Big Ten Hockey Conference

[Pirateasaurus]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

They also have diverse memberships, with schools whose other athletic programs are classified from NCAA Division I to I-AA to Division III, as well as carrying varied academic requirements.

This just reminded me of every very casual or non-fan ever that many of us are undoubtedly familiar with.

I'll use Michigan State as my example since I am quite familiar.

"We lost to Ferris State? That's outrageous! Can you imagine Tom Izzo or our Football team losing to Ferris effing state?!"

It's that kind of naivete that Alvarez seems to possess.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

You're making it sound like Barry was just kind of watching without any bias except for a concern for OSU. Definitely not the case...he was pushing for the BTHC all along:

Plan for Big Ten hockey league iced in summer of ’09

A series of high-level discussions took place this summer about the creation of a new men's hockey league featuring the five Big Ten Conference members that sponsor the sport.

UW senior associate athletic director Sean Frazier, who oversees the men's and women's hockey programs, said he and athletic director Barry Alvarez share "major concerns'' about the overall health and direction of men's hockey at the NCAA Division I level.

Alvarez believes the sport needs to be more regionalized, especially as it relates to programs in the CCHA and WCHA. Both leagues have schools that stretch from the Eastern time zone to Alaska. They also have diverse memberships, with schools whose other athletic programs are classified from NCAA Division I to I-AA to Division III, as well as carrying varied academic requirements.

Ohio State officials are openly supportive of the idea of a Big Ten affiliation. Calls to administrators at Michigan and Michigan State were not returned, but multiple sources around college hockey say they brought open minds to the summer talks.

Whatever momentum the initiative seemed to have gained, though, apparently slowed because Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi spoke out strongly against it.

Come to think of it, now I do remember when that article came out. ****. Fair enough. I only remembered part of what Alvarez had said and was wrong. I don't know why I blacked out on the whole "needs to be more regionalized" bull****. I remember being quite annoyed when I heard that.

Although I stand by the notion that nothing anyone did or said mattered when it came to the BTHC until Pegula came along.

[bigmrg74]

This just reminded me of every very casual or non-fan ever that many of us are undoubtedly familiar with.

I'll use Michigan State as my example since I am quite familiar.

"We lost to Ferris State? That's outrageous! Can you imagine Tom Izzo or our Football team losing to Ferris effing state?!"

It's that kind of naivete that Alvarez seems to possess.

Izzo has lost to Grand Valley State before. To the average Sparty, we might as well be Ferris State.

[Spartanforlife4]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

Izzo has lost to Grand Valley State before. To the average Sparty, we might as well be Ferris State.

I was actually at that game. MSU had a good chance to wrap up the game at the free throw line but Izzo called a time out with 30 seconds left to practice an inbounds play. Then Suton turned it over on the inbounds pass and they scored to send it to OT. Nevertheless, it was a loss and luckily just an exhibition game. But I digress...

I'll enjoy being able to see Minnesota and Wisconsin more than once every two years. I am going to miss the CCHA games though. I always liked hockey for that reason, that it was just a different look of teams. You could watch basketball play Iowa or Indiana, then go see hockey play NMU or LSSU. I'm hoping we keep those relationships for non-conference.

[klbaum1077]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

I was actually at that game. MSU had a good chance to wrap up the game at the free throw line but Izzo called a time out with 30 seconds left to practice an inbounds play. Then Suton turned it over on the inbounds pass and they scored to send it to OT. Nevertheless, it was a loss and luckily just an exhibition game. But I digress...

I'll enjoy being able to see Minnesota and Wisconsin more than once every two years. I am going to miss the CCHA games though. I always liked hockey for that reason, that it was just a different look of teams. You could watch basketball play Iowa or Indiana, then go see hockey play NMU or LSSU. I'm hoping we keep those relationships for non-conference.

I feel the very same way being a Buckeye fan. I am very much looking forward to seeing Minnesota and Wisconsin in Columbus every year but will miss seeing the small schools

[UMICH]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

To the average Sparty, we might as well be Ferris State.

The average sparty has a drool-cup and wears Velcro shoes.

[UMICH]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

I think what Alvarez was saying was that Cocaine is a Hell of a Drug.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udNHsk57f24