Ford Field and the Frozen Four

First off, let me start by saying that I have seen the future... and his name is Stephen Curry. Curry did not disappoint to the tune of 33 points, pushing his tournament total to 103. To put that into perspective, the career mark for points in the Tourney is 427, set by Christian Laetnner... and Curry has managed to get a fourth of the way there in 3 games. Bottom line: The kid is nasty with the jump shot, was able to create his own shot more often than I've seen previously against Michael Flowers (who held Manny Harris to single digits this year), and received a well deserved standing ovation from the 60,000 on hand at Ford Field. When you've got LeBron James at your game, swaying in his chair with amazement, you know you have arrived.

Speaking of Ford Field, I felt this was a terrific venue to watch a tournament game and a great atmosphere for basketball. While the court was raised up and at midfield, somewhat far away from the action, I enjoyed the fact that the distance from the court gave people a chance to see plays develop. While most people might think the court is too far away from the stands, I really enjoyed it and think it will be an excellent site for the Final Four next year.

However, I DO NOT think this will be a good site for the Frozen Four in 2010. While the NCAA did a great job of promoting it at the game, there is no way they will come close to filling that stadium. I think the awesome sight lines Ford Field has to offer will be good for viewing the game, but c'mon: This arena was nowhere near capacity for a Sweet Sixteen/Elite 8 game. How does the NCAA expect to fill it for college hockey?! There are 6,000 fans at an average college hockey game. That's a little less than one-tenth the capacity of Ford Field. This might not sit well with some of the college hockey fans, but a niche sport like college hockey will not even come close to filling that arena and empty seats take away from a solid atmosphere. I predict that the event will be somewhat of a disappointment, and would've been better off at a smaller arena like Joe Louis, or even the Palace.