ECAC's moving to Atlantic City in 2011

[jtwcornell91]

[quote Josh '99][quote jtwcornell91]That's not the best way to get to Albany from Ithaca, or the North Country. ::drive::[/quote]There's no GOOD way to get to Albany from Ithaca.[/quote]

You have something against the lovely people of Bainbridge and Greene?

[Trotsky]

[quote billhoward]Do we know if tickets will cost more as a result of moving to Atlantic City? Or do we mean the weekend as a whole including apparently costlier hotel rooms? [/quote]

If AC is anything like Vegas, costs should actually be lower.  The local economy is based on pulling in the suckers to vacuum their wallets at the table.

[ugarte]

[quote Trotsky][quote billhoward]Do we know if tickets will cost more as a result of moving to Atlantic City? Or do we mean the weekend as a whole including apparently costlier hotel rooms? [/quote]

If AC is anything like Vegas, costs should actually be lower.  The local economy is based on pulling in the suckers to vacuum their wallets at the table.[/quote]
Nope. AC gouges on hotel prices. A crappy room at the Best Western on the sketchy part of the boardwalk will run ~$250/night on the weekend.

[TimV]

[quote Jim Hyla][quote Jeff Hopkins '82]We also had one year in there with Vermont coming to Albany.  And they travel very well.  If I had to guess that may be the peak year for attendance in Albany.[/quote]You're right. 2005 CU, UVM, HVD, & "gate". 16,000 fans.[/quote]

I'm glad those three Harvard fans showed up to make it a nice round number.::banana::

[Robb]

[quote Jim Hyla][quote Josh '99][quote billhoward]The more you look at a map, the more you wonder: Who ticked off whom in the Albany-ECAC negotiations? Or did Atlantic City just overpay? Or is there an innocent explanation?[/quote]I think it's already been established that Atlantic City made a strong financial offer, which is an innocent explanation; there's nothing wrong, per se, with the league looking out for its bottom line.[/quote]Except, of course, that bottom line is coming out of our pockets. Now I don't mind if they put out a better product; but personally, I don't think that AC is the better product. Now, if they were to go to Boston, I think that would be a better product and I'd spend more for it.[/quote]
It also should be cheaper to open up a 10,000 seat venue for two days than a 17,000 seat venue.  Let's hope the extra $$$ for the ECAC comes in the way of cost savings, not revenue increases...

[Josh '99]

[quote jtwcornell91][quote Josh '99][quote jtwcornell91]That's not the best way to get to Albany from Ithaca, or the North Country. ::drive::[/quote]There's no GOOD way to get to Albany from Ithaca.[/quote]You have something against the lovely people of Bainbridge and Greene?[/quote]I'll take "Speed Traps" for $175, Alex.

[Dpperk29]

[quote jtwcornell91][quote Josh '99][quote jtwcornell91]That's not the best way to get to Albany from Ithaca, or the North Country. ::drive::[/quote]There's no GOOD way to get to Albany from Ithaca.[/quote]

You have something against the lovely people of Bainbridge and Greene?[/quote]

I know the Ithaca Hippies won't like this, but it is actually just as faster to take 81 south to Binghamton and catch 88 there. It is farther, but you travel much faster. This is based on driving 70-75 on the highways. You'll also see significantly fewer speed traps on 81/88 than on the state roads through all the towns.

I did the Schenectady/Dryden trip a lot when I lived out there, and tried it several different ways and going through Binghamton was consistently the fastest.

[KeithK]

[quote Dpperk29][quote jtwcornell91][quote Josh '99][quote jtwcornell91]That's not the best way to get to Albany from Ithaca, or the North Country. ::drive::[/quote]There's no GOOD way to get to Albany from Ithaca.[/quote]

You have something against the lovely people of Bainbridge and Greene?[/quote]

I know the Ithaca Hippies won't like this, but it is actually just as faster to take 81 south to Binghamton and catch 88 there. It is farther, but you travel much faster. This is based on driving 70-75 on the highways. You'll also see significantly fewer speed traps on 81/88 than on the state roads through all the towns.

I did the Schenectady/Dryden trip a lot when I lived out there, and tried it several different ways and going through Binghamton was consistently the fastest.[/quote]
Google maps prefers NY 96 to I88 from Ithaca.  But I agree that 81/88 is faster than using the little roads.

(People drive as slow as 70 on hockey road trips?  Reall? :-D )

[jtwcornell91]

[quote Dpperk29][quote jtwcornell91][quote Josh '99][quote jtwcornell91]That's not the best way to get to Albany from Ithaca, or the North Country. ::drive::[/quote]There's no GOOD way to get to Albany from Ithaca.[/quote]

You have something against the lovely people of Bainbridge and Greene?[/quote]

I know the Ithaca Hippies won't like this, but it is actually just as faster to take 81 south to Binghamton and catch 88 there. It is farther, but you travel much faster. This is based on driving 70-75 on the highways. You'll also see significantly fewer speed traps on 81/88 than on the state roads through all the towns.

I did the Schenectady/Dryden trip a lot when I lived out there, and tried it several different ways and going through Binghamton was consistently the fastest.[/quote]

I guess I optimized the Kingston->Ithaca trip when the nominal interstate speed limit was lower, but I was happy to trade in the 209->17 nonsense for 28->42->23A->23->88->206->79.

[billhoward]

[quote KeithK][quote Dpperk29][quote jtwcornell91][quote Josh '99][quote jtwcornell91]That's not the best way to get to Albany from Ithaca, or the North Country. ::drive::[/quote]There's no GOOD way to get to Albany from Ithaca.[/quote]

You have something against the lovely people of Bainbridge and Greene?[/quote]

I know the Ithaca Hippies won't like this, but it is actually just as faster to take 81 south to Binghamton and catch 88 there. It is farther, but you travel much faster. This is based on driving 70-75 on the highways. You'll also see significantly fewer speed traps on 81/88 than on the state roads through all the towns.

I did the Schenectady/Dryden trip a lot when I lived out there, and tried it several different ways and going through Binghamton was consistently the fastest.[/quote]
Google maps prefers NY 96 to I88 from Ithaca.  But I agree that 81/88 is faster than using the little roads.

(People drive as slow as 70 on hockey road trips?  Reall? :-D )[/quote]

I write a bit on GPS, mapping, and route optimization. We are still without consistently useful information about what's the best and fastest route, and GPS- and map-makers are only beginning to grapple with best routes in rush hour or during accidents. The traffic flow information you're getting now takes a lot of effort and it's still crap. Some routes are calculated by taking you to the center city and then to your destination, even if you approach from the northeast and your destination is near the northern outskirts of town. Accident and congestion re-routing often presumes the side road you're shunted onto will have traffic flow at the posted speed limit.

[billhoward]

More than a dozen hotels in the area offer rooms for the March 20 weekend (of 2010) at less than $100. That's for being 5 to 10 miles off the boardwalk. But I agree that AC is different from Las Vegas because Vegas is so much bigger, has such a glut of hotel rooms, and isn't someplace you'd just stop by in. Vegas rates are affected most by whether there's a big convention in town, big meaning more than 100,000 attending an event.

Maybe attendance would climb if they offered limited sports wagering. Not on the outcome, but say on whether Cornell hits on its first power play. Or who draws the first penalty or scores the first goal. I wonder if the ECACHL negotiated a dry or wet arena. Or if the VIP seats have keno runners.

[billhoward]

[quote Robb][quote Jim Hyla][quote Josh '99][quote billhoward]The more you look at a map, the more you wonder: Who ticked off whom in the Albany-ECAC negotiations? Or did Atlantic City just overpay? Or is there an innocent explanation?[/quote]I think it's already been established that Atlantic City made a strong financial offer, which is an innocent explanation; there's nothing wrong, per se, with the league looking out for its bottom line.[/quote]Except, of course, that bottom line is coming out of our pockets. Now I don't mind if they put out a better product; but personally, I don't think that AC is the better product. Now, if they were to go to Boston, I think that would be a better product and I'd spend more for it.[/quote]
It also should be cheaper to open up a 10,000 seat venue for two days than a 17,000 seat venue.  Let's hope the extra $$$ for the ECAC comes in the way of cost savings, not revenue increases...[/quote]
Probably marginal savings if any. In a bigger arena you hire ticket takers and concession people to handle a crowd of 10,000, and close off the upper deck so it doesn't need to be cleaned. IIRC, didn't Albany drape off parts of the upper deck so you didn't see the thousands of empty seats?

[ugarte]

[quote billhoward][quote KeithK][quote Dpperk29][quote jtwcornell91][quote Josh '99][quote jtwcornell91]That's not the best way to get to Albany from Ithaca, or the North Country. ::drive::[/quote]There's no GOOD way to get to Albany from Ithaca.[/quote]

You have something against the lovely people of Bainbridge and Greene?[/quote]

I know the Ithaca Hippies won't like this, but it is actually just as faster to take 81 south to Binghamton and catch 88 there. It is farther, but you travel much faster. This is based on driving 70-75 on the highways. You'll also see significantly fewer speed traps on 81/88 than on the state roads through all the towns.

I did the Schenectady/Dryden trip a lot when I lived out there, and tried it several different ways and going through Binghamton was consistently the fastest.[/quote]
Google maps prefers NY 96 to I88 from Ithaca.  But I agree that 81/88 is faster than using the little roads.

(People drive as slow as 70 on hockey road trips?  Reall? :-D )[/quote]

I write a bit on GPS, mapping, and route optimization. We are still without consistently useful information about what's the best and fastest route, and GPS- and map-makers are only beginning to grapple with best routes in rush hour or during accidents. The traffic flow information you're getting now takes a lot of effort and it's still crap. Some routes are calculated by taking you to the center city and then to your destination, even if you approach from the northeast and your destination is near the northern outskirts of town. Accident and congestion re-routing often presumes the side road you're shunted onto will have traffic flow at the posted speed limit.[/quote]
You think it is bad now? Wait until a GPS system announces that it has optimized the route. If it takes you off of the interstate, those smaller roads will become parking lots.

[andyw2100]

A few years ago, when the technology was still relatively new, I was fooling around with Mapquest or Yahoo maps or a similar mainstream program. I was getting directions from Ithaca to Rochester, and the program was taking me through Syracuse instead of up the west side of Cayuga Lake. Just for kicks I changed my end point to Geneva, NY, and the route given still took me completely out of the way, through Syracuse. My conclusion was that the software believed the Finger Lakes were essentially one large body of water, so would not route between them, but rather around them.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

One time, I detoured off the freeway to avoid a back-up at an ramp from DE-1 onto I-95.  The GPS took us through a parking lot for a shopping mall and onto a back exit from the mall that lead directly onto I-95.

So sometimes these things do work.