DIGESTI-BILL??
With the finals a foregone conclusion, Boston's annual Beanpot hockey tournament needs some juice. As B.U. coach Jack Parker pointed out, fans are arriving late for game 1 and leaving early in game 2. The BU-BC game, whether it's the championship or a rare first Monday game, is ultimately the Championship game, rendering the other 3 games as anti-climactic. There is one sure-fire way to make this tournament relevant again, but it requires the "R" word...relegation! Can you imagine the jump in interest in the annual Northeastern-Harvard consolation snooze-fest if the two squads were playing for Beanpot survival? Let's explore.
There are two Division I teams close enough to the Hub to make a Monday game downtown a reasonable commute: Merrimack and Mass. Lowell. That's 6 teams, two outsiders play for a chance each year to make the Big 4. Earn the privilege, that's the American way, yes? No entitlements here. Loser of the consolation game--out, but gets to host the play-in game. Likely scenario is that Harvard finds itself on the outside looking in at Merrimack in 2013. How much would that affect the atmosphere of the first Monday of February? Probably a lot more energy in the Garden next year, and the competition would be intense, Five games worth, instead of 1 or 2.
Times are changing. Let's bring some competition into our competitions. Bill Cleary, your thoughts?
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