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re: Southern Hockey Fans
Posted on 4/2/14 at 2:36 am to Sleeping Tiger
Posted on 4/2/14 at 2:36 am to Sleeping Tiger
quote:
The ACC will not ever have an NCAA hockey league.
Never say never.
If ESPN can monetize it, it will happen. Never underestimate the power of ESPN to work in its best interest. May not happen this year, and may not happen next year, but never as an absolute is a mighty long time.
Big Ten just started their hockey in 2013-2014 and providing content for the BTN was probably a driving force in making this happen. LINK With all these new networks they will all need "live" programming to derive premium returns and make advertisers happy. The BTN aired 27 men's ice hockey games during the 2013-14 season (inaugural season) of organized hockey. This includes the Big Ten Hockey tournament and a pre and postgame show dedicated to showing hockey highlights called BIG TEN Frozen Fridays and the Finale Rush.
Do the math. BTN has 1 primary channel and 2 secondary channels. Say the primary is on 24 / 7 / 365 and the other 2 are on half as much that is :
24 hours x 365 days x 2 = 17,520 hours a year of programming of which 80% will be live or near live. Hockey is one of the few sports past football and basketball that could actually generate viewer numbers to make it worth while to pursue the TV angle.
Think about it, if I told you 5 years ago Mizzou would be in the SEC would you have given me the same "never" response?
1
Posted on 4/2/14 at 9:12 am to mizzou18
Grew up in Atlanta, played high school there, and club level at USC. Was a huge Thrashers fan, before the Spirit destroyed any and all semblance of a fanbase, and moved the team out so that the Hawks could continue to suck arse.
Kinda follow the Preds now, but not enough to really give a shite. When they get decent, I pay attention, but I don't have the same love that I used to have, for sure. Still love the game, and play net in an adult league in Knoxville. Chattanooga is the largest town I've ever seen that doesn't have an ice rink.
Kinda follow the Preds now, but not enough to really give a shite. When they get decent, I pay attention, but I don't have the same love that I used to have, for sure. Still love the game, and play net in an adult league in Knoxville. Chattanooga is the largest town I've ever seen that doesn't have an ice rink.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 11:22 am to RoyalAir
quote:The sad thing about the whole Thrasher's situation is they never really got a chance to build a strong fanbase. Most of the hockey fans in the metro are transplants and so they would still cheer for their old team whenever they came to town. The team finally gets some star power in Heatly and Kovalchuck and then the strike takes away the All-Star Game, and the team isn't willing or able to put up the money to keep the big name players.
Was a huge Thrashers fan, before the Spirit destroyed any and all semblance of a fanbase, and moved the team out so that the Hawks could continue to suck arse.
I remember going to a few games in the late winter/spring of 2007 during the drive to the playoffs and the place was electric, especially when Tampa came in.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 11:49 am to Cheese Grits
Cheese, answering these last two posts of yours gives them credibility that they don't deserve.
The teams that make up the new Big Ten hockey league have been playing in the same league for decades, Big Ten states are hockey states, it's absolutely nothing at all like the ACC starting a hockey league from scratch.
Hockey is just too different than the rest of D1 sports. The majority of teams are from schools without D1 football. The Big Ten is the only area of the country with a cluster of hockey and football schools.
Anyway, it's just not going to happen for many reasons. And your Mizzou joining the SEC analogy isn't even remotely close.
The teams that make up the new Big Ten hockey league have been playing in the same league for decades, Big Ten states are hockey states, it's absolutely nothing at all like the ACC starting a hockey league from scratch.
Hockey is just too different than the rest of D1 sports. The majority of teams are from schools without D1 football. The Big Ten is the only area of the country with a cluster of hockey and football schools.
Anyway, it's just not going to happen for many reasons. And your Mizzou joining the SEC analogy isn't even remotely close.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 12:53 pm to Sleeping Tiger
quote:
The Big Ten is the only area of the country with a cluster of hockey and football schools.
To use your point.
The east coast was a collection of small time basketball schools (some who also played hockey) through the end of the 70's. All that changed when they got a TV deal and the money started rolling in. Since that time the Big East became possibly the premier basketball conference in the country.
Like the B1G (football and hockey) the ACC now has the footprint to add hockey. Say the ACC has 8 conference schools and they add 4 schools as associates just for hockey. The B1G was not always the B1G for hockey as UM, MSU, and OSU were in the CCHA (now gone I believe) MN and WS were in the WCHA. Penn State played as club before they got upgraded to NCAA status and shifted from a D III type team to a D I type program. If anything the B1G is the guide that such a thing can be done. If not for the BTN, it is fairly safe to say, the B1G hockey would never have come to fruition and their teams would still be playing in other conferences.
Syracuse = NECHL / CHA
Notre Dame = HEA
Boston College = HEA
Pittsburgh = ACHA
Louisville = ACHA
Boston College = ACHA
North Carolina = ACHA
North Carolina State = ACHA
Duke = ACHA
Virginia = ACHA
Virginia Tech = ACHA
Wake Forest = ACHA
Boston U = ACHA
Connecticut = ACHA
Cincinnati = ACHA
Georgetown = ACHA
Iowa = ACHA
Kentucky = ACHA
Massachusetts = ACHA
West Virginia = ACHA
Again, not saying it will happen, but to say it never will seems like putting your head in the sand. Looking at that list I see an incubator for ACC hockey if ESPN decides to push the ACC in that direction.
MU wrestles in the MAC and USC + UK play soccer in CUSA so it is not like there is not past history to show such a crossover can indeed happen.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 1:09 pm to PJinAtl
quote:
The sad thing about the whole Thrasher's situation is they never really got a chance to build a strong fanbase. Most of the hockey fans in the metro are transplants and so they would still cheer for their old team whenever they came to town. The team finally gets some star power in Heatly and Kovalchuck and then the strike takes away the All-Star Game, and the team isn't willing or able to put up the money to keep the big name players.
I remember going to a few games in the late winter/spring of 2007 during the drive to the playoffs and the place was electric, especially when Tampa came in.
Atlanta really was a great market, if the operation were run well. It never was. Marketing was garbage, management was terrible, and the ownership didn't give a shite. If Atlanta had had an owner like a Pegula or a Cuban, someone who had a vested interest in the town that wanted the team to do well, the Thrashers would have been the biggest draw in town after baseball season. But it never came to be, and unfortunately, Atlanta will never get another shot. The market is completely ruined by the idiots from the Spirit. For that reason alone I hope the Hawks suck until the end of time; though they don't really need my help.
That '06-'08 stretch when the Thrashers were respectable was a ton of fun. The arena was packed, the fans were excited, and it looked like the team had a solid core with Kovalchuk, Hossa, Lehtonen, etc. There was nowhere else I'd rather have been than in the CNN Center before a game, drinking a white cup beer from Gorin's. Even thinking about it now just makes me wistful, and pisses me off that my kids will never get to see it.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 1:24 pm to Cheese Grits
Cheese, stop, just stop. You have no idea what you're talking about, and you're 'informing' me of things that I've already said to you (which is weird).
Except all but one of the BIG teams already had D1 hockey, and most of them already played in the same league. The situation in the BIG is not even remotely similar to starting a new league out of almost all new D1 programs.
I don't think you realize how clueless you are on this.
quote:
If anything the B1G is the guide that such a thing can be done
Except all but one of the BIG teams already had D1 hockey, and most of them already played in the same league. The situation in the BIG is not even remotely similar to starting a new league out of almost all new D1 programs.
I don't think you realize how clueless you are on this.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 2:20 pm to mizzou18
In 1987, Alabama governor George Wallace declared Huntsville to be the "Hockey Capital of the South.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 2:59 pm to mizzou18
I watch a few hockey matches every 4 years when the Winter Olympics are on... Never been a fan but I have friends that love the shite.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 5:01 pm to Sleeping Tiger
quote:
I don't think you realize how clueless you are on this.
Maybe, maybe not, but I have been around long enough to see many "nevers" actually happen. Bookmark this and revisit in 5 years.
Part of the reason schools are splitting old rival games it some are not FOX and some are ESPN. A decade ago this would not have mattered. I still think it is why UK dropped longtime rival Indiana as UK was ESPN and IU was BTN.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 5:03 pm to Cheese Grits
Don't argue with him. He's obviously an expert.
The kind of expert that wears Gong Show shite in public.
The kind of expert that wears Gong Show shite in public.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 5:05 pm to Rebelgator
quote:
Rebelgator
You going to TX?
Posted on 4/2/14 at 5:08 pm to Cheese Grits
Probably not unfortunately
Posted on 4/2/14 at 5:47 pm to Rebelgator
Apparently there's plans for a hockey rink to be built in Tuscaloosa. At that point, the UA club team will go from D3 to D1.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 5:56 pm to pvilleguru
That'd be awesome.
Ole Miss plays at Tupelo and Olive Branch right now.
No way we get a rink in Oxford though.
Ole Miss plays at Tupelo and Olive Branch right now.
No way we get a rink in Oxford though.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 5:57 pm to Rebelgator
UA plays in Pelham, about 45 minutes away.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 5:58 pm to pvilleguru
The place in Olive Branch is close to an hour away from Oxford. Memphis, Rhodes, and a few local high school teams play there.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 6:04 pm to Rebelgator
quote:
The kind of expert that wears Gong Show shite in public
Eww.
I honestly don't know one person that owns anything from Gong Show.
Sorry that I might know something about a sport I played.
Posted on 4/2/14 at 6:04 pm to Rebelgator
quote:
No way we get a rink in Oxford though.
Why not built the Tad Pad II with ice and then use it later?
Posted on 4/2/14 at 6:08 pm to Sleeping Tiger
quote:
I honestly don't know one person that owns anything from Gong Show.
quote:
Sorry that I might know something about a sport I played.
Nothing other than cheesy terminology that makes most peoples skin crawl. You probably think chirping is cool too.
This post was edited on 4/2/14 at 6:12 pm
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