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Frozen Fenway 2014

Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

Don't know if you have the opportunity to see any of the Detroit/Toronto outdoor game today, but it was pretty entertaining to see how they dealt with the snow there.

Maybe ten guys (all good skaters!) whizzed up and down the surface during periods, with big, lightweight snow shovels held ahead of them.

(I don't know if I think that these outside games are anything but a gimmick, but it was fun to see those guys fly around.... Definitely better to watch than even an expert Zamboni driver.)
 
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Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

These outdoor games are cash-grab gimmicks at worst and exhibition novelties at best. A saturation point has been reached by now. As close as the NESCAC is in parity, if I'm Trinity or Williams I would not want to risk giving up 2pts in the standings to anomalous weather conditions.
 
Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

EastCoastBias said:
These outdoor games are cash-grab gimmicks at worst and exhibition novelties at best. A saturation point has been reached by now. As close as the NESCAC is in parity, if I'm Trinity or Williams I would not want to risk giving up 2pts in the standings to anomalous weather conditions.
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Not saying they aren't "cash-grab gimmicks at worst and exhibition novelties at best." But the cash is only there if they have NOT reached a saturation point (if a profitable number of fans will buy the tickets, there is still some "absorption" left). As for the weather having an impact, it is true that it WILL, but it is also true that BOTH teams will be playing under the same conditions so any impact should be mutual - i.e. no one can cast any blame to the weather on the outcome - there is no "giving up points" they will be won or lost on equal playing field.
 
norm1909 said:
Not saying they aren't "cash-grab gimmicks at worst and exhibition novelties at best." But the cash is only there if they have NOT reached a saturation point (if a profitable number of fans will buy the tickets, there is still some "absorption" left). As for the weather having an impact, it is true that it WILL, but it is also true that BOTH teams will be playing under the same conditions so any impact should be mutual - i.e. no one can cast any blame to the weather on the outcome - there is no "giving up points" they will be won or lost on equal playing field.
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Unless your Hobart then having to stop to shovel the snow off is just like playing at home.
 
Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

EastCoastBias said:
These outdoor games are cash-grab gimmicks at worst and exhibition novelties at best. A saturation point has been reached by now. As close as the NESCAC is in parity, if I'm Trinity or Williams I would not want to risk giving up 2pts in the standings to anomalous weather conditions.
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I like the "back to the roots" aspect of these games - Never played organized hockey, but when I was a really little kid my family spend a little time in Michigan and I tried to skate and hit a puck with a stick. Now, that being said - playing an outdoor game at Dodger Stadium is a cash grab. Why do it. In a place where actual frozen water is a natural happening it's fun. In LA? Even NYC is pushing it. Boston makes sense to me.

Both teams have the same conditions, and part of the game is adjusting to the conditions - the team that does a better job with that will have an advantage, but isn't that what sports are all about?
 
Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

Valid points all gentlemen. Any event the ownership of the Boston Red Sox puts on is designed to exploit and separate fans from their money. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that and the continuance of outdoor games will depend on supply and demand. Seems to me that outdoor games for the spectator is more about one being able to say they were there rather than actually being able to see what is actually going on. Nothing wrong with that either, I suppose. It would be interesting to get coaches opinions about the appeal of playing in an outdoor game.
 
Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

EastCoastBias said:
Valid points all gentlemen. Any event the ownership of the Boston Red Sox puts on is designed to exploit and separate fans from their money. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that and the continuance of outdoor games will depend on supply and demand. Seems to me that outdoor games for the spectator is more about one being able to say they were there rather than actually being able to see what is actually going on. Nothing wrong with that either, I suppose. It would be interesting to get coaches opinions about the appeal of playing in an outdoor game.
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When it comes to the coaches opinions, I seriously doubt anyone in administration is enthusiastic enough about playing outdoors to want to provide the logistics AND overrule a reasonable objection from the head coach, so IMO, the coaches must want to go.
 
Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

Having just gone through this with Geneseo and the Frozen Frontier - I'll offer my 2 cents.

I enjoyed the game greatly as a novelty. The Rochester Red Wings, Rochester Amerks, and Buffalo Sabres did a great job putting on the event and it was one of my most memorable moments following Geneseo hockey for the past decade.

However, it is a "novelty" and I wouldn't want Geneseo to do this again for at least 5 years. Wouldn't be special if they did it every year. Also, the matchup that they had benefitted their opponents (Nazareth) IMO. Yes, both teams had to play under the same conditions - but at the most basic level - the fact that the game was outside under unfamiliar conditions took away from Geneseo's superior skill/speed/passing and made it a more blue collar game. Geneseo played an affective workman like game, but I would expect Geneseo to beat them more handily indoors. Maybe I'll eat my words in a couple weeks when they play at the Ira and Geneseo loses, but that's just what I saw in that game. I guess my point is that if Geneseo had lost out on a pool C birth based on a loss or tie in an outdoor game - that would have been a bitter pill to swallow.

Also in most circumstances you will be further away and have a worse view than you do at your home D3 rink.

It was a great experience and great exposure for the program so I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I view it as a once a decade kind of novelty.
 
SB in the 'Seo said:
Having just gone through this with Geneseo and the Frozen Frontier - I'll offer my 2 cents.

I enjoyed the game greatly as a novelty. The Rochester Red Wings, Rochester Amerks, and Buffalo Sabres did a great job putting on the event and it was one of my most memorable moments following Geneseo hockey for the past decade.

However, it is a "novelty" and I wouldn't want Geneseo to do this again for at least 5 years. Wouldn't be special if they did it every year. Also, the matchup that they had benefitted their opponents (Nazareth) IMO. Yes, both teams had to play under the same conditions - but at the most basic level - the fact that the game was outside under unfamiliar conditions took away from Geneseo's superior skill/speed/passing and made it a more blue collar game. Geneseo played an affective workman like game, but I would expect Geneseo to beat them more handily indoors. Maybe I'll eat my words in a couple weeks when they play at the Ira and Geneseo loses, but that's just what I saw in that game. I guess my point is that if Geneseo had lost out on a pool C birth based on a loss or tie in an outdoor game - that would have been a bitter pill to swallow.

Also in most circumstances you will be further away and have a worse view than you do at your home D3 rink.

It was a great experience and great exposure for the program so I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I view it as a once a decade kind of novelty.
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Exactly. Of course the team that won doesn't really matter to them, but you're righr. If the game came down to a break away that was snuffed by the pile of snow that accumulated in 2 minutes, not a cool way to lose out on a Pool C bid or a league point.

Great point on the Blue Collar vs Speed and exactly why its "cool" but could end up hurting someone's chances at a Pool bit, be it A, B or C.
 
Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

From where I sit on my couch, the Winter Classic on Jan 1st, sandwiched between great bowl games is becoming a tradition we look forward to in my casa. Smart move by the NHL to lay claim to the New Years holiday. More hockey=happiness. Don't like it, go shovel your driveway. Feel the same about the college tourneys and playing outside. Certainly not obsessing about some snow ruining my pool c chances.
 
Alright so UMass-Boston/Salem State drew 1113 fans to a 3:30 start.

Williams/Trinity drew a little over 4,000.

What do we think for Norwich/Babson tomorrow?

I'll say 5,000 maybe 6,000.
 
Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

PrezdeJohnson09 said:
Alright so UMass-Boston/Salem State drew 1113 fans to a 3:30 start.

Williams/Trinity drew a little over 4,000.

What do we think for Norwich/Babson tomorrow?

I'll say 5,000 maybe 6,000.
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Prez

PM/email me about the press box protocols

Joe
 
Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

WDEV audio was quite a bit ahead of video so I kept having to pause the audio to let the video catch up and then video would either freeze or skip and I had to resync. But it worked pretty sweet for the third period.

Good game that could have easily been a scoreless tie. That Babson shot that got past Czarnota and clanked off the post and out was a lucky bounce for us. One down, one to go for this weekend.

As they said on WDEV, Babson/UMB is a great travel pairing and a touch weekend for opponents and this one game shift makes it particularly touch this weekend as Norwich played a tough game and UMB got to rest, but it is what it is.

For those who have been to a hockey game at Fenway, can you really see very well? From the seating map it looks like even the $50 tickets are still a long way from the ice. I'm so spoiled being 20-30 feet from the goal at Krietzberg.
 
Re: Frozen Fenway 2014

nujack said:
WDEV audio was quite a bit ahead of video so I kept having to pause the audio to let the video catch up and then video would either freeze or skip and I had to resync. But it worked pretty sweet for the third period.

Good game that could have easily been a scoreless tie. That Babson shot that got past Czarnota and clanked off the post and out was a lucky bounce for us. One down, one to go for this weekend.

As they said on WDEV, Babson/UMB is a great travel pairing and a touch weekend for opponents and this one game shift makes it particularly touch this weekend as Norwich played a tough game and UMB got to rest, but it is what it is.

For those who have been to a hockey game at Fenway, can you really see very well? From the seating map it looks like even the $50 tickets are still a long way from the ice. I'm so spoiled being 20-30 feet from the goal at Krietzberg.
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The upstairs seats were good on Tuesday. Downstairs reds looked like a loss, but the blues (grandstand) beyond 3rd base looked like a good view. You did NOT need binoculars.
 
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