HOUGHTON - An already busy weekend for the Copper Country was made even busier Sunday night when the NCAA announced that Michigan Technological University will host the Division II 2010 Midwest Regional Women's Basketball Tournament.
The Michigan Tech women are 28-2 this season, and ranked No. 1 in the Midwest region, giving them the right to host the tournament, which begins Friday, joining a slew of other local events that will keep local businesses working at full speed.
"There is a lot of things happening this weekend between the Copper Dog 150, Great Bear Chase, Old-Timers Hockey Tournament and this tournament, there are things happening all over the Copper Country," said Dallas Bond, the executive director at the Keweenaw Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. "The motels and hotels should be nicely filled, the restaurants should be nicely filled, it should be a great weekend."
Jason Miller, owner and general manager of the Country Inn and Suites in Houghton, said the tournament has been a major benefit to his business.
"It's been a nice little bump in our number of rooms we've had," Miller said. "It's something we didn't plan on, and we're really excited for our women's team. Since we've been here this is the first time this has happened."
Miller's hotel is hosting Northern Kentucky University and Drury University, and has hosted many other teams throughout the season.
"We always enjoy the college teams coming to town, they're always professional, it's a good group of business to have," Miller said. "It builds a little bit of excitement. I know our staff is always excited to have teams coming, especially now with the stakes so high. Everyone is really excited to have them here, and we're just proud to be able to accommodate the teams at this level of play."
Michigan Tech is also happy to have an extra seven games at the SDC. Sports Information Director Wes Frahm said the buzz has been growing all season.
"Traditionally, you think of Houghton as a hockey community, and down to its core, it probably is, but there are still a ton of basketball fans in this area and they've really shown up and made it an exciting event," Frahm said. "The community has always supported successful teams at Michigan Tech, and you can see that with the attendance, we're averaging well over 1,000 fans for home games."
Frahm said that every team will travel with a group of 20 and with seven teams that's 140 players, coaches and other staff with the teams.
"When you start talking parents, fans, media, that number will grow quite large," Frahm said. "We had probably 100, 150 fans that made the trip to Northern Kentucky for last year's regional."
The tournament is also a great chance for businesses to make up for the loss of winter tourism that may be slowed by the above-average temperatures lately.
"I'm sure the snow, or lack of snow and warm weather has probably slowed down the snowmobiling tourism as of late," Frahm said. "Hopefully this will give people a little boost."
Huskies coach John Barnes said the No. 3-ranked Huskies have been eyeing the opportunity to host this tournament all season, and with their win over Northern Michigan in their conference championship game last Saturday, a game that had more than 2,200 people in attendance, they clinched the opportunity.
"I hear a lot from the community and how excited people are, and what a great atmosphere they thought last weekend was with the conference tournament," Barnes said. "Fans are hungry for more, and I can't even imagine the crowds and the excitement in the air come Friday."
Bond hopes people realize how unique of an opportunity this is.
"Having this earned by the team is a great honor; all the residents of the Copper Country should look at it as being a great honor," he said. "Hosting an NCAA regional final, in your backyard and bringing people in from all over the Midwest, it's one of those times we need to be on our best behavior."
The Huskies will play Friday at 6 p.m. For a full tournament preview, go to page 1B.
Michael H. Babcock can be reached at mbabcock@mininggazette.com.
