Attendance at Pittsburgh

[The Freds]

I heard about this Church bar, but never made it. Heard it was pretty sweet.

www.churchbrew.com

It was sweet indeed.

[BlackI]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

In our case, one of the best features was the hotel shuttle that would drop us off anywhere in a three mile radius and, then when we were ready, we called and they would pick us up. No need for mass transit, no need to drive and more than a few watering holes.

We even went to Church.

Well, I know. But on the other hand it makes sense to me on some level.

"Beer is proof that God loves us, and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin

I was raised catholic, and received communion at an impressionable age.

It makes sense on some level, I think.

[RMUColonials]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

Go to a bar. You can drink and have a good time. Then tell them you want a six pack of yuengling to go. Easy as hell and also on the order of absurd. But the rules, and the thinking is, you've been a great time all night... go ahead and take a sixer to go home with.

Or you can stop at the drive through to get your alcohol. They make it tough to find, but when you find one... it's like mcdonalds, where you better know what you want and they'll load you up - you have to pop the trunk now. But they'll load you up with as much as you want.

Strange place, but I love it. And there is something about the place that seems like home.

There does finally seem to be some traction to change the archaic alcohol laws in PA, but obviously not in time for this FF. Unless the laws change, it won't be much different in Philly.

As for my hometown, it gets a bad rap from people that haven't been here in a long time (or never). It's not for everyone, but I rarely hear people complain about it after they've been here.

I hope everyone enjoyed their stay.

[BlackI]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

There does finally seem to be some traction to change the archaic alcohol laws in PA, but obviously not in time for this FF. Unless the laws change, it won't be much different in Philly.

As for my hometown, it gets a bad rap from people that haven't been here in a long time (or never). It's not for everyone, but I rarely hear people complain about it after they've been here.

I hope everyone enjoyed their stay.

Well, my wife is from McKee's Rocks.

It is safe to say, I treat it like a second home. And I was colored impressed when I first came out of the tunnel. Even more so, when we drove up to the look out over Mt. Washington on a clear night(which can be rare) with a good glass of merlot.

It isn't an accident that the last Batman is filmed there... all you need is that look to realize it.

Also, what you will find is that despite I am a patriot fan, by and large the stillers enjoy and engage in very good football conversations without dismissing you as a rival fan.

Also, the last time I went to a Penguins game in the new rink, I had a patriots sweatshirt on with a Penguins hat. I could hear the chatter behind me, but only into the late first period. The most I heard was "honey it doesn't matter, I don't know either. He's probably going to hell someday". In Pittsburgh it is ok to be a stillers fan first, and not like the penguins. But it is seemingly unacceptable to be a penguins fan without liking the stillers. Despite this they overlooked it and made me feel "at home". But they did all agree that a guy in a patriot sweatshirt and a penguins hat is going to hell.

Having said all of that I now have a mess of a family where I need to be patient and not over step a boundary with Pats vs. Steelers... and then Penguins vs. Bruins... the only bargaining chip I have in this family is Red Sox vs. Buckos.

But they still have me out numbered and above all costs... and I can promise this... I won't conform and do the Polka.

[Patman]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

In our case, one of the best features was the hotel shuttle that would drop us off anywhere in a three mile radius and, then when we were ready, we called and they would pick us up. No need for mass transit, no need to drive and more than a few watering holes.

We even went to Church.

Mine would to... but they quit at 10:30... did you stay at Cambria, Freds?

[mookie1995]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

Go to a bar. You can drink and have a good time. Then tell them you want a six pack of yuengling to go. Easy as hell and also on the order of absurd. But the rules, and the thinking is, you've been a great time all night... go ahead and take a sixer to go home with.

i'm pretty sure i learned everyone that there are liquor stores (state stores) and beer distributors. if you want beer you need to find a distributor... but you could also go into any bar and get six packs to go.

if peeps didn't pay attention that is their loss.


also, i had kdka fm on the radio driving home and was happy to hear on the morning following a pens win and a pirates win, the talk was all on.... the stillers draft! heard long (20-25 min) interviews with offensive linemen from san jose st among others.

stillers come 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ....156th in order in town. accept

anybody hit up yinzers in the strip to get some stillers gear? the guys in there talked frozen four with me saturday afternoon.

the city could not have been better.
well done.

i was even happy with the 40 minute drive to monessen to my mom's both nights. that NEVER happens

[J.D.]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

I visited york, PA back in october and had no trouble finding a place to buy a case of yuengling

[wolverineTrumpet]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

www.churchbrew.com

It was sweet indeed.

We went to church on Sunday. Good beer and good food.

My friend and I drove down Saturday morning (only a ~4 hour drive for us), so we missed out on Thursday, but it looked lousy on tv. I was happy to see it looked more full Saturday. We had no problem finding tickets on the street. The only problem was it landed me in the St, Clooud section where I met a knowledgable St. Cloud fan and he didn't fit my stereotype.

Found plenty to do in Pittsburgh (although we were only there a day). Loved seeing hockey fans in most of the places we went.

Not sure why the dislike of Pittsburgh. Maybe it's the lack of public transportation, but living near Detroit, I'm used to that.

[theprofromdover]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

www.churchbrew.com

It was sweet indeed.

We had our Midwest Hockey Tours annual meeting there on Saturday.

[CLS]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

Re: Pennsylvania beer sales law. Confused me also. Glad we drove and had room in our car, came home with the better part of a case of Torpedo (and a couple of growlers from a brewpub we liked).

Re: Pittsburgh. Our only complaint was that we found the freeway system very confusing and in some cases poorly signed. Consol Energy Center is a very nice facility. Wish there were more to do near the arena.

Re: Attendance. I’m also not worried at all. I was very concerned that there’d be a disaster. I’d rather have a near-sellout in which the actual number of butts in the seats is close to the number of tickets sold than have “sellouts” like Columbus. Be interested to hear what FF attendance mavens like pgb have to say, but my hope is that the number of lottery participants and the secondary market have stabilized so that everyone who wants a ticket can get one and so that every ticket that gets bought gets used.

[Craig P.]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

Also, it didn't help the TV angle that all of the Lowell fans left after game one, and there were loads of empty seats in plain view of the camera. Sure, they lost, but they also did the same thing in the HE semifinal after they beat PC, mass exodus before the BU-BC semi that left a large chunk of seats open. That one puzzled me...you've already paid for your ticket, you've won your game and now get to see who you'll play in the final, and it's a huge rivalry game, why leave?

That's standard practice for the team-specific sections at the Frozen Four. The early game sections always clear out, win or lose, and attendance is usually somewhat sparse for the two losing semifinal teams' sections in the championship game.

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

Good crowd tonight. Some parts of rows vacant, but no large empty blocks, even in the St. Cloud, UML, and NCAA sections. Well done Cinderella fans, UML and St. Cloud fans, neutrals and locals.

When evaluating non-traditional host cities over the years, one indicator I've used is whether attendance improves on Saturday. Pittsburgh passed this test very nicely.

As we entered the tournament, there were a lot of tickets available on the NCAA Ticket Exchange, Ticketmaster and of course the secondary market. By one report, approximately 600 tickets were returned at the last minute, apparently by the participating schools. So there was quite a bit of slack to pick up. And yet the building was very close to full Saturday night. Credit must go to Pittsburgh locals, who almost certainly accounted for a majority of the last minute sales.

Note that it's not be entirely fair to compare Pittsburgh's performance with that of previous cities. To the best of my knowledge, Ticketmaster's interactive seating chart, along with other features designed to make last minute ordering both more visible and easier, are new this year. Still, Pittsburgh got the job done.

[COHockey]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

So I bought a single ticket knowing that I would not go, but keeping my priority points, and knowing I had a Penguins STH to give it to. Well, I got his report back. It was his first NCAA hockey game ever.

First of all he said that he enjoyed all the fans coming in, especially the college-age girls (he is a 70-something disabled vet and widow) and was able to talk to a lot of people. He was indeed surprised at the number of empty seats but I explained how that works, and it occurring every Frozen Four. He said that every time there is a threat of bad weather there are empty seats at Penguins games, but with the national exposure, he was thinking more would be sitting in the better seats.

He thought the crowd control went pretty smooth, but he noticed more staff and ushers than at a normal Penguins game.

He was especially happy in seeing all the different jerseys and fans from across the nation come in. He spoke with a couple of UMD fans (he was born in Minnesota) between games and got a free rum and coke from some Yale girls that were doing some mutual innocent flirting with him before the game on Thursday.

He was very happy with everyone who sat in section 108 (sorry, I forgot the row and seat), especially when his bladder was full second game on Thursday more than once. If you spoke with a 70-something guy with a vet hat in section 108, thanks.

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

Re: Attendance. I’m also not worried at all. I was very concerned that there’d be a disaster. I’d rather have a near-sellout in which the actual number of butts in the seats is close to the number of tickets sold than have “sellouts” like Columbus. Be interested to hear what FF attendance mavens like pgb have to say, but my hope is that the number of lottery participants and the secondary market have stabilized so that everyone who wants a ticket can get one and so that every ticket that gets bought gets used.

You describe a supply/demand equilibrium which has many positive attributes. If this is the objective, it was more or less achieved in St. Louis, Denver, DC, Tampa and now Pittsburgh.

I've come to believe that the NCAA Committee is making this something of a priority when selecting sites. If so, they're to be commended. Since we're often quick to criticize when something goes wrong, credit should be given when due. In any event, we can reevaluate this in a few months when the next round of sites is announced. The chatter is that both St. Louis and Denver are among those filing applications. If both those cities win, that will be further evidence that "comfortably filled buildings" is being used as a factor in the selection process.

[COHockey]

Re: Attendance at Pittsburgh

I've come to believe that the NCAA Committee is making this something of a priority when selecting sites. If so, they're to be commended. Since we're often quick to criticize when something goes wrong, credit should be given when due. In any event, we can reevaluate this in a few months when the next round of sites is announced. The chatter is that both St. Louis and Denver are among those filing applications. If both those cities win, that will be further evidence that "comfortably filled buildings" is being used as a factor in the selection process.

To me, this is important. I had entered into the lottery for the previous years before St Louis, but only got my first point there. I have a point in every lottery since (except Denver), and go every year (except when we missed St Paul due to the birth of my son, and this year since we discovered both at last years Frozen Four and since then that he does not travel by air very well). I do not care so much who goes to the Frozen Four as long as I can go. Maybe with my points I can start getting better seats.