Tradition is the heart and soul of every college sports program. You can bear witness to this anytime that you enter the venues of most universities, large or small. Unfortunately, when you enter the Sullivan Arena you do not see much in the way of tradition these days. The UAA Seawolves once had a rabid fan base with unique traditions. What is more Alaskan than the tradition of throwing fish onto the ice after the first goal? The NCAA was not a big fan of this tradition, and instead of fighting on behalf of the students and the community to preserve this long standing tradition, our athletic director, Dr. Steve Cobb, buckled to the desires of the NCAA. The University has further alienated their fan base by raising the cost of a companion ticket. When you cannot even fill half of the seats in the Sullivan Arena, the last thing you should be doing is aggravating the small base of fans that you actually do have.
The homecoming event, the Kendall Hockey Classic, should be a celebration of traditions, a celebration of students. It should be a demonstration of pride in the community, our University and our Division I hockey team who remain competitive in the most prestigious conference in college hockey. Instead, it is a demonstration of failure; failure to protect tradition and the failure to inspire pride in a once rabid fan base.
Imagine the Seawolves v. Nanooks for the Kendall Classic Crown, a reality that would be possible thanks to the lack of WCHA teams in the tournament this year. However, the Nanooks and the Seawolves were on the same ice, two nights in a row, and not a single game against each other.
Not only were we denied the excitement of this pairing, the Governor’s Cup has, apparently, been cut to only two games, over one weekend in each city. Historically UAF has brought busloads of fans to Anchorage. This is the one series all year that we can guarantee a crowd. Two rival cities, fans from each side, the most intense games on the ice all year, ruined. Ruined because with a home game the night after or before the away game, it is highly unlikely we will see Nanook fans making their annual pilgrimage south. These games are the premier sports highlight of my year. More tradition, down the drain, and UAA still cannot figure out why they cannot put fans in the seats.
The quality of Seawolf hockey is first rate. This is not new, even amid the last place finishes, the Seawolves have been known for their tenacity and tough aggressive play which has kept them competitive in most of their games in, arguably, the most prestigious conference in college hockey. UAA is not known as an easy win in the WCHA. The word on the street is that Dr. Cobb takes care of his student athletes and coaches, and in turn the quality of play, in sports across the board has improved. The quality of play has improved; now let us work on taking care of the students. The students are your key base of fan support. Do not alienate and overburden your students by increasing the cost of a companion ticket to enter an empty Sullivan Arena. As we suffer a weekend in which we watched our arch rivals win our tournament, on our ice, we need to focus on bringing fans back to the Sullivan Arena.
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The homecoming event, the Kendall Hockey Classic, should be a celebration of traditions, a celebration of students. It should be a demonstration of pride in the community, our University and our Division I hockey team who remain competitive in the most prestigious conference in college hockey. Instead, it is a demonstration of failure; failure to protect tradition and the failure to inspire pride in a once rabid fan base.
Imagine the Seawolves v. Nanooks for the Kendall Classic Crown, a reality that would be possible thanks to the lack of WCHA teams in the tournament this year. However, the Nanooks and the Seawolves were on the same ice, two nights in a row, and not a single game against each other.
Not only were we denied the excitement of this pairing, the Governor’s Cup has, apparently, been cut to only two games, over one weekend in each city. Historically UAF has brought busloads of fans to Anchorage. This is the one series all year that we can guarantee a crowd. Two rival cities, fans from each side, the most intense games on the ice all year, ruined. Ruined because with a home game the night after or before the away game, it is highly unlikely we will see Nanook fans making their annual pilgrimage south. These games are the premier sports highlight of my year. More tradition, down the drain, and UAA still cannot figure out why they cannot put fans in the seats.
The quality of Seawolf hockey is first rate. This is not new, even amid the last place finishes, the Seawolves have been known for their tenacity and tough aggressive play which has kept them competitive in most of their games in, arguably, the most prestigious conference in college hockey. UAA is not known as an easy win in the WCHA. The word on the street is that Dr. Cobb takes care of his student athletes and coaches, and in turn the quality of play, in sports across the board has improved. The quality of play has improved; now let us work on taking care of the students. The students are your key base of fan support. Do not alienate and overburden your students by increasing the cost of a companion ticket to enter an empty Sullivan Arena. As we suffer a weekend in which we watched our arch rivals win our tournament, on our ice, we need to focus on bringing fans back to the Sullivan Arena.
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=sgm&id=512034551#!/group.php?gid=126558080153&ref=ts
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