I agreeNick, I didn't mean to imply (as I obviously did) that the Mayhem of old was better in any way, I mentioned it as a precursor to the Hyperball events as a context and the revolutionary effect those two WDP events had for everybody.
You also mention the fact we don't get the top Yank teams and that is also a significant reason why the CC (or any other Millennium for that matter) has lost some of its glitz and importance.
You have been around long enough to realize the CC, as it is now, hasn't evolved at all, it has regressed, and at the same time become more expensive for less playing time and so on .....It's a particularly sad indictment of its management.
My honest opinion is this, Crystal Palace was always being used for exactly the same reason ulrich wasn't sacked ......exactly the same..
Peace !
However, I think we should wait on passing judgement on the CC, until it has actually been held..... new venue, new system for running MS events, new board, new dates..... we MAY be pleasantly surprised.
At any rate, I think it is a poor excuse for teams to say they don't want to play the CC because it was crap..... honestly, apart from some netting blowing down and the cars getting broken into, I think last years event was pretty good.
But, as with every other MS events the past 3 years (Toulouse being the eternal exception), the lack of local advertising is what kills them every time.... it doesn't matter where we put an event - if nobody except the participants knows about it, we are wasting our time trying to put the MS at cool venues.
Nick