MafiaMan

I knew a Gopher voice of reason could be found in the wilderness somewhere...very valid point, sagard.

You're referring to a metropolitan area of almost 2.5 million people where the ONLY professional sports team in town on any given winter night plays to about 80% of arena capacity, right?

So explain the rationale used to 'promote' the women's game...by scheduling Mankato State.

Mariucci, you haven't answered this question yet...

No worries, CMSioux, this project was well worth it.

I would argue that Michigan's 'brand' is more recognizable than Ohio State...

You could have at least divulged to me that you were a Paypal shareholder while pimping the site to me as the best option for payment!

By next April, 38 degrees will mean no hat. But those first few days of September/October when the thermometer dips below 40 are an adjustment period for the chrome dome.

A) Because they knew Minnesota or Michigan would kick their a** on the frozen tundra, that's why.

Re-read the last two pages of this thread and find out...

I should be fine...so far only four payments had the fees deducted. 38 degrees when I left for work at 6:30am. Yep, September 17th and already have my hat broken in.

Fixed your post. Mariucci, have you purchased one of those snazzy Buckeye third jerseys yet?

Hey, I blame Coach Hakstol CMSioux...he told me it was free. I have used Paypal lots of times to buy stuff on Ebay but that was a direct payment from my checking account. I should have known some folks might be using credit cards instead. The 'goods and services' line is in the fine print somewhere...

Sioux-cia, your payment was exact and correct. By my tally, it looks like yababy8, Schmitzzz, Cratter, and LeftyZL are the only four left to pay. Vegas_Sioux and siouxgrad...check your PM's please. Thank you.

Roger that. I thought your little icon was crying...he was apparently laughing!

Of course it'll be a sell-out! It would sell-out if the Gophers were playing St Thomas Academy or Edina - that was never in doubt. If NoDak was on the docket, there would be viewing parties involving Sioux fans at bars all across the country. Instead, 1,500 viewers in Columbus will turn on BTN and say 'hey, what are the Buckeyes doing outside in this cold weather?'.

So what about this particular outdoor game will make this more appealing to the casual OSU hockey fan as opposed to the last two times the Buckeyes played outdoors?

We'll never know, but I would bet the farm that a BTN Miinnesota/North Dakota game would get better TV ratings nationally than Minnesota/Ohio State would. The Ohio State spring football game gathers more TV interest in Columbus than anything Buckeye 'Pride on Ice' can hope to ever attain.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...when did Maryland get a football team?

I think everyone is pretty sick of the Alabama/Notre Dame/Oregon/Georgia/FloridaMichigan/USC/LSU road trips...kudos to ESPN for going off the grid on next week's show.

Mariucci can't argue the 'big picture' atmosphere of the men's game while the women's team is busy playing regional Mankato State in the warm-up gig... Over/under on attendance for that barn-burner: 2,000

If the name of the game was national hockey exposure at the college level, wouldn't it make more sense for Ohio State to be playing Notre Dame instead of a regional team like Minnesota? After all, most folks have at least heard of Ohio State and Notre Dame when it comes to football. Those same folks are only vaguely aware of Minnesota still being in the Big 10 football conference.

C'mon, Mariucci, Michigan State and Penn State are as well known as Michigan and Ohio State... And, please, tell me more about 'national exposure' when this year's hockey schedule is already overloaded with outdoor games. It's like baseball played under the lights or college football special jersey games... EDIT: Michigan State and Penn State IS as well known as Michigan and Ohio State? REALLY? D'oh.

I heard this from someone 'in the know' a long time ago...supposedly after it was announced that ZP was heading to Grand Forks, Lou Nanne and and very ticked-off Glen Sonmoor immediately made a short drive to Faribault under the old 'family visit' schtick to try to talk ZP out of his decision. A day later, a certain coach whose name I won't divulge here (but it rhymes with Lean Phrase) called Don Lucia and told him to call off the dogs.