[not woofing] Albany plans

Okay, I promise this isn't woofing < knocks on wood just in case >, I know nothing's settled - but I just like to be prepared...

I'm curious for anyone who knows the Albany area...

1) Are there any hotels not too far from the Pepsi arena that would be within walking distance (to avoid parking/taxi costs, as well as considering we may not be planning on driving back after a night in the bar ), so long as the hotel itself isn't *that* expensive? What are some good deals at hotels in the area in general? Is the CHA deal still available or have I waited too long?

2) Besides accomidations, the most important thing afterwards has got to be to pick a Cornell bar (IMNSHO) . The vital qualities I feel are a) close to the arena, b) over/under so that non-21-year-old friends can join. A friend of mine from the general Albany area said there's a good place called Broadway Joe's around there, but she wasn't sure if it was over/under. Does anyone know? Do you all even agree we should pick a Cornell bar, or am I way off base?

-Fred

Another Question on the Albany topic:
Does anyone know how ticket sales will be? I will be away, but may be able to get there for/if/when the saturday night game. Should I be able to get tickets that day from the Arena?
If not, I'll just have to watch on TV.
Thanks,
Lenny

Fred,
(If I'm thinking correctly, and I believe I am)
Your first drink at midnight Sat/Sun is on me (if I'm at the same bar as you)

Judy,

You're thinking correctly, but you're a year late ... I'll still take a birthday drink though (unless that's just what you meant)

VERY impressive memory, btw

This is why we have to pick a Cornell bar. I've never met 90% of you, and that's a whole lotta drinks (j/k... hehe).

I'll take my drink in Buffalo, the day after we advance to the National Championship, and the day before we win it

On the rare occasions that I've been to the Kni^H^H^HPepsi, I've found the Big House Brewing Company - a mere three blocks away - to be a good place to drink and eat before or after. See this page for reviews:

[www.pubcrawler.com]

I seriously doubt that we'd be the only school represented there, but we can certainly try to take the place over early or something.

Beeeej

Yes, the drink was what I meant.
Unfortunately, last year, you missed the cake (lump me into the 90%), and it was damn good cake too.
It's not a difficult occasion to forget since I shall be celebrating the same thing, though I think I have 2 years on you.

I dunno, in Placid we managed to end up in the RPI bar three nights in a row.

Just curious, which games from Albany are televised and on what stations? Just FSNE or YES/NESN/something else too?

From [www.ecachockey.com]

TV Schedule:
NESN--Semifinals and Championship Games will be live
YES Network (New York)—Semifinals and Championship tape delayed at 7 and 10 p.m.
Leafs TV—Ontario, Canada subscription service

To get back to the topic, there isn't that much in downtown Albany besides the Empire State Plaza (worth a look) and the Pepsi Arena. The only true downtown hotel is the Hyatt which is two blocks from the rink. I stayed there for the 2001 FF and it was worth every penny as it was the official hotel for just about anything and everything hockey related. A lot of Albany accomodations are out on Wolf Road, not near the arena but definitely cheaper than the Hyatt will be if there are even rooms available.

As for bars, there is Jillian's a few blocks away which will probably have a lot of hockey fans in it so it won't be exclusive.

Have been on the lookout for something Dunbarsesque ( as opposed to a HUGE glitzy place) but have yet to find anything that really screams at me. Jillians on a week-end likely would not be the best idea. It is crowded beyond belief and any kind of hockey atmosphere would get lost in the crowd of regulars and dispersed amongst the three floors.

There really isn't much downtown in the way of hotels - just the one mentioned that I can think of - and it is kinda pricey. Wolf Rd would be a great place to stay anyway since there are a lot of dining establishments nearby, some book stores, a mall, etc for other leisure activities.

As I mentioned to Dianne with the car rental a few days ago, you'll be wasting money if you book a hotel room directly through the hotel chain. Use priceline...if you want a 2* place bid around $35 a night....if you want a 3* place bid around $50-$60 a night. I guarentee this will save you at least 50% of the money.

If you want to get an idea of what other people's winning bids have been for the Albany area go to: www.biddingfortravel.com

I can't believe YES is going to be tape delayed. Good thing we'll be there.

Does anyone know when they will announce and how they might select the first round and quarterfinal games for broadcast?

I'm glad that someone mentiioned that YES is tape delayed here. I would absolutely have opened up eLF and seen the score before watching the game. And would have been VERY upset.

i doubt that pepsi is going to completely sell out. anyone else agree?

Agree, *maybe* if Union or RPI is there (or esp both), I could see it getting close or selling out day-of, but that's about it, and that's even not too likely. Depends how Union's/RPI's spring breaks fall too.

Btw, anyone ever figure out if any of the bars are over/under?

EDIT: my Albany friend says there's nothing Dunbar-esque, so I say we just pick a good quality, over/under, nearby to the arena one

First post of the day, a dubious honor. Does anyone know the hockey attendance capacity of the Pepsi? Do we really think RPI will be there?

If the final four are all Ivy, we could be seeing a lot of Red and more than a few empty seats unless local support is large.

All the games from Albany are televised on YES network

hotels in downtown albany and walking distance to Pepsi:

Crowne Plaza (518 462-6611) decent area..reasonable rates, but pricier than Ramada

Ramada Inn (518 - 482-2981) (not the greatest area, but low rates)

Tom Nachod wrote:

All the games from Albany are televised on YES network

But the broadcast of the semis will apparently be tape-delayed. The complete live coverage is on NESN. FSNE is the network that covers Hockey East, but IIRC they will be showing that tournament tape-delayed, which gives me a chance to use the most annoying smiley to date:

[ecachockey.org]

[Q]Does anyone know the hockey attendance capacity of the Pepsi? Do we really think RPI will be there?[/Q]
13,941 ( from sidebar - [www.inthecrease.com] )

and hardly, but Union could be

The team(s) are staying at the Crowne Plaza near the arena (phone# given elsewhere in this thread). When I called in January there were a few rooms available, but they had boosted their prices for the weekend of the 21-22 (a la Lake Placid) and ended up a too-rich-for-my-blood $128/night. Don't know if there's anything left at this point.

The Ramada Inn downtown is also within walking distance to the arena, heard from someone who checked it out that it's a "dive" (this, however, from a townie perspective; student perceptions are sure to differ). Room rates were about $89/night and there was plenty available in January.

Hockey Association has a bloc of rooms at the Best Western on Wolf Road. Call 518-458-1000, don't know if any CU rooms are left, but you could always see if they'll give you the same rate, $79. There will, of course, be a hospitality room for Cornell fans run by the CHA, and, I'm hoping, with a hundred or more Big Red fans on site, a bit of the 'hockey village' feel I will miss from Lake Placid.

Got no clue about the bars but we should definitely find out where the team is celebrating (just speculation & strategic planning, no woofing.....), anyone with any connections?

I earlier said the Hyatt when I meant the Crowne Plaza. May not have as much atmosphere as when I stayed there for the FF but getting to talk to fans, players and officials from around the country was worth the price. The best was watching Ryan Miller in the lobby after winning the Hobey just calmly hanging with his family waiting to go out to dinner (his team lost in the semi's so he had the next day off) as if nothing had happened.

Other fans said the Ramada was a dive - a roadside motel stuck in the middle of a city with none of the amenities that even a motel in a city might offer. I would avoid - much better quality on Wolf Road.

And what REDHead meant to say was 'There will, of course (this is absolutely not woofing) be a hospitality room.....'

Tom Pasniewski '98 wrote:

... but getting to talk to fans, players and officials from around the country was worth the price.

Just don't hop into a hottub full of UNH players and ask, in all seriousness, "Who are you guys rooting for?" like a certain PNW eLynah regular...

On the Capcity Issue:
Union Spring break Starts that weekend. So IF they get there, students could hang around. But I don't know how big their hockey fan base is there.
Also, Lake Placid's Capacity is around 8,000. So the Pepsi's is about 1.5 times the size. I (unfortuneately) never got to Lake Placid. Did they sell out? Even if they did sell out there, I doubt a close to capacity crowd, especially if it's mostly Ivyies.
Tickets should be available that day, according to my calculations.
Lenny

By delaying it they don't have to worry about blacking it out in the Albany market. At least I assume that there would be a blackout if they ran it live.

During the '92 NCAA's in Albany I taped the game only to find that due to blackout restrictions I had a weight lifting or body building tape for my trouble. (Luckily I found out about the blackout before the game and made a call from the arena to a friend in Boston who taped it for me.)

I dunno - if Harvard is there, since Albany's a much easier trip from Boston, you might actually see twelve fans there instead of six.

Beeeej

Has anyone tried faxing stuff to the Pepsi Center with any success? I keep getting busy/no answer signals from the fax machine.

-J

[Q]On the rare occasions that I've been to the Kni^H^H^HPepsi, I've found the Big House Brewing Company - a mere three blocks away - to be a good place to drink and eat before or after.[/Q]
So I emailed 'em, and after they checked their email a few days later, they say they're 21 and over only, so if we pick that, the younger members of the group are outta luck entirely.

As for the Best Western, they told me they're booked entirely, and I've been told everything downtown is as well, including Wolf Rd, etc, but if people have different experiences, let me know.

Anyone get any of that inside info on where the team may show up? Anyone know any over/under bars like Muddpuddles was?

Should the team get to the championship game and win I am certain that it will be made known somehow where they all will end up to celebrate. Everyone woluld just have to hang around after the final buzzer (as if they wouldn't anyway to cheer, jump up and down, and perhaps rush the ice .....?). At least that is my take on the bar issue.

Fred,
I have a friend who just booked into the Marriott "across the street from the Best Western"--no other specific info, but I'm sure you'll be able to track it down....

Anyone with an odd numbered group looking for a member of the faithful to help split the bill? My entire group slowly but surely fell apart... I may have another angles, but I'm not sure right now. Email or IM me I guess. Thanks.

-Fred

Yes, thats how I got my tickets. I faxed them, 2 days later I get my tickets in the mail

I have a room booked at the Crowne Plaza and would like to add a roomate to split the costs.