GLI moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan out
This has been rumored for a while now and it will open up two non-conference games.
Michigan Tech is hosting the 57th ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น in Grand Rapids on Dec. 27-28. #mtuhky #FollowTheHuskies
โ Michigan Tech Hockey (@mtuhky) June 8, 2022
Semifinal Matchups:@mtuhky vs. @WMUHockey @MSU_Hockey vs. @FerrisHockey
๐ https://t.co/r083rB6kgK pic.twitter.com/Mq0KP86J8x
The rants against Warde remain among the more absurd regular tropes on this site.
And this is a good example of why that is so: FOIA emails show that Mel didnโt want to play, for quite some time. Michigan is the big draw for the tournament-our absence is bad for it, and Tech knows it.
Michigan is out because Mel doesnโt think the tournament is worth it.
Your comment against Warde, who presides over an athletic department that has won so many conference titles that I have lost count this year, is nonsense.
I don't think the GLI has been the same since it couldn't be held at the Joe anymore. Pizza Pizza Arena has two pro teams to schedule, plus various entertainment events. The GLI has low priority. Also didn't FSD used to show all the games? Then they changed coverage where you might see U-M the 1st day, but not the 2nd?
It's not the GLI of old, it's not held in Detroit, so really, what's the point? If it's sad that U-M's not participating, it's because of nostalgia. I'm fine with not going to whatever the GLI is now.
It was getting stale for at least the last 10 years that it was at the Joe.
Update from MTU: @umichhockey didn't want to play a holiday tournament. Per a statement from MTU Athletic Director Suzanne Sanregret, the planners weren't changing the time. pic.twitter.com/VNnA7XOtdd
โ Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) June 8, 2022
I suspect the conversation was pretty brief
"We will continue to play in the GLI if it's moved from the Christmas-New Year window"
"No"
"Ok"
Within 5 years there will be no GLI. Playing in front of 5-6k people isn't going to get it done. If it ever turns out to be a final between any two of WMU-FSU-any other small school, you'll see attendance struggle to be 4,000 and that will be that. Sorry, Tech, but you haven't been relevant in 40 years.
Truthfully, the GLI has been dying for quite a while. Even during the last decade at the Joe, not much effort was put into hosting the tournament from Ilitch and Co. The same old routine, not much creativity, crowds on the decline.
Iโm good with this. Go Ferris!