wisconsin, I think it's great - airport or no airport! Do all ECAC schools have an inferiority complex? Do you think I'm picking on Clarkson? the ECAC? @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@%@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Big Bad Mark [log in to unmask] Go Badgers! Good luck Twinkies! I herd it through the bovine ... --- ABS @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@%@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@