What's new
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

RPI 2023 Off-season: We March Fourth Into the Off-season

I agree with this, but I do think that it's important to get it right. If they build a new rink, it has to be top-notch. If they do renovations, they must also be top-notch while keeping the HFH special. It's not easy to do those things, so I like that they're taking the time to ensure the quality of either project before it begins.

In the meantime, if the on-ice product keeps improving now with COVID mostly in the past, that should hopefully be enough to continue attracting recruits (and transfers) until the facilities are updated

A lot will come down to how well the 70 year old FH infrastructure is holding up and how it projects to the future. UConn and Sacred Heart just spent about $75M each to build very similar rinks with 2,500-2,800 in the seating bowl (don't believe SHU's capacity #s as they are clearly exaggerated unless they include significant SRO, building and team staff, players, etc.) plus a small VIP area upstairs. SHU’s also includes staff facilities over-looking the rink that are pretty impressive. Can the old bones of HFH be turned into a modern facility while retaining its "hockey barn" character - I love the old buildings - for much less than that? If not, then a new building may be the only answer.
 
Last edited:
Today is 18 August 2023. There are 50 days until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 7 October 2023 for the start of next season.
 
Assuming it worked out for you over the long haul, glad there once was such a result somewhere. Dated mine a while back for a little over year or so. Using the frequency of present day contact (absolutely none) as a barometer, not the best idea there ever was. Fortunately, now retired. Can't happen again.

I was simply following advice my father gave me many years ago. Find a rich girl to marry who can cook. Anything else you want or need you can find somewhere else!
 
Thanks guys! Glad to hear that it was enjoyed. I'll try to get the recording up on Youtube soon for the people who couldn't make it live

excellent interview. Very good to hear "President Schmidt has 'made it ok to talk about hockey again.'"
 
Today is 19 August 2023. There are 49 days (7 weeks) until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 7 October 2023 for the start of next season.
 
Originally posted by sezenack View Post
I agree with this, but I do think that it's important to get it right. If they build a new rink, it has to be top-notch. If they do renovations, they must also be top-notch while keeping the HFH special. It's not easy to do those things, so I like that they're taking the time to ensure the quality of either project before it begins.

In the meantime, if the on-ice product keeps improving now with COVID mostly in the past, that should hopefully be enough to continue attracting recruits (and transfers) until the facilities are updated

A lot will come down to how well the 70 year old FH infrastructure is holding up and how it projects to the future. UConn and Sacred Heart just spent about $75M each to build very similar rinks with 2,500-2,800 in the seating bowl (don't believe SHU's capacity #s as they are clearly exaggerated unless they include significant SRO, building and team staff, players, etc.) plus a small VIP area upstairs. SHU’s also includes staff facilities over-looking the rink that are pretty impressive. Can the old bones of HFH be turned into a modern facility while retaining its "hockey barn" character - I love the old buildings - for much less than that? If not, then a new building may be the only answer.

Bravo!!! Both posts hit the nail head center cut right on the mark. But it's only covers the building.

Possibly because not all that many posters here live locally, with some not even living in the state, the largest "facilities" issue has never even been touched on this thread. That issue comes under the category of amenities and it involves the biggest three. They are PARKING, PARKING and PARKING. It, regardless of whether payment required or free, has to be available for EVERYONE within sight of and easy walking to the facility. There is some "formula" somewhere for spots needed in relation to facility capacity due to few arriving autos at any event having only one occupant, but, no idea what it is. Irrelevant here since the three remaining lots at this facility are not even close to the needed spots. Probably still would not be close even if they still had the fourth lot that was torn up when they built the football stadium and hoop arena. Not even close for last year when what is generally believed (attendance figures not available for all seasons) to be an all time record low average attendance per game of 2,250 was set.

Realistically, there are no surface lot options available that fit the needed within sight and easy walking to the facility. All that's is available is a heavily wooded area way up on top of a hill that is just too far away. Good thing. Just imagine the howling from the nature lovers should someone propose leveling the woods for a parking lot!!!

Also contributing to the problem is that parking in any of the three existing lots is restricted to only parking season pass holders ($80 this year), "luminaries" or "invited guests" of the institute. Occasional or sporadic fans looking to park are turned away and told to either find street parking or drive to the parking lot of a campus building 6/10 of a mile away (per MapQuest), stand on a sidewalk and wait for a shuttle bus to arrive. Like most occasional or sporadic fans would even know where the hell this particular campus building is!!! Nobody is going to go to any event at any facility where it is that big a hassle just to park.

Since no facility upgrade can be entirely successful without providing adequate parking for all categories of fans and not having them have to jump through hoops just to do it, the only viable solution is to turn at least one of the surface lots in to a parking garage as part of the renovation. Just like the big sucker they built at the complete opposite end of the campus near EMPAC, their other "entertainment" venue. Yes, the EMPAC with 2,000 seats at most that has, to the best of my knowledge, only hosted one performer that most average people have ever even heard of. Aretha Franklin, when she was about 80 and obviously no longer the all time great that sang Think in the diner with The Blues Brothers providing the "dancing"!!!
 
With the first football just two weeks away on the road at Dickinson, isn't there a poster on this board who lives within walking distance of the field in Carisle??? If so and if familiar with the venues needed for an overnight trip, could some reviews be provided.

1) The IHG hotel at the Army War College which, surprisingly, does accept non military guests. Quite frankly, the number of really nice amenities they boast of at the absurdly low price they quote does raise the antlers!!!

2) Mama Spriggs Restaurant which appears to be the upper half of the city's cuisine and serves a seafood platter.

3) The Middlesex Diner which appears to be the tourist/steerage end of the cuisine and also serves a seafood platter.

Thanks in advance should hands on reviews be available.
 
As Ralph indicated, I live within walking distance of Dickinson’s Biddle Field.

I’m going to make three posts here. The first will be dedicated to reviews of places to stay and places to eat in Carlisle. The second will be dedicated to RPI’s upcoming football game at Dickinson. And the third will be a travel advisory for my fellow RPI fans who might be thinking about coming to Troy for a game or other event and looking for a place to stay overnight.

I have never had occasion to stay in a hotel in Carlisle. I once went to a business meeting at what is now the Comfort Suites at 10 S. Hanover St, which is right in the center of town. Seemed like a nice place, from what I could see in the area of the meeting rooms, but I can’t speak to the quality of the accommodations.

I know there is a Sleep Inn very close to Exit 47 off I-81, so there’s a convenience factor in favor of that hotel. Again, I’ve never stayed there.

I can report a little more extensively about restaurants, although because my wife has to use a walker, we are limited to restaurants that have their own parking lots, which means we haven’t eaten at any of the restaurants near the center of town.

Momma Spriggs should be pretty close to the Army War College. We’ve eaten there a number of times and I’ve always thought it was a really nice place. They have both indoor at outdoor eating, and I’ve always enjoyed the food, but for some reason there have been times when the food hasn’t agreed with my wife. My wife says she had one of the best burgers she’s ever had at Momma Spriggs, and the chicken pot pie was pretty good, but any other time she’s eaten there, she’s ended up getting diarrhea. She doesn’t know why – the food tasted perfectly OK to her, but she did have those problems, so we haven’t been back there for the last month or so. I ate the same entrees she did and had no problems at all - I’d still be inclined to recommend that restaurant, but my wife would be less so.

There are a Cracker Barrel and a Chili’s quite close to the Sleep Inn. If you go a little way north from the Sleep Inn and turn left at the light by the Chick-Fil-A, there’s a big shopping center with a Chinese buffet and an Applebee’s (in addition, of course, to the Chick-Fil-A). The Applebee’s is way down in the corner of the shopping center, not visible from the entrance, but if you keep going past the Walmart and the Staples, eventually you’ll see it.

As far as diners go, we haven’t eaten at the Middlesex Diner. We have eaten at the Carlisle Diner, which is just a bit west of Biddle Field, and we thought it was OK, but nothing special. We’ve also eaten at the Walnut Bottom Diner, which has been rated the best diner in the Carlisle area, but it’s not as close to the field or the Sleep Inn as some of the other restaurants.

Also close to Biddle Field are the Pizza Grille, two Italian restaurants named Miseno’s, and the Rustic Tavern. The Pizza Grille, like the Carlisle Diner, is OK, but nothing special. Miseno’s II is on High St. a little way east of Biddle Field, while Miseno’s is about 3/4 mile west on Ritner Highway, a little way past the Pizza Grille. Miseno’s II has a larger dining area, while Miseno’s is basically a takeout pizzeria with a few tables, so you can eat there. My wife and I generally get takeout from Miseno’s, which is visible through the back door of our house, and we think it’s very good. We haven’t eaten at Miseno’s II, but people seem to think well of it. We like the Rustic Tavern a lot. The crabcakes are as good as any I’ve had anywhere. To get there, you go west on High St., turn right at the light at Orange St., go under the railroad overpass and make an immediate left, and the Rustic Tavern is a short distance ahead on the right.

And if you’re interested in ice cream, Leo’s, a short distance west of Biddle Field, has lots of flavors of really good ice cream.
 
Last edited:
RPI’s game against Dickinson will be livestreamed on Dickinson’s athletic website, www.dickinsonathletics.com, starting at 1 PM Sept. 2.

Dickinson’s football team, having lost their projected starting quarterback to injury in the very first game, finished 3-7 last year. They had their moments, including holding the lead at halftime over highly-ranked Johns Hopkins, before Hopkins scored five TDs on five possessions in the second half.

I haven’t seen any previews of Dickinson’s football prospects for this season in the local newspapers, but I can give a scouting report on a couple of players.

Dickinson has a good running back named Diante Ball, who is a virtual clone of the good running back RPI had last year, Dylan Burnett. The two of them are within an inch in height and a few pounds of weight of each other, both ran for more than 1,000 yards last year, both caught 18-19 passes, and both have the initials D. B. and wear # 5 on their uniforms. The difference is, Dickinson will have Ball back this year, while RPI, as far as I know, will not have Burnett.

The X factor is going to be Dickinson’s quarterback. The Red Devils’ starting quarterback for last season’s opening game against RPI was Presley Egbers, a transfer from Randolph-Macon. I think they were expecting good things from him, but, as RPI fans may remember, he hurt his knee in the second quarter of that opening game. He did not play again last season. But he is back on the roster this season, apparently healthy, so Dickinson will get a chance this year to see if he is what they thought he might be last year.

For those who might be coming to the game, I can offer some historical information about Biddle Field, as well as practical information for current-day spectators.

Biddle Field opened in 1903. It was the site of Carlisle’s celebration of Jim Thorpe and fellow Carlisle Indian Industrial School alum and Olympic medalist Lewis Tewanima when they returned from the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. One might have suspected that the celebration would have taken place at the Indian school, but Indian Field had very little seating capacity (the Indian football team played almost all their games on the road, where they could get a better financial deal), so they held the celebration at the larger stadium in town, which was Biddle Field.

Biddle Field was also the site of the Washington Redskins’ training camp for a good many years. Hall of Famers George Allen and Vince Lombardi both coached there.

Fans who sit on the Dickinson side of Biddle Field have the opportunity to sit in the shade of the press box, but those who sit on the visitors’ side will be in full sunlight on metal bleachers. If it is a hot, sunny day, sunscreen and a seat cushion would be good ideas.

There is a concession stand at the rear of the stands on the Dickinson side. If you want to try to get anything at the concession stand, it’s probably a good idea to go early. I’ve gone there at halftime and found they were all out of pizza and hot dogs, and had little to offer but small bottles of soda and bags of chips.

And if anyone’s looking for a good omen – I certainly expect to be at the game (if anyone wants to look for me, I’ll be wearing my cherry and white cap with “Engineers” across the front) and I can claim to have been RPI’s good luck charm for football games played in Pennsylvania. Since I graduated, RPI has played nine games in Pennsylvania and I’ve been present for seven of them. The Engineers have gone 7-0 in those games.
 
Last edited:
For those living outside the Troy area who may be planning overnight trips to the Capital District for games or other events on the RPI campus, I have a travel advisory.

After my recent experience, I cannot recommend the Hilton Garden Inn on Hoosick St.

My wife and I, with our son, planned to stay in the area for a family event taking place on August 6. Since my wife has to use a walker, she told me to make sure to reserve a handicapped accessible room for the two of us, with a separate room for our son. I made that reservation a full month in advance.

When we got to the hotel on August 5, after a more than 300-mile drive, we went to the front desk to check in. The clerk verified that we had reserved two rooms, handed us two keys, and told us how to get to the rooms.

I asked which key was the one for the handicapped accessible room.

The clerk told me neither one. Both rooms were the same. No handicapped accessible rooms were available.

I showed her the printout of my confirmed reservation. She said she was sorry, but all their accessible rooms had been rented out already.

My wife had a terrible time in that room. She couldn’t take a shower, because she couldn’t step up and over the side of the standard bathtub. And it was very hard for her to get on and off the toilet, with a very low seat and no grab bar for her to hold on to.

The next morning, when we met with our son to get ready to check out, he reported that when he had gone to take a shower, the shower head had come off in his hand. He said he was able to screw it back in place and then it worked, but still, for the price we paid to stay in that hotel, we might have expected that the fixtures wouldn’t be falling apart.

We complained to the desk clerk the next morning when we checked out, and we asked for a refund. She said she wasn’t authorized to give us a refund, but she would make note of our complaint and have the hotel manager give us a call the next day.

Nobody called the rest of the week. I finally called Hilton Hotels’ customer service number this past Wednesday. They put me in touch with a manager at the hotel, but this manager said that she wasn’t authorized to give us a refund, either, but she would pass our complaint on to the general manager and we would get a call within the next couple of days.

Guess how many more phone calls we’ve gotten.

I know the Hilton Garden Inn is very convenient to the RPI campus. If anybody wants to try to make a reservation there, maybe you’ll have better luck than we had. But if you try to reserve any sort of special room, you may find when you get there that they have already rented, to somebody else, the room for which you thought you had a confirmed reservation.
 
Today is 20 August 2023. There are 48 days until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 7 October 2023 for the start of next season.
 
For those living outside the Troy area who may be planning overnight trips to the Capital District for games or other events on the RPI campus, I have a travel advisory.

After my recent experience, I cannot recommend the Hilton Garden Inn on Hoosick St.

My wife and I, with our son, planned to stay in the area for a family event taking place on August 6. Since my wife has to use a walker, she told me to make sure to reserve a handicapped accessible room for the two of us, with a separate room for our son. I made that reservation a full month in advance.

When we got to the hotel on August 5, after a more than 300-mile drive, we went to the front desk to check in. The clerk verified that we had reserved two rooms, handed us two keys, and told us how to get to the rooms.

I asked which key was the one for the handicapped accessible room.

The clerk told me neither one. Both rooms were the same. No handicapped accessible rooms were available.

I showed her the printout of my confirmed reservation. She said she was sorry, but all their accessible rooms had been rented out already.

My wife had a terrible time in that room. She couldn’t take a shower, because she couldn’t step up and over the side of the standard bathtub. And it was very hard for her to get on and off the toilet, with a very low seat and no grab bar for her to hold on to.

The next morning, when we met with our son to get ready to check out, he reported that when he had gone to take a shower, the shower head had come off in his hand. He said he was able to screw it back in place and then it worked, but still, for the price we paid to stay in that hotel, we might have expected that the fixtures wouldn’t be falling apart.

We complained to the desk clerk the next morning when we checked out, and we asked for a refund. She said she wasn’t authorized to give us a refund, but she would make note of our complaint and have the hotel manager give us a call the next day.

Nobody called the rest of the week. I finally called Hilton Hotels’ customer service number this past Wednesday. They put me in touch with a manager at the hotel, but this manager said that she wasn’t authorized to give us a refund, either, but she would pass our complaint on to the general manager and we would get a call within the next couple of days.

Guess how many more phone calls we’ve gotten.

I know the Hilton Garden Inn is very convenient to the RPI campus. If anybody wants to try to make a reservation there, maybe you’ll have better luck than we had. But if you try to reserve any sort of special room, you may find when you get there that they have already rented, to somebody else, the room for which you thought you had a confirmed reservation.

All I can contribute is that I have gotten to know a number of the baseball parents, relatives and friends. If they stayed at the Hilton they would have a mere two block to the ballfield. To the best of my knowledge, none of them stay there. What else is there to add.

Instead, despite the higher costs involved, most of them stay at the Courtyard by Marriott down by the river which is also a short walk to independent dining establishments. They all seem to really like it there. Next time, just follow them!!!
 
As Ralph indicated, I live within walking distance of Dickinson’s Biddle Field.

I’m going to make three posts here. The first will be dedicated to reviews of places to stay and places to eat in Carlisle. The second will be dedicated to RPI’s upcoming football game at Dickinson. And the third will be a travel advisory for my fellow RPI fans who might be thinking about coming to Troy for a game or other event and looking for a place to stay overnight.

I have never had occasion to stay in a hotel in Carlisle. I once went to a business meeting at what is now the Comfort Suites at 10 S. Hanover St, which is right in the center of town. Seemed like a nice place, from what I could see in the area of the meeting rooms, but I can’t speak to the quality of the accommodations.

I know there is a Sleep Inn very close to Exit 47 off I-81, so there’s a convenience factor in favor of that hotel. Again, I’ve never stayed there.

I can report a little more extensively about restaurants, although because my wife has to use a walker, we are limited to restaurants that have their own parking lots, which means we haven’t eaten at any of the restaurants near the center of town.

Momma Spriggs should be pretty close to the Army War College. We’ve eaten there a number of times and I’ve always thought it was a really nice place. They have both indoor at outdoor eating, and I’ve always enjoyed the food, but for some reason there have been times when the food hasn’t agreed with my wife. My wife says she had one of the best burgers she’s ever had at Momma Spriggs, and the chicken pot pie was pretty good, but any other time she’s eaten there, she’s ended up getting diarrhea. She doesn’t know why – the food tasted perfectly OK to her, but she did have those problems, so we haven’t been back there for the last month or so. I ate the same entrees she did and had no problems at all - I’d still be inclined to recommend that restaurant, but my wife would be less so.

There are a Cracker Barrel and a Chili’s quite close to the Sleep Inn. If you go a little way north from the Sleep Inn and turn left at the light by the Chick-Fil-A, there’s a big shopping center with a Chinese buffet and an Applebee’s (in addition, of course, to the Chick-Fil-A). The Applebee’s is way down in the corner of the shopping center, not visible from the entrance, but if you keep going past the Walmart and the Staples, eventually you’ll see it.

As far as diners go, we haven’t eaten at the Middlesex Diner. We have eaten at the Carlisle Diner, which is just a bit west of Biddle Field, and we thought it was OK, but nothing special. We’ve also eaten at the Walnut Bottom Diner, which has been rated the best diner in the Carlisle area, but it’s not as close to the field or the Sleep Inn as some of the other restaurants.

Also close to Biddle Field are the Pizza Grille, two Italian restaurants named Miseno’s, and the Rustic Tavern. The Pizza Grille, like the Carlisle Diner, is OK, but nothing special. Miseno’s II is on High St. a little way east of Biddle Field, while Miseno’s is about 3/4 mile west on Ritner Highway, a little way past the Pizza Grille. Miseno’s II has a larger dining area, while Miseno’s is basically a takeout pizzeria with a few tables, so you can eat there. My wife and I generally get takeout from Miseno’s, which is visible through the back door of our house, and we think it’s very good. We haven’t eaten at Miseno’s II, but people seem to think well of it. We like the Rustic Tavern a lot. The crabcakes are as good as any I’ve had anywhere. To get there, you go west on High St., turn right at the light at Orange St., go under the railroad overpass and make an immediate left, and the Rustic Tavern is a short distance ahead on the right.

And if you’re interested in ice cream, Leo’s, a short distance west of Biddle Field, has lots of flavors of really good ice cream.

Did not mean to make that much work for you, but, appreciate it. A copy of the above will be coming on the trip. Glad to find out there is a Chinese buffet in town. Love those suckers.
 
Today is 21 August 2023. There are 47 days until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 7 October 2023 for the start of next season.
 
i intend to start the new thread soon. I will probably use "RPI 2023-24: In Our 200th Year, We're Getting It Right" although I still get a chuckle from "RPI 2023-24: The Search for the Cross of Canton". Comments on these and other suggestions are certainly still welcome.
 
Back
Top