The March tournament for our new conference should-will- be held in Omaha. If you look at a map you will quickly see that location is the only one that makes logistical sense. here are the numbers from my Atlas milage table: Denver------534 miles Grand Forks-504 South Bend--563 Duluth------524 Co Springs--603 Miami oh.---695
All of these miles are on the interstates with the only red lites when you arrive in tha Omaha local area-unless you see a lot of them in your rear view mirror. Set your cruise control at 8 miles over the speed limit and relax. One stop for gas and a quick bite and you are there in about 8 hours. If Denver is selected it would be a plus 1,000 mile drive from most of the other schools, and a funny coincidence,the students would be driving through Omaha at approx. the half way point. Maybe that wouldnt be so funny to the driver.
The key is that we want student attendence from all the schools. Flying will eliminate most of that.Raucous students filling an arena is what college tournaments are meant to be. The Qwest Arena in Omaha seats something over 15,000 for hockey and is relatively new. It's easy to find off the interstate(except for North Da Goona drivers who will receive special escort in). it's a slam dunk. no other site comes close if student attendence is desired, which it obviously will be.
Tradition strength: DU (yup), UND (yup), UMD (yup), Miami (absolutely), CC (historically, perhaps).... and UNO... well, actually being "tradition rich" is a requirement that can be waived if you have a 15,000 person barn, fill it impressively, and earned a ticket to the 2011 tourney... And, it was a good deal for us to take. After all, who knows, they may end up out-drawing (on average) even UND in a few years (and losing big-time venues in Madison and Minni does carry a cost).
After all, CC hasn't had squat since 1957... there's probably a 50 year statute of limitations on claiming any successful traditions... so CC and UNO are pretty much on par with each other. Except that UNO doesn't completely suck.
Actually, CC has done more than squat -- they've won some MacNaughtons, bagged some Hobey Winners and were within a goalpost of beating Michigan for the 1996 NCAA title. They've also beaten us Pios more than we beat them since the Gold Pan started in the early 1990s.
The Tiggies have some tradition. A bit musty certainly, but they have it.
the tiggly-wigglies also had a 35 year tradition (1958-1993) of being utter crap, with some of the worst teams in NCAA history, like the 4-33-1 team from '87-88 for example...it all depends on what you want to look at...
Interesting development. Will the NCAA allow the The Peoples Republic of North Dakota to participate in the NCHC? If so, can they still force an independent country to change its school name?
10 comments:
Good video, good quotes.
DU doing this was the right move.
Looks like Minnesota-Moorhead may be adding D-1 hockey. An announcement is scheduled for Friday.
As Gwozdecky said in the video, these moves may free up space in the conferences for schools to add hockey.
http://peterson.areavoices.com/2011/07/15/and-here-we-go/
The March tournament for our new conference should-will- be held in Omaha. If you look at a map you will quickly see that location is the only one that makes logistical sense. here are the numbers from my Atlas milage table:
Denver------534 miles
Grand Forks-504
South Bend--563
Duluth------524
Co Springs--603
Miami oh.---695
All of these miles are on the interstates with the only red lites when you arrive in tha Omaha local area-unless you see a lot of them in your rear view mirror. Set your cruise control at 8 miles over the speed limit and relax. One stop for gas and a quick bite and you are there in about 8 hours.
If Denver is selected it would be a plus 1,000 mile drive from most of the other schools, and a funny coincidence,the students would be driving through Omaha at approx. the half way point. Maybe that wouldnt be so funny to the driver.
The key is that we want student attendence from all the schools. Flying will eliminate most of that.Raucous students filling an arena is what college tournaments are meant to be.
The Qwest Arena in Omaha seats something over 15,000 for hockey and is relatively new. It's easy to find off the interstate(except for North Da Goona drivers who will receive special escort in). it's a slam dunk. no other site comes close if student attendence is desired, which it obviously will be.
Omaha does college sports right with the College World Series.
They'd turn out for this as well.
Not sure about all 6 teams being "tradition rich". They lost me with that crappy PR twist.
Tradition strength: DU (yup), UND (yup), UMD (yup), Miami (absolutely), CC (historically, perhaps).... and UNO... well, actually being "tradition rich" is a requirement that can be waived if you have a 15,000 person barn, fill it impressively, and earned a ticket to the 2011 tourney... And, it was a good deal for us to take. After all, who knows, they may end up out-drawing (on average) even UND in a few years (and losing big-time venues in Madison and Minni does carry a cost).
After all, CC hasn't had squat since 1957... there's probably a 50 year statute of limitations on claiming any successful traditions... so CC and UNO are pretty much on par with each other. Except that UNO doesn't completely suck.
Actually, CC has done more than squat -- they've won some MacNaughtons, bagged some Hobey Winners and were within a goalpost of beating Michigan for the 1996 NCAA title. They've also beaten us Pios more than we beat them since the Gold Pan started in the early 1990s.
The Tiggies have some tradition. A bit musty certainly, but they have it.
the tiggly-wigglies also had a 35 year tradition (1958-1993) of being utter crap, with some of the worst teams in NCAA history, like the 4-33-1 team from '87-88 for example...it all depends on what you want to look at...
Minnesota State-Moorhead just finished their Press Conference. They want to play men's & women's D-I hockey in the WCHA.
They need to raise $37 million to endow the two programs. They have $15 million already.
They believe that D-I hockey will add $12-14 million to the region annually.
They want to hire a big name coach. They will spend the next three months doing due diligence and raising money.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/fine-print-north-dakota-may-not-state-195631502.html
Interesting development. Will the NCAA allow the The Peoples Republic of North Dakota to participate in the NCHC? If so, can they still force an independent country to change its school name?
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