By Michael Walsh

Shocking, I know, but the central area of Connecticut isn’t exactly a hotbed of sizzling entertainment. Still, this doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible to maximize your free time while being a Blue Devil both on and off campus.

An obvious first choice begins right on campus with the Central Activities Network, the campus programming board. This group is responsible for most of what the actual campus has to offer entertainment-wise. A staple of the CAN lineup includes their film series, which brings students some of the most popular films from the past few months slightly before they’re due to be released on DVD and Blu-ray. Fall 2009’s schedule is highlighted by titles such as Star Trek, Transformers 2 and The Hangover. Reminders are easily found around campus with posters or on CAN’s own Web site.

Over the course of a semester a seemingly random selection of entertainment does come to the campus including an assortment of musicians, hypnotists, illusionists and stand-up comedians, who, even if you’re unfamiliar with them, can deliver some laughs or else they wouldn’t be in the traveling business. I won’t lie and say that any of this is the most attractive type of entertainment, but it’s mostly free and extremely convenient, especially for the students living on campus.

Outside of the campus entertainment featuring performers and darkened theaters, students can find a nightly kind of entertainment right inside their student center. The Breakers Gameroom located across from the mailbox area in the student center offers cheap billiards for all students. And for those who don’t choose to bring a gaming console to school with them, you can still get your hands on the latest Xbox 360 games for just a $1 per playing session.

What must be met face to face is the fact that sometimes the best option for fulfilling your entertainment needs is to leave campus. Well, you’re in luck, sort of. The surrounding area offers a decent amount of things to do, sometimes at a bargain price.

Continuing with the theme of films, local theaters leave enough options for fans of both mainstream and arthouse titles. Anyone who is a local of the area might already know that the National Amusement’s theater off the Berlin Turnpike in Kensington, Conn. offers a bargain price of $6 per ticket all day Tuesday. A fact of shame is that now that the summer is over the theater is cutting back its weekday hours, with only two showings a day per film on Tuesdays, which includes midday and nighttime timeslots.

Those in the mood for something a little more off the radar might be apt to check out both Cinestudio and Real Art Ways in Hartford, Conn. These two independent theaters typically play films you might hear a word or two about, but will never see on the billing for a corporate run cinema. For example, Real Art Ways is the only place to see the critically acclaimed comedy In the Loop, a film I still find to be the best of 2009.

Reporting on the concert venues in the area might seem trite, since everyone who cares already knows where all the acts they’re interested in are playing at. What I will add is that one of the niftiest Web sites for finding this information is www.jambase.com. The Web site neatly compiles all concert listings in a certain location for every day of the week. This should ensure you don’t miss out on a good night of watching one of your favorite bands or artists perform nearby.

Sporting ventures aren’t vacant from the area either. Both Blue Devil football and basketball can put on more than a show and college game day experience. Okay, so it isn’t UConn and it surely isn’t Michigan, but you could do a lot worse than a somewhat accomplished football team and a basketball program that’s been to the big dance. Ever heard of New Jersey Institute of Technology? Yeah, their men’s basketball team didn’t win a game in 2007-08.

Anyone out there crave professional sports? I hope you like hockey. The Hartford Wolf Pack, American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Rangers, put out a good product full of future NHL players every year and does so at a cheap price for college students. Most seats are only $10 on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays with any college ID and students can purchase up to four at a time. Otherwise, adult tickets will once again be $10 in the upper deck for all games. I know, they aren’t the Whalers, but this means they don’t stink up the ice like the Whalers.

Don’t let anyone tell you there’s nothing to do tonight. With enough thought and sometimes a little gas mileage and dough, something can be found on most given nights to entertain your entire posse.