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Bears in first ever Big Sky tourny
- Thread starter WILDCAT
- Start date
Phineas J. Whoopee
Active member
Yeah unfortunatly UNC is now sort of like Wormser from Revenge of the Nerds but he did turn out OK.
bearsradio
Active member
Back to the tournament issue: there's a big difference between what travel costs during the year vs. the tournament because the teams get the regular season travel plans done months ahead of time. Because of the way the tournament lays out, teams cannot make their airline reservations until within a 7-day window, which hikes the prices through the roof. One way prices are just obscene.
I just ran a search on Southwest Airlines' website as an example: if UNC was flying from Denver to SLC on Feb. 17th, one ticket is $119 and the return would be $119. Multiply by apx. 20 for coaches, support staff, etc., and that's nearly $5,000. Flying to somewhere like Missoula or Bozeman will cost much more. Plus, then you have hotel reservations and local transportation (bus, rental cars) to deal with.
That's the #1 reason why a central location should be used--the setup is causing already stressed finances for athletic departments to go even higher. At some point the Conference needs to determine which is more important--trying to get its regular season champ into the NCAA or keeping its athletic departments from serious financial stress.
As for fans traveling, I think they'd be more apt to travel to places when they know where the tournament is going to be held. Holding at the champion's site doesn't necessarily mean a great crowd. Witness last year's three games in Portland.
Arena-wise, the main reason I listed the group I did was to keep the big places out of the running. No Pepsi Center, no (former) Delta Center. Portland and Sacramento, though, are limited in smaller arena locations.
Finally, from a media standpoint, an assured spot would allow for better coverage, because media members would know earlier the location, making it more economically feasible to cover. I'm curious to see in future years whether ESPN continues to cover the title game if advertising doesn't turn around. It strikes me as an easily dropped production for many of the reasons I raised related to costs. They've already announced a hiring freeze at the WWL.
I'm not saying anything I'm suggesting is a perfect answer; I'm just afraid that the economics of the situation are more painful than they would be if the tournament moves to a rotating site instead of hinging on the regular season.
I just ran a search on Southwest Airlines' website as an example: if UNC was flying from Denver to SLC on Feb. 17th, one ticket is $119 and the return would be $119. Multiply by apx. 20 for coaches, support staff, etc., and that's nearly $5,000. Flying to somewhere like Missoula or Bozeman will cost much more. Plus, then you have hotel reservations and local transportation (bus, rental cars) to deal with.
That's the #1 reason why a central location should be used--the setup is causing already stressed finances for athletic departments to go even higher. At some point the Conference needs to determine which is more important--trying to get its regular season champ into the NCAA or keeping its athletic departments from serious financial stress.
As for fans traveling, I think they'd be more apt to travel to places when they know where the tournament is going to be held. Holding at the champion's site doesn't necessarily mean a great crowd. Witness last year's three games in Portland.
Arena-wise, the main reason I listed the group I did was to keep the big places out of the running. No Pepsi Center, no (former) Delta Center. Portland and Sacramento, though, are limited in smaller arena locations.
Finally, from a media standpoint, an assured spot would allow for better coverage, because media members would know earlier the location, making it more economically feasible to cover. I'm curious to see in future years whether ESPN continues to cover the title game if advertising doesn't turn around. It strikes me as an easily dropped production for many of the reasons I raised related to costs. They've already announced a hiring freeze at the WWL.
I'm not saying anything I'm suggesting is a perfect answer; I'm just afraid that the economics of the situation are more painful than they would be if the tournament moves to a rotating site instead of hinging on the regular season.
I agree with Troy. I like the idea of creating a traditional tourny location as it always gives you a target. Kind of like for football the goal is to make it to Chattanooga. It would be nice if a central place like Boise or Salt Lake became an annual tradition.
It kind of reminds me of the English Soccer FA Cup, the finals are always at Wembley stadium in London and that is the goal - they even sing Que Serra, Serra, what ever will be will be, we're going to Wembely, Que Serra, Serra:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5VyEi4nx5w
It kind of reminds me of the English Soccer FA Cup, the finals are always at Wembley stadium in London and that is the goal - they even sing Que Serra, Serra, what ever will be will be, we're going to Wembely, Que Serra, Serra:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5VyEi4nx5w
