ECAC's moving to Atlantic City in 2011

[billhoward]

[quote Killer]I think Harvard's behind this.  They can't draw a crowd anywhere, so why not put the tournamant in a place where no one is likely to draw a crowd, thereby leveling the playing field?[/quote]

Ken Schott, Schenectady Gazette: "The other problem is that some the teams don't travel well. Harvard doesn't have a dedicated fan base. Princeton may bring about 50 fans."

[jaybert]

[quote Josh '99]I'm a little confused - do people think AC is easier to get to from NYC than Albany?  For example, from Adam's article (not singling you out, but I happen to have the window open so it's easiest):

And for every local or student that was going, there will -- theoretically -- be alumni of all ECAC schools in the New York City area who now have it much easier to attend.

How is that the case?  The drive is almost the same - 130 miles to AC, 150 miles to Albany, so it's a little bit closer, but there's also some stupid traffic on the local roads that take you into AC from the Parkway that mitigate that difference.  Both are accessible by train or bus.  As far as travel, it's basically a wash.[/quote]

They have the train which is "direct" to Atlantic City (actually goes through Philly I think, but you dont need to switch to NJ Transit like you had to in the past) which is how I will get there!

[AnneDVM]

I haven't been to Atlantic City in 16 years, but since I grew up in NJ, I spent 3 weekends there while in high school for the 3 years I was in All-State Orchestra.  This was in November, and I can imagine the weather will be pretty similar in March.  I found it to be a)economically depressed, b) depressing, c)cloudy and cold, d) depressing, and e) have I mentioned it was depressing?

We stayed right on the Boardwalk and walked up and down it to get to rehearsal, so I can't claim we were isolated on the outskirts of town.  Most businesses were closed because it was the off-season, and it looked like a ghost town.  Being in high school, of course we couldn't go to casinos or bars, but I remember looking at them and thinking they looked so tacky I would never want to go there.

The thought of going to the tourny is Atlantic City is, frankly, depressing.  I hope that things have improved in the last 2 decades, but I'm not sure I have any desire to find out.

[judy]

If the requirements are casino and far away from the schools, can we go to Las Vegas instead of AC?

[CUontheslopes]

I grew up in NJ also and have to say I was of the same opinion on AC until I went there for the first time in also about 15 years this July. The town has really made a nice comeback. It's not the AC I knew as a little kid. Of course, I was there in midsummer when everything was going on, but still, there's nice, new infrastructure, casinos that looked decidedly less tacky, etc. Personally, I love the beach in the winter - it's got a very cool feel and even mid-March, it's not unheard of to get a day with high temps in the 60s and sunshine. All in all, I had the same first reaction - UGH, but I think it's worth a shot. Albany was not a good permanent solution, though geographically convenient. This might at least create a little buzz and convince people to make a weekend out of it like Lake Placid did. Of course, Lake Placid had a lot more winter sports history going for it, but I'm willing to give it a chance. Pretty easy to get there too - hop a plane to philly and take the train over or take the ACES train from NYC.

[Rosey]

I think this blows.  It will be virtually impossible for me to leave Friday morning, pick up my dad, and get there in time for the first semifinal, which means I need to take an additional day off for travel.

What was all that wrong with Albany that motivated the move?  It had several decent pubs, a plethora of cheap hotels, and was far more centrally located for the league.  Furthermore, downtown is *dead* on the weekends because Albany is 90% government, so it was pretty much a downtown-wide hockey convention, a trait I found enormously appealing.  I feel like the shared ECAC experience will get lost in the bustle of Atlantic City.

Okay, I'm done bitching: one message is enough.  Life gives lemons; make lemonade.  I'm sure I will still have fun.

[billhoward]

Hard to believe but the ECAC is making us nostalgic for being in Albany.

[jtwcornell91]

[quote judy]If the requirements are casino and far away from the schools, can we go to Las Vegas instead of AC?[/quote]

Lots of European cities have casinos...

[djk26]

If we just need a place with a casino, I suggest Montreal.  Half the players are Canadian, anyway.

And now for some Sun bashing...

This article says that the tournament will be in AC starting in 2010.

[Robb]

[quote Kyle Rose]I feel like the shared ECAC experience will get lost in the bustle of Atlantic City.[/quote]Honest question (never having been to AC): how much "bustle" will there really be in March?

[redice]

Upon further consideration (of AC), I'll probably get back into the mode of going to the ECAC tourney only if Cornell is playing in it.   That's the way it worked for us when it was in Boston....We absolutely loved going to Boston, but back in those days, money limitations kept us home if Cornell didn't go.

With the tourney in Albany, we went every year; CU or no.

[ursusminor]

There is a link on this page (currently at the top) http://www.foxsports980.com/cc-common/podcast.html of an audio interview with Ken Schott (Schenectady Gazette) about the move.

There is a rather long musical intro.

[judy]

[quote jtwcornell91][quote judy]If the requirements are casino and far away from the schools, can we go to Las Vegas instead of AC?[/quote]

Lots of European cities have casinos...[/quote]

...like Monaco? I've never been to Monaco!

[Trotsky]

[quote judy][quote jtwcornell91][quote judy]If the requirements are casino and far away from the schools, can we go to Las Vegas instead of AC?[/quote]

Lots of European cities have casinos...[/quote]

...like Monaco? I've never been to Monaco![/quote]

That would expand the dating pool.

My only experience in AC was singing at the Bicentennial, 35 years ago (shiver).  It was a hole.  But then again Vegas was a hole 20 years ago and now it's great.

I suppose we can chant "we're all in New Jersey."

[DeltaOne81]

I'm not a huge fan of this in general, but for my own selfish purposes, it works out pretty nicely