The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

[uaafanblog]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Yeah, cos you wouldn't want to name all these alleged benefits of having representation on the committee. Like oooh ... the nWCHA gets to vote where the Frozen Four is held!!! The nWCHA gets to vote on rules changes!!! What would the member schools do without those votes? Oh my ...

 

[redwing61]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Forbes Ranking = 548th

That's ... Five Hundred and Forty Eighth.

Yeah, Forbes doesn't separate out all the tiny liberal arts colleges like every other publication that ranks colleges and universities (in US News and World Report, BGSU is #184; in Washington Monthy, BGSU is #162).

Other universities' ranking according to Forbes:

#551 RIT
#562 North Dakota
#573 Maine
#611 St. Cloud State
#617 Western Michigan
#635 Minnesota State

 

[uaafanblog]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Yeah, Forbes doesn't separate out all the tiny liberal arts colleges like every other publication that ranks colleges and universities (in US News and World Report, BGSU is #184; in Washington Monthy, BGSU is #162).

Other universities' ranking according to Forbes:

#551 RIT
#562 North Dakota
#573 Maine
#611 St. Cloud State
#617 Western Michigan
#635 Minnesota State

The context of my comment regarding BGSU has nothing to do with other schools therefore your comparisons are wholly irrelevant. To clarify the context since you completely missed it, I'll reiterate it ....

BGSU's status as a D1 school does nothing significant for the nWCHA in regard to D1 Hockey committee membership. It's ranking by Forbes was just one illustration of how the school is nothing special. It's a state school tucked up in nowhereville and has no "cachet" that benefits nWCHA members other than it would get to vote on stuff that is already a foregone conclusion.

FFS.

 

[Squarebanks]

The only reason any of the schools go to Alaska is the game exemption.

Thanks, we love you too and are happy to be providing something of financial value to our fellow conference mates in exchange for our geographical quirkiness. I know our guys are stoked for the five hour bus ride to Marquette after a quick puddle-jumper flight from Alaska to Green Bay.

 

[UncleRay]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

AHA makes sense geographically for them, but if I was running the show at BG and decided to make the effort to move conferences, I would aim for Hockey East, not the AHA. Even in its new, watered-down state, the WCHA should still be a step above the AHA and the ECAC.

Not that I'm biased or anything.

You realize that with Notre Dame joining next year and UConn the year after that gives Hockey East 12 schools. Why would they go to 13? And have to travel to do it? If you're going to make up rumors, at least try to make sense.

 

[Squarebanks]

You realize that with Notre Dame joining next year and UConn the year after that gives Hockey East 12 schools. Why would they go to 13? And have to travel to do it? If you're going to make up rumors, at least try to make sense.

The fudge are you talking about? Exactly where did I make up a rumor? I was discussing another post that is nothing more than a rumor at this point, not making **** up.

And you're right, HEA will have 12, not 13. I accidentally counted Uconn twice because their women's program is already in Hockey East. I apologize for not knowing the exact number of men's teams in a conference full of teams I don't care about.

 

[gfmorris]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Hey, if we're going to talk about University rankings, the only way that the nWCHA gets a Carnegie research "very high" activity ranking in the conference is to bring in UAH. [I think Fairbanks, Tech, and BG are the "high" rankings. I remember that there are three, and I know that Fairbanks is one of them.]

GFM <-- just throwing that out there.

 

[redwing61]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

The context of my comment regarding BGSU has nothing to do with other schools therefore your comparisons are wholly irrelevant.

You're not interested in other schools, so you bring up Forbes' ranking. Makes sense to me!

 

[uaafanblog]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

You're not interested in other schools, so you bring up Forbes' ranking. Makes sense to me!

cos you're effing stupid.

 

[davyd83]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Thanks, we love you too and are happy to be providing something of financial value to our fellow conference mates in exchange for our geographical quirkiness. I know our guys are stoked for the five hour bus ride to Marquette after a quick puddle-jumper flight from Alaska to Green Bay.

Fairbanks is a terrific town with a great fan base, but honestly, do you think that other schools would be as willing to do it without that exemption? Why do you think Huntsville is having trouble finding a home?? It's the travel. That all being said, no one has more rigorous travel than UAF. And Anchorage isn't much better. The length of trips and 4 hour difference on a regular basis is no piece of cake.

 

[manurespreader]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Th source of this rumor came from an article in the BG paper that stated unidentified sources that were unhappy with their deal. It's not a solid source I readily admit, that's why I'm looking to confirm it. But when you ad the article, to a certain coaches comments, to nothing happening, and to a pointed no comment when this question was asked, then something is going on.

As far as BG, you know it's not that important, but it is a d1 school and while within hockey it's not much, outside of hockey it's name is recognized a lot more than anyone else's. Does that matter? maybe.

Also, if the league wanted to find a way to fly to games, especially on the across the lake trips like Bemidji to Ferris, it would really cut the time involved and it could be done for only about 20% more than the bus.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Th source of this rumor came from an article in the BG paper that stated unidentified sources that were unhappy with their deal. It's not a solid source I readily admit, that's why I'm looking to confirm it. But when you ad the article, to a certain coaches comments, to nothing happening, and to a pointed no comment when this question was asked, then something is going on.

As far as BG, you know it's not that important, but it is a d1 school and while within hockey it's not much, outside of hockey it's name is recognized a lot more than anyone else's. Does that matter? maybe.

Also, if the league wanted to find a way to fly to games, especially on the across the lake trips like Bemidji to Ferris, it would really cut the time involved and it could be done for only about 20% more than the bus.

The league should seek out a league-wide sponsorship from a smaller airline, that would be free advertisement for a set schedule of flights each year. Maybe Great Lakes Aviation would be a good fit.

 

[davyd83]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Th source of this rumor came from an article in the BG paper that stated unidentified sources that were unhappy with their deal. It's not a solid source I readily admit, that's why I'm looking to confirm it. But when you ad the article, to a certain coaches comments, to nothing happening, and to a pointed no comment when this question was asked, then something is going on.

As far as BG, you know it's not that important, but it is a d1 school and while within hockey it's not much, outside of hockey it's name is recognized a lot more than anyone else's. Does that matter? maybe.

Also, if the league wanted to find a way to fly to games, especially on the across the lake trips like Bemidji to Ferris, it would really cut the time involved and it could be done for only about 20% more than the bus.

Right now a flight from Grand Rapids to Bemidji is $565 per person plus baggage fees. That will come out over $16,000 plus an extra night in the hotel. When it's all said and done, the total cost of the trip is going to be around $22,000 minimum.

 

[manurespreader]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Right now a flight from Grand Rapids to Bemidji is $565 per person plus baggage fees. That will come out over $16,000 plus an extra night in the hotel. When it's all said and done, the total cost of the trip is going to be around $22,000 minimum.

You can charter a plane to carry everyone for $8 to $9 per mile. A bus is 3.50 but it goes twice as many miles to get there, so the difference is about 1 to 1.50 per mile. So round trip, you are looking at maybe a thousand dollars extra depending. the long bus trips require two bus drivers which drives up the cost, and the hotel and meal costs double for the long trips as well. On a plane you cut the hotel and meal costs way back and that goes toward paying the difference in the fees. the SWC does this quite successfully in Basketball. Not to mention that your team arrives rested instead of wore out and they get back to class a lot sooner and function a lot better on monday after the trip. Teams that have these long trips have a tough time bouncing back and it's usually wednesday before they are normal again.

 

[MavsFan]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Fairbanks is a terrific town with a great fan base, but honestly, do you think that other schools would be as willing to do it without that exemption? Why do you think Huntsville is having trouble finding a home?? It's the travel. That all being said, no one has more rigorous travel than UAF. And Anchorage isn't much better. The length of trips and 4 hour difference on a regular basis is no piece of cake.

Yes, but the Alaska schools have no choice. Either massive travel or no schedule. That's not true for the rest of the schools in the conference. Every one could put together a schedule that did not include a trip to Alaska, so I get tired of Alaska fans saying that we have no gripe since their travel is worse.

 

[camilo]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Yes, but the Alaska schools have no choice. Either massive travel or no schedule. That's not true for the rest of the schools in the conference. Every one could put together a schedule that did not include a trip to Alaska, so I get tired of Alaska fans saying that we have no gripe since their travel is worse.

True. However, that issue should be considered when accepting a team into the conference - if the travel TO that team is too onerous, the team should not be admitted into the conference. Once the team is in the conference, this no longer becomes a factor. The league has committed to that team, including travel. Therefore complaining of traveling is OK, but is obviously more of a complaint to the Alaskan teams and they have a valid complaint at that point.

Same will hold true for UAH - if the league members don't want to increase their travel, they should not admit UAH. Once they do, UAH has every right to point out - if confronted with complaints by other teams - that their travel is um-teen times worse.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Yes, but the Alaska schools have no choice. Either massive travel or no schedule. That's not true for the rest of the schools in the conference. Every one could put together a schedule that did not include a trip to Alaska, so I get tired of Alaska fans saying that we have no gripe since their travel is worse.

Yeah, but at the same time, without the AK schools, the nWCHA would be on shaky footing in terms of membership numbers. And if one AK program dies, the other probably goes with it eventually.

 

[Squarebanks]

Yes, but the Alaska schools have no choice. Either massive travel or no schedule. That's not true for the rest of the schools in the conference. Every one could put together a schedule that did not include a trip to Alaska, so I get tired of Alaska fans saying that we have no gripe since their travel is worse.

Part of the gripe on our part is that we are paying for other teams to fly up here. We can't help our location, but our schools have every bit the same right to field teams as any other schools in the country. That's part of the reason we foot the bill for other teams.

Look at it this way: how would you feel if you had a hot date, took her out to a nice dinner at the best restaurant in town, and instead of a thank you, all you got was some derision over the salad bar? That's kind of how we feel when teams complain about flying to AK on our dime.

Besides, in general terms, is a 5+ hour bus ride really that much worse than flying to Alaska?

Travel is just a way of life in the NCAA now, even if you don't count Alaska and Hawaii. How else could Boise State be in the Big East?

 

[Squarebanks]

Yeah, but at the same time, without the AK schools, the nWCHA would be on shaky footing in terms of membership numbers. And if one AK program dies, the other probably goes with it eventually.

One could survive without the other if the survivor still had a conference. Remember, we've been split up for two decades, and UAA doesn't help us on travel costs or vice versa. I think UAF's total athletic travel budget is easily over a $1 million, although that number may actually go down in the nWCHA.

 

[SJHovey]

Re: The New WCHA 2, The Electric Boogaloo (2013-14)

Besides, in general terms, is a 5+ hour bus ride really that much worse than flying to Alaska?

You may have intended to reverse this?

In any event, I personally believe the 5-5.5 hr bus ride is much easier and more preferable than a flight to Alaska, and I've flown to Alaska.

If a team loads it's equipment on the bus at the local arena at 1 p.m. in Grand Forks, 5.5 hours later they're at Mariucci, or the hotel where the team is staying. The same trip to Alaska is going to look something like this:

1-1:20 p.m. -- Travel to GFK airport
1:20-3:20 p.m. -- Checking in, going through security, boarding, etc...
3:20-5:30 p.m. -- Fly to Minneapolis, switch planes
5:30-11:45 p.m.(GFK time) -- Fly to Anchorage
11:45 p.m.-12:30 a.m. -- Retrieve luggage, board transport bus
12:30-1:00 a.m. -- Travel to arena/hotel

You are looking at 12 hours minimum of travel time, with multiple loading and unloading of luggage mixed in.

I loved my time in Alaska, but it's a haul to get there.