From: patrick@is.rice.edu (Patrick L Humphrey)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey
Subject: Re: ESPN Followup
Summary: So drop the puck, already!
Date: 6 Sep 92 19:33:14 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Rice University

In article <4SEP199214385480@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov> bimson@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (GREG) writes:
>Some info edited to cut length:
>
>[details of ESPN and NHL contract deleted]
>> 
>>[part of the exchange between Greg and Lou deleted]
>> 
>[good info on the Indy Racers deleted]
>
>[my misinformation on the demise of the Houston Aeros deleted]
>> 
>>That's not quite what happened to the Aeros.  The original franchise was 
>>granted to Paul Deneau, and destined for Dayton -- but arena problems (as
>>in lack of) made him move the franchise to Houston in April 1972 before
>>the team had so much as signed a player.  Deneau sold his holdings to 
>>George Bolin at the end of the regular season in 1973-74, and Bolin held
>>the team until their second season at The Summit (1976-77) -- at 
>>which time, it was sold to a group headed by Kenneth Schnitzer.  Unfortunately,
>>Bolin managed to drive the Howes out of Houston and to New England, so the
>>fallout from that caught up with Schnitzer -- and when the NHL's tease of a
>>merger fell through after the 1977-78 season, he sold the players' contracts
>>en masse to Winnipeg, and the Aeros were history.  Had he held out one more
>>year, it's my opinion the Aeros would still be with us today in the NHL...
>> 
>>-- 
>>Patrick L. Humphrey (patrick@is.rice.edu) Rice Networking & Computing Systems
>>     +1 713 528-3626 at Rice. 776-1541 at home. 667-6554 at Palace Lanes. 
>> 
>>                    I've fallen -- and I can't reach my beer!
>
>Thank you for clearing this up for me.  It is nice to see someone 
>agree with my opinion.
>
>I reread an article on the Birmingham Bulls that was in SI years ago, 
>and checked some old box scores for attendance of Bulls games, and 
>found that they were over 10,000 in attendance most games.  Reading 
>further, the article said how John Bassett had turned Birmingham into 
>a hockey city.  Too bad he didn't fight to keep his team into the 
>NHL.

It's a shame he didn't, but he may have had other problems at the time -- he
died of cancer a few years after that.  I know I was impressed with the
support that the Bulls got in their three years in Birmingham -- crowds of
10,000-plus are even more impressive when you consider that not only had
Birmingham never been exposed to pro hockey, but the area's population in
the late '70s was less than 500,000.  

>On another note, how is it that Louis can say that the South couldn't 
>do anything for hockey?  Let's see, the NBA had 22 teams in it in 
>1980, and they were all faltering because the pro game just wasn't 
>interesting.  Teams that were in the south include Houston, San 
>Antonio, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Kansas City.  With expansion, the 
>NBA put teams in Dallas, and more recent, Orlando, Miami, and 
>Charlotte.  It isn't that the South is all for racing, but their 
>population grows, and the NBA had a good enough game to expand there.  
>Granted, not many (if any) players come from the South, as opposed to 
>basketball, but I think the NHL could be a very viable product in 
>Southern cities, but there needs to be coverage to do so.

Agreed, though putting Kansas City in the South is stretching it more than a
little bit.  I think the NHL moguls are aware of the potential down here --
they'll have the Tampa Bay Lightning this season, and regular-season games
are being played in Miami, Dallas, and Oklahoma City (?!? :).  Now, if
they'd just have just paid some attention and scheduled one in Houston -- at
least we've respectably supported major-league hockey before, unlike a
certain little cluster of mud huts north of us on the Trinity...:-)

>I guess Louis wants to keep his game, and not let anyone see it.

Not necessarily -- he doesn't think we'll support the game down here, and
he's arguing from one set of observations, but I'm arguing from another, and
I think we will.  Of course, what Lou or I think isn't going to mean much,
when you get down to it -- the decision will be made by the NHL's governors.
That means we have to do our bit to convince *them*.  (I'd appreciate it if
I'd get the chance to do that, but the NHL couldn't see fit to schedule even
an exhibition game in Houston this season...:-(


-- 
Patrick L. Humphrey  (patrick@is.rice.edu)  Rice Networking & Computing Systems
     +1 713 528-3626 at Rice. 776-1541 at home. 667-6554 at Palace Lanes. 
                           I love my country.
                     I *don't* trust my government.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey