This whole brand "new" RoughRider plan isn't quite working out for me. I applaud the organization for making improvements to the arena, like repainting in team colors, installing large projection screens and plasma TVs for the suites, but why are you trying to completely reinvent a strong organization that has been operating since 1999.
First, long time announcer Brian Lavelle leaves the team for a position with the Quad City Mallards. This alone is unnerving for long time Rider fans who have come to associate his voice with Cedar Rapids hockey. I completely under stand his passion and talent for the on-air play by play would be difficult to replace, but a radio contest to find a new announcer? Really? I can see this being a train wreck from a mile away. Perhaps there is a raw talent in the Cedar Rapids Iowa who can keep up with the fast pace of a tier 1 junior game while knowing the ins and outs of hockey (and dare we say, sound pleasant) but I highly doubt it.
I imagine radio broadcasts now playing out like this:
"...and...#9 takes the puck down the ice into the offensive zone...and the whistle blows...uh...offside? Penalty? ...Only time will tell folks!"
Bad. Bad. Bad.
Maybe it's just the diehard hockey fan in me and that I like there to be a professional element when it comes to listening to the game, but sometimes there can be too much fan involvement. Another current example of this is the organizations attempts to use an internet poll to decide on a new goal song.
I'm well aware that a goal song isn't really that important in the big picture, but to a diehard fan who has been at the stable every season it will be. These fans have witnessed the brawls of past RoughRider enforcers Gerry Hickey and Steve Burgess, a 4 OT playoff game to clench the series, tremendous saves by goaltender Bobby Goepfert and a Clark Cup. These fans want hard hitting, action packed hockey. They want a rowdy arena. They want to see someone get creamed along the boards. Most of all, they want to keep the tradition of RoughRiders hockey alive and strong. I feel like the "unique" goal song is just a part of the program.
Diehard fans look forward to hearing the horn blow and the goal song begin to play so they can scream along with it. Taking it away may please some of the more "refined" fans who come to maybe, just maybe 2-3 games per season who happen to be offended by the line "we're gonna beat the puck out of you!"
Frankly, it's a hockey game. Hockey games aren't meant to be spent sitting complaining about how cold your ass is on the bleachers or texting on a cell phone. Games are supposed to capture your mind and heart, get your adrenaline pumping and allow you to scream your head off for those three periods of bliss. True hockey fans understand this, and removing such a part of the tradition will push away the long time RoughRiders season ticket holders that want to see real hockey in an exciting environment. "Family Friendly arena" is total bullshit. I'm not saying let there be complete chaos or that some drunken fan screaming every profanity in the book at the ref should be allowed, but if they continue taming down every aspect of the game experience will lead to the ruin of hockey in Cedar Rapids. Games will be dull. The Stable will be deathly quiet, and people will stop showing up.
I want to see the hockey program in Cedar Rapids grow and succeed. Perhaps I'm just another longtime RoughRider fan looking for something to bitch about, but I know a majority of us (meaning the slightly-insane people who show up at 2:30 pm in the afternoon to tailgate for a 7:05 pm game) will be disappointed if every aspect of the experience is altered. Tradition is very important. It's comforting, and some things are expected at each game (good and bad...three words: Chuck-a-puck. (Any season ticket holder knows what I'm talking about) ugh.). My advice: make improvements to the arena to increase team spirit, stop trying to reinvent the wheel (aka if it's not broken, don't fix it), and pump up the volume.
I'm glad to see that the Roughriders are trying to revive some preseason hockey in Eastern Iowa now that the Des Moines Buccaneers' "Buc Bowl" has died out. Four teams will be playing in the "Battle of Iowa" (Cedar Rapids and their arch-rival Waterloo) as well as Sioux City and Des Moines on September 19 & 20 at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. I doubt that the western division games will draw much of a crowd, but the Roughrider/Blackhawk match up should definitely bring in the die hard fans that have been waiting all summer for some solid hockey as well as some newcomers who want to see an exciting game.
