2010 Frozen Four tickets

[Rita]

[quote RichH]I can't imagine that anybody got rejected.[/quote]

I guess I forgot the snark emoticon. ;-)

[RichH]

And an update:


"FW: Results of Online Ticket Application Process - 2010 NCAA Men's Frozen Four
Friday, April 17, 2009 11:00 AM
From: "Men's Frozen Four"
To:undisclosed-recipients

For your information, seat assignments will continue to be based on your priority number.  A specific number of prime seats have been set aside for individuals who purchased tickets through the online application process.  Individuals will be seated by priority number within the ticket price point purchased (i.e., $119 seats or $189 seats).

We are currently working with Ford Field to provide seat assignments to our online ticket applicants.  Seat assignments will either be included in the formal notification letter that will be sent out in the next several weeks or we will e-mail them to you.

As a reminder, and as noted in the online ticket application instructions, we do not accept cancellations of ticket applications.  If you choose to also purchase tickets through the Ford Field box office or Ticketmaster, you will still be responsible for the tickets purchased through the online application process."

[Scersk '97]

I wonder if those prime seats will be "near" the action.  You know, like these ones for the UConn students.

Some of the worst seats were close to the floor, in the rows directly behind the baskets where students sat. Because the court was raised a couple of feet, television cameras and other baseline obstructions blocked their views.

At the start Saturday, a security guard tried to force the Connecticut students to stay seated because, by standing up, they blocked the views of those behind them. But this was like telling an ocean to stop making waves; the guard soon gave up.

From "At Ford Field, Even College Basketball's Biggest Stage Looks Tiny."

I just cannot help but think this whole thing is going to be an unmitigated disaster.  What is this nonsense about putting the rink in the middle of the field?  Must college hockey slavishly imitate college basketball, even though the two are completely different sports that lend themselves to completely different stadiums/arenas?  (To my aesthetic sense, the notion of a mixed-use basketball/hockey arena is as idiotic as a mixed-use football/baseball stadium.)

I'm looking forward to the 2010 season for a few reasons, and I'm very likely to make next year's Final Four, no matter the participants, due to geographical proximity.  If Cornell ends its season in Ford Field it will be quite an achievement, and I will be damn happy to watch them play.

But what a godawful venue made worse by godawfully stupid decisions.  Everyone had best bring binoculars.

[KeithK]

[quote Scersk '97]Must college hockey slavishly imitate college basketball, even though the two are completely different sports that lend themselves to completely different stadiums/arenas?  (To my aesthetic sense, the notion of a mixed-use basketball/hockey arena is as idiotic as a mixed-use football/baseball stadium.)[/quote]
Explain? Maybe it's just because I'm not a basketball fan but I don't see much of a difference in terms of arena requiremnets.  Plus most pro arena are multi-use hockey/basketball/etc. right?

[Scersk '97]

[quote KeithK][quote Scersk '97]Must college hockey slavishly imitate college basketball, even though the two are completely different sports that lend themselves to completely different stadiums/arenas?  (To my aesthetic sense, the notion of a mixed-use basketball/hockey arena is as idiotic as a mixed-use football/baseball stadium.)[/quote]
Explain? Maybe it's just because I'm not a basketball fan but I don't see much of a difference in terms of arena requiremnets.  Plus most pro arena are multi-use hockey/basketball/etc. right?[/quote]

I find basketball to be a much more vertical game than hockey.  You know, the ball arcing through the air and all.  Hockey is about being able to perceive the speed of movement across the ice, which is easier to do from above.

So, I feel that hockey arenas are best built with steeply sloping seats in multiple tiers (think Boston Garden), whereas basketball venues can tolerate a more gradual slope to seating.

(Of course, this comes from someone who watched every game in his undergraduate days from one of the last two rows of section A (or, as the tickets said, AA), so my preferences are going to be obvious.  Front row by the glass?  Feh.)

[Rita]

[quote KeithK][quote Scersk '97]Must college hockey slavishly imitate college basketball, even though the two are completely different sports that lend themselves to completely different stadiums/arenas?  (To my aesthetic sense, the notion of a mixed-use basketball/hockey arena is as idiotic as a mixed-use football/baseball stadium.)[/quote]
Explain? Maybe it's just because I'm not a basketball fan but I don't see much of a difference in terms of arena requiremnets.  Plus most pro arena are multi-use hockey/basketball/etc. right?[/quote]

Unfortunately, yes and at this time of year it sucks. Last weekend you had the Celtics-Bulls basketball game at 1 pm, and then they had to turn the TD whatever it is now Garden around for the B's-Habs playoff game.

Tomorrow, the same thing in Chicago with the added complication of it being in the 80's in Chicago-land. What that means is the ice is less than stellar  at times when the games mean the most.

Fortunately, the Wizards, knicks and nets suck. so it is just Boston and Chicago that will have to deal with it, and soon just one of them as one of the squeakball teams will be eliminated.

I remember this being problematic at times way back in the day when the Whalers had to deal with this with some UConn and even Celtic games (C's would play a couple of games at the Mall).

I know ice making techniques have improved, but a sheet of ice covered until ~ 4 hours before face-off just can't be good.

[KeithK]

I can see how ice quality can be an issue. But Scersk's initial comment realted to sight lines.  He's explained and although I think his comparison of basketball/hockey arenas to baseball/football stadiums is pretty weak (multi-use baseball/football places are much, much worse) I guess I sort of see his argument.

[Scersk '97]

[quote KeithK]I can see how ice quality can be an issue. But Scersk's initial comment realted to sight lines.  He's explained and although I think his comparison of basketball/hockey arenas to baseball/football stadiums is pretty weak (multi-use baseball/football places are much, much worse) I guess I sort of see his argument.[/quote]

The crossing of baseball architecture with that of any other sport is anathema.  But, of course, much of that perception comes from how zealous baseball fans are about the "purity" of "their" game.

I feel much the same about hockey.  The rise of basketball--in the northern climes much to the detriment of "my" game--and our always misguided cultural tendencies toward frugality have lead to some horrible mixed-use arena architecture over the years; honestly, it's so bad at this point that many people have no idea what a purpose-built hockey venue should look like, since their only experience of the game has been in multi-sport venues.

For even the casual fan, it's rather easy to look at a baseball diamond wedged into a football field and cry foul.  Heck, it quite obviously cheapens the gameplay.  But if one considers the fan experience an integral aspect of any spectator sport, then the horrible mixed basketball/hockey arenas cheapen my chosen sports obsession nearly as much.

These awful venues--and there are so many that have been built and are being built--are symptomatic of a culture that has lost its connection to notions of beauty, elegance, tradition, and permanence.  Throw up a pole barn and call it a day.  It's cheaper, isn't it?  And then, when we get tired of that one, we can just build another one further out in the suburbs.

The oldest arena in the NHL is the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, and it will soon be replaced.  Arguably, part of Bettman's "legacy" in the NHL has been the homogenization of the league, and the "retirement" of some great venues has been a part of that.  No longer the Garden, the Gardens, the Forum, nor the Stadium.  Would that hockey had even half the reverence for its architectural icons that baseball does.

And, continuing that thought, may Lynah never be replaced.  May it be refurbished and renovated but never eradicated.  If we ever lose that Rink, we will have collectively lost a vital connection to Cornell's history.  Maybe I'm a sentimental old fool, but not to have that place to revisit on the Hill would leave a gaping hole in my heart, and there are far too many of those already caused by the loss of so many of my other favorite places.

[Trotsky]

[quote Scersk '97]These awful venues--and there are so many that have been built and are being built--are symptomatic of a culture that has lost its connection to notions of beauty, elegance, tradition, and permanence.  Throw up a pole barn and call it a day.[/quote]

I see you are new to our land?

The disappointment fades in time.  Have a Lunchables.

[RichH]

[quote RichH]
Friday, April 17, 2009 11:00 AM
From: "Men's Frozen Four"

We are currently working with Ford Field to provide seat assignments to our online ticket applicants.  Seat assignments will either be included in the formal notification letter that will be sent out in the next several weeks or we will e-mail them to you.[/quote]

Still waiting on the seat assignments, mainly because they just announced that they are reconfiguring the field ice.  They shoved the rink to the end zone and plopped bleachers in.  http://www.ncaa.com/graphics/champpage/frozenfourseating.pdf

Ticket sales must be low and they're trying to avoid the embarrassment of having a vastly empty football stadium.  But hey!  Let's put a happy spin on it and say that we have an opportunity to break the all time record of 19,000+ for the Finals.  Seating capacity is now set at 36,000 instead of 50k or whatever the original full-stadium configuration had.

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/100809aab.html

and from an email they just sent out:

Based on this new configuration, all previously assigned seats for NCAA online ticket applicants are being reassigned.  As noted in the release, the new configuration will provide improved sight lines for fans and an overall enhanced championship experience for the participating student-athletes.


Your revised seat assignments will still be based on your priority number and your seats will be located within a prime block reserved specifically for online ticket applicants.

[KeithK]

[quote RichH]Ticket sales must be low and they're trying to avoid the embarrassment of having a vastly empty football stadium.  But hey!  Let's put a happy spin on it and say that we have an opportunity to break the all time record of 19,000+ for the Finals.  Seating capacity is now set at 36,000 instead of 50k or whatever the original full-stadium configuration had.[/quote]
I'll give you a happy spin on it. Seems pretty unlikely they'll ever play the Frozen Four in a football stadium again.  That's a good thing.

(Though if Cornell were to make it to Detroit I'm sure I would be very happy that I could buy tickets at face value in April.)