Save Uah Hockey!

[kdilks]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Absolutey CCHA country is really being hit hard by this recession.

In our neck of the woods many highschool teams sell out two to four thousand seats in a highschool arena. I wonder if our highschool arenas are on par with schools in the CCHA or ECHA? If it is no wonder CCHA team have a hard time consistently winning on a year in and year out basis.

How much do they charge for admission? I don't find it especially surprising if high schools in areas that are more populated and have hockey as their only real sport can draw more people at lower prices. I'm sure there's also high schools in Texas that draw more people to their football games than some Div-IA schools.

Done it myself in 2002-3 when we played at Marquette. Huntsville-Memphis-Detroit-Marquette. Wasn't the greatest, but I got there in under 20 hours, unlike my friends who drove. Rode out on the same plane on Sunday with the CCHA refs.

GFM

It's somewhat of a moot point, since I'm pretty sure Northern/LSSU would bus it anyway, but how much would it cost to have ~30 people make those 6 flights, with about 25 hockey bags in additional to regular luggage?

My kid is 13 and plays hockey- not at an amazingly elite level but we travel every weekend. He figured out by second grade how to do homework in the car and to plan ahead. Last yr he was a 'group leader' in school (for pretty much the whole yr) and on more than one occassion had to run the groups while traveling. If he can do it then I think that a college level guy (who would have had years more experience at juggling)can, esp with internet being so accessable via phone and card.

Since when did second graders have significant amounts of homework? I also did travel hockey growing up, and a couple sports in high school, and I never had to do work while traveling.

 

[AKJD]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

<b>Travel is part of the game, and adversity is part of life. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. I never hear UAF teams complain about travel or hear it used as an excuse for on or off-ice troubles. And if they don’t…no one should.</b>

Student-athletes at the UAF posted a cumulative 3.25 gpa for the 2008-09 academic year. I believe the hockey team carried a 3.4 gpa, and six were engineering majors. We’re not Harvard of the North, but respectable.

That "travel" dog does not hunt (sorry, that’s the only Alabama euphemism in my arsenal).

Anytime someone goes to post something that could be roughly paraphrased as "Wah, travel!", they should read that bolded paragraph. If any team or fan base has a reason to complain about travel, it should be the Alaska schools, and yet the only time I ever hear anybody from up here complain about travel, it's to illustrate just how ridiculous the whole travel argument is from other schools. And at least it's <i>usually</i> in reference to flying to AK, not freaking Alabama-Huntsville! Travel sucks, but it's a part of life, especially if you're gonna play D-I hockey. Deal with it and move on.

 

[moose97]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

How much do they charge for admission? I don't find it especially surprising if high schools in areas that are more populated and have hockey as their only real sport can draw more people at lower prices. I'm sure there's also high schools in Texas that draw more people to their football games than some Div-IA schools.

High School hockey here is a pretty standard $5-7 a game. However, the comment about schools having hockey as their "only real sport" is way off. Eden Prairie (Nick Leddy - MN Wild draft pick) is one of the top football and baseball schools in the state. Roseau (Aaron Ness - Gophers and Mike Lee, SCSU goalie recruit) also typically has been one of the top small school football teams. Edina is good at football too. I could go on...

Since when did second graders have significant amounts of homework? I also did travel hockey growing up, and a couple sports in high school, and I never had to do work while traveling.

Um, 13 year olds aren't in 2nd grade (unless they've failed 1st grade a several times). A 13 year old would be an 8th grader, and middle schoolers are at the point where they do have a decent amound of home work...

 

[Bakunin]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Since when did second graders have significant amounts of homework? I also did travel hockey growing up, and a couple sports in high school, and I never had to do work while traveling.

Guessing her kid is in 7th or 8th grade at 13 - and any school system worth a **** is handing out a fair amount of homework at that level - at least an hour a day and weekend assignments/projects. It's not as substantial as the amount assigned in high school, but it's still significant and requires time management skills if the kid is involved in anything outside of school.

As for hockey's drawing power, many schools in MN are big on basketball, too (boys and girls basketball seasons run parallel to hockey's).

 

[gfmorris]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Anytime someone goes to post something that could be roughly paraphrased as "Wah, travel!", they should read that bolded paragraph. If any team or fan base has a reason to complain about travel, it should be the Alaska schools, and yet the only time I ever hear anybody from up here complain about travel, it's to illustrate just how ridiculous the whole travel argument is from other schools. And at least it's <i>usually</i> in reference to flying to AK, not freaking Alabama-Huntsville! Travel sucks, but it's a part of life, especially if you're gonna play D-I hockey. Deal with it and move on.

Amen. Most of the time, we bus rather than fly, and our guys still had a great team GPA last year.

GFM

 

[leswp1]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Travel is part of the game, and adversity is part of life. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. I never hear UAF teams complain about travel or hear it used as an excuse for on or off-ice troubles. And if they don’t…no one should.

Student-athletes at the UAF posted a cumulative 3.25 gpa for the 2008-09 academic year. I believe the hockey team carried a 3.4 gpa, and six were engineering majors. We’re not Harvard of the North, but respectable.

That "travel" dog does not hunt (sorry, that’s the only Alabama euphemism in my arsenal).

Didn't know the stats but that is impressive!

Since when did second graders have significant amounts of homework? I also did travel hockey growing up, and a couple sports in high school, and I never had to do work while traveling.

See below.

Guessing her kid is in 7th or 8th grade at 13 - and any school system worth a **** is handing out a fair amount of homework at that level - at least an hour a day and weekend assignments/projects. It's not as substantial as the amount assigned in high school, but it's still significant and requires time management skills if the kid is involved in anything outside of school....

In 3rd grade my son had a female spawn of the devil who decided she hated my kid and would not teach him or a few other boys in the class. He would bring home all his school work he didn't understand and then homework- averaged about 4-5 hrs of homework a night. Still hasn't ever had that level of homework but starting last yr he had extra assignments (they aren't allowed to have honors classes so they just give extra work to the top 5 or so kids in the class). You must have gone to some kind of a gumball school.

The point remains that these guys would not be affected by travel unless they are shakey students to begin with and that is for another day.

Not sure why I am arguing back. You seem like you need to be right in the face of overwhelming evidence contradicting just about everything you have posted.

 

[Goon]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

A bit of a reach here, but bus rides would be shorter to Huntsville than Omaha because of the lack of snowfall.

Good catch I have posted the miles for UAH to the various schools in the CCHA and Huntsville is actually shorter for some of the schools.

 

[BC/HE]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

The CCHA was really the only conference that could have taken in UAH geographically. There are still oddities out there such as Air Force playing in Atlantic Hockey and the Alaska schools. However AFA can justify use of planes for training purposes and they are a natural to be in a league with Army and a possible future Navy team. UAH's future may well depend on one of four things. 1) Another team dropping out of Division 1 and a minor reshufflement of teams. 2) The BTHC becoming a reality and a major shift in both the CCHA and the WCHA. 3) Getting enough teams to form a Southern Conference. A St. Louis area team,and teams from Kentucky, Tennesee, Virginia, Georgia, etc. Far fetched but it is still possible. 4) Maybe the NCAA could step in and require each league to rotate teams so that UAH will play every one else once every 3 or 4 years until everything is settled.
I can't think of any other possibilities. Good luck UAH, maybe a trip to the Frozen 4 by UAH next year may make the CCHA reconsider. Most college hockey fans out there want to see UAH survive. Perhaps as little as 3 CCHA teams could care less.

 

[Iwearpurple]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

The CCHA was really the only conference that could have taken in UAH geographically. There are still oddities out there such as Air Force playing in Atlantic Hockey and the Alaska schools. However AFA can justify use of planes for training purposes and they are a natural to be in a league with Army and a possible future Navy team. UAH's future may well depend on one of four things. 1) Another team dropping out of Division 1 and a minor reshufflement of teams. 2) The BTHC becoming a reality and a major shift in both the CCHA and the WCHA. 3) Getting enough teams to form a Southern Conference. A St. Louis area team,and teams from Kentucky, Tennesee, Virginia, Georgia, etc. Far fetched but it is still possible. 4) Maybe the NCAA could step in and require each league to rotate teams so that UAH will play every one else once every 3 or 4 years until everything is settled.
I can't think of any other possibilities. Good luck UAH, maybe a trip to the Frozen 4 by UAH next year may make the CCHA reconsider. Most college hockey fans out there want to see UAH survive. Perhaps as little as 3 CCHA teams could care less.

This might not be a bad idea, although the CCHA schools would probably forfeit these games in the year they had to play UAH

 

[gfmorris]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

This might not be a bad idea, although the CCHA schools would probably forfeit these games in the year they had to play UAH

A vote of acclimation doesn't mean all the CCHA member schools were against our application.

GFM

 

[SCSU Euro]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

However AFA can justify use of planes for training purposes

 

[Slap Shot]

Yeah, a couple schools are. You realize the economy hasn't been doing well in CCHA country lately, right?

Did they shut down the league or is it still running?

 

[Goon]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

A vote of acclimation doesn't mean all the CCHA member schools were against our application.

GFM

That was really a chicken **** way to hold a vote. I'd would like to see which schools were actually against UAH.

 

[tic tac toe]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

As an Ohio State fan, I am embarrassed that the CCHA denied UA-H. I was looking forward to spend a February weekend in Alabama.
Does anyone know what the vote count was?
I hope they will reconsider.
There are rumors that Penn St. will field a hockey team in a few years and my guess is that the CCHA may be looking at them as a twelfth team.

 

[aparch]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Travel is part of the game, and adversity is part of life. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. I never hear UAF teams complain about travel or hear it used as an excuse for on or off-ice troubles. And if they don’t…no one should.

...

UA_ is exempt from the NCAA travel clause.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/lou/genrel/auto_pdf/comp-rules-business.pdf

16.7.2 Departure/Return Restrictions. It is not permissible for a team to depart more than 48 hours prior to or
to remain more than 36 hours after an event or to transport the team to another area for entertainment
purposes.

16.7.2.1 Exceptions. The time limitations related to the provisions of travel expenses do not apply in the following
circumstances:
(a) Travel prior to and following contests in Hawaii or Alaska;
(b) Travel prior to and following contest in the 48 contiguous states for member institutions located in
Hawaii or Alaska

Speaking of the travel rules... if you're Ferris State (let's ignore the two outliers in Lake State and NMU...) and you're headed to Huntsville for a Friday night at 7:30 pm Central game that means that the earliest your bus can leave is Wednesday at 8:30 pm Eastern.

It's 770 miles via I-65, roughly 11-1/2 hours, from Big Rapids to Huntsville. Load the bus up and head out at 8:30 on the nose. Say you drive all the way to Fort Wayne, 3-1/2 hours and 230 miles down the road. Check in and head out by 10 am (8 hrs rest, breakfast, etc.). It's now Thursday and Ferris State still has just over eight hours and 540 miles to go.

Arrive in Huntsville at 6 pm. Drop equipment off at the rink, check into the hotel, team dinner, and all of a sudden it's bed time.

Friday morning: Game tape, breakfast and lunch routines, possible light skate in the AM, prepare for the game.

...

Saturday night, load crap on the bus right after the game, head North to try and get a hotel room in Nashville or Bowling Green, Kentucky, so you can make it back to Big Rapids so the players can attend their Monday morning classes.


Oh and by the way UAH fans; with this schedule, just WHEN are these visiting players supposed to tour the rocket museum, see the downtown area, and other "perks" that the president of UAH promoted in their CCHA video?

 

[lah02476]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

My thinking is that maybe one of the Atlantic Hockey programs will fold (AIC?), and maybe UAH could end up joining Atlantic Hockey eventually if they don't get into the CCHA.

But, I agree, this is really bush league and elitist on the part of the CCHA.

 

[Goon]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

There are rumors that Penn St. will field a hockey team in a few years and my guess is that the CCHA may be looking at them as a twelfth team.

Really then according to the fans that like to always bring up the BTHC that would mean they have to form a league because they would have 6 teams if you believe all of the BTHC chest thumpers.

 

[Goon]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

My thinking is that maybe one of the Atlantic Hockey programs will fold (AIC?), and maybe UAH could end up joining Atlantic Hockey eventually if they don't get into the CCHA.

But, I agree, this is really bush league and elitist on the part of the CCHA.

Is AIC in danger of folding?

 

[Mogerfan]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

The CCHA was really the only conference that could have taken in UAH geographically. There are still oddities out there such as Air Force playing in Atlantic Hockey and the Alaska schools. However AFA can justify use of planes for training purposes and they are a natural to be in a league with Army and a possible future Navy team. UAH's future may well depend on one of four things. 1) Another team dropping out of Division 1 and a minor reshufflement of teams. 2) The BTHC becoming a reality and a major shift in both the CCHA and the WCHA. 3) Getting enough teams to form a Southern Conference. A St. Louis area team,and teams from Kentucky, Tennesee, Virginia, Georgia, etc. Far fetched but it is still possible. 4) Maybe the NCAA could step in and require each league to rotate teams so that UAH will play every one else once every 3 or 4 years until everything is settled.
I can't think of any other possibilities. Good luck UAH, maybe a trip to the Frozen 4 by UAH next year may make the CCHA reconsider. Most college hockey fans out there want to see UAH survive. Perhaps as little as 3 CCHA teams could care less.

I think that UAH's future in the CCHA depends on the survival of Bowling Green's program, a decent year at the box office around the CCHA and the recovery of the national economy in general and the Michigan economy in particular. I really think that the CCHA is more worried about the survival of some of it's current members than it is about the survival of a perspective member.

 

[gfmorris]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Oh and by the way UAH fans; with this schedule, just WHEN are these visiting players supposed to tour the rocket museum, see the downtown area, and other "perks" that the president of UAH promoted in their CCHA video?

I think that's more for the fans who choose to travel to balmy Huntsville in February than the players. That said, the Bemidji State guys always make a Dreamland BBQ run.

[Insert locals' commentary about how Dreamland is overrated here.]

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GFM