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The ECAC Championships are moving...

Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

Puck Swami said:
I should have called you! My lingering memory of Albany was in 2000 when I stayed at the world's worst Ramada (I assume its gone now) near the bus station during the NCAA regional (the one where BU and St. Lawrence played for what seemed like 3 weeks). It was a brutal weekend.
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Good call. It's been renovated and rebranded as a Holiday Inn Express. Same neighborhood though.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

Puck Swami said:
I should have called you! My lingering memory of Albany was in 2000 when I stayed at the world's worst Ramada (I assume its gone now) near the bus station during the NCAA regional (the one where BU and St. Lawrence played for what seemed like 3 weeks). It was a brutal weekend.
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It's better quality place, yes, but I would not recommend anyone to go there because of the "customer service" a friend of mine received there a few months back where she had the police called on her for having a couple of friends drop her off at her room after a night out. And yeah, I was one of those friends. Just asinine.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

jmhusker said:
AC is a bad idea. It's winter time folks. What the hell is there to do in AC in March? And don't mention casinos and shopping. If I want that I can go to Connecticut.
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Casinos and shopping are what people go to AC to do, whether it's winter or early spring or summer. There are tons of better places in NJ if you want to go to the beach.

Puck Swami said:
I should have called you! My lingering memory of Albany was in 2000 when I stayed at the world's worst Ramada (I assume its gone now) near the bus station during the NCAA regional (the one where BU and St. Lawrence played for what seemed like 3 weeks). It was a brutal weekend.
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I stayed there once too; that hotel is crappy. There are plenty of better options though, for what it's worth.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

I think the ECAC had defunct tournaments at Madison Square Garden (Colgate vs. Cornell for one?) to stimulate urban interest...AC seems too close to the Mason-Dixon Line. Give it a few years and we'll be playing in Tallahassee.

The environment of low-key Lake Placid always seemed more appropriate despite attendance, just as urban Boston seems appropriate for BC and BU. I don't see any phenomenal success with AC attendance but the venue has GOT to be better. Hopefully the ice won't be melting and the puck can actually be played along the boards.

Guess anything's worth a try.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

I don't so much like Binghampton, but I was going to say Binghamton or Utica if they sat 3k more.

BTW - Spelling it Binghampton is the easiest way to say, "Hey, look at me, I'm from Lawn Guyland" =]

How about Scranton/Wilkes Barre, PA? Did anyone say that yet?
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

While Atlantic City is further from most of the campuses involved (as everyone has mentioned by now), I wouldn't be surprised to see alumni attendance rise a bit. I know that RPI can usually draw a good number of alums for games at Princeton, and others have mentioned the fairly large population of Cornell alums in the NYC area. I'd bet many of the other Ivies have lots of alumni in the NYC/Philly/Baltimore/DC corridor. (Much to my surprise, though, Google says AC is only 18 minutes closer to NYC than Albany is.)

And although Atlantic City may have some of the same problems (crime, etc.) as Albany, at least it's in the public's mind as a "destination." (In other words, people say "let's go on a trip to AC" a lot more often than "let's take a trip to Albany.") Maybe this'll help?

I should mention that I really did support Albany, although there was a hometown bias there as an RPI fan. I'm disappointed to see it move, but there probably are some advantages.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

GoDanGo said:
While Atlantic City is further from most of the campuses involved (as everyone has mentioned by now), I wouldn't be surprised to see alumni attendance rise a bit. I know that RPI can usually draw a good number of alums for games at Princeton, and others have mentioned the fairly large population of Cornell alums in the NYC area. I'd bet many of the other Ivies have lots of alumni in the NYC/Philly/Baltimore/DC corridor. (Much to my surprise, though, Google says AC is only 18 minutes closer to NYC than Albany is.)

And although Atlantic City may have some of the same problems (crime, etc.) as Albany, at least it's in the public's mind as a "destination." (In other words, people say "let's go on a trip to AC" a lot more often than "let's take a trip to Albany.") Maybe this'll help?

I should mention that I really did support Albany, although there was a hometown bias there as an RPI fan. I'm disappointed to see it move, but there probably are some advantages.
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NJTransit offers service from NYC to AC. They also offer service from Philli to AC. IDK much about Albany's airport but I assume it does not handle as many flights as AC's does. They can also get a cheap flight in via Southwest or Airtran to Phili and either take a train or bus in.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

Wow. WOW. Never in a million years would I have guessed a move to Atlantic City, the meth-addicted hooker capital of the world. It'd be funny if it didn't scream "DESPERATE"...like an aging super model. Are we really believing that the legions of hockey Ivy grads in the metro are going to pumped to slum it in AC to watch hockey?

It's worth noting that Steve Belber - who runs the TUC for SMG - is also the booking agent for all SMG properties. No coincidence that he found another SMG home for the tourney...keeping the business in-house. He spoon fed this to the helpless Hagwell.

My money says this will be a shorted-lived experiment. Then again, my money won't be there unless RPI happens to get off the schneid and makes the tourney.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

Has there ever been a hockey game played in this arena? I mean the boards at Albany were bad (not as bad as Worcester) but some of these multipurpose venues are just horrendous.

AC is only about an hour further for me than Albany as I live in the middle but the venue seems to make no sense. Yeah Clarkson (and others as noted in this thread) get decent alumni turnout at Princeton but I think you're going to lose a ton of the die-hards from the NC, Central NY, and even the Capital District.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

FireKnight said:
Has there ever been a hockey game played in this arena? I mean the boards at Albany were bad (not as bad as Worcester) but some of these multipurpose venues are just horrendous.

AC is only about an hour further for me than Albany as I live in the middle but the venue seems to make no sense. Yeah Clarkson (and others as noted in this thread) get decent alumni turnout at Princeton but I think you're going to lose a ton of the die-hards from the NC, Central NY, and even the Capital District.
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Yes, the place was the home to the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies who used to play in the ECHL.

It's a smaller venue than Times Union Center that holds 10,500 fans for hockey and is a United States historical landmark. It's currently home of the Atlantic 10 basketball championships and is a popular venue for boxing prize fights.

Boardwalk Hall website
 
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Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

Wow. AC? Never would have expected that. As a Union fan, I'm somewhat disappointed but...

1. They always have the ECAC tourney during my spring break.
2. Union has never made it to the ECAC tourney.
3. I'll be graduating next June and then living in the NYC area so this actually works out pretty well for me.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

CHFAN222 said:
Not to be a troll but are you referring to Lucy the elephant? That is not in Sea Bright. That is in Margate. Sea Bright is around exit 105 on the Parkway about hour to hour and half north of AC. That is Central Jersey. Sea Bright is to narrow anyway to be able to fit an elephant onto it.
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It's been 50 years since I went in that elephant on a hot summer's day. My remark at the time was it sure smelled like an elephant.

The penalty for not googling Lucy is getting red flagged by somebody who's exit # is < 100. (FYI mine was 171).

And thinking it over, is there any wonder why nobody takes the ECAC seriously?
 
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Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

CHFAN222 said:
NJTransit offers service from NYC to AC. They also offer service from Philli to AC. IDK much about Albany's airport but I assume it does not handle as many flights as AC's does. They can also get a cheap flight in via Southwest or Airtran to Phili and either take a train or bus in.
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Actually Albany's airport is much larger than AC's - with service by virtually all major airlines, including Southwest. With Albany-Rensselaer being one of Amtrak's most popular stations outside the Boston-Washington corridor, it is also only about 2 1/2 hours from Penn Station via about a dozen trains per day. This move was not based on accessibility, but perception. AC is considered a "destination city" and Albany is not. But is it a destination for hockey fans? I'm betting that it is not. If the tournament had to move I would have preferred a return to Lake Placid.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

CornwallAce said:
I don't so much like Binghampton, but I was going to say Binghamton or Utica if they sat 3k more.

BTW - Spelling it Binghampton is the easiest way to say, "Hey, look at me, I'm from Lawn Guyland" =]

How about Scranton/Wilkes Barre, PA? Did anyone say that yet?
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Binghampton - Maybe people are trying to compare it to the Hamptons :confused:
Utica - That's worse than the Syracuse War Memorial!
Lawn Guyland - Very funny!
Scranton/Wilkes Barre - PA is the only state without an ECAC team so I say no :p
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

rpi82 said:
Actually Albany's airport is much larger than AC's - with service by virtually all major airlines, including Southwest. With Albany-Rensselaer being one of Amtrak's most popular stations outside the Boston-Washington corridor, it is also only about 2 1/2 hours from Penn Station via about a dozen trains per day. This move was not based on accessibility, but perception. AC is considered a "destination city" and Albany is not. But is it a destination for hockey fans? I'm betting that it is not. If the tournament had to move I would have preferred a return to Lake Placid.
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Absolutely right on all points. As far as accessiblity and history, Albany is superior to AC. It could not shake the government town impression and it seems most people on this thread never ventured more than two blocks from the arena. Lark Street and other areas within a cuple of miles had restaruants, clubs and other amenities.

Lake Placid or Boston would have been good places to move the tournament, but give AC a try. It is a destination and it may work, but only if the league steps up its promotion of the event and the league itself.
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

Huge story in the TU today on the loss of the tournament-buried on p. 3 of the sports section. Need I say more? :rolleyes:
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

Jasma said:
Absolutely right on all points. As far as accessiblity and history, Albany is superior to AC. It could not shake the government town impression and it seems most people on this thread never ventured more than two blocks from the arena. Lark Street and other areas within a cuple of miles had restaruants, clubs and other amenities.
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That may be very true, but fun in proximity to an arena is very important. I think most visiting fans, once they get to city, tend to judge a tourney primarily by the food and drink amenities surrounding the arena, as well as the 'festive feeling' that cities either try (or don't try) to enable - street banners, activities, volunteers, waiters that know what college hockey is, etc.

Going 'a couple miles away' to find a sense of event/fun is seen as something of a downer, when compared to places where the 'fun' is a short walk from the arena. People want to be "part of the event" and not have to go looking for it....
 
Re: The ECAC Championships are moving...

Puck Swami said:
Going 'a couple miles away' to find a sense of event/fun is seen as something of a downer, when compared to places where the 'fun' is a short walk from the arena. People want to be "part of the event" and not have to go looking for it....
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Folks could've walked a block or two down Pearl Street to find more than enough places to go to. Lark Street is straight up Madison Avenue, a very cheap cab ride away from the arena.

Again, people's crappy perceptions of Albany came from them either being poor planners and staying in hotels too far away from downtown to be manageable or folks being too foolish to not ask the numerous locals on this board or do some google exploring themselves to make it worthwhile.

The last couple of years I've spent time hanging with some of the Cornell folks that come in from different parts of the Northeast (NYC, Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and Boston) and as far as I could tell they've had a great time in Albany. I'm not going to hog any credit for their good times had here as I know they've done their part in getting to know the area and where to go but I've also been able to make amiable suggestions to them for secondary spots when the main places get too busy.

It's not hard to have a good time in Albany but it is pretty easy for folks to sit and pout and whine and complain when they put zero effort into wanting to have a good time.

I don't point this rant at you Swami, but there's a host of others who myself and others went around the bend on this whole thing repeatedly that still, likely, have yet to learn a lesson about anything.
 
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