ricojes Posted April 18, 2017 Posted April 18, 2017 Good stuff... http://buffalonews.com/2017/04/18/buffalo-frozen-four/
Saxum Posted April 18, 2017 Posted April 18, 2017 Sulky will make this all Pegulas fault either blaming them on costs or saying they should have got it sooner/longer/bigger.
shrader Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 That might finally be a good time to head back for a visit. It's been a while.
Mark Vader Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 Has Buffalo ever hosted the Sweet 16/Elite 8 version of the NCAA Basketball Tournament?
row_33 Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 Has Buffalo ever hosted the Sweet 16/Elite 8 version of the NCAA Basketball Tournament? They often rotate with Auburns Hills to host the first weekend. Hockey sized stadiums aren't good enough for the next weekend. It's a crime to host hoops games in football domes, at least Cuse cuts off half the stadium and tells you distance seats in advance.
zow2 Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 The Pegulas can't get playoff results on the ice or field...but they sure have been successful at getting big time events down there. and developing the area.
ricojes Posted April 19, 2017 Author Posted April 19, 2017 Has Buffalo ever hosted the Sweet 16/Elite 8 version of the NCAA Basketball Tournament? They sell out for round 1, which is rare, so the NCAA doesn't feel the need to change that.
row_33 Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 They sell out for round 1, which is rare, so the NCAA doesn't feel the need to change that. NCAA wants larger venues than NBA/NHL 15-20,000 seat arenas for the later rounds. A total ripoff for fans unless they are paying top $$$ in the risers for later rounds, you can't see much in the domes. Buffalo and Auburn Hills (Detroit next year) have been great to watch for most every other year for quite awhile for the first weekend. Syracuse hosted the 16/8 a few years ago.
shrader Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 NCAA wants larger venues than NBA/NHL 15-20,000 seat arenas for the later rounds. A total ripoff for fans unless they are paying top $$$ in the risers for later rounds, you can't see much in the domes. Buffalo and Auburn Hills (Detroit next year) have been great to watch for most every other year for quite awhile for the first weekend. Syracuse hosted the 16/8 a few years ago. Has anyone reading this been to any of these games in those larger venues? I can't imagine how difficult it is to watch when you're too far away. I was at the Detroit Frozen Four in Ford Field and it was a complete disaster. The building was way to big for hockey. It was also way too empty, which, I assume doesn't wind up being a problem for the basketball games.
Mark Vader Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 They often rotate with Auburns Hills to host the first weekend. Hockey sized stadiums aren't good enough for the next weekend. It's a crime to host hoops games in football domes, at least Cuse cuts off half the stadium and tells you distance seats in advance. Here in San Jose, the SAP Center just had the Sweet 16/Elite 8, and that's a hockey sized stadium. Now if you're talking about the Final Four games, yes the NCAA wants the football stadiums. Which is ridiculous. They sell out for round 1, which is rare, so the NCAA doesn't feel the need to change that. You don't think they would sell out in Buffalo if they had the Sweet 16/Elite 8 games?
row_33 Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 (edited) To clarify, they like Buffalo and Auburn Hills (and the new Wings arena shortly) for the first weekend, and that's going to be that. They will go to other cities with an 18,000 arena (and MSG) but Buffalo won't be in that discussion. They also like domes, they love domes... I attended the Thursday/Friday of the Sweet 16 and Saturday of the Final 4 at Ford Field the 2 straight years, like the Super Bowl you are there for anything but getting a good view of the game, unless you pay around $2,000. Never again for that. and Syracuse is eligible and has hosted 16/8, don't know if they did the usual cut-off of half the dome or let it rip so that every seat beyond risers is long distance, after Ford Field I didn't want to know. Edited April 19, 2017 by row_33
ricojes Posted April 19, 2017 Author Posted April 19, 2017 You don't think they would sell out in Buffalo if they had the Sweet 16/Elite 8 games? Don't think you get my point...Sweet 16/Elite 8 games sell out just about wherever they are hosted. 1st and 2nd round generally do not, but in Buffalo they do sell out. Therefore the NCAA is happy with attendance for the 1st and 2nd round games being boosted in Buffalo.
row_33 Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 Buffalo is to be grateful for getting the first weekend every 2-3 years.
teef Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 don't you have to even go into a lottery to get first round tickets for basketball? i'm into the frozen 4 in the area as well. i went to a college that was big into hockey, and it was amazing how intense the games were. on top of that, it seems to be turning into a great feeder system into the pros, (or at least more than i was ever aware).
row_33 Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 don't you have to even go into a lottery to get first round tickets for basketball? i'm into the frozen 4 in the area as well. i went to a college that was big into hockey, and it was amazing how intense the games were. on top of that, it seems to be turning into a great feeder system into the pros, (or at least more than i was ever aware). Yup... public goes to the lottery But..... I've always purchased in the top 2 rows at Buffalo for a doubleheader on the Saturday/Sunday for at most $150 on Stubhub, which I'm fine with. The seats downstairs between the baselines are reserved for the 4 teams. The whole kit and caboodble of the teams that lose the Thurs/Fri haul butt out of Buffalo immediately, NOBODY sticks around for the next round. So you can pick up good cheap seats in person as they leave the arena or off Stubhub. A friend grabbed a seat for the Seattle final game for $5 from exiting losing fans, I think it was the UNC/Ewing Hoyas final. It's not so complicated if you want to get in... If you haven't gone, there are 3 doubleheaders, afternoon/night on the Thurs/Fri and whenever on the Sat/Sun. So you buy the tickets for the 3 packages separately or all 3 in a pass. Have only done the weekend games for Buffalo. Went to all 4 games in Pittsburgh a few years ago, that was too much in a day.
teef Posted April 19, 2017 Posted April 19, 2017 Yup... public goes to the lottery But..... I've always purchased in the top 2 rows at Buffalo for a doubleheader on the Saturday/Sunday for at most $150 on Stubhub, which I'm fine with. The seats downstairs between the baselines are reserved for the 4 teams. The whole kit and caboodble of the teams that lose the Thurs/Fri haul butt out of Buffalo immediately, NOBODY sticks around for the next round. So you can pick up good cheap seats in person as they leave the arena or off Stubhub. A friend grabbed a seat for the Seattle final game for $5 from exiting losing fans, I think it was the UNC/Ewing Hoyas final. It's not so complicated if you want to get in... If you haven't gone, there are 3 doubleheaders, afternoon/night on the Thurs/Fri and whenever on the Sat/Sun. So you buy the tickets for the 3 packages separately or all 3 in a pass. Have only done the weekend games for Buffalo. Went to all 4 games in Pittsburgh a few years ago, that was too much in a day. that's some good info. it would definitely be something fun to do as a change up.
PromoTheRobot Posted April 20, 2017 Posted April 20, 2017 (edited) Has Buffalo ever hosted the Sweet 16/Elite 8 version of the NCAA Basketball Tournament?Buffalo hosted the frozen four in '05 I think. The year Thomas Vanek led Minnesota to the title. I was there and let me tell you it was embarrassing how desolate it was outside the arena. People walking out after games wondering where they could just get a bite to eat. Next time it will so much better. Edited April 20, 2017 by PromoTheRobot
shrader Posted April 20, 2017 Posted April 20, 2017 Buffalo hosted the frozen four in '05 I think. The year Thomas Vanek led Minnesota to the title. I was there and let me tell you it was embarrassing how desolate it was outside the arena. People walking out after games wondering where they could just get a bite to eat. Next time it will so much better. 2003. I haven't gone to one of these since 2010, but what you described fit a bunch of them, especially when it's played in a non-college hockey hotbed. Those might actually be the best ones though for the people who really want to see the games. You've got fans practically giving the tickets away outside, those who got 4 seats in the lottery but only needed two. Even with all the improvements in Buffalo, it could very well happen again at this one. If you don't get the traveling fanbase in the game (North Dakota), attendance will be lacking.
row_33 Posted April 20, 2017 Posted April 20, 2017 that's some good info. it would definitely be something fun to do as a change up. I'm very happy to be an hour drive from Buffalo and 3 from Detroit to see the first weekend games best memory was the only Thu/Fri doubleheader I saw in Buffalo and Virginia Commonwealth took out Duke in OT, the crowd turned heavily on Duke as soon as they realized VCU was for real the problem is that if the big team loses the first game you have a huge amount of empty seats in the lower tier as the Kansas/Duke/Nova entourage is long gone. one year Butler (before it erupted) and Northwestern State (in Louisiana???) were the hi-lite of the Sat/Sun games in Auburn Hills I'd like to see Buffalo host the MAAC hoop tournies more than once a decade...
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