Frozen Four at Ford Field?

[Tub(a)]

[Q]RichH Wrote:

Tampa, Fla. - St. Pete Times Forum (Alabama-Huntsville)

[/q]



 ::yark::

[Will]

Tampa might work out as well as Anaheim did a few years back (i.e., not well at all), but at least Tampa has the advantage of being in a warm place that people might actually want to go to in April.  At least, being in Ithaca how most early Aprils go (i.e., not well at all, this year being a huge exception), maybe it's just appealing to me. :-D

If I were to guess, I would say Boston and St. Paul are virtually locks.  I imagine that in those two cities, the NCAA is guaranteed to make a boatload of money, and both places have the added bonus of actually being appealing to large groups of college hockey fans.  As for the third slot, it has to go to an eastern site, since the 2005-2008 Frozen Fours have been/will be held all at western sites (Columbus, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Denver).  Philly and DC are likely the frontrunners for the third spot.  I'd tend towards DC in that case, only because I think I'd have more fun in DC than in Philly, mainly because I've been to Philly more often than I've been to DC.

[dss28]

Wonder why Buffalo was turned down?  I thought, overall, they did a pretty good job with it in 2003.  

[Trotsky]

The DC area has a lot of alumni of certain schools (among them, Cornell), but the local interest outside of us would be less than zero.

I'd love to see the F4 come here for selfish reasons, but from an NCAA perspective I think it would be a mistake.

[Bio '04]

I would also love to see the Frozen Four in DC, although I won't be here to enjoy it.  At least the MCI Center is well situated in terms of the metro!  (And near our favorite sports bar, Grand Slam :-})

[Beeeej]

[Q]dss28 Wrote:
 Wonder why Buffalo was turned down?  I thought, overall, they did a pretty good job with it in 2003.  [/q]

The facility did a pretty good job, but Buffalo itself was not prepared to be a host city.  Finding a restaurant with less than a two-hour wait within five miles of the arena on game days was impossible.  Downtown is simply in a persistent vegetative state, and I would imagine that weighed into the decision.

That, or they simply didn't make the cut of the six best options.  That doesn't mean the NCAA thought they were a bad option.

Beeeej

[RichH]

[Q]Trotsky Wrote:

the local interest outside of us would be less than zero.[/q]

But save for Boston and the Twin Cities, that can be said for just about every host city.  Cincinnati, Anaheim, St. Louis are the ones that stand out that what you said is true.  Then there are the cities where there may be some conciousness that some local/state school has a hockey team, but beyond that, cluelessness: Columbus, Buffalo, Milwaukee, Denver.

You can also seperate them in terms of size.  Cities the size of Providence, Buffalo, Albany, and Columbus actually crave and feel the economic impact of such an event in terms of hotels, restaurants, and tourism.  The larger cities such as Philly, DC, LA, St. Louis, Denver can absorb such a thing without much notice.

In all cases, the local media almost always does a "hey, look at something cool coming here.  We should all pay attention and learn something." story.  LA included.  

Believe it or not, I do think that the NCAA wants its fans and participants to have an enjoyable and unique experience (granted, not the top priority).  DC would definetly give that.  Many people in Columbus went through the "what do we do here when we aren't at the games??" conumdrum.  So it just isn't about "will the locals care?"  No matter where you go, the locals won't care.  That's a fact about our sport.  But if the NCAA considers "will the people coming into town enjoy the experience enough to spend a lot of money there?"  DC and Philly are "yeses" and are accesible enough to a large enough fanbase to make it a full event.

It would be pretty boring to have it in Boston and the Twin Cities every other year.  Or Colorado Springs every year, for that matter.

[Trotsky]

[Q]RichH Wrote:
It would be pretty boring to have it in Boston and the Twin Cities every other year.  Or Colorado Springs every year, for that matter.
[/q]

I disagree.  I think rotating it between Boston, Detroit, Albany, and St. Paul/Colorado Springs on a four year cycle (or even a five year cycle, throwing the WCHA two bones) would be an outstanding way to balance the accretion of tradition with the desire to give fans of each conference accessibility.  It isn't boring to have the conference tournies in the same place year after year -- it builds up a history and a tie between the local community and the event.

If the tourny has to wander, I'd prefer it stay away from large cities like DC, Philly, and NYC, where it is a drop in the bucket and will go utterly unnoticed (Boston and Detroit are obvious exceptions).  The Frozen Four at MSG would make about as much of a splash as a boat show.  At least when you get Columbus for the weekend you're the only game in town.

[Beeeej]

[Q]Trotsky Wrote:
If the tourny has to wander, I'd prefer it stay away from large cities like DC, Philly, and NYC, where it is a drop in the bucket and will go utterly unnoticed (Boston and Detroit are obvious exceptions).  The Frozen Four at MSG would make about as much of a splash as a boat show.  At least when you get Columbus for the weekend you're the only game in town.[/q]

The problem is, when you go to the smaller cities, you tend to end up with the same problem finding hotel rooms, restaurants without herculean wait times, and transportation.  Even St. Paul, a great hockey town, had problems in 2002 because there are (or at least were) only a few restaurants within walking distance of the arena.

And don't discount the splash of a boat show.  People go to that stuff in New York City just 'cause it's there.

Ultimately, who the hell cares if anyone else notices the tourney?  It's there for us.

Beeeej

[KeithK]

[q]Ultimately, who the hell cares if anyone else notices the tourney? It's there for us. [/q]My feeling too.  If too many people notice then we won't be able to get tickets.

[dss28]

I wanna see it come to Hartford... :-)

There are definitely like... 2 restaurants you could go to... wait, maybe 1... okay, there are definitely restaurants throughout the state you could go to.... and hey, you're only 2 hours from both Boston and NYC... ::nut::

Actually, in all seriousness, I think once the Civic Center finishes their renovations, Hartford could make a case for itself.  Yaaaaay 2015!

[Will]

[Q]dss28 Wrote:

 I wanna see it come to Hartford... [/q]

Okay, but if that happens, you're going to have to let 50 of us stay at your house. :-P

[Trotsky]

[Q]Beeeej Wrote:
Ultimately, who the hell cares if anyone else notices the tourney?  It's there for us.[/q]

In that case, I want it in Tuscany, Munich, and Aruba.  ;-)

[ninian '72]

Add me to the DC vote.  In addition to proximity to Metro and a bunch of restaurants and hotels, MCI is a 5-minute walk from the Mall, where there's no excuse for having nothing to do.  Although there's no local big-time college hockey program, which may be a plus given recent experience with Michigan and Minnie in the regionals, youth hockey is one of the fastest growing sports in the area, and the number of high school programs is increasing as well.    There's more local interest in the sport than might be immediately apparent.

[judy]

Ya know, when thinking in terms of DC and the Frozen Four, I'd second Greg's opinion that it'd be awesome due to the fact that I live here and I've got a couple of NHL fan friends I'm trying to convert over to the college game...but I can't imagine coming in from out of town and the amount of money you'd have to shell out to stay in the city for that many days and feed yourself.
I'm often times envious of those in NYC or even Philly because it is possible to find good food for cheap there. Maybe I'm just wandering in the wrong neighborhoods here but I can't really even find food (good or bad) for cheap here. And I'm not wandering into those bad neighborhoods on my own.

I will however say that there's a nice little tapas restaurant within a couple of blocks of the MCI Center that serves awesome food and great sangria! and the MCI Center sits on top of Chinatown (as dinky as it is)