by Dryden29 » Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:40 am
As we all reply to this post, one thing seems to keep on slipping through the cracks. Yes, the Ralph is the nicest rink and everyone wants to play there. But as ND Football guy said, only 10 of 22 boys and girls games are scheduled there in the first place. The tourney is basically at the Purpur Arena, which I feel isn't half as nice as the facilities in Bismarck and Minot. Guess what, no one wants to play at the Purpur Arena. Yes, people drive to Grand Forks to watch the games at the RALPH, not Purpur.
So if the tourney is going to be in Grand Forks at the Ralph, make sure it is at the Ralph, not subbed out to a "Junior B" rink as someone has called the Bismarck Arena. You talk about tournament atmosphere, it has been stripped away from the state tourney and now bounces between two buildings. In the "glory days" of the tourney, a fan could arrive in the morning and sit there all day and watch all the games, if they were a fan of the game and just wanted to watch the tourney. Now they are bouncing back and forth around town trying to catch all the games with their season pass.
And by the way, some fans of the high school tournament do not care about the Sioux. That is not a "bonus" for all the fans. Not everyone bleeds green.