They had a game in Edmonton over the weekend, in their football stadium, Commonwealth Stadium. Attendence was just over 57,000. It was blistering cold (-19 deg C at game time). The Edmonton Oilers got equipment and staying-warm tips from the Edmonton Eskimos (CFL), and the Montreal Canadians got their info from the Green Bay Packers. (The worry, from the structural side, was that the ice itself would splinter [the Zamboni had to go REAL SLOW over it], and that the glass would become brittle.) Two years ago, Michigan and Michigan State played the first such game at MSU's stadium, in front of 74,554. Now the talk is whether such events should be held more regularly. Or even an outdoor basketball game. Here in Motown, there doesn't seem to be any official talk, just the media guys talking about it. (My idea is to have it during Super Bowl week in February 2004.) Thoughts, anyone?
Not long after the Michigan State game, this buddy of mine who's really into college hockey had an idea for a New England Cup. It would involve the four best-drawing schools in New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Boston College, and Boston University. And it would be played at Gillette Stadium. I've heard other ideas like Rangers-Devils at Giants Stadium, Michigan-Michigan State at the Big House (which could very well set a world record of 100,000+), and so on. I wonder if it would be possible to install some kind of air conditioning system, similar to what they used at the Thunderdome, in some domed stadiums. I bet the Red Wings could draw 65,000 for a game at Ford Field.
Three random thoughts: 1) I think the Wolverines/Spartans game had a gametime temp of 40 F., which would be a bit more comfortable for the fans. 2) Anyone see the movie Mystery, Alaska? Not as good as it could've been IMO, but I did like the part where Little Richard sang a Bleeding Gums Murphy version of the National Anthem, thereby freezing the Rangers. There would have to be some way to make sure the home team doesn't do something like this with the Star Spangled Banner or O Canada. 3) I think the first Olympic basketball competition (1924?) was played outdoors on a grass/dirt field. We could do a throwback thing.
The sad part is, the Tigers have to basically give tickets away for 6,000 to come to a park like Comerica.
The outdoor bandwagon is filling up, but this was really a once-in-a-lifetime kind of event. I'm surprised how little attention it got south of the border. The Oilers said they had 900,000 ticket applications, everyone knew it was going to really cold and tickets were still going for $3/4,000 on eBay. After Jose Theodore wore his toque during the game, it's the must have Christmas item in Montreal. It was also the highest rated regular season TV broadcast in HNIC history with 2.7M viewers. I don't really like the idea of having regular season games so open to the elements and the novelty will wear off really quick I would say. I mean Toronto was talking SkyDome and frankly who cares. If it's truly outdoors that's one thing and the Oilers had a good reason (25th anniversary and reuniting the members of their dynasty) and managed to put together a legends game that was truly impressive. It still kind of felt like a cash grab, but not one really cared. The next one is going to feel like Caddyshack 2. And every NHl team in Canada and the northern US has admitted to thinking about it. Having a team like Columbus do it would just feel cheap. Now I think college hockey is a totally different thing. I know it's a radical idea, but I don't think winning should be the most important thing in the world in college sports, so the competitive difficulties you get aren't as important. If you can have an annual game or a tournament that generates excitement about the game and your program, then I don't mind it being a regular thing. I think I'm contradicting myself, but I don't care. cheers, hobbes
You'd have to be at least semi-retarded or Canadian (yes, I know that's redundant) to PAY MONEY to sit outside in -19C weather.
Wonder where that 2.7 Million would fit on the Top 10 TV Raitings. Most HNIC broadcasts wouldhave trouble keeping in the Top 10 on a weekly basis. The problem is that it would have to be outdoors. Skydome isn't going to cut it because of the roof and also since Skydome is known for bad sightlines. The only outdoor stadium in Montreal has less capacity than the Bell Centre. Vancouver doen't even have one. Guess that leaves Ottawa. The CBC is getiing ideas for doing this during their "Hockey Day in Canada" in the next season or two.
Re: Re: Outdoor Ice Hockey Or you just have to be a good sports fan who wants to watch some of the greats lace em up one more time. I always thought MLS attendance excuses I see on here were horribly lame Ð oh it cold, it was only 50F, it was windy, it looked like it was going to rain, it was too hot, the stadium is in the suburbs, it's a long drive - but after this post I'm starting to wonder if that's not the American sports fan mentality. Begging for domes with climate controlled comfort where every experience is the same and the great corporate teams on the field become nearly indistinguishable. Dude I've played hockey and football in colder weather than that. I've been to a football game in colder weather too and we were 6-11 or something and completely out of the playoff race. Yeah it was cold, so what? I wore a couple of pairs of socks, long underwear and ski pants. All good. Doyle: you forgot Calgary. Regina wants to play a junior game at Taylor Field too, but 20,000 people aren't going to pay $30 to watch that team. cheers, hobbes
Re: Re: Re: Outdoor Ice Hockey And the winner of today's "Can't take a joke award" is a tie! Seriously guys, a joke. HA HA HA. Lighten up. BTW, the only game I've ever seen in a dome, I hated. Yes, I think that is ridiculously cold weather. I wouldn't sit out in it, but hey, I'm from a place where it rarely dips below freezing, only snows every few years (about 1/4 of an inch) and I'm not really interested in being out in that. However, since we're nitpicking and name calling, you sissies couldn't handle an Alabama summer if you tried. Try playing soccer on the Gulf Coast in 100+ degree weather with humidity in the high 90s. Doesn't sound too ^*$$% to me. Its just different strokes man. You probably hate it that hot, I hate it that cold. We're no better or worse for it.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Outdoor Ice Hockey Sounds a lot like my entire youth growing up here in Toronto. Seriously, we get some of the most extreme temperatures of any inhabited place on earth. SABuffalo can attest to this.
Hell, I can attest to that. Here in New England, we get just about every thing. Of course with global warming, lakes and rivers don't really freeze over anymore. Although the Saugatuck River in Westport, CT did have ice blocks this past winter. That was something else. As an aside, the Winter of 2003 was the best argument for a spring-to-fall schedule for MLS. Eric Wynalda wants to talk about "snails chasing a raisin." I'll defer to him as someone who's played here and in Europe when it comes to the performance of the players. But we want people to show up for these matches. And I can guarantee that there literally would have been attendences in the hundreds during January and February of this year.
Back to the original game(s) played in Edmonton a week ago. The teams were slightly criticized for putting it on a weekend where ESPN was committed to college football, so there wasn't a good TV window to view the game in America. However, I did see the NHL game replayed on ESPN-Classic on Wednesday. (Not sure about the "Megastars" game, if it ever hit American TV.) However, in Detroit, I would still go with my idea to play it during Super Bowl week 2006 (oops, I said 2004 in my original post), to really promote this with all media here in Motown. However, I am concerned with doing this too often, to lose the "wow" factor of the game.
Any pics? As far as the "wow" factor, why not just start up a new tradition and do it every year? After a few years it would be about the tradition and not the novelty. I see it like playing American football on Thanksgiving Day (USA). You know two teams that play every season on this day, Dallas and Detroit, but the "wow" factor is seeing your team play them. Miami in Dallas for this "event" was last seen ten years ago. Tradition and Wow all in one. Think about it, it will grow on you. Now, the only reason Thanksgiving Day football is not as cool as it used to be is the NFL and TV. These cats are starting the season on Thursday, play every so often on Thursdays now. There is football on TV just about every day of the week nowadays. It was Sundays, then we accepted the Monday night concept. OK, once the college season is over, we can take Saturday NFL and the playoffs are cool. Then we have that bastard called Thursday night football. Mix in college football and you have some football everyday.
If you look at one of the pictures of the legends in a group photo, you might notice that there is someone there with an out-of-place uniform. Turns out it's one of the cast members of "22 Minutes" crashing another event. There's was a write-up about it in the Edmonton Sun today, and the organizers weren't happy about it. Seems all the energy now isn't going to focused on another outdoor game for now. Looks like the 2006 World Junior Championships are taking over with Canada being the host for that year. 11 cities have submitted bids to host.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Outdoor Ice Hockey You should try the South Australian summer. Last year or two years ago, we had weather bordering on 42c (around 117f I think) for two consecutive weeks with absolutely no moisture in the air ... the lowest it went was 36c (around 95f?). And it lasts from early November through to late March.
Re: Must I idiot-proof everything? Curse the smiley face or its absence. Amazing how that makes all the difference