Around the Dial: Huntsville Rejected

Tuesday was not a stirring day for college hockey. With the news that Alabama-Huntsville's application for membership to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association had been rejected, fans were left wondering why, as well as wondering what will happen to the Huntsville program.

For sure, it's a controversial decision. It's one that is possibly made worse by the CCHA's incomprehensible decision to hide the vote count, thus denying fans and media a chance to find out (and question) the schools who came out against UAH.

(To be fair, CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos did cite facilities and transportation concerns. Of course, this is the same conference that willingly accepted Alaska-Fairbanks as a member to a league that (at the time) sported Nebraska-Omaha as its westernmost team. It's hard to imagine transportation could be a serious problem. And it's also difficult to vision Huntsville's near-7,000 seat rink as being hugely inferior to facilities at Bowling Green, Western Michigan, and Ferris State, among others.)

Anyway, let's go around the dial, searching for takes and thoughts on the CCHA's decision and UAH's future.

Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times

Trying to exist as an independent is like living off nuts and berries in the woods. It means a travel-heavy schedule and recruiting difficulties.

OK, maybe it didn't make sense that a Southern university would have an ice hockey team anyway. In a time of tight budgets in education, it doesn't seem to make fiscal sense, considering the travel and the equipment expenses.

But why does everything have to make sense?

Hockey has been something truly unique for UAH, and for our city. It's been another valuable entertainment alternative, a source of pride for the school, it's launched some players to the National Hockey League and an integral part of a vibrant hockey community.

Chris Dilks, Western College Hockey

I honestly can't understand why they would do that. The move effectively kills hockey at Huntsville and leaves the CCHA at an uneven 11 teams--unless the CCHA has a feeling they'll be losing another team soon. Even still, with college hockey struggling to expand, it seems awfully foolish to let an existing program just fade away. Hopefully there is more to this story and it has a better ending.

Danny Martin, Daily News-Miner (Fairbanks, Alaska)

(Alaska Fairbanks AD Forrest) Karr said a lot of criteria were discussed Tuesday about Alabama-Huntsville’s application. He and other council members visited Huntsville earlier this summer, particularly the UAH campus and the Chargers’ home arena.

“Some people had concerns about a lack of commitment, a firm agreement with the facility down there and low attendance in recent years,” Karr said by cell phone during a layover at Detroit Metro Airport. The council meeting took place in nearby Dearborn, Mich.

Alabama-Huntsville averaged 2,688 fans in 10 home games last season in the Von Braun Center, which seats 6,602 for hockey.

The other concerns, Karr said, included “the institution not being in a major recruiting market, the general economic climate across the country and the student-athlete welfare (of other CCHA schools) because of missed class time due to long bus trips.”

He also said, “I hope this is not a death sentence for them, and I hope this is not the end of their program. The last thing anyone wants to see is the loss of any Division I college hockey program.”

Budd McLaughlin, Huntsville Times

"We are certainly disappointed in the decision and feel like our program has a lot to offer to any league," said UAH director of athletics Jim Harris. "We are going to look at other options that are available to us and then move forward."

Harris said the decision will not affect the upcoming season, which is the team's 25th year as a varsity sport. It will also be the final year of College Hockey America, which UAH helped found in 1999. Three other remaining members of the CHA - Bemidji State, Niagara and Robert Morris - have all been admitted to other conferences.

"Many people have put a lot of work into trying to make this happen; from all of the Chargers past and present through to Dr. Williams and the leaders in the city of Huntsville," said head coach Danton Cole, who is in Slovakia as an assistant coach with the U.S. Under 18 Select Team. "I do not know what the future holds for the program, but we will be looking at our options and move forward in the best interest of the University."

The CCHA's stance just doesn't make sense. The 2,688 fans per game UAH averaged in ten dates equals more than four of the 12 teams currently in the CCHA. While schools like Bowling Green, Western Michigan, Lake Superior State, and Ferris State have the inherent advantage of being able to host the likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Notre Dame virtually every season, UAH drew more per game with home dates against Bemidji State (2), Niagara (4), and Robert Morris (4). The Chargers drew 2,795 for an exhibition game against Tennessee's club team.

But, yeah, they can't draw flies down there.

It's fantastic that Karr cited long bus trips. Yeah, because CCHA teams take the bus to Fairbanks. WCHA teams usually take at least two plane trips per season, and it doesn't seem to kill anyone. It's not like Huntsville is a seven-hour flight away. Instead, Huntsville's airport can be reached quite easily, with nonstop flights going there from both Detroit and Chicago daily.

Quite simply, the CCHA took the easy way out. For college hockey fans, it's a horrible disappointment.

CUP FINALS GAME SEVEN READING

Obviously, as excitement continues to build for Friday's deciding game of the Stanley Cup Finals, plenty is being written on the ol' internet to get ready for the big night.

Below, find a few things that are definitely worth checking out as the clock winds toward 8pm Eastern/7pm Central/6pm Mountain/5pm Pacific/4pm Alaska.

NHL FanHouse: Game Seven Video Collage
NHL FanHouse: Who Will Be Second To Lift Stanley?
NHL FanHouse: Pressure is on Everyone
Puck Daddy: Bylsma Gets Lucky Burrito To Go
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Nothing Left To Say
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Red Wings Business-Like
MLive.com: Rafalski Has Game 7 Experience
MLive.com: Hossa Stays Relaxed
ESPN.com: Crosby Looks For First-Ever Photo With Stanley
ESPN.com: Series Difficult To Predict
NHL.com: Game 7 Factoids

HOUSECLEANING

No, I'm not calling for Ned Yost's firing again.

(Though, after last night's latest round of stupidity, I should. Instead, I've just given up on it.)

I've tried to clean a few things up around the blog. You'll notice the links have been amped up a bit and sorted out. I tried to copy over the vast majority of the links I have in my reader. There are many, many, many worthwhile blogs out there, however, and I fully acknowledge that I've probably missed a few here.

Please leave a comment or e-mail me if you know of a site (or run a site) that you'd like to have included on the list.

I'll more than likely be around at some point this weekend, so I invite you to check back.

LINKS, LINKS, AND MORE LINKS

It is what it is.

UMD men's hockey preview. Can we get some defense, here? Kevin Pates knows it will be a key part of this year's Bulldog squad. It seems like a "Captain Obvious" thing to say, but it's the key storyline for a team that lost 42 percent of its scoring from last year.

UMD’s defensemen showed the most improvement last season in the lowest-scoring year in WCHA history. Leading the returnees are senior assistant captain Travis Gawryletz, along with juniors Josh Meyers and Jason Garrison, and sophomore Trent Palm.

The Bulldogs should be able to match most league teams along the blue line.

It's also worth noting that UMD started practice Saturday on campus, and I was told the goal is to be on DECC ice by Wednesday. The DECC floor was completely re-done over the summer, a deal that should improve the overall ice condition at the facility, and a rock concert Sunday night is the first major event at the DECC since the project's completion.

As for scoring, look for juniors Michael Gergen (pictured) and Macgregor Sharp to pick up some of the slack. I also wouldn't be shocked by a huge year from senior Mike Curry, who made major strides last year. I've heard really good things about freshmen Kyle Schmidt (Hermantown), Rob Bordson (Duluth Marshall), and Justin Fontaine (Bonnyville, AB).

First, defense (Duluth News-Tribune)

Torre in trouble. Only in New York could a manager be blamed for an aging, pitching-thin team failing in the playoffs. Then again, these morons have made a living out of blaming ARod for this mess. Speaking of morons blaming ARod, the Yankees haven't even been eliminated, and it's already started:

Rodriguez began this series with 4 hits in his previous 44 postseason at-bats. By the time he struck out in the ninth inning Friday night, he was 4 for his last 50. That computes to a batting average of .080 on your handy calculator. “Some of the people who kept him in check are future Hall of Famers,” Cashman said.

Which of these pitchers do you think will make the Hall of Fame when their careers are over:

Justin Verlander, Nate Robertson, Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman, Joel Zumaya, Jamie Walker, Bartolo Colón, John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Paul Byrd, Francisco Rodríguez, Scot Shields, Derek Lowe, Mike Timlin, Keith Foulke, Alan Embree, Tim Wakefield, Bronson Arroyo, Pedro Martínez or Curt Schilling?

After the first two games of this playoff series, we can add C. C. Sabathia, Jensen Lewis and Fausto Carmona to the list.

Of course, Chass fails to call out his boy, Derek Jeter, whose numbers for the series are even worse (.125 OBP compared to .250 for ARod).

It's shocking to me that a guy like Chass can survive as a baseball scribe for this long without having even a basic understanding of sample sizes.

As for Torre, while I hate to see him get blamed for this, it's probably natural. All we hear about is how big the Yankees' payroll is, so the team should be basically without weaknesses if they're spending that much money. However, the Yankees have been fatally flawed for many years. It's not all Torre's fault, but Steinbrenner can't fire the players, as much as he might want to sometimes.

Report: Yanks' Torre managing for his job in ALDS (ESPN.com)
New October, but Same Old A-Rod (New York Times)
Yankees Losing = All ARod's Fault (FanHouse)

Chip Caray sucks. So says Wikipedia. Ouch:

"Chip Caray has long been considered one of the worst sports broadcasters, both today and over baseball history. Many believe he is the least prepared play-by-play announcer in baseball. He often holds on to a topic he thinks he knows and will not let it go during a broadcast. Most believe he is the perfect example of "nepostism". Even during his non-Braves broadcast, Caray seems to become completely biased and is absolutely disrespectful to the team he decides not to "cheer on". He has a complete disregard for baseball history. Most feel he should do the sports industry a favor and quit."

(Awful Announcing)

Look out, Barry. Now that Marion Jones has finally given in, Bonds appears to be the next target.

Sources familiar with the investigation into perjury and tax evasion charges against the all-time home run leader told the Daily News that the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco remains determined to indict Bonds by the time the grand jury expires in January.

"Once they're finished with (Jones), then it's Bonds," an attorney familiar with the case said.

The feds don't believe Bonds. Except for two brief respites, Anderson has been in prison since July 2006 for refusing to testify against his longtime friend.

Feds: Barry Bonds is Next (FanHouse)