Problems for Ford Field?

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Re: Problems for Ford Field?

I've been to the past 20 FFs and 22 of 24, but I have no desire to see games at Ford Field and passed on the lottery. Even if BU makes it I plan to stay home.

Ironically, I think the state of the economy affected that. If things were better, that $189 might have been worth it to me. But they ain't and it wasn't. And the probability was that sacrificing one relative priority point would affect seating location rather than whether I'd get a seat at all.

I'm sad, because the FF has been my one regular planned annual vacation and I have looked forward to visiting the different cities that have hosted over the past 2 decades.

Sean

Same here. Can't say that I looked forward to Buffalo, Milwaukee, Columbus, and St. Louis; they were all places that I'd never dream of picking out for a vacation, but I thoroughly enjoyed all three.

 

[Rover]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

Look, Detroit blows, don't get me wrong. The idea that you should kill time in some casino in the most depressed city in America sounds downright sadistic. If Vegas can't make money nowadays, I don't even want to picture what the "crowd" looks like at one of these things.

However, if BU makes it, I'm there. I don't care how many AK-47's and Pit Bulls I have to dodge to get to the arena. Yeah, perhaps Baghdad would have been a better choice, but if your team is in it, you go. Can't be any worse than Cincinnatti, where I very nearly slipped into a coma due to mind numbing boredom. At the very least, defying death is interesting....

Two favorite made up stories about Detroit:

1) When the Onion ran a headline that city leaders had to cancel their "Hidden Detroit" promotion after 24 tourists were murdered, and

2) Mad Magazine did a profile of the Detroit Marathon - the only race in the world where you wanted to stay with the pack instead of running ahead of it.

 

[streaker]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

You forgot the #1 attraction in Michigan: Kellogg's Cereal City

Battle Creek is a nice place, but Frankenmuth (Bronner's) and Mackinaw City/Island rank ahead of Kelloggs for tourism.

Go 2 hours north of Detroit and go see the world's largest retail Christmas store, and a town known for it's famous chicken dinners/German cuisine. Go 5 hours north of Detroit and bring back some fudge.

 

[JD Doe]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

For those who like to party, the off day of Friday should suit you well.

Opening day for the Tigers is Friday April, 9th, and that is an automatic sellout of 48K+, plus about that many come downtown that don't have tickets just for the party.

It's like an un-official holiday on opening day, and it's on a Friday this year as well.

Lots of bars to hop to and from, with live bands and lots of cold beer!

Even if you don't party, come on down by Ford Field and Comerica just to people watch and listen to the live bands out on the street... I don't think you will be "bored to tears", as one other poster said they were in St. Louis...

I think they made the Tigers opening day the Friday of the Frozen Four on purpose.

 

[Zudnic]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

Battle Creek is a nice place, but Frankenmuth (Bronner's) and Mackinaw City/Island rank ahead of Kelloggs for tourism.

But are they ahead of Cereal City in kitsch??

 

[streaker]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

But are they ahead of Cereal City in kitsch??

Depends. I think Frankenmuth may qualify. Seeing non-attractive people in lederhosen serving German fare would be a start. But most of the food is good and so are the microbrews. Folks from Madison may feel right at home. Of course, I can go to Ann Arbor and get quality German food at Metzger's.

Nothing wrong with Bronners, if you are into the largest commercial collection of Christmas ornaments/displays in one place. Go in the offseason, less crowds. April would be perfect.

Mackinaw Island is an inside joke for Michiganders, especially those that live up north. A one and done type of place, so to speak. I have a nephew who worked on the island as a culinary arts intern and he said after awhile the employees referred to it as "The Rock".
A nice schmaltzy place to vacation during the summer months, but once is enough for most people. Native northerners in general refer to downstaters or out of staters as "fudgies", much like the Yoopers refer to downstaters as "trolls" living under the Big Mac Bridge.

 

[Rover]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

Taking a break from blasting Detroit, I propose that if the NCAA's ever started paying attention to hockey, they might want to use the Frozen Four as leverage to get teams to start up programs. As in a city that has a nearby school looking to make the jump gets extra consideration, as long as said school agrees to do so. Its sorta how MLB encourages new stadium building by bringing the All Star game to a new place, or the NFL with the Super Bowl.

Not that I expect this to happen mind you, but it should.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

Taking a break from blasting Detroit, I propose that if the NCAA's ever started paying attention to hockey, they might want to use the Frozen Four as leverage to get teams to start up programs. As in a city that has a nearby school looking to make the jump gets extra consideration, as long as said school agrees to do so. Its sorta how MLB encourages new stadium building by bringing the All Star game to a new place, or the NFL with the Super Bowl.

Not that I expect this to happen mind you, but it should.

Wait, i thought that was the plan with DC/Navy?

 

[Rover]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

Wait, i thought that was the plan with DC/Navy?

I'm looking for a bit more of a guarantee. City X puts in a bid for a tournament 5 years from now. NCAA's say okay, but whoever gets a public committment from a school complete with a plan to go D-1 gets extra points towards the selection. One would think cities that might normally be avoided would consider using this avenue to win the tournamant.

 

[bcshater]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

Although not thrilled about the idea of the FFFF I would like this event to be a success. But I certainly hope the NCAA never tries this gimmick again. Even though I am a Hockey East guy am rooting for a All Midwest/West FFFF. It would be great to see Michigan, Mich. St., Minnesota and North Dakota make it too Detroit. You won't see many empty seats then and the atmosphere will be electric. But judging from the pre-season polls those four making it to Detroit is remote ( what am I paying attention to pre-season polls for anyway ).

In all likelihood the FF will remain at Ford Field and not go to the Joe Louis arena. I cannot see the NCAA changing the venue at this latge stage ( i know still got 6 months but.... ). So with the FF at Ford Field I have the following questions.

a) What will the traffic be like getting to the games? Brutal I can only imagine particularly for the Thursday afternoon semis.

b) Since the FF will be at a football venue will tailgating be allowed before and between games.

c) My biggest fear though is getting out of the arena area after the games. Is it going to be 2 hours to even get out of the parking lot with say 10,000 cars waiting to exit the area at the same time.

d) Is Ford Field near any bars and restaurants within walking distance?

The NCAA hockey committee should stop experimenting and stay with what works. Have the even in the 15K to 20K arenas in hockey cities. Am for the rotation of the event to the major hockey cities such as Milwaukee, St. Paul, Denver, Boston...etc...and then throw in an occassional visit to Tampa.

 

[AMcoffee]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

what, as in Newark submits a bid for Frozen Four at the Rock and Rutgers is induced to promote its men's hockey club team to D-1 ?

I'm looking for a bit more of a guarantee. City X puts in a bid for a tournament 5 years from now. NCAA's say okay, but whoever gets a public committment from a school complete with a plan to go D-1 gets extra points towards the selection. One would think cities that might normally be avoided would consider using this avenue to win the tournamant.

 

[Huskiefan906]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

I personally don't believe this has any chance of happening.

Even with half the demand, the purchased ticket holders could not be all accommodated at the Joe.

I've got my tickets and am looking forward to my first frozen four.

 

[CHFAN222]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

what, as in Newark submits a bid for Frozen Four at the Rock and Rutgers is induced to promote its men's hockey club team to D-1 ?

Seton Hall would be more likely than Rutgers. Although Rutgers would be nicer to have there is no way they could get a team started right now. They would either need to spend millions to build an arena or spend millions to renovate the RAC. That is unlikely given the negative press the media in NJ has for anything related to Rutgers athletic spending. They recently started construction on a recruiting lounge for the football team that is being paid for with private donations and people are mad about that.

 

[bigmrg74]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

There's another option to consider - reconfiguring Ford Field with the rink at one end of the stadium, rather than in the middle.

I did some to-scale visualizations of the options back in the day:

http://board.uscho.com/showthread.php?t=68795

Add in some steeper bleachers on the field sides, as they used to do for Final Fours, and you might be able to save some face with this and still attract a big crowd.

That would be the best option to do right there. At worse, you'll have ESPN complaining about how they wouldn't be able to us the pressbox there, but a little engineering and you should be able to set up a decent pressbox over on one side of the stadium. And Ford Field might be unhappy about it because then all of their prime private suites wouldn't be able to see the game then. But then, you're knocking out about a third of the seating there, and we're talking about needing to fill 40,000-45,000 seats then. Thats a far more comfortable number to reach to make the game look filled for the TV crowd. Heck, even with only say 35,000 there with an endzone configuration, it should still look pretty full, and you would have to be really nitpicky about about looking for empty seats. Plus, we won't have to deal with the risers that they're going to put in to fill the field.

You forgot the #1 attraction in Michigan: Kellogg's Cereal City

Battle Creek is a nice place, but Frankenmuth (Bronner's) and Mackinaw City/Island rank ahead of Kelloggs for tourism.

Go 2 hours north of Detroit and go see the world's largest retail Christmas store, and a town known for it's famous chicken dinners/German cuisine. Go 5 hours north of Detroit and bring back some fudge.

Actually, last I heard, the Number One tourist stop in Michigan is now Cabela's in Michigan. Lots of people go there, stay the night and shop all day there.

 

[bigmrg74]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

That would be the best option to do right there. At worse, you'll have ESPN complaining about how they wouldn't be able to us the pressbox there, but a little engineering and you should be able to set up a decent pressbox over on one side of the stadium. And Ford Field might be unhappy about it because then all of their prime private suites wouldn't be able to see the game then. But then, you're knocking out about a third of the seating there, and we're talking about needing to fill 40,000-45,000 seats then. Thats a far more comfortable number to reach to make the game look filled for the TV crowd. Heck, even with only say 35,000 there with an endzone configuration, it should still look pretty full, and you would have to be really nitpicky about about looking for empty seats. Plus, we won't have to deal with the risers that they're going to put in to fill the field.

That or lay the ice sheet along the fifty yard line and then build up steeper stadium seating on the field to block out most of the endzones to make it a bowl. The permanent seating there would be overlooking the goalies, and most of the time you can't really see the action there much, especially when the put is at the other end of the rink, but they should be able to watch it from the jumbo-trons there. Honestly, those probably would be the spots I would set up the bands and the students as well. The priority fans would ideally get seating in along the stands that were built on the field there. I would say something along the lines of roughly 10,000 on each side would be doable.

 

[LynahFan]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

There's another option to consider - reconfiguring Ford Field with the rink at one end of the stadium, rather than in the middle.

I did some to-scale visualizations of the options back in the day:

http://board.uscho.com/showthread.php?t=68795

Add in some steeper bleachers on the field sides, as they used to do for Final Fours, and you might be able to save some face with this and still attract a big crowd.

The problem, of course, is that if they've never used that configuration before, there would be a pretty hefty expense to design and build the new bleacher sections. If the reason to do it is that they're not selling enough tickets, then they probably won't choose to go in the hole even further just to improve the fans' experience. Follow the money!

 

[joecct]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

Wait, i thought that was the plan with DC/Navy?

Then the economy tanked faster than an M1A. They have the rink, but not the $$$$$.

 

[Zudnic]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

You forgot the #1 attraction in Michigan: Kellogg's Cereal City

I didn't mean this is #1 for real. I mean it's #1 in my heart.

 

[pyhtboss]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

Some of you people amaze me. You claim to be fans of NCAA hockey yet you want the Frozen Four at Ford Field to fail because it's "Gimmicky"? Please. I suppose moving out of the Broadmoor hotel to other cities, and renaming the event itself to "The Frozen Four" also reeked of desperation and was a gimmicky attempt to be like the dreaded bouncyball? Shame on the NCAA for actually trying to grow their sport and make their championship tournament a big event. And let's go back to only 12 total division 1 teams while we're at it

When the sites were selected no one foresaw the economic collapse and the dismantling of the U.S. auto industry. Given the annual demand for GLI tickets in Detroit, getting 40-50,000 fans to see the college championship in a city called *HOCKEYTOWN* wasn't that big of a stretch when the site was selected.

 

[blockski]

Re: Problems for Ford Field?

Some of you people amaze me. You claim to be fans of NCAA hockey yet you want the Frozen Four at Ford Field to fail because it's "Gimmicky"? Please. I suppose moving out of the Broadmoor hotel to other cities, and renaming the event itself to "The Frozen Four" also reeked of desperation and was a gimmicky attempt to be like the dreaded bouncyball? Shame on the NCAA for actually trying to grow their sport and make their championship tournament a big event. And let's go back to only 12 total division 1 teams while we're at it

When the sites were selected no one foresaw the economic collapse and the dismantling of the U.S. auto industry. Given the annual demand for GLI tickets in Detroit, getting 40-50,000 fans to see the college championship in a city called *HOCKEYTOWN* wasn't that big of a stretch when the site was selected.

Well, not to nitpick, but...

Did we see the worldwide economic situation? No.

Could we have seen the collapse of the auto industry? Um, Roger and Me came out, what, 20 years ago? That hasn't exactly been a big surprise.

And no, locating the FF in Detroit was never a bad idea. It was regularly in the rotation, and it's been too long since the FF has been in the area.

That said, this is a gimmick. It might have some nice publicity if successful, but I don't see how that helps save college hockey teams or really grow the sport at all. Don't overplay your hand here.