double standard?

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: double standard?

And, for the record, I blame the hell out of Air Force for pushing over the first domino...

If you want to keep following the dominos, technically Army left first.

[moose97]

Re: double standard?

If you want to keep following the dominos, technically Army left first.

Nice try, but Army never really wanted to be a part of the CHA in the first place. Don't forget that the CHA was started as a scheduling alliance between several independent schools, and there was an "ah-ha moment" where they realized that if they called their gathering of teams a "conference," they could get an AQ. Army was on board, but they didn't want the full set of games so that they could keep playing traditional rivals. If you look back, Army stuck around for a total of one year, and only played 10 CHA games that season. rather than the 16 or 18 that everyone else did (their games counted as 4 pts for CHA purposes). Army had one foot out the door before the league even began. No one faults them for that.

[davyd83]

Re: double standard?

I'd like to find out about a time when that's ever happened, ever. Because it's hard to believe at this point...

Anyone who has been paying attention for the last five years and still has that expectation is a fool.

And, for the record, I blame the hell out of Air Force for pushing over the first domino...

How about Findlay for folding their program?

[komey1]

Re: double standard?

Had Air Force not left, they would likely be in the same boat as UAH in terms of a conference. This is presuming that Findley and Wayne St still would have folded. It would have been interesting to see if the NCAA would have kept granting exemptions for a 5 team conference.

[4four4]

Re: double standard?

Well, you would still be wrong then.

So you are saying my opinion would be wrong because I believe UND and DU ruined college hockey?

[Almington]

Re: double standard?

How about Findlay for folding their program?

How about the NCAA for ending the D-II championship forcing these teams up into D-I?

[kingdobbs]

Re: double standard?

Wow, after thinking about it you are correct. They were the first school to start this whole mess. Well I still believe DU and UND ruined college hockey.

The trail between "Air Force goes to the AHA" and "Penn State decides it wants to start a college hockey program" is pretty tenuous. And by tenuous, I mean, "non-existent".

[Stauber1]

Re: double standard?

The trail between "Air Force goes to the AHA" and "Penn State decides it wants to start a college hockey program" is pretty tenuous. And by tenuous, I mean, "non-existent".

Yeah, Air Force has no place in this discussion. They had nothing to do with Penn St.

And When Penn St. decided to add hockey, it was inevitable the Big Ten was going to start its own conference.

And when the Big Ten decided to start their own conference, I guess it was inevitable that UND and DU would begin to feel impotent.

[MikeAnderson]

Re: double standard?

If you want to keep following the dominos, technically Army left first.

Not true. Army was doing the CHA schools a solid in starting the conference while Wayne State was getting its ducks in a row. They played half the games (each of which counted four points) and there was no expectation that they would be there past Year 1.

Come to think of it, maybe *that's* the time when people acted "in the best interest of the game."

[MikeAnderson]

Re: double standard?

The trail between "Air Force goes to the AHA" and "Penn State decides it wants to start a college hockey program" is pretty tenuous. And by tenuous, I mean, "non-existent".

Who gives a flying flip about Penn State? I'm talking about the only independent team in college hockey in the past 15 years and how that came to pass.

The rest of it is just icing on the cake for the "Southerners don't deserve hockey" crowd.

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: double standard?

The rest of it is just icing on the cake for the "Southerners don't deserve hockey" crowd.

I don't know if it's that some don't think Southerners "deserve" hockey as much as they assume that in general, Southerners don't WANT it.
Of course if you really look at sports fans' bases almost anywhere in this country, a majority don't give a rat's ### about hockey, but the ones that do are true die-hards. So it's just a question of if there are enough hockey die-hards in a given market to support it, Northeast, Upper MidWest, SouthEast, wherever...

[davyd83]

Re: double standard?

I don't know if it's that some don't think Southerners "deserve" hockey as much as they assume that in general, Southerners don't WANT it.
Of course if you really look at sports fans' bases almost anywhere in this country, a majority don't give a rat's ### about hockey, but the ones that do are true die-hards. So it's just a question of if there are enough hockey die-hards in a given market to support it, Northeast, Upper MidWest, SouthEast, wherever...

There are a lot of very passionate southern hockey fans. Teams in Charleston, Greenville, SC, Duluth, GA, Estero, FL, Odessa, TX, Shreveport, LA, Allen, TX, Hidalgo, TX and Corpus Christi all averaged better that RIT in its hockey mad part of the country!

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: double standard?

There are a lot of very passionate southern hockey fans. Teams in Charleston, Greenville, SC, Duluth, GA, Estero, FL, Odessa, TX, Shreveport, LA, Allen, TX, Hidalgo, TX and Corpus Christi all averaged better that RIT in its hockey mad part of the country!

First of all, don't get so defensive. I wasn't arguing with anybody or trying to claim that Southerners don't want hockey any more than anywhere else. Read my post a little more carefully. If there are enough hockey (or for that matter, any sports') fans willing to shell out the cash to support a program at whatever level, there is no reason to say any area of the country doesn't "deserve" the sport. It is just the general stereotype that Southerner's will never support hockey in great numbers as long as the SEC, ACC, Big 12, and NASCAR dominate the landscape.
And although I was not really talking about RIT in reference to any of this, as long as you brought it up... It's great that a bunch of beer league teams have managed to market themselves so well to fans who previously knew so little about ice, let alone hockey. But comparing the attendance of professional teams in markets where they are literally the only hockey game in town to attendance at RIT makes NO sense. And, FYI... RIT averages over 100% of capacity. So at this point I don't know how they could do any better.

[davyd83]

Re: double standard?

First of all, don't get so defensive. I wasn't arguing with anybody or trying to claim that Southerners don't want hockey any more than anywhere else. Read my post a little more carefully. If there are enough hockey (or for that matter, any sports') fans willing to shell out the cash to support a program at whatever level, there is no reason to say any area of the country doesn't "deserve" the sport. It is just the general stereotype that Southerner's will never support hockey in great numbers as long as the SEC, ACC, Big 12, and NASCAR dominate the landscape.
And although I was not really talking about RIT in reference to any of this, as long as you brought it up... It's great that a bunch of beer league teams have managed to market themselves so well to fans who previously knew so little about ice, let alone hockey. But comparing the attendance of professional teams in markets where they are literally the only hockey game in town to attendance at RIT makes NO sense. And, FYI... RIT averages over 100% of capacity. So at this point I don't know how they could do any better.

Not being defensive, I just want to illustrate to those who think that there is no hockey market in the south, that the perception is incorrect. I've been to many games in Birmingham where crowds exceeded 10,000. The team there averaged over 8000 on weekends after the first of the year. In Louisiana, the original Ice Gators once averaged over 11,000 for a season, the top number in minor league hockey. No offense to RIT, they run a great program and have had much success. I was just using their number as a baseline.

[Jason.Auckland]

Re: double standard?

There is a hockey market in the south. Having lived in Alabama for seven years, I like to think I'd know a thing or three about it. There is interest in hockey down their but you need the team to offer cheap beer and plenty of spit cups to get the farmers to come on out. Hockey in the south u.s. is dependent on the teams success and marketing unlike here in MN where thousands still go and watch the worst teams. Bring on the pbr!