Lake Placid Attendance

[Rosey]

So, which of you is volunteering to sleep in the bathtub next weekend?

A lot of stuff that was fun at 19 is not fun at 50.

Or at 38. So, my point exactly. I'll be driving 1½ hours back to my family's lake house after Friday's game rather than stick around to enjoy the atmosphere while spending $3xx on a hotel room. I miss Albany already.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

When the ECAC tournament was in Boston, we stayed at our fraternity's chapter at MIT or at the apartment of a frat brother who graduated a year or two before.  For the NCAA's in Providence in 1980, we stayed at the chapter at URI.  Not an option in LP.

For the record, I'm at the Econolodge.

[Robb]

I'll be driving 1½ hours back to my family's lake house after Friday's game rather than stick around to enjoy the atmosphere while spending $3xx on a hotel room. I miss Albany already.

#firstworldproblems

[KeithK]

Hotel rooms aren't that expensive if you split the cost six or eight ways.  Sure, you might end up sleeping on the floor but there are worse things.

It builds esprit du corps.  When I was an undergrad (shakes cane) the first time we went on the Harvard trip we split a hotel room with 2 queen beds between 8 kids, a guinea pig, and a birthday cake.  Learning to sleep soundly in a bathtub is an invaluable life skill.

Old alums talk wistfully about sleeping on the floor on a road trip and being a better person for it. Fast forward multiple decades and everyone gripes about having to sleep in dorm beds at reunion and sharing bathrooms. Where's the pioneering spirit?

So, which of you is volunteering to sleep in the bathtub next weekend?

Buy me a plane ticket to get to and from LP and I'll happily sleep on the floor.

[Rosey]

I'll be driving 1½ hours back to my family's lake house after Friday's game rather than stick around to enjoy the atmosphere while spending $3xx on a hotel room. I miss Albany already.

#firstworldproblems

Is it really unjustified whining to express disappointment that I won't get to stick around and party with my fellow fans? I don't really think I'm being unreasonable.

Albany had everything a fan could ask for from a practical standpoint: central location, lots of bars and restaurants, and—most importantly—plenty of cheap hotels within walking distance. I don't understand the appeal of LP: it's remote, it's expensive, and the nostalgia of the 1980 Olympics wears off in about 10 minutes. The things that matter to this hockey fan are best served by hosting it in Albany. Albany may not be quaint or historic, but it's sure as hell convenient for the fans.

[Al DeFlorio]

Albany had everything a fan could ask for from a practical standpoint: central location, lots of bars and restaurants, and—most importantly—plenty of cheap hotels within walking distance. I don't understand the appeal of LP: it's remote, it's expensive, and the nostalgia of the 1980 Olympics wears off in about 10 minutes. The things that matter to this hockey fan are best served by hosting it in Albany. Albany may not be quaint or historic, but it's sure as hell convenient for the fans.

Where have I heard this before?

[Trotsky]

I love LP and I hated Albany when we first moved there and whined about it a lot, but after we got an established tradition going it was actually fun and it was much more convenient.  It is probably the best overall site for the tourney unless you have a real hard-on for ski resorts (which I do).

It wouldn't feel like New York if people weren't whining.  It's part of why I return again and again -- the nostalgia of entitlement.  

[Rosey]

It's part of why I return again and again -- the nostalgia of entitlement.  

I understand you're joking, but there's a kernel of indictment there that I think is unjustified. The ECAC wants fans to go to this thing, but it has to deal with the same reality that (I think?) we've agreed is affecting Lynah attendance and attention: people have other choices, including TV versions of said game, as well as competing forms of entertainment. I think shagwell ("Yeah, baby... yeah!!" ) may be attempting to recreate the glory years, such as they were, of post-HE ECAC tournament attendance, but I suspect he'll find that Placid had the best numbers despite its location, not because of it. Making it as easy as possible for the fans to justify a weekend spent watching hockey is going to put the most asses in seats as is possible, all other things being equal.

As much as I bitched about the seediness and banality of Atlantic City, the problem there wasn't cheap lodging (it had plenty) or things to do (plenty of restaurants and "entertainment" ), but rather the location: it was terribly inconvenient to get to for most of the fan base. Placid isn't quite as bad as AC in that regard, but it has the lodging issue to contend with. I would not be shocked to see 2007-2009-levels of attendance at Placid this year.

Throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks is not how good businesses operate.

[Scersk '97]

As much as I bitched about the seediness and banality of Atlantic City, the problem there wasn't cheap lodging (it had plenty) or things to do (plenty of restaurants and "entertainment" )...

Actually, I found AC to have overpriced lodging, at least within walking distance of the rink. Maybe I didn't know where to look, or maybe my tolerance for fleabag has decreased over the years, but I could never find anything at all acceptable for less than $125 or so "downtown." LP's lodging may be overpriced too, but you can't beat the atmosphere outside your rented door.

Regarding activities and entertainment, AC did indeed have plenty of restaurants, but the entertainment it had only fit the bill of two kinds of people—gamblers and shoppers. (Well, and perhaps patrons of adult nightclubs.) LP has a good number of bars and restaurants, and the activities available are more "becoming" (i.e., less seedy) and "appropriate" (i.e., winter-oriented) for a hockey tournament between college institutions of reasonable repute.

All that being said, I sympathize with you regarding Albany.  It was the right place to hold the tournament. I'll enjoy the tournament in LP just fine—perhaps a bit more than in Albany—but I enjoyed it there too.

[Trotsky]

It's part of why I return again and again -- the nostalgia of entitlement.  

I understand you're joking, but there's a kernel of indictment there that I think is unjustified.

I was joking.

I really want this tournament to be a success (and for us to dominate it).  Although I personally love LP I know it's not for everyone. The Kids Today especially are probably not going to resonate with a place whose charm is aesthetic and tranquil.  That doesn't appeal to most 20-somethings in any period, and particularly not in an age of, how shall I put this politely?, shallow, solipsistic, five-second attention spanned addiction to the masturbation of personal electronics and the idiocy of consumerism.

For all these reasons the tourney should eventually find a permanent home in Albany, and the league office should figure out whatever combination of bribery and intimidation it takes to make that happen.  There is no other serious candidate: the other cities anyway near the geographic center of the conference (Syracuse, Worcester, Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford) are even worse shit holes.  New York City is just too much for the pearl-clutching set to contemplate, and Boston's out unless BU and BC are destroyed by a massive outbreak of Southie gonorrhea.

Throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks is not how good businesses operate.

This is unfortunate, because the gorillas from American Tourister have been running the ECAC since the mid-80s.

[marty]

For all these reasons the tourney should eventually find a permanent home in Albany, and the league office should figure out whatever combination of bribery and intimidation it takes to make that happen.

Simply require all the "fans" who buy season tickets at Union and RPI to buy the damn tickets in Albany. They are the reason that attendance dwindled. I'm ashamed at the turn out. We'll see how the regional does when it returns in 2016.

[Rosey]

Actually, I found AC to have overpriced lodging, at least within walking distance of the rink. Maybe I didn't know where to look, or maybe my tolerance for fleabag has decreased over the years, but I could never find anything at all acceptable for less than $125 or so "downtown."

$125 *is* cheap. Have you seen the prices in LP? I can't find a hotel for less than $230/night. Not that I'm looking terribly hard, mind you, but it was almost trivial to find a place ~$100/night in both Albany and AC. If you were willing to drive all of 5 minutes outside of AC (or maybe take the Jitney, I don't know), you could get a place for $80/night.

[Robb]

I'll be driving 1½ hours back to my family's lake house after Friday's game rather than stick around to enjoy the atmosphere while spending $3xx on a hotel room. I miss Albany already.

#firstworldproblems

Is it really unjustified whining to express disappointment that I won't get to stick around and party with my fellow fans? I don't really think I'm being unreasonable.

I was joking, too.  The only reason it even came to mind was because you had to return to your lake house - if you'd said "dumpy apartment in Albany" instead...

I believe I saw every game Cornell played in Placid from 1996-2001 except the 1998 play-in game, and I've only ever spent one night in Placid (I was living in VT at the time), so I actually feel your pain much more than you're aware - driving home after the game instead of sticking around to celebrate, reminisce, and contemplate possibilities with your fellow fans does indeed suck.

[Jim Hyla]

I'll be driving 1½ hours back to my family's lake house after Friday's game rather than stick around to enjoy the atmosphere while spending $3xx on a hotel room. I miss Albany already.

#firstworldproblems

Is it really unjustified whining to express disappointment that I won't get to stick around and party with my fellow fans? I don't really think I'm being unreasonable.

I was joking, too.  The only reason it even came to mind was because you had to return to your lake house - if you'd said "dumpy apartment in Albany" instead...

I believe I saw every game Cornell played in Placid from 1996-2001 except the 1998 play-in game, and I've only ever spent one night in Placid (I was living in VT at the time), so I actually feel your pain much more than you're aware - driving home after the game instead of sticking around to celebrate, reminisce, and contemplate possibilities with your fellow fans does indeed suck.

But it's better than TV, or AmericaOne.

[drs48]

.....be careful of the N2O fumes, though.