Advice Needed

I am in need of some advice regarding Cornell and Ithaca. I’m a Minnesota graduate and current grad student at Penn State in dire need of some playoff hockey atmosphere, so a couple of friends and I have decided to go to Ithaca this weekend. I understand that getting tickets to the games is pretty much out of the question, so where would be a good place to watch the games on TV? Ideally, a place with good a good beer selection and fair prices. Also, could someone recommend a fairly cheap hotel within stumbling distance of the bars? Thanks.

[Q]TheDrunkenSquirrel Wrote:

I am in need of some advice regarding Cornell and Ithaca. I’m a Minnesota graduate and current grad student at Penn State in dire need of some playoff hockey atmosphere, so a couple of friends and I have decided to go to Ithaca this weekend. I understand that getting tickets to the games is pretty much out of the question, so where would be a good place to watch the games on TV? Ideally, a place with good a good beer selection and fair prices. Also, could someone recommend a fairly cheap hotel within stumbling distance of the bars? Thanks.[/q]

I don't think the quarterfinals are on TV anywhere, although there is an internet video feed with the audio from the WHCU broadcast. It's $10/game this weekend. [xmievents.com] Maybe someday sports bars will be equipped with broadband...

I can give you more useful advice on a cheap hotel a block from the Chapter House: The Hillside Inn on Stewart Avenue. It's not luxurious, but the staff are friendly, the rates are decent, and the location can't be beat. (Well, except by the Statler, but that's a different price range entirely.)

Keep checking the Ticket Exchange here (button to the left). You might get lucky. Bet you could buy tix at the door--from someone withe extras--if you're willing to take the risk.

If you're over 25, the Hillside is out of the question. It's a rat trap - sort of Ghetto meets Gomer Pyle. But there really are very few choices for cheap accomodations in Ithaca itself. Outside of town, I dunno.

It's usually possible to find tickets outside from someone with extras, usually for face or just slightly above face. But for the Harvard game and playoffs, that could be a different story. Someone's already made the comment about TV coverage. Lynah Rink will be electric, but you won't find "College Hockey Playoff Atmosphere" in the town. Does the Minnesota campus have this atmosphere? So go if you can score tickets on the exchange or want to try to buy outside. Hillside is the place to stay and Dunbars is the hockey place to drink.

If you go an hour before the game, you should find tickets from students or townspeople with a couple extras to unload. Often they go for near face value, particularly standing room. The key is getting there early.

you could try to sneak in -- that's what i do with my buddies when they come to town

[Q]Trotsky Wrote:

If you're over 25, the Hillside is out of the question. It's a rat trap - sort of Ghetto meets Gomer Pyle.[/q]

As a 35-year-old who stayed at the Hillside just two weeks ago, I take that generalization with the same grain of salt I used for the recent assertion of the USCHO board that no one over the age of 30 should wear a jersey to a hockey game.

But if your expectation of hotel rooms goes beyond "they all look the same in the dark", it's not for you.

[Q]billhoward Wrote:

If you go an hour before the game, you should find tickets from students or townspeople with a couple extras to unload. Often they go for near face value, particularly standing room. The key is getting there early. [/q]I agree that this is the best strategy, but don't despair if you don't get there early. There are plenty of people who arrive closer to the drop of the puck who have tix to unload. The fans tend not to be the scalping type. The last time I visited Lynah I got three tix for below face without negotiation. Two of them were in section C ($5 per) and a freebie SRO.

this has been my experiance as well

For someone now living in the New York City area, the fact that Lynah tickets were offered at list price outside the rink raised more suspicions than if the kids were selling them at say $5 over face value. The only scam imaginable is that some of the town teens may get comp tickets for standing room, meaning if they sell free tickets for, what, $9, they make $9 profit.