32nd Syracuse Crunch Season Nears With Upgrades and Ice Delays
After recent lighting upgrades, Upstate Medical University Arena continues to improve other areas of the facility. (Credit: Nico Horning)
The 32nd season of Syracuse Crunch hockey opens next week. The AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, now under head coach and general manager Joel Bouchard, hits game ice Oct. 18 after last year’s North Division Semifinals exit to the Rochester Americans.
New Season
“We’re really excited about the start of the season,” said Megan Cahill, the Crunch Vice President of Communications & Digital Media. “This is our favorite time of year. It’s what we look forward to all summer.”
Despite unseasonably warm temperatures in Central New York for the month of October, the cold ice is in the process of coming together inside Upstate Medical University Arena in downtown Syracuse.
Ice Delays
Ice installation has been delayed because of recent events that have taken place inside the Onondaga County-owned War Memorial. Adam Sandler: You’re My Best Friend, for example, took place on Sept. 17, and delayed the start of the ice building inside the arena.
“It’s a little kink when we’re trying to work around other shows and other events and getting the ice built and getting all of our sponsors in ice and all of that,” said Cahill. “So it’s nice that we have Tennity and SU in that partnership so that we’re able to come here and skate and get training camp underway.”
Tennity Ice Pavilion hosted Crunch training camp two years ago, too. (Credit: Nico Horning)
The road bump forced the Crunch to begin their training camp at Tennity Ice Pavilion, the home of Syracuse University’s women’s ice hockey team, along with its club men’s and women’s teams. During the last week of September, the team bused between the SU campus and its gym and workout facilities at Upstate Medical University Arena.
Syracuse played its pair of preseason games on the road in Binghamton and Utica. The Crunch open the season on the road in Hershey, PA against the Bears.
The extra time should be enough for the Crunch to complete the ice installation before the nearly 6,000 hockey fans fill the arena for opening night.
Home Arena Upgrades
Speaking of ushering in fans for a new year, Upstate Medical University Arena has made upgrades ahead of this AHL season.
Padded lower bowl seats with cupholders
Improved accessibility
New seating locations on the stage
New speakers in arena, concourses, and arena entrances
“We have two really exciting upgrades this summer,” said Cahill. “One being the seating project. All of the lower bowl seating is all brand new this year. So we have cupholders, everyone has a little bit more of a comfortable seat, we kind of shifted where the seats were so we think people are really going to enjoy that.”
An audible upgrade will be the sound system from when you approach the venue outside to what fans will hear above the ice.
“We put a brand new sound system in that’s in-arena, through the hallways, that’s even outside the arena,” said Cahill. “So wherever you are during an event, you’re going to hear what’s going on.”
The Syracuse Crunch host the Rochester Americans in their home opener on Saturday, Oct.18 at 7 p.m.
Cooperstown Is The CNY Baseball Connection
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1936 in Cooperstown, New York. It’s operated by a private foundation and collects baseball-related artifacts and displays exhibits.
Although Central New York and anywhere north of New York City within state limits doesn’t have a baseball team, Major League Baseball still plays a large role in the popularity of America’s pastime because of a certain town: Cooperstown, New York.
A town that sits on Otsego Lake, built by baseball history and character, proudly represents the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. It also holds the Hall of Fame Ceremony every summer where the new inductees get recognized and become enshrined in the Plaque Gallery.
The cool thing is how the Hall of Fame aspect of Cooperstown makes up everything else that’s presented in the town.
There are plenty of restaurants, trading card shops, memorabilia shops, and all things baseball that you can imagine. It is literally a baseball town.
When I visited for the first and only time thus far with my father before we moved into my new room ahead of my sophomore year at Syracuse University, I was shocked at how the entire theme of the town was built around baseball. I didn’t exactly know what to expect the first time I showed up, but I had the Hall of Fame museum integrated into this extremely small town in the middle of nowhere for some odd reason and some ball fields for kids to play at from all over the country.
In no imagination, did I believe that every square inch of Cooperstown had something to do with baseball and that it was far more than just the Hall of Fame Museum.
Speaking of the ballfields for kids, that’s how I first learned about Cooperstown. I knew it held the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but I had plenty of friends that played several games in that town during a summer when we were in late elementary school or early middle school. I didn’t end up going on the trip with my team, but what a cool aspect for the youngsters to learn more about how their game originated.
I particularly enjoyed eating lunch at a restaurant (I forget the name of it) that was filled with signed baseball bats and memorabilia all over the place, along with walking into different baseball card shops, including Topps. I have collected, and still do, baseball cards since I was a kid and so for me to see these expansive shops was fun. I walked away with a Topps shirt, a couple boxes of baseball cards, and a Baseballism (one of my new favorite baseball brands) shirt.
Cooperstown is a must-see for any baseball fan. I look forward to my next visit.
2025 MLB Wild Card Stadium Preview
Dodger Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, opened in 1962.
Progressive Field
One of seven ballparks I have not personally attended. However, a capacity of over 34,000 make up Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the Guardians. From what I’ve seen on television, it looks like an extremely solid ballpark and easy-going venue to watch a baseball game.
The Guardians are hosting the Detroit Tigers. Speaking of Comerica Park (home of the Tigers), that’s another ballpark I have not been to. I expect this to be a tightly contested series in Cleveland. However, if Tarik Skubal does what he’s been doing all year long, Detroit will be an extremely tough out. But, we all know that the Cleveland bats can get going at any time.
Wrigley Field
One of the oldest ballparks in the United States is one of my favorite stadiums that I’ve attended. Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, opened in 1914. Two years behind the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park which opened in 1912.
This is an amazing ballpark, not only because of the history that makes it up, but because of the upgrades that have kept this ballpark relevant in today’s day and age. It is truly built in a neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago. The Wrigleyville neighborhood is built with restaurants, bars, shops, and homes and then a beautifully located 41,000 seat ballpark.
Yankee Stadium
The new Yankee Stadium is not as good as the old. Although I never got to experience the old stadium, I think the general Yankee fan would agree.
It’s a modern ballpark with all the necessities, but it feels extremely corporate and caters to the upper class baseball fans. But with that being said, the ballpark is very nice and it’s a great spot to watch a ballgame, especially with the ease of the subway from Manhattan.
Dodger Stadium
Good ole Southern California. One of those ballparks that gives you that nice, warm, and sunny feeling every time you walk in. No worries about the weather. Situated above downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium is one-of-a-kind and holds the most fans of any MLB stadium. 56,000 seats are around 10,000 more than the second place spot of Coors Field, the home of the Colorado Rockies.
What makes up Dodger Stadium is the atmosphere. And that’s coming from a San Francisco Giants fan, which Oracle Park also holds its own incredible and laid-back vibe. Whether it’s the organist at Dodger Stadium piping in between pitches, or the loud and energized Dodger fans, it’s a hard place to beat.
The organist by the way is incredible. The way he can mix in songs into a “Let’s go Dodgers” chant all within the few seconds you get now with the pitch clock is unbelievable. Dodger Stadium is a tough place to play in for any opposing team, so good luck to the Cincinnati Reds.
Social Media Affects Journalism
It all begins with an idea.
What are the positives and negatives of an age that allows nearly anyone to create and publish content?
The positives is that it’s easier than ever to get noticed and have something go viral to make a name for yourself, especially if you’re looking for a job or want to create your own brand. Anyone can be a journalist or a content creator just by clicking a few times on your phone or computer. The downside to this is that there’s a multitude of false information out there in the world that people rely on too much to make their own opinion on different topics or ideas. One example of this could be politics or news. If the mainstream media has the same facts about something, but one extremist twitter account has a post that is false but has thousands and thousands of followers, then people will still skew towards that. There needs to be a new system of limiting the media sites available to us. There’s definitely a lot more competition than there used to be for both news and publishing content.
What is meant by an “active” audience? How have news consumers’ habits changed?
An “active” audience is those that view content and engage with it or respond or comment on certain posts. This is all about engagement. News consumers’ habits have changed by mostly watching short videos or reading a quick article from a push notification on a phone rather than sitting down and watching a full newscast. Most people want snappy, correct info and get on with their day. Attention spans have shortened.
Describe the relationship between journalists and the audience today.
There is now a two-way relationship or conversation between journalists and the audience. There used to be just a one-way conversation when all people did was read the newspaper or watch TV news, because they couldn’t directly respond to what the journalists were saying. Although my grandpa actually used to email his favorite sports writer in the SF Chronicle quite a bit. Nowadays, the audience can engage with what journalists are publishing and they can choose to have a conversation if they’d like.
What are the skills journalists need in our mobile and social media world?
Journalists need to be quick and witty, but not forgetting that the truth must come first before publishing. Don’t just be first to be first. Always be accurate. Also, journalists need to be able to snap videos with their phones and know how to create content for audiences on different platforms and adjusting accordingly.
This chapter highlighted how mobile devices and social media are impacting journalists’ work in three ways: newsgathering, distribution of news, and audience engagement. For each category, find your own examples and discuss them as a class.
Newsgathering is done on mobile platforms with phones and social media. The distribution of news is often found a lot now on social media along with online articles on news websites. Many of those websites are now requiring that people pay to read the articles and pay for a subscription, just like they would if they were to receive a newspaper at their house. The audience is once again engaging with this content on social media.
The Connection of Sports + Travel
It all begins with an idea.
Where It All Started:
Some things just correlate better than others in life. For me, that would be sports and travel. Since I was a younger kid in grade school that grew up playing baseball as my main sport, my father and I have put a goal towards visiting every Major League Baseball stadium together and checking them off. I sit at 22 ballparks out of the active 30. And 23 if you want to count the old Texas Rangers ballpark, but we’ll keep it active. Yes, I’ve been to both the Oakland Coliseum and Sutter Health Park for the Athletics since I’m from the Sacramento region.
More Than A Game:
This goal or bucket list has led me to many different travel experiences, sights, sounds, and meeting new people. It’s something that I can take into other aspects of my life everyday that I learned just by jumping on an airplane and going somewhere. It’s also taught me how to get out of my comfort zone and be comfortable with being in an uncomfortable area, and make me really appreciate where I’ve grown up and the environment I’ve been fortunate enough to be raised in.
Beyond Baseball:
My most recent example of this doesn’t even have anything to do with baseball. I worked with NBC Sports this past summer at three different golf tournaments. The first one was the U.S. Open in Oakmont, PA. I flew out by myself and showed up to meet and work with people I had never met before. I learned a lot about myself for the nine days that I was there about how to treat different people and be okay with everyone having different interests or how they want to go about their daily tasks. Plus, we had to work long hours so that’s a whole other story. One of the days was 3am-10pm. Brutal. But for a college student, it was nice making some cash.
Breaking Stereotypes:
Where I was getting at was my third trip to Memphis, Tennessee. The bad rap that Memphis gets is unbelievable. And I definitely saw some rough parts of the area, but all things considered it had some of the most friendly people I’d ever met whether I was eating at a restaurant or simply walking around.
Hometown Reputation:
I’m used to people calling where I’m from not the best place in the country. Both Oakland and San Francisco are about two hours from me, and I can’t begin to tell you the amount of times they get a bad rap. Oakland more so than San Francisco, but still. I have family that lives in the city by the bay, and I spend multiple nights there every few months, and it is not as bad as people make it out to be, especially the media. Sure, there are rough areas, but you’re not going to visit those areas. In fact the nice areas are extremely nice.
What’s Next:
In future posts, I’ll break down various trips that my dad and I have gone on together— we’ll usually combine a few ballparks into one trip in a certain region.