Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?
I honestly was not saying I wanted it in Cincinnati again, but I'd rather see it there than in Boston. In 2004, everything in Boston was wrong (except what happened on ice). April 2004 I was on break from working what I call "the Iraq project", and unknown to me, my girlfriend (now wife) got tickets through DU. Boston is a neat city to be a tourist in. The hotel we had was great. The games themselves were awesome (especially the last 5 minutes). Everything else was horrid. I feel the Fleet Center treated the administrators of Maine, UMD, and Denver poorly. I got conflicting information from the ushers. Around the Fleet Center, I was disappointed. I did not feel welcomed, but I felt like I was expected. Maybe it was their expectation to be in heavy rotation for the Frozen Four. Maybe they think they deserve it just because it is Boston. Maybe that attitude has continued in every application since then.
OK; got it. As in: "Even Cincinnati would be better than Boston." My observations of the Boston experience are all in accord with yours; truly great host city, problematic host arena. I have two quick comments to add:
1. The seats in the public lotteries were much worse than usual, and there were fewer of them. The problem, apparently, was that seat license holders and host school ticket buyers were included in large numbers at the expense of lottery applicants. Few, if any, in the public sale made it into the lower bowl. A good percentage of the Priority applicants were rejected outright. The win rate in the General Lottery was low. Now if all this was strictly a function of the popularity of the event, that shouldn't be held against Boston. If anything, it would be a selling point. But again, the real culprit was that the host was either unable or unwilling to provide the usual seats.
2. The word from the grapevine is that the host agreed to a number of NCAA conditions in order to secure the bid, but then shrugged off those obligations when tournament time came. I'm talking about covering up the ads in the arena, no NHL team logo at center ice, and so on. These things may not seem like a big deal to the average fan, but willful breach of contract is never a good thing. Further, the NCAA thinks these things are important, or it wouldn't go to so much trouble to cleanse the FF Arenas of all the signage and logos.
How was the 2005 Frozen Four in Columbus? If they could host it at Nationwide Arena instead of Value City that could be a great FF. Nationwide is one of the nicest arenas in the country.
I've posted on the 2005 FF many, many times. For the moment I'll limit my reply to a three point list. If you're interested in more information, I'll be glad to post more. But I'm guessing this will do:
1. The Schottenstein Center (VCA) is an NHL-quality arena on a college campus. The NCAA bought into that concept; the FF fanbase didn't. Yes, Nationwide is nicer. But the real issue was the lack of restaurants, pubs and hotels immediately adjacent to the arena. The Schott is part of a developing athletic village, so its neighbors are primarily other sports venues and parking lots. Parking at that FF was free, BTW. And the necessary eating and watering holes weren't all that far away. But it wasn't enough to satisfy those who prefer more of a downtown environment.
2. In contrast, Nationwide would be a perfect site for a FF. The restaurants, pubs and hotels of the Arena District are right next door, is some cases not even across a street. In other cases, immediately across one street.
3. The other big issue is the lack of nationally famous tourist attractions in Columbus. Some call us the anti-New York: Columbus is a great place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit. Many in the FF fanbase want vacation value for their trip that's entirely separate from the hockey tournament. Now, with just a little effort, you can find plenty to do here over a four day weekend. But those looking to go home bragging that they visited the White House, an ocean beach or the Rocky Mountains will never be sold on Columbus as a host city. I'm not saying that's right; I'm not saying that's wrong. It's just an inevitable issue when a place like Columbus applies.
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