USCHO lists the best places in the country to see a college hockey game:
2. Boston
4. The North Country
6. Ithaca
10. UVM
http://www.uscho.com/news/2005/02/08_009885.php
Grand Forks=#1? I guess considering hockey is the only that goes on there YEAR-ROUND. Thus it would be #1 on my personal list of most boring towns with college hockey (St. Cloud is second, barely beating Hamilton).
Wasn't St. Cloud where the residents of Lake Wobegone would go for fun?
from the article
[Q]While the Cornell fans taught Michigan fans much of what they know during an early '90s NCAA playoff appearance, the Maize and Blue fans have since taken it to the next level.[/Q]
a) This is a classic let's-get-more-eyeballs-to-the-site story. In People, it would be "Hollywood's Ten Best Abs."
b) Mostly the author is on target.
1. Grand Forks, ND. Lynah has charm, yada-yada, but who wouldn't trade Lynah straight up for an 11,000 seat pleasure palace? If Ken Dryden founded Peoplesoft instead of fooling around with the NHL, this would be our building.
2. "Boston, Massachusetts." C'mon, Tom, read your AP stylebook. Places like Boston and Philadelphia are big enough not to need the state name after the city.
3. Ann Arbor. Belongs in the Top Ten, but No. 3? The author couldn't have 5 of the top 6 be eastern, so perhaps Ann Arbor moved up.
4. The North Country. Two pretty-good places to watch a Friday-Saturday series appear to beat one great place and one okay place (Hamilton) upstate but not that far upstate. What do you do up there from Friday 9:10 pm when the first game is over until Saturday 6pm when you watch warmups for the second game? You have three choices:
a) drink
b) snowmobile
c) play hockey on the St. Lawrence and lord have mercy if you get a breakway
5. Madison. Maybe they're riding on past glory but Wisconsin fans are insanely loud, proud, and loyal. I don't think it's all due to the drug culture.
6. Ithaca. Should be Top Five. Specifically, it should have swapped places with No. 4. Note this is the highest ranked place that seats less than 5,000 (Clarkson + St. Lawrence = 5,000 combined).
7. Minneapolis
8. Orono
9. Denver/Colorado Springs
10. Burlington ... okay, fair enough.
[q]Lynah has charm, yada-yada, but who wouldn't trade Lynah straight up for an 11,000 seat pleasure palace? [/q]Me and I'd bet a large number of the other folks on this board. I would absolutely hate it if Lynah were replaced by a "pleasure palace". Which would is a better place to watch a game as a fan, a place where you're packed close to the ice in narrow rows that are steep or in a pleasure palace with lots of leg room, cup holders, lots of distance to the ice and somewhere where the ushers urge you to not cheer so loud because it's disturbing the other fans around you? (That last is a reference to Denver where a particular USCHO poster [PuckSwami] was specifically asked to be quiet because his non-profane cheering was disturbing the other fans around him.)
I'm sure some people would love to have a wonderful huge modern arena with wide concourses, wonderful concessions and padded seats. but if you think that sentiment is dominant among readers on this board you haven't been paying attention.
[Q]KeithK Wrote:
[Q2]I'm sure some people would love to have a wonderful huge modern arena with wide concourses, wonderful concessions and padded seats. but if you think that sentiment is dominant among readers on this board you haven't been paying attention.[/q]
Padded seats? We're not talking padded seats, we're talking leather seats...If only they could "sweeten the deal" a little more, I'd be sold. :-P
>What do you do up there from Friday 9:10 pm when the first game is over until Saturday 6pm when you watch warmups for the second game? You have three choices:
a) drink
b) snowmobile
c) play hockey on the St. Lawrence and lord have mercy if you get a breakway
<
Uhh, A?
[Q]Scott Kominkiewicz Wrote:
>What do you do up there from Friday 9:10 pm when the first game is over until Saturday 6pm when you watch warmups for the second game? You have three choices:
a) drink
b) snowmobile
c) play hockey on the St. Lawrence and lord have mercy if you get a breakway
<
Uhh, A?[/q]
The correct answer of course is a) plus your choice of b) or c). You may die of hypothermia but as with Cialis mixed with hypertensive males, you go with a smile on your face.
Plenty of choices guys but then since I bet none of you ever sought them out, you wouldn't know. ::rolleyes::
[Q]RichS Wrote:
Plenty of choices guys but then since I bet none of you ever sought them out, you wouldn't know. [/q]
Hey Rich, if there are "plenty of choices" of things to do up there, why is it that you constantly troll this message board and respond almost instantaneously whenever anything less than glowing is said about the north country?
[Q]DisplacedCornellian Wrote:
[Q2]RichS Wrote:
Plenty of choices guys but then since I bet none of you ever sought them out, you wouldn't know. [/Q]
Hey Rich, if there are "plenty of choices" of things to do up there, why is it that you constantly troll this message board and respond almost instantaneously whenever anything less than glowing is said about the north country? [/q]
Also, why don't you list these myriad options for us? Surely you would like to share the unending pleasure of the North Country experience with fellow hockey fans?
First off, I do not "troll" this board...lol.
Secondly, why is it you seemingly lie in wait and "almost instantaneously" respond whenever I post? :-D
[Q]RichS Wrote:
Secondly, why is it you seemingly lie in wait and "almost instantaneously" respond whenever I post? [/q]
Exactly what I was thinking. Face it, we're all nerds (of varying degree, of course), we all have quirky hobbies (a function of intelligence?), move on.
I'd much rather have Rich posting on eLynah than wandering the streets on his snowmobile trying to negotiate the turns with beer in one hand and hockey stick in the other.
[Q]RichS Wrote:
Secondly, why is it you seemingly lie in wait and "almost instantaneously" respond whenever I post? [/q]
Heh... good point. In my defense, this is a Cornell hockey message board...so my lurking is at least a little (even if just a smidge) less pathetic than yours ;-)
[Q]atb9 Wrote:
I'd much rather have Rich posting on eLynah than wandering the streets on his snowmobile trying to negotiate the turns with beer in one hand and hockey stick in the other.[/q]
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second. I think you may have unintentionally created a new sport there. Drunken snowmobile hockey? That's pure genius...right up there with donkey basketball!
"Alcohol and night swimming...a winning combination."
I'd still be interested in having RichS give us North Country entertainment suggestions... for whenever I may next make the trip.
[Q]DeltaOne81 Wrote:
I'd still be interested in having RichS give us North Country entertainment suggestions... for whenever I may next make the trip.[/q]
Two words: Canadian Ballet
:-P
I choose option a), but frankly, whenever I'm spending a certain amount of time in another locale, I would be most apt to choose option a), be it Potsdam, Ithaca, Grand Forks, Topeka, or NYC. Local bars are generally a good reflection of the local color, and a great place to meet people and get some flavor of the area. The food, music, history, and personality of a town usually come through quite nicely at such watering holes. I've met some very nice people at the bars in Potsdam, and have always enjoyed the North Country trip. (And...bars are open until 2 am! I wish my area would take note.)
I've always been amazed at people who come to a place and bitch about how there's nothing to do somewhere. I grew up in a small, upstate NY town, and we generally had to be creative to entertain ourselves in high school. Once, I visited someone in NYC who once complained about there being nothing in Ithaca to do but "drink or watch movies." When we were deciding on something to do in NYC, the only thing he could come up with was "drink or watch movies." Sometimes it's not location, it's motivation.
I've found the best way to entertain myself in the North Country is to leave.
Don't get me wrong, people should stop in at Walker Arena because it's a great piece of college hockey history, but it's really only entertaining the first time. Beyond that, I'll opt for a night and afternoon in Ottawa every time at this point.
[Q]RichH Wrote:
I choose option a), but frankly, whenever I'm spending a certain amount of time in another locale, I would be most apt to choose option a), be it Potsdam, Ithaca, Grand Forks, Topeka, or NYC. Local bars are generally a good reflection of the local color, and a great place to meet people and get some flavor of the area. The food, music, history, and personality of a town usually come through quite nicely at such watering holes. I've met some very nice people at the bars in Potsdam, and have always enjoyed the North Country trip. (And...bars are open until 2 am! I wish my area would take note.)[/q]
Bars are also a good place to hang out with other college hockey fans, and on a North Country weekend you've got fans of four teams in "town".
Perhaps the best place to watch a college hockey game is the place where your team goes unbeaten. Hmmm, what would that do to Lynah's ranking this year ... and in Lynah's history?
[Q]billhoward Wrote:
3. Ann Arbor. Belongs in the Top Ten, but No. 3? The author couldn't have 5 of the top 6 be eastern, so perhaps Ann Arbor moved up. [/q]
Ever been there, Bill? I'm not sure I agree about taking Lynah cheers to a new level, though. Some would argue that they've simply gone off the tracks.
P.O.T.S.D.A.M
People Out To Study Drink And Masturbate ::nut::
[Q]Drew Wrote: P.O.T.S.D.A.M
People Out To Study Drink And Masturbate [/q]That would explain the erratic penmanship on North Country U. term papers?
Disappointed Maine only got an 8th ranking, it is the Lynah of New England. Old venerable arena, crazy fans, student section that is on the opposing goalie all game (in Orono they are in a balcony over hanging the poor bastard), and plenty of bars, as other than hockey there is nothing else to do but drink (hell, look at their fight song).
[q]... nothing else to do but drink (hell, look at their fight song).[/q]
Are you talking about Maine or Cornell or both?:-D
There's nothing wrong with having a fight song about a bar!
::coffee:: <---- didn't there used to be a beer smiley? Use your imagination and pretend that's a glass mug instead of ceramic...
[Q]David Harding Wrote:
[Q2]... nothing else to do but drink (hell, look at their fight song).[/Q]
Are you talking about Maine or Cornell or both? [/q]
Well, both, but...
STEIN SONG
Fill the steins to dear old Maine.
Shout till the rafters ring!
Stand and drink a toast once again!
Let every loyal Maine fan sing.
Drink to all the happy hours,
Drink to the careless days.
Drink to Maine, our Alma Mater,
The college of our hearts always.
To the trees, to the sky,
To the Spring in its glorious happiness;
To the youth, to the fire,
To the life that is moving and calling us!
To the Gods, to the Fates,
To the rulers of men and their destinies;
To the lips, to the eyes,
To the ones who will love us some day.
Oh, fill the steins to dear old Maine.
Shout till the rafters ring!
Stand and drink a toast once again!
Let every loyal Maine fan sing.
Then drink to all the happy hours,
Drink to the careless days.
Drink to Maine, our Alma Mater,
The college of our hearts always.
Davy is still better. It's about getting kicked out of school for drinking too much! Still, as always, an underrated fight song. Just ask George M. Cohan.
[Q]LowellFrank Wrote:
Davy is still better. It's about getting kicked out of school for drinking too much! Still, as always, an underrated fight song. Just ask George M. Cohan.[/q]
I read more than just the message board on ELynah, I'm well aware. :-P