National Collegiate Hockey Conference

[jtn27]

Wow, I've never been to UConn, it really is in nowhere land. As a student I don't think I'd like it there. What happens if you don't have a car?

Probably the same thing that happens if you don't have a car at Cornell. You're stuck on campus unless you're willing to take a bus downtown or to New York.

Wait, wait, wait. When I was a freshman, with the emphasis on when, we walked downtown. There were 4 movie theatres. They were the near-near, the far-near, the near-far, and the far-far. We walked to all, weather permitting. I don't know what's happening to the younger generation.::panic::

I have done the walk a few times, but it's not all that common anymore thanks to buses that run every 15 minutes. Also, there is now only 1 real movie theater in Ithaca at the mall. The Commons has some sort of theater which I've never been to, but as far as I can tell they don't show new movies.

[KeithK]

Well the gorge trail to the commons which makes it enjoyable to do that walk is closed so that might have something to do with it.

When did they close the gorge trail?  Is it permanent?

[KeithK]

Unrelated to the current discussion but sort of relevant to the thread topic.  Is anyone else a little tickled by the fact that of the five teams making the tournament from the CCHA only the one team that isn't jumping to a super conference managed to win a tournament game?

(Admittedly, I was a little more pleased by this fact Saturday afternoon than I am now.)

[jtn27]

Well the gorge trail to the commons which makes it enjoyable to do that walk is closed so that might have something to do with it.

When did they close the gorge trail?  Is it permanent?

A few years back. I think they're trying to get it reopened this summer.

[css228]

Well the gorge trail to the commons which makes it enjoyable to do that walk is closed so that might have something to do with it.

When did they close the gorge trail?  Is it permanent?

A few years back. I think they're trying to get it reopened this summer.

Yeah but I thought I heard they ran out of money  for that.

[RichH]

Wow, I've never been to UConn, it really is in nowhere land. As a student I don't think I'd like it there. What happens if you don't have a car?

Probably the same thing that happens if you don't have a car at Cornell. You're stuck on campus unless you're willing to take a bus downtown or to New York.

Yeah, you're kind of missing the point Jim was trying to make.  Cornell is in Ithaca, which is a small city with a downtown business district.  When you leave campus, you're among residential or commerical things in Ithaca.  UConn is in Storrs.  There's no "there" there. If you leave campus, you're on a highway.  No semblance of an organized town. The campus is Storrs.  There's a small strip of businesses along the main drag with a Subway and a couple take-out restaurants and a traffic light, besides the university buildings.  That's it.  The nearest thing that is town-like is Willimantic, 8 miles away, or Manchester, 16 miles away.

I didn't believe that 130 year-old university wouldn't have at least a collegetown type of settlement either, until I drove through it.

[marty]

Wow, I've never been to UConn, it really is in nowhere land. As a student I don't think I'd like it there. What happens if you don't have a car?

Probably the same thing that happens if you don't have a car at Cornell. You're stuck on campus unless you're willing to take a bus downtown or to New York.

Wait, wait, wait. When I was a freshman, with the emphasis on when, we walked downtown. There were 4 movie theatres. They were the near-near, the far-near, the near-far, and the far-far. We walked to all, weather permitting. I don't know what's happening to the younger generation.::panic::

Yes, but as a sophomore, did you find "The Clover Club"?

[RichH]

Wow, I've never been to UConn, it really is in nowhere land. As a student I don't think I'd like it there. What happens if you don't have a car?

Probably the same thing that happens if you don't have a car at Cornell. You're stuck on campus unless you're willing to take a bus downtown or to New York.

Wait, wait, wait. When I was a freshman, with the emphasis on when, we walked downtown. There were 4 movie theatres. They were the near-near, the far-near, the near-far, and the far-far. We walked to all, weather permitting. I don't know what's happening to the younger generation.::panic::

I have done the walk a few times, but it's not all that common anymore thanks to buses that run every 15 minutes. Also, there is now only 1 real movie theater in Ithaca at the mall. The Commons has some sort of theater which I've never been to, but as far as I can tell they don't show new movies.

Cinemopolis on the Commons, and Fall Creek Pictures in the Fall Creek neighborhood a mile north of the Commons, are both independent theaters.  They show some 2nd run, but mostly indie & art house movies.  The State Theater rarely shows movies, as it's more of a live performance venue now.  The theaters up by the mall are your only cookie-cutter 14-screen cineplex experience nearby, yes.

[Larry72]

Oh boy - you are bringing back memories of places long gone to someone who has essentially never left Ithaca:

- Movie Theaters.  All the "old" downtown movie theaters are gone:  Near Near (Strand) was torn down.  Far near (Temple) is a bank drive-thru. Near Far (State Theater) still exists but rarely shows movies.  It has been greatly rehabbed and does many stage, music, and other productions. The Far Far (Ithaca) is a warehouse.  The only movie theater now in downtown is Cinemapolis which is a non-profit and primarily shows art and foreign films with a smattering of current and old movies.  The local Regal 14 screen "multiplex" is out by the Shops at Ithaca Mall. And Cornell Cinema is still going strong.

- The Clover Club is LONG LONG GONE - don't remember when it went away.  That kind of "entertainment" is still available locally, primarily at a place called Kumas. Google it if you must!

- If you've been keeping up with Collegetown news lately, virtually all the old bars except the Chapter House have closed. The Royal Palm closed at the end of February.  Dunbars is still around - it's at the corner of Eddy St and Dryden Rd - right where "People's Park" used to be. The Chanticleer downtown is still around and from what I recall hasn't changed much at all.  Pretty much all the other old downtown bars have closed, been torn down, or have turned into restaurants.  A lot of the changes began happening when the drinking age went from 18 to 21.

- If you haven't been to downtown Ithaca in the last 40 years, there is a pedestrian mall called the Ithaca Commons that runs along what was E. State Street (Martin Luther King Jr. St.) from Cayuga to Aurora Streets.  The area around State and Aurora Streets is now a kind of neat restaurant row that attract lots of college students both from Cornell and IC.  

- The gorge trail is being reworked and I believe is supposed to be re-opened this year sometime.

Our friend, Mark Andbinder has a website that tries to keep up with many of the restaurants in the area.  It is said that Ithaca and Tompkins County have more restaurants per capita than NYC.  There are gastronomy experiences available for nearly every palate and wallet.

[Chris '03]

I can't really comment on the current atmosphere at UConn hockey games, because I've never been drawn to head there to check them out, especially when I'm often traveling in the region for Cornell games.

When I lived in the Hartford metroplex I attended a handful of UConn games ($3 tickets? yes, please).

The facility could best be described as a newer, slightly larger, Northford Ice Pavilion, where Q played games back in the day.

It's an airplane hangar with sheet metal walls, maybe 7 rows of generic metal bleachers on four sides, and nothing else. I think it seats about 2k.  The temperature is roughly that of the ice surface and the fan base is mostly townies, local kids, and player girlfriends. Attendance of 1k is a big draw. IIRC they played games outdoors until 2000 or so....

The UConn pep band plays for bigger games but there is otherwise no real atmosphere to speak of.

But give UConn credit. When they decide to go for it with a sport, they go all in. In ten years, they went from competitive football games with Yale to a BCS bowl. I've been wondering for some time when they'd finally turn their eyes to hockey. I'm sure the HEA tv deal didn't hurt their assessment of a major hockey initiative...

[bnr24]

Wow, I've never been to UConn, it really is in nowhere land. As a student I don't think I'd like it there. What happens if you don't have a car?

Probably the same thing that happens if you don't have a car at Cornell. You're stuck on campus unless you're willing to take a bus downtown or to New York.

Wait, wait, wait. When I was a freshman, with the emphasis on when, we walked downtown. There were 4 movie theatres. They were the near-near, the far-near, the near-far, and the far-far. We walked to all, weather permitting. I don't know what's happening to the younger generation.::panic::

I have done the walk a few times, but it's not all that common anymore thanks to buses that run every 15 minutes. Also, there is now only 1 real movie theater in Ithaca at the mall. The Commons has some sort of theater which I've never been to, but as far as I can tell they don't show new movies.

Cinemopolis on the Commons, and Fall Creek Pictures in the Fall Creek neighborhood a mile north of the Commons, are both independent theaters.  They show some 2nd run, but mostly indie & art house movies.  The State Theater rarely shows movies, as it's more of a live performance venue now.  The theaters up by the mall are your only cookie-cutter 14-screen cineplex experience nearby, yes.

Not to be a brat, but Cinemopolis did often show movies that were new that you couldn't really see anywhere else.  (See: Jane Eyre.)  I know I was more than happy to be able to watch independent movies at Cinemopolis (which I've only ever been to after its renovation but it is absolutely adorable), movies at Cornell Cinema (which is underrated and if you're a student, GO!), and movies down at the mall.  Also, after missing a bus once after a late showing of Harry Potter, a friend and I walked from the movies/mall to West and it really wasn't that bad a walk.  Actually kind of wonderful.  If you were to walk that distance in Philly, you'd be shot.

[munchkin]

Wow, I've never been to UConn, it really is in nowhere land. As a student I don't think I'd like it there. What happens if you don't have a car?

Probably the same thing that happens if you don't have a car at Cornell. You're stuck on campus unless you're willing to take a bus downtown or to New York.

Wait, wait, wait. When I was a freshman, with the emphasis on when, we walked downtown. There were 4 movie theatres. They were the near-near, the far-near, the near-far, and the far-far. We walked to all, weather permitting. I don't know what's happening to the younger generation.::panic::

Jim, I don't think I've ever asked you this: what year did you graduate? My grandma talks about the movie theaters based on those names, plus another called the armpit since it always smelled bad. My grandparents graduated in '52 and '53.

[Roy 82]

Wow, I've never been to UConn, it really is in nowhere land. As a student I don't think I'd like it there. What happens if you don't have a car?

Probably the same thing that happens if you don't have a car at Cornell. You're stuck on campus unless you're willing to take a bus downtown or to New York.

Yeah, you're kind of missing the point Jim was trying to make.  Cornell is in Ithaca, which is a small city with a downtown business district.  When you leave campus, you're among residential or commerical things in Ithaca.  UConn is in Storrs.  There's no "there" there. If you leave campus, you're on a highway.  No semblance of an organized town. The campus is Storrs.  There's a small strip of businesses along the main drag with a Subway and a couple take-out restaurants and a traffic light, besides the university buildings.  That's it.  The nearest thing that is town-like is Willimantic, 8 miles away, or Manchester, 16 miles away.

I didn't believe that 130 year-old university wouldn't have at least a collegetown type of settlement either, until I drove through it.

Are you saying that there are no stores in Storrs? Now *that's* ironic.

[Jim Hyla]

Wow, I've never been to UConn, it really is in nowhere land. As a student I don't think I'd like it there. What happens if you don't have a car?

Probably the same thing that happens if you don't have a car at Cornell. You're stuck on campus unless you're willing to take a bus downtown or to New York.

Wait, wait, wait. When I was a freshman, with the emphasis on when, we walked downtown. There were 4 movie theatres. They were the near-near, the far-near, the near-far, and the far-far. We walked to all, weather permitting. I don't know what's happening to the younger generation.::panic::

Jim, I don't think I've ever asked you this: what year did you graduate? My grandma talks about the movie theaters based on those names, plus another called the armpit since it always smelled bad. My grandparents graduated in '52 and '53.

Gee, thanks, but I am younger than your grandparents. '67::demented::::twak::I didn't know which was more appropriate, so I put both. Remember, I graduated with the first NCAA championship. In my home town, to beat. We had quite a crowd at my parents house that weekend.

[jtn27]

Well the gorge trail to the commons which makes it enjoyable to do that walk is closed so that might have something to do with it.

When did they close the gorge trail?  Is it permanent?

A few years back. I think they're trying to get it reopened this summer.

Yeah but I thought I heard they ran out of money  for that.

No. In fact, I'm in the process of writing an article about this for tomorrow's Sun right now (I'm procrastinating).