Re: Why do you love college hockey?
I grew up going to BU games as a kid because that was my dad's alma mater. I've actually never been to a Bruins game in Boston. Only time I've been to the Garden is for the Beanpot and a handful of times when my High School's B-ball teams made it to the state finals. So I guess part of it is its just what I'm more used to. But objectively its great because of the student sections and the bands, the same reason I think most people like college sports. There's just a passion that you don't get in the pros thats really unique to college sports in the US. Also there's no rivalry in sports like a college sports rivalry. There just isn't. Growing up I hated the Yankees and the Canadiens and the Jets etc. but that all paled in comparison to my hatred of BC, especially growing up in a town where most people were BC fans. Now as an OSU student I feel the same way about Michigan. I think the fact that hockey, college hockey in particular, is such a regional sport gives it a sense of uniqueness. You can walk down any street in America and find an NFL fan or a college football/basketball fan, but when you find someone who's knowledgable about college hockey its special. Its like being part of a exclusive club. I also like that in college hockey you see schools that you wouldn't normally see in other sports. Whether your talking about national champions like North Dakota, RPI, Union, Michigain Tech and Lake Superior State or just obscure schools like Alabama-Huntsville, Merrimack, RIT or Quinnipiac, you're getting to see schools who play at the top level of the sport not because they have big enrollments or huge nationwide fan bases, but just because they have have passion for the game and always have. You don't see that in college football or basketball, at least not to the same extent.
The other thing for me is the arenas. For one thing, as others have pointed out, they're generally a lot cheaper to go to for what's still a pretty great product. But I've always felt like most college arena's have more character than their professional counterparts. That's becoming less and less true as more schools build or move into fancy new modern arenas (*cough* BU and Ohio State *cough*), but still, you're not gonna see old barns like Matthews or Yost or Gutterson or Ingalls etc. etc. in the pros. I always felt that in the pro ranks, with a few exceptions, once you've been to one arena you've kinda been to them all.
I grew up going to BU games as a kid because that was my dad's alma mater. I've actually never been to a Bruins game in Boston. Only time I've been to the Garden is for the Beanpot and a handful of times when my High School's B-ball teams made it to the state finals. So I guess part of it is its just what I'm more used to. But objectively its great because of the student sections and the bands, the same reason I think most people like college sports. There's just a passion that you don't get in the pros thats really unique to college sports in the US. Also there's no rivalry in sports like a college sports rivalry. There just isn't. Growing up I hated the Yankees and the Canadiens and the Jets etc. but that all paled in comparison to my hatred of BC, especially growing up in a town where most people were BC fans. Now as an OSU student I feel the same way about Michigan. I think the fact that hockey, college hockey in particular, is such a regional sport gives it a sense of uniqueness. You can walk down any street in America and find an NFL fan or a college football/basketball fan, but when you find someone who's knowledgable about college hockey its special. Its like being part of a exclusive club. I also like that in college hockey you see schools that you wouldn't normally see in other sports. Whether your talking about national champions like North Dakota, RPI, Union, Michigain Tech and Lake Superior State or just obscure schools like Alabama-Huntsville, Merrimack, RIT or Quinnipiac, you're getting to see schools who play at the top level of the sport not because they have big enrollments or huge nationwide fan bases, but just because they have have passion for the game and always have. You don't see that in college football or basketball, at least not to the same extent.
The other thing for me is the arenas. For one thing, as others have pointed out, they're generally a lot cheaper to go to for what's still a pretty great product. But I've always felt like most college arena's have more character than their professional counterparts. That's becoming less and less true as more schools build or move into fancy new modern arenas (*cough* BU and Ohio State *cough*), but still, you're not gonna see old barns like Matthews or Yost or Gutterson or Ingalls etc. etc. in the pros. I always felt that in the pro ranks, with a few exceptions, once you've been to one arena you've kinda been to them all.
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