Breaking news on BBC just now that Led Zepplin's much anticipated reunion concert to have been held this Nov at London's O2 (Millenium Dome) has been cancelled.

It seems an American rodeo has booked the venue for that night and Dome owners think that the rodeo will bring in more pounds than some washed up over-the-hill heavy metal rockers.

Londoners seemed unphased by the change - one, David West, even said that he'd pay more to see the rodeo than some old farts playing tunes they've forgot.

Zep or Rodeo - I'll still get in for nowt.

We had ice hockey last week the LA Ducks v some other bunch. It was a proper league match. It got quite good attendences - but not an Englishman in sight.

the.boy:

If no limeys there who was there - all Americans i guess - what's the capacity of the Dome?

I really love Zeppelin as you do and Stairway to Heaven is one of my alltime favorites.

Mainly East europeans - ice hockey is very popular there, and there's no shortage of jam rolls in London.

Was farce there, and is his claim true?

In the middle of the jungle last week I watched - because BBC World, natch, is the only TV available in most jungles - a gullible Beeb sports journo parrot the NFL's propaganda about "35,000 Londoners anxious to watch ice hockey", as if an average Division 2 crowd were some kind of achievement. And allow, without any attempt at proper interviewing, an NFL spokesman to churn out the usual business-school balderdash these people use as a substitute for words.

I suspected most of those 35,000 were oddballs. It'd be interesting if farce's observation were actually true.

Well he must have been there to say "Not an Englishman in sight"

Of course Eastern Europeans would come to see the many Eastern Europeans that now pepper NHL teams - and Ruskies too, i forgot about that draw.

Um - not one Bloody Englishman there? I guess i would question that 'observation' as well.

Regarding the NHL (not NFL) hockey games played last weekend in London - the CBC interviewed genuine Englishmen in attendance at those games - and they showed pictures of a lot of the crowd wearing hockey shirts from British teams - the Belfast Giants is one I remember.

And I'm sure Canadians living in the UK bought tickets, too.

Was farce there, and is his claim true?>>>

No I wasn't but my minions were. There may have been a few brits, but the largest part of the crowd (as reported to me) were either yanks/canadian expats or young east europeans who like ice hockey.

It wasn't that expensive I think - about £25 which is cheaper than QPR for instance. Hence the jam rolls (who don't like spending cash)

Farce is too busy to respond:

The mighty spurs are playing the bubbles in Cyprus today at 3.45 BST. I will be stuck in the office, but I will be following it online.

Go SPURS!

It's half time old boy. 0-0 at the moment (ie 6-1 on aggregate)

Ah, so there is a market for big (well, not really big, but middling) ice hockey games in London - but only because the place is stuffed with people from countries that take the game seriously.

So the interesting question isn't whether London is a good launchpad for a European NHL offshoot - the argument the NHL (sorry, SallyCanuck) mouth was making. It's why North America's ice hockey teams don't regularly interact with Eastern (and Northern) Europe's in the way that European football, rugby and cricket teams perpetually take on their peers in Asia and the Americas.

So if the Americans dropped all the "we'll get you to behave like us" claptrap the NHL guy was spouting and just send teams across to Sweden or wherever the way Aussies send rugby or cricket teams here, there might actually be a world ice hockey sport?

Ice hockey's very popular in those cold boring countries. London is full of people from those places so they could sell good amounts of tickets for two nights at the dome.

But would those people come week after week?

why would they come week after week?

because hockey is soccer on ice

BORING

If they're claiming an attendence of 35,000 that's an everage of 17,500 a night. They gace away a fair few tickets so assume that there were 15,000 paying punters at an average of £20 a ticket (kids seats were less) that gives a nightly take of £300,000.

Taking into account all the associated costs of setting the dome up as a skating rink and promotion costs I can't see how this makes money.

It looks like a promotional loss leader.

I thought the original post was more talking about the fact that the much anticipated Led Zep. concert had been cancelled. I'm actually sorry to hear that - might be because I'm old and love(d) their music. <sigh>

beelady:

I think you'll find the original post was a windup, designed to provoke a "rodeo will never catch on in Europe" reaction from all us European fuddie-duddies.

The musical quality (and future plans) of the group concerned were quite tangential to the poster's intentions.

the Zep gig is going ahead. Bob was just trying to get a rise out of me as I am going to the concert. *squeak*

Thank you, flanneruk, for pointing that out to me. <laughing> I totally missed the mark, probably because I have such a soft spot in my heart for the group and I really don't care for rodeos therefore, ignored that part altogether. Sorry, back to lurking.

<still laughing>

beelady - i had not intention of fooling you - i thought this thread would sink quicker than the Spurs do every year.

sorry and yes Zep is on and i'm jealous that i'm not going.

There have been times in my life when the obvious just wasn't that obvious to me (I hate admitting this) and it was quite easy to get something by me once in a while. So, while your intentions were to provoke a reaction from "European fuddie-duddies" you, instead, snagged a ding-dong American.