To the grieving amongst us: It seems that the observations of almost all commentators revolves around the depreciation of "awareness" of Hockey East vis-a-vis the other leagues in the collective attentions of future recruits. Most folks seem to feel that NESN's unfortunate and ill-timed decision will adversely affect recruiting in a lasting and fundamental way. Wayne's comment about young players from far-flung realms who observe HE hockey via satellite now being cut off is especially apt. My protest over NESN's actions involved this angle as well. I wonder how well aware the channel is about the depth of penetration of either the direct hookup, or satellite reception, of their telecasts. The problem for NESN unfortunately is, as Mike Machnik and others have stated, there may be even more immediate "unsubscriptions" from the channel as a result of their action. NESN's concern about lowered profits due to fewer subscriptions (due to downturns of Bruins and Red Sox, in part) will be met with even *more* defections, thus lowering receipts even more. (To quote Mr. R. Dangerfield, "it's a vicious circle, I'll tell ya"). What can be done? In our corporate-downsizable times, there may be few answers. The abruptness of NESN's announcement of the cancellation of telecasts indicates that their management figures that there *are* no answers. Does this open the door for schools such as Umass-Amherst or BC which have "Big-time" Div. 1 hoop and/or football and may want to produce their own broadcasts from their "high profile" presences? Can Hockey East produce their own, or rig together a network confederation of sorts based on the stations in each local area which have put on hockey broadcasts in the past? Do we pass the hat at games? The fact that this has occured so summarily is distressing, because it represents difficult times ahead for other "small market" broadcast scenarios, in other areas. I wish my crystal ball would clear up soon so I could know..... Bob C. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Robert J. Constantine | >> The Corner Man << Chemistry Library | Parsons Hall | "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit University of New Hampshire | of Hockey" Durham, NH 03824 | (603) 862-1083 | "It ain't Snively, but it's home" E-mail: [log in to unmask] | (The Whitt at UNH) -1996-97- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.