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Post by rf1 on Apr 2, 2024 9:39:57 GMT -5
I will not be shedding any tears for him.
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Post by rf1 on Apr 2, 2024 9:21:01 GMT -5
Maryland Heights, MO was the only site to sell out any of its games. It did so for all games as it had the lowest capacity of 3,148 (which was increased from its normal 2,500 for this event) . None of the other three venues had a game that was close to selling out. The best attended games at these venues were 5,765 at Springfield (cap 6,800), 6,113 at Sioux Falls (cap 10,678), and 6,988 at Providence (cap 11,273).
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Post by rf1 on Mar 30, 2024 9:17:54 GMT -5
These were the numbers for the last three NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament Regionals 2022 First Round Games (2) Worcester, MA 6,002 Albany, NY 2,345 Allentown, PA 2,155 Loveland, CO 3,138 Second Round Final Worcester, MA 2,848 Albany, NY 3,449 Allentown, PA 3,256 Loveland, CO 4,812 Total Attendance (3)
Worcester, MA 8,850 Albany, NY 5,794 Allentown, PA 5,411 Loveland, CO 7,950
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Ice_Hockey_Tournament2023 First Round Games (2) Bridgeport,CT 4,462 Fargo, ND 5,061 Allentown, PA 7,067 Manchester, NH 3,631 Second Round Final Bridgeport,CT 4,557 Fargo, ND 5,326 Allentown, PA 8,375 Manchester, NH 7,143
Total Attendance (3) Bridgeport,CT 9,019 Fargo, ND 10,387 Allentown, PA 15,442 Manchester, NH 10,774
2024 First Round Games (2)
Providence, RI 6,988
Sioux Falls, SD 3,748 (1)
Sioux Falls, SD 5,691 (1)
Springfield, MA 3,894 (1) Springfield, MA 5,765 (1)
Maryland Heights, MO 3,148 (1) Maryland Heights, Mo 3,148 (1)
Second Round Final
Providence, RI 5,835 Sioux Falls, SD 6,113 Springfield, MA 4,407 Maryland Heights, MO 3,148
*The attendance is being listed with different numbers for same day games at the same site this year
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Post by rf1 on Mar 30, 2024 9:07:58 GMT -5
BC up 2-1 on Mich Tech. A lot more than 2500 at this location. Looks to be a near full house of Eagle fans
Crowd of 6,988 for the Providence doubleheader. Springfield (which had nearby UMass) had 3,894. Even with hockey popular in New England, the NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament draws far less than its Men's Basketball Tourney when it is in the area. There were 19,144 at the TD Garden for the Men's Basketball Eastern Regional on Thursday. I can guarantee that Providence will have a bigger crowd for the first round of the men's tournament in 2025 than it did for hockey yesterday.
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Post by rf1 on Mar 18, 2024 8:56:02 GMT -5
Worcester North may be the best basketball team at any level in the city of Worcester.
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Post by rf1 on Mar 12, 2024 10:27:15 GMT -5
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Post by rf1 on Mar 11, 2024 19:21:35 GMT -5
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Post by rf1 on Mar 1, 2024 15:15:05 GMT -5
That source is just the musings of a fan and has no real credibility as it is all personal conjecture.
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Post by rf1 on Feb 28, 2024 12:08:50 GMT -5
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Post by rf1 on Feb 27, 2024 18:18:39 GMT -5
For more context on the men's basketball annual budgets for A-10 and MAC schools, I found this link for 2023 data: theresourcenexus.com/budget/A-10 Average $3.95M Dayton $5.98M VCU $5.88M St Louis $5.79M Richmond $4.20M St Joe's $4.14M Duquesne $3.96M Loyola $3.83M GMU $3.69M URI $3.63M Fordham $3.57M GW $3.30M Davidson $3.11M St Bonaventure $2.99M UMass $2.82M LaSalle $2.42M MAC Average $1.75M Ohio $2.45M Toledo $2.19M Akron $2.11M Buffalo $2.01M Bowling Green $1.83M Miami $1.63M CMU $1.58M Kent $1.58M Ball St $1.54M EMU $1.48M NIU $1.33M WMU $1.21M
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Post by rf1 on Feb 27, 2024 16:11:25 GMT -5
Why would the MAC be cheaper in basketball than the A10? No appreciable distance saved in terms of road trips. men's basketball program expenses are far lower in the MAC. A big part of this is head coach salaries but it also includes staff salaries, travel expenses (more charter flights in A-10), recruiting budgets, and many other operations.
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Post by rf1 on Feb 27, 2024 16:07:32 GMT -5
I do not think this is a good sign for the men's basketball program. The A-10's diminishing status probably played a part in the decision. I however also think the relatively weak status of the UMass men's basketball program played a part as well. UMass has been in the A-10 for close to 50 years. Its only real success came during the decade when John Calipari was the coach and the program rose to the very top of college basketball. They built the 9,493 seat Mullins Center back then and regularly filled it for games. Calipari was however the only coach in its entire history to ever win an NCAA game. Calipari Assistant Coach and successor Bruiser Flint did get the team back to the NCAA Tournament but was never able to win a game and the program started to fall off. In the last 25 years, the program has a single NCAA bid (via an at large invite) under Derek Kellogg where they got blown out in the first round. UMass men's basketball attendance has tanked in recent years. They have only had three seasons in the last fifteen years where they averaged over 4k in a 9,493 seat venue. Overall interest in the program has been in a decline for the last 25 years. It may be that the administration at UMass has come to the realization that the Calipari years were an aberration and the program was unlikely to ever achieve a high level of success again save for a breakout year here or there. It is spending a lot of money on the program with little to show for it. The operating expenses of the MAC are far lower than the A-10. The AD may have thought the path to the NCAA via the occasional MAC Tourney auto-bid while spending less was a better option. The steady decline of the A-10 and recent status and future prospects of its men's basketball program may have been such that it no longer made sense to center most of the department's conference emphasis on that sport. Men's hockey today seems to be the most popular fan sport in Amherst. Perhaps, more focus and investment will be put on that. It can be further embraced as the feature winter athletics program at the Mullins Center where it will host familiar local opponents in a sport that is popular in this region. Membership in the MAC will provide a stable conference home for many UMass sports. Membership in it however is not likely to significantly elevate any of its programs and may in fact hurt several of them. None of the teams in the MAC will much excite people in MA and fan interest will be lacking. Why would the MAC be cheaper in basketball than the A10? No appreciable distance saved in terms of road trips.
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Post by rf1 on Feb 27, 2024 16:07:04 GMT -5
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Post by rf1 on Feb 27, 2024 12:11:53 GMT -5
I do not think this is a good sign for the men's basketball program. The A-10's diminishing status probably played a part in the decision. I however also think the relatively weak status of the UMass men's basketball program played a part as well. UMass has been in the A-10 for close to 50 years. Its only real success came during the decade when John Calipari was the coach and the program rose to the very top of college basketball. They built the 9,493 seat Mullins Center back then and regularly filled it for games. Calipari was however the only coach in its entire history to ever win an NCAA game. Calipari Assistant Coach and successor Bruiser Flint did get the team back to the NCAA Tournament but was never able to win a game and the program started to fall off. In the last 25 years, the program has a single NCAA bid (via an at large invite) under Derek Kellogg where they got blown out in the first round.
UMass men's basketball attendance has tanked in recent years. They have only had three seasons in the last fifteen years where they averaged over 4k in a 9,493 seat venue. Overall interest in the program has been in a decline for the last 25 years.
It may be that the administration at UMass has come to the realization that the Calipari years were an aberration and the program was unlikely to ever achieve a high level of success again save for a breakout year here or there. It is spending a lot of money on the program with little to show for it. The operating expenses of the MAC are far lower than the A-10. The AD may have thought the path to the NCAA via the occasional MAC Tourney auto-bid while spending less was a better option. The steady decline of the A-10 and recent status and future prospects of its men's basketball program may have been such that it no longer made sense to center most of the department's conference emphasis on that sport.
Men's hockey today seems to be the most popular fan sport in Amherst. Perhaps, more focus and investment will be put on that. It can be further embraced as the feature winter athletics program at the Mullins Center where it will host familiar local opponents in a sport that is popular in this region.
Membership in the MAC will provide a stable conference home for many UMass sports. Membership in it however is not likely to significantly elevate any of its programs and may in fact hurt several of them. None of the teams in the MAC will much excite people in MA and fan interest will be lacking.
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Post by rf1 on Feb 24, 2024 10:17:33 GMT -5
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Post by rf1 on Feb 24, 2024 9:56:11 GMT -5
Full membership in CUSA would be a deathknell for many of its sports. Such a move would make the school even more irrelevant in Massachusetts as few residents would be excited by this far flung lineup of teams:
Delaware Florida International Univ Jacksonville State Univ (AL) Liberty University (VA) Louisiana Tech Univ Middle Tenn State Univ New Mexico St Univ Sam Houston St Univ (TX) UTEP (TX) Western Kentucky Kennesaw St (GA)
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Post by rf1 on Feb 16, 2024 15:48:04 GMT -5
I will miss Chuck's Steak House/Margarita Grill. Fond memories of going there dating back to the mid 1980's. It was a popular spot with my WPI frat brothers and even hosted some frat events. I imagine many associated with Holy Cross also had been there over the years given its proximity and thought I would alert those that read these boards that it was soon closing. It had an incredible and successful 46 year old run, a rarity in the restaurant business.
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Post by rf1 on Feb 16, 2024 10:33:27 GMT -5
There will soon not be any more Holy Cross events or gatherings of Crusader fans before or after games at this nearby restaurant establishment. It recently announced on its web site that it will be closing February 24th after a forty-six year run. While it had been expected that the site of the restaurant would become the new Auburn Fire HQ, it had previously been thought the business was scouting out new locations. That no longer appears to be the case. www.chucks.com/
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Post by rf1 on Feb 8, 2024 10:00:19 GMT -5
Worth noting from this article:
The Bravehearts launched in October 2013 and are members of the Futures League. With the team’s 11th season set to begin in May, the Bravehearts will tie the former Worcester IceCats as the longest-running sports organization in the city’s history, according to the team.
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Post by rf1 on Feb 3, 2024 15:18:42 GMT -5
The court at GW has nearby famous DC landmarks - Capitol, White House, and Washington Monument
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Post by rf1 on Feb 3, 2024 15:16:57 GMT -5
Agreed, it needs to be changed. The state of MA was a very bad idea. It would make sense on the court at UMass, not HC.
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Post by rf1 on Feb 1, 2024 9:16:44 GMT -5
3 restaurants have closed in recent days in Worcester's Canal District Tatum Goetting - Worcester Telegram & Gazette - January 31, 2024
Two of the restaurants had replaced other failed restaurants only about a year earlier.
The District (replaced the Compass Tavern in 2022) Blackstone Herbs and Martini Bar (had replaced The Hangover in Sep-2022) Lock 50
While the failure rate of new restaurants is historically quite high, there seems to be a troubling pattern emerging in the Canal District. Restaurant after restaurant is now failing in the same space within the Canal District. It doesn't seem to matter what type of restaurant it is. Is a location in the Canal District bad for restaurants? Does the parking situation there turn off potential customers? Is there an over saturation of restaurants in the Canal District or downtown Worcester area?
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Post by rf1 on Jan 28, 2024 12:03:40 GMT -5
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Post by rf1 on Jan 28, 2024 9:56:19 GMT -5
Somewhat different as the City of Providence is not counting on them to generate tax revenue for payment of bonds for the construction of a stadium. Furthermore, the restaurants cited in the article are not located in the same area with most not even in the city. Ohana BBQ is in Coventry, Becky's BBQ in Middletown, and The Revival Craft Kitchen in East Greenwich. These are all some 20-30 miles from Providence.
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Post by rf1 on Jan 27, 2024 18:29:14 GMT -5
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