Norwich - Those of us on this side of the Connecticut River - me included - like to whine incessantly about being treated as de facto citizens of Rhode Island. Nobody else in Connecticut seems to realize that plenty of us live in them thar hills, especially when it comes to sports.

Take this time of year, for example. High school teams from here are dispatched across the state to play state tournament games. Nothing could possibly top last June's state semifinal baseball game farce between Waterford and New London ... in Bristol.

And yet for those of us who wonder why Dodd Stadium isn't a player in all this - a potential site for the state semifinals or finals - part of the answer was revealed Friday night.

Dodd was the scene of some state sports history, the first time a UConn baseball game has ever been an event. UConn has played in big games. But never like this. Nearly 6,000 people showed up for the NCAA tournament game. Some of them even got to see the first pitch.

Why? Because Dodd Stadium is just not equipped to handle big events. Never has been. All the way back to the first event, the Norwich Navigators' first game in April 1995, when pregame traffic/parking headaches had people swearing off the stadium before they'd ever been inside.

And after many of the same things happened Friday night, with people trying to pay to park (they waived the fee Saturday) while the game was happening, I ask: What has changed since 1995? Maybe we should change the name of the facility to the George Santayana Industrial Park. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That made Friday night historical.

Make no mistake: Part of the blame went to the fans who did not heed UConn's public service announcements all week to arrive early. If you do not have tickets and you get to a 7 p.m. game at 6:45, what would make you think you'll be in your seat with a hot dog and a Coke by "The Star-Spangled Banner"?

Ah, but remember this one and write it down: The customer is always right. Which invites the following question: Why weren't there more Norwich police out there directing traffic, especially by the light on Route 32 by Holmgren Subaru? If the police didn't know that there was the potential for a good crowd - decent presale, nice weather, Friday night - they needed to pay closer attention.

Maybe nobody realized 5,700 people would show up. But they had to be thinking 4,000 at least. Is there anything else going on in the thriving metropolis of Norwich that could possibly command as much attention? Was the ham and bean supper a sellout?

In the interest of fairness (that old thing), the police are handcuffed by idiotic, provincial traffic-flow edicts. There's not much you can do about a one-road-in, one-road-out stadium (see Patriots, New England). But there is no excuse - none, zero - not to open Plain Hill Road on game nights. Sorry if the residents don't like it. I know. They're taxpayers. Blah, blah, blah. But somebody in the city should understand the possibilities that exist with having a 6,000-seat facility in town and create a complementary, not counterproductive, traffic flow.

There's no denying the ballpark is in an isolated area of a perceived isolated area of the state. And so making it more difficult for people to get in and out, so the taxpayers of Plain Hill Road can avoid inconvenience, makes sense ... how?

It's infuriating. Dodd Stadium should be on the CIAC's short list of permanent sites for state tournament games. If it can force a bus ride to Bristol for New London and Waterford, it can make Nonnewaug and Pomperaug play at Dodd. But what confidence would CIAC officials have that the poor souls of Woodbury and Southbury wouldn't be stuck in their cars until the third inning?

There is a new truth about Connecticut: Them thar hills have become its entertainment and sports capital. Mostly everything of significance happens east of the river, whether at Gampel Pavilion, Rentschler Field, Mohegan Sun Arena, MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods and, in Friday's case, Dodd Stadium.

Friday night, more than 12,000 people watched sports in our corner of the world: roughly 6,000 for baseball (in full throat, wonderful atmosphere) and 6,500 for women's basketball at the Sun (also in full throat, wonderful atmosphere).

The difference? The basketball fans got to watch the whole game.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.