Ice, not hardwood, is the place to be in Hanover

If you think having a men's hockey team in addition to men's basketball would get you a full dose of both sports, you might be surprised.

At Dartmouth, which has both, fans don't get to see the best of both worlds.

The Quakers will head up to Hanover, N.H., this weekend, and the seats will be empty for the second year in a row. Last season, a raucous, 3,000-plus crowd saw the hockey team beat Quinnipiac, while only 810 fans -many clad in red and blue - saw Ibrahim Jaaber drop 21 for the soon-to-be Ivy champs.

And just like last season, four of the Big Green's seven home Ivy hoops games were slated for the exact same start time as the hockey team across campus.

This is an issue for each of the six Ivy schools that have hockey teams in the ECAC conference (all but Penn and Columbia). Most league games are played on Friday and Saturday typically around 7:00 - the same as Ivy basketball tipoffs.

"Virtually, they're different crowds, most people are either a hockey fan or a basketball fan," Dartmouth Associate Athletic Director Brian Austin said. "7:00 is the most convenient time for either sport."

Because of the traveling partner system employed by the Ivies and ECAC, where two geographically close teams host or hit the road on the same weekend, there are limited slots for league home games.

"A basketball game or hockey game at 4 or 5:00 is probably not going to get a [large] crowd, and you're not going to play at 8 or 8:30 because they have traveling to do," Austin said.

And while 7:00 games may be the optimal time for each, it seems to hurt the attendance and following on the basketball court.

Dartmouth is at the bottom of the Ivy League in attendance per game - averaging 853 fans per Ivy home game. But the Big Green averaged only 553 against Cornell and Columbia earlier this season during a conflicting hockey game. On those days, 3,675 and 3,700 fans flooded the ice rink against Rensselaer and Union, respectively.

"Usually a lot of people go [to hockey games], sometimes people dress up in flair and bring signs to be supportive," Dartmouth sophomore Jacob Feintzeig said. "Every time I've been to a hockey game I've seen a lot of people I know."

He has never been to a basketball game, and knows few people who go. Students will have the option of seeing Colgate skate against the Big Green this weekend, so the hoops game likely won't be the prime attraction.

"There's going to be no one there," Penn guard Brian Grandieri said. "It's kind of like a high school game, so you just have to go out there, get the job done, get on the bus and go home."

While students lose out on the scheduling, it can't be easy for players. Members of the Dartmouth basketball team didn't return phone calls, but Grandieri can imagine how they feel.

"I give those guys a lot of credit," he said. "You've got no one watching you and you're putting in the same amount of hours as us - it can't be too fun."

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