Hockey Team Discovers a Lavish 'Pleasure Dome' Out in Colorado

As the varsity hockey team drew up to the door of the Broadmoor Hotel last Wednesday, a group of bogus Indians in headdresses and war paint burst out of the hotel and started to yell and beat their tom toms in greeting to the Crimson's bus. The queen of the tournament with some of her royal court of Colorado College girls followed the Indians and began passing out cowboy hats and candy to the new arrivals. Thus, with the customary hoop and holler, another hockey team was suitably welcomed to the official NCAA hockey tournament.

The Harvard, Michigan, and Clarkson sextets have all been flown to Colorado at the Broadmoor's expense, and they all are perfectly free to avail themselves of any and all of the recreational facilities that this resort offers.

This system has operated for ten years now and has worked out to the mutual satisfaction of both the NCAA and the Broadmoor. The former is happy to have someone finance the tournament in such grand style, and the latter cheerfully picks up the tab in return for all the publicity that this tournament offers.

The question that comes to mind, however, is how can the NCAA allow one of its tournaments to be supported in such a thoroughly professional manner? The answer is simple. The NCAA could not possibly support this tournament in such grandiose fashion. Its officials welcome the guarantee that the event will be held each year in the same place at no charge to them, and they thoroughly appreciate the fact that each team enjoys itself so much at the Broadmoor that it is an added incentive for each team to make the playoffs.

Interesting Back-Scratching

As for the amateur-professional side of the argument, the NCAA can point out that no player actually gets paid for his stay at the Broadmoor, and that consequently the tournament cannot be said to have been professionalized. It is somewhat interesting, however, in these days of Wes Santees and Supreme Court decisions, to see the NCAA scratching backs with professionalism.

It is doubtful if a more pleasant site could have been found for such a tournament. The Broadmoor is not really a resort; it is a pleasure city, and one that is completely self-sufficient. Not very many resorts can offer their guests a hockey rink, a zoo, a polo field, a 27 hole golf course, a bar ensconced in a greenhouse, along with all the other obvious facilities. And above all this towers Pike's Peak, and the Rockies with their magnificent scenery.

The Broadmoor is extraordinarily sports-minded. Besides the NCAA Hockey Tournament, it sponsored the World's Figure Skating Championships this year, and although their losses ran into the thousands of dollars, the sponsors were only too happy to pick up the tab, especially since a CC (Colorado College) boy, David Jenkins, won the crown.

Other events sponsored by the Broadmoor include the Broadmoor invitation men's and women's golf and tennis tournaments, the Pike's Peak or bust rodeo, and the Broadmoor ice revue.

The Extravagant Penrose

The founder of the Broadmoor, Spec Penrose, typifies the somewhat extravagant manner that the resort exudes. Penrose came west from Philadelphia in 1891 and parlayed $150 dollars into a fortune through his participation in the Cripple Creek gold boom. Penrose then practically took over the city of Colorado Springs. In 1918, however, when the management of the Antlers Hotel asked him not to shoot off his gun in their bar, Spec angrily stalked out and started building his own hotel, where he could "shoot his gun off any time he pleased." The result was the Broadmoor.

In many ways, the Broadmoor is the country club, the social and athletic center, and the chief attraction of Colorado Springs. Oil and cattle men from all over the west eventually come to stay at the hotel and mingle with the "society" of the Springs.

The teams at this tournament are not really staying at Colorado Springs. They are staying at the Broadmoor. Very few of the players have travelled the three miles from the hotel to the Springs, but if any of them should feel such a whim, there are cadillac limousines waiting just outside the door to take them wherever they wish.

Few of the players, however, wish to go into town, for the town usually comes out to them. One of this tournament's chief attractions is that half of CC's enrollment is female. This half usually ends up out at the Broadmoor during the weekend. The Queen of the Tournament (this year Pauline Beck) has the responsibility of picking 50 other girls from CC to serve as her court. This group then has the responsibility of entertaining the visiting teams at a reception given for them, and in general of making themselves available for the visiting players' entertainment.

"Warm" Welcome

One member of the Queen's court that greeted the Crimson sidled up to one of the varsity players and, after crowning him with the inevitable ten gallon hat, said to him in a husky voice, "You should have come yesterday, we were all sunbathing." The varsity player blushed and hustled off to find his room.

No player may date the Queen, for she is the sole property of the captain of the winning team at the Saturday night dance. However, there is a comment at the end of the instructions that each player receives on his arrival at the hotel which reads, "There is no law prohibiting you from dating any member of the Queen's court."

Colorado Springs itself does not benefit particularly from this tournament, for the town offers little that the hotel does not. A few visitors, who cannot get into the Broadmoor, usually end up in one of the town's hotels, but then again, it is hard to fill all of the Broadmoor's 450 rooms.

The "Springs," however, goes all out to support it's hockey team. Many merchants have decorated their store fronts with such signs as "Go, You Tigers" and "Beat Those Wolverines." Enthusiasm is high for CC's hockey team, chiefly because the Tigers' other sports, except for skiing and figure skating, are not particularly successful.

The Broadmoor's shops and facilities do a landslide business during the playoffs, providing one of the chief reasons that it sponsors the event. Although the members of the different teams are somewhat special guests, they are still tourists, and they eagerly attack the Broadmoor's multitude of souvenir shops. Even the hotel barber is working overtime and commented, "I never knew hockey players had so much hair."

Possibly one of the only defects the Broadmoor has to face as a resort center is its isolated locale. This year, the plane carrying the three teams was unable to land on the runway as a bad snowstorm iced the field. The Broadmoor dealt with this situation by sending a bus and two limousines up to Denver, some 75 miles away, to pick up the teams. An official of the hotel said later, "We're working on something to control this situation." Indications are that the "Springs" will build a new airport, naturally with the assistance of the Broadmoor.

The rerouting of the flight to Denver deprived tournament officials of some of their customary welcoming shenanigans. A crowd of officials, bands, and Jaycees had to trek back to the Broadmoor where the ceremonies were more restrained than usual. One of the high spots of the tournament, the "branding" of the Queen by the Jaycees, did not come off this year.

Players Luxuriate

While both the NCAA and the Broadmoor benefit from the tournament, the players are the individuals who really live the idyllic lives. They are put up in fine suites to begin with, and room service is supplied at no extra charge.

The day usually begins with a large breakfast in the dining room, followed by a dip in the specially heated pool or a trip to the skeet range. If any practices are held, they are an hour long, and all facilities such as skate sharpening, extra equipment, and the like are supplied by the management.

After lunch, there are various scenic trips prepared by the management to such places as Pike's Peak, Echo Canyon, the Royal Gorge Bridge, or the Will Rogers Memorial located halfway up Cheyenne Mountain. At night there is hockey. Over the weekend, there are numerous social functions such as teas and dances, which are all staffed by CC girls.

While all this is indeed enjoyable for the players off the ice, there is one rub to Broadmoor, or rather to Colorado Springs. The city itself is almost 7000 feet above sea level, and the oxygen content of the air is considerably lower than at sea level. This has no effect on CC teams as they are used to it, but eastern sextets have often found that they are far more tired in the third period than they had been throughout the season. This year Crimson Coach Cooney Weiland decided not to bring oxygen along on the trip as other eastern teams have done in the past.

Everyone Benefits

By virtue of the Broadmoor and the tournament, Colorado Springs has developed into the hub of NCAA hockey. Every year, various meetings of NCAA officials and of the American Hockey Coaches Association are held and new rules and regulations passed. The Broadmoor has also donated a Spencer Penrose Trophy for the "Coach of the Year." Weiland won this award in 1955 when the Crimson, headed by Bill Cleary, went to the NCAA to finish in third place.

Thus has a commercial hotel developed into the center of amateur hockey. Critics of the system may scoff at such "amateurism," but the NCAA doesn't mind, the Broadmoor gets its publicity, and a good time is had by all.The Broadmoor Ice Palace