Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

I'm clearly thinking about this too much, maybe you just accidentally hit the bold button.

Ya think? My original idea was to bold the whole word but I screwed it up. I'm going to edit it so you don't have a brain aneurysm. If you want to delete the post, go for it, and I'll delete this one so no one can see what happened. Just because I'm a nice guy.

(and I'm sure some genius will then ask me why I edited a two sentence post).

 

[Spydey629]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

'Seeing places you would normally never see' doesn't make them interesting though. I could have happily lived my life having never experienced that mind numbingly boring city called Cincinnatti.

What I like about this is that it shows a committment to go to cities that people actually want to visit. If we got hit with Omaha-Kansas City-Philly back to back to back it would darn near ruin the sport! With a world class city in the mix (be it DC, Chicago possibly, etc) it makes it easier to deal with the occasional second class location (Pittsburgh for example).

Care to elaborate on that?

Last year's G-20, countless major sports events, corporate headquaters to several major banks and companies, and the home of several medical break-thrus including the first artificial heart transplant.

Care to tell us what makes Pittsburgh so second class?

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

Care to elaborate on that?

Last year's G-20, countless major sports events, corporate headquaters to several major banks and companies, and the home of several medical break-thrus including the first artificial heart transplant.

No offense, and I'll let rover address this himself, but I don't think these things necessarily make it a world-class city. 2nd class city sounds about right to me and that's still pretty good and there is nothing wrong with that. People are not going to flock to Pittsburgh for vacation for beautiful scenery, cuisine, arts/theater/entertainment, history, etc, that a world-class city has.

 

[Rover]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

Thanks Nick, and well said. Not putting Pittsburgh in the category of Detroit or Baltimore, which can be described as third world cities. (now wait for somebody to chime in saying how great these two cities are because they've cleared a few blocks of slums near the new sports arena and put up a genenic bar and a Burger King).

Awhile back I posted about how if you have take a business trip or go to a convention, and what your reaction is when you find out where you're going:

"Cool!": New York, Chicago, DC, Boston, LA, San Fran, Florida cities, New Orleans, Vegas (for a lot of people, not myself).

"Hmmm. Okay": Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Houston, Dallas, Milwaukee, Minny/St. Paul, Pheonix, Charlotte

"Awww ******* Are you S***** Me?!?": Detroit, Philly, Cincy, Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Omaha, Cleveland, Hartford, Buffalo, etc etc

 

[Onion Man]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

Care to elaborate on that?

Last year's G-20, countless major sports events, corporate headquaters to several major banks and companies, and the home of several medical break-thrus including the first artificial heart transplant.

Care to tell us what makes Pittsburgh so second class?

Pittsburgh is a snoozer of a city with nothing to do after 8pm. The last time I was there, the only food I could find after dark was a Chinese food restaurant downtown.

I'm sure tons of hockey fans will flock to the site of the "first artificial heart transplant", too. . The only thing cool about Pittsburgh is its where the Patriots go to pick up their AFC Title Trophies...

 

[Spydey629]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

Obviously you guys haven't been here for a while. And nor have the Patriots for that matter...

While yes, we may not be the #1 tourist destination to host a FF, you'd be surprised how much is going on in this town. The bars in the Strip District a hike, but well within walking distance to the Arena. Station Square (across the Monogahela) is jumping with bars, restaurants and shops, and that is accessible with one stop on "the T" (the Burgh's subway system)

I'm sure the Bucs will be in town over the Frozen Four week as well.

Trust me, if Bobby Mo lands this and you guys all make the trek, I assure you that you will have a good time. Heck you might even comeback!

And no, I don't work for www.visitpittsburgh.com

 

[Onion Man]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

Obviously you guys haven't been here for a while. And nor have the Patriots for that matter...

While yes, we may not be the #1 tourist destination to host a FF, you'd be surprised how much is going on in this town. The bars in the Strip District a hike, but well within walking distance to the Arena. Station Square (across the Monogahela) is jumping with bars, restaurants and shops, and that is accessible with one stop on "the T" (the Burgh's subway system)

I'm sure the Bucs will be in town over the Frozen Four week as well.

Trust me, if Bobby Mo lands this and you guys all make the trek, I assure you that you will have a good time. Heck you might even comeback!

And no, I don't work for www.visitpittsburgh.com

I'd have a good time at the FF if it were in Baghdad, so I'm not worried about that. The Pirates BETTER be in town if the FF is there, otherwise I'm not sure what there would be to do.

Is "Quaker Steak" still open? Remember I had some pretty good wings there a few years ago. All I know is this:

Ben Roethlisberger + town full of college coeds for the weekend = trouble.

 

[Spydey629]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

I'd have a good time at the FF if it were in Baghdad, so I'm not worried about that. The Pirates BETTER be in town if the FF is there, otherwise I'm not sure what there would be to do.

Is "Quaker Steak" still open? Remember I had some pretty good wings there a few years ago. All I know is this:

Ben Roethlisberger + town full of college coeds for the weekend = trouble.

Yes it most certainly is. And you can double up, since there is a Quaker Steak @ PNC Park. Haven't heard if any of the 'specialty stands' (Quaker Steak, Primanti Bros.) that Heinz and PNC both have will be included at Consol or not.

 

[mookie1995]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

.... to Pittsburgh for ...

...Not putting Pittsburgh...

Pittsburgh is...

do we have to go over this every couple months?!?!?!

some people like to live in pittsburgh. some don't

some still go back and golf there. great courses.

but for visitors.... you need a car. it's neighborhood oriented.

sports themed town. so that works for a "sports convention" like a FF.

and spidey.. if you are going across the mon, you will have a better time on carson st walking around the bars, not at station sq (where my mom may take you ). of course that is not near a 'subway' stop and as we've gone over too many times you don't hail taxis in pittsburgh, you call for them. downtown dies after work finishes during the week. if you want to go see the carnegie museum, that's nice --- but again get in your rental car or take the bus through the hood is kennywood even open 2nd week of april? great roller coasters, but you need a car and should come back in august

it's not a touristy place like others would be used to wanted to go someplace for a vacation.

 

[slurpees]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

and that is accessible with one stop on "the T" (the Burgh's subway system)

if the city named it's subway the T, it's already made it's first mistake.

 

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

Why is it every time someone talks about how crappy a city is someone defends it with "but we have BARS and restaurants here!!!!"???

So does Boise.

 

[slurpees]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

Why is it every time someone talks about how crappy a city is someone defends it with "but we have BARS and restaurants here!!!!"???

So does Boise.

but they've got the smurf turf!

 

[Rover]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

I've been to the strip, and its a poor man's Landsdown St (the street by Fenway for you non-Bostonians). In short, its not that interesting. Turning old warehouses into bars has already been tried. In Pittsburgh it just seems trite.

BTW, who the h e l l wants to go to a Pirates game? The worst team in baseball over the last two decades, with nobody of interest on the team. Yeah, again, its nice they put a stadium near the water but when the team is losing regularly it doesn't exactly scream 'atmosphere'.

Bottom line in Pittsburgh is that you can spend two days there, if you have transportation. The problem is, that's it. Once those two days are done, you've probably seen it all. And just one more word of note, if you take a river boat around town, do yourself a big, big favor and don't look down at the water. You really aren't going to like what you see floating around in there.

 

[Slasher7]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

do we have to go over this every couple months?!?!?!

some people like to live in pittsburgh. some don't

some still go back and golf there. great courses.

but for visitors.... you need a car. it's neighborhood oriented.

sports themed town. so that works for a "sports convention" like a FF.

and spidey.. if you are going across the mon, you will have a better time on carson st walking around the bars, not at station sq (where my mom may take you ). of course that is not near a 'subway' stop and as we've gone over too many times you don't hail taxis in pittsburgh, you call for them. downtown dies after work finishes during the week. if you want to go see the carnegie museum, that's nice --- but again get in your rental car or take the bus through the hood is kennywood even open 2nd week of april? great roller coasters, but you need a car and should come back in august

it's not a touristy place like others would be used to wanted to go someplace for a vacation.

Pittsburgh is not a bad city at all. I was there in 2005 and enjoyed it quite a bit. PNC is the best ballpark in America as far as Im concerned. Sure, there are limited options at night for bars, but as long as I can find one bar that will serve me until I fall down, I'll be fine.

Probably make a week's long vacation out of it. Hit Gettysburg for a few days, too. Pittsburgh works for me.

 

[Rover]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

Pittsburgh is not a bad city at all. I was there in 2005 and enjoyed it quite a bit. PNC is the best ballpark in America as far as Im concerned.

Ummm...yeah. Now I see where your opinion is coming from. Better than Wrigley, Fenway, San Fran's stadium?

Getting back on topic, I can live with the FF going there, once, if they have the new Penguins facility available and for Robert Morris' sake (as well as maybe encouraging some other nearby schools to go D-1). Its easy to fly to and its centrally located. Its a far better alternative to the Omahas and Kansas City's of the country bidding on the event, which would be a disaster on par with Cincy if it went there. But that's it. From my first trip there about 7 years ago to now nothing has changed and it hasn't gotten any more interesting. In 2 days you can see everything you need to, so a one time event there is appropriate before the FF goes back to more interesting places.

 

[Slasher7]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

Ummm...yeah. Now I see where your opinion is coming from. Better than Wrigley, Fenway, San Fran's stadium?

Getting back on topic, I can live with the FF going there, once, if they have the new Penguins facility available and for Robert Morris' sake (as well as maybe encouraging some other nearby schools to go D-1). Its easy to fly to and its centrally located. Its a far better alternative to the Omahas and Kansas City's of the country bidding on the event, which would be a disaster on par with Cincy if it went there. But that's it. From my first trip there about 7 years ago to now nothing has changed and it hasn't gotten any more interesting. In 2 days you can see everything you need to, so a one time event there is appropriate before the FF goes back to more interesting places.

I haven't been to SF yet, but I"ve been to most of the 'new' stadiums and PNC is the best I've been to. It's akin to Camden Yards when it first opened. It obviously doesn't have the atmosphere of a Fenway or Wrigley, but it's a gorgeous ballpark.

Washington DC was the king as far as Im concerned for FF. Denver and Milwaukee wasn't too far behind to be honest. I'd like to think that disasterous cities such as KC or Cincy wouldn't make the cut

 

[Rover]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

I haven't been to SF yet, but I"ve been to most of the 'new' stadiums and PNC is the best I've been to. It's akin to Camden Yards when it first opened. It obviously doesn't have the atmosphere of a Fenway or Wrigley, but it's a gorgeous ballpark.

Washington DC was the king as far as Im concerned for FF. Denver and Milwaukee wasn't too far behind to be honest. I'd like to think that disasterous cities such as KC or Cincy wouldn't make the cut

I thought DC was a game changer too. Looking back on these since the early 90's, I think 1998 was huge also. The excitement in the city, the scarcity of tickets even though it was played in a (then) brand new NHL arena, the press coverage, etc pretty much doomed having the event in small cities without a pro caliber arena. While Albany and Providence snuck in afterwards, I don't see them ever getting the FF again (yes there was the Cowlumbus experiment but that's not ever happening again either).

DC was the next transformational one to me because it showed that the event could sell out in a non-traditional city even if no giant state schools made the FF and in fact only one large school was there. This proved that the event has enough of a regular following, coupled with ticket sales from participating schools, to fill a 20-25K seat arena provided the city had some appeal to it.

Don't know yet about Detroit, but I'm real curious how St Pete's goes. If that one is a success (and really I don't see how it wouldn't be - who doesn't like Florida in April?) who knows what doors that opens in terms of locations.

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

only one large school was there.

Large as in a school with many undergrads or the waist size of the undergrads at BU?

 

[Rover]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

Large as in a school with many undergrads or the waist size of the undergrads at BU?

We can't all weigh 98 pounds soaking wet like you Nick.

 

[Slasher7]

Re: Boston Herald reports that Boston selected for 2014 FF

I thought DC was a game changer too. Looking back on these since the early 90's, I think 1998 was huge also. The excitement in the city, the scarcity of tickets even though it was played in a (then) brand new NHL arena, the press coverage, etc pretty much doomed having the event in small cities without a pro caliber arena. While Albany and Providence snuck in afterwards, I don't see them ever getting the FF again (yes there was the Cowlumbus experiment but that's not ever happening again either).

DC was the next transformational one to me because it showed that the event could sell out in a non-traditional city even if no giant state schools made the FF and in fact only one large school was there. This proved that the event has enough of a regular following, coupled with ticket sales from participating schools, to fill a 20-25K seat arena provided the city had some appeal to it.

Don't know yet about Detroit, but I'm real curious how St Pete's goes. If that one is a success (and really I don't see how it wouldn't be - who doesn't like Florida in April?) who knows what doors that opens in terms of locations.

Detroit, as a host city, did a good job and it was much better than I thought. If they played the FF at the Joe, it would have been a home run. The Ford Field thing, although different, just didnt' have a hockey feel. If you went to the Frozen Fenway thing, it was very similar minus the snow. It felt more "eventish" than for a championship game if that makes any sense.

Put the FF in major cities with NHL teams from now on with the occasional Milwaukee and I'll be fine. The idea of Nashville, KC, etc are already making me nauseous.