JC Retirement Gift Commitment To Date: $10,826*

I am one who said "I'm in" but haven't committed to an amount. That's because there seems to be a wide variance of opinion in what the money will go towards, ranging primarily from billboard to statue to scholarship to money for charities. Those things make a difference to me in terms of how much I'd be willing to give. And if no decision is imminent, I can give the money to the UConn Foundation myself. It was/is a very good idea to do this, but someone needs to take the lead on what "this" is imo.

I'll donate $ 100, but we do need clarification

I will contribute $100.

Although it is truly a thankless task to take on organizing something like this, I will say it anyway - thanks to those spearheading this effort.

$100 works for me.

im waiting to see more info. i think while a statue is a great thought, its out there goal wise. my 2 cents was a billboard being a great idea becuase we want many casual fans and just ct ppl to see it and understand what he ment to the state. i think the school in time will take care of a statue and other jc stuff.

How much Jack Daniels can $7,500 buy? I think Coach would be content with that.

Yes, it looks like statue and billboard are out now. And it looks like we're leaning towards a donation of some type. If it helps the planning, I'd be in for $100, but I'd still like to know where it's going.

I had two additional thoughts, very different from each other. First, if we truly want a "retirement gift," as in something he can enjoy in his retirement, how about something like a really nice set of ocean kayaks that he and Pat (and their family and guests) can enjoy and use from their home in Madison? I know, I know, in a way it's silly to buy the guy anything like that, because he has more money than any of us can likely fathom and could obviously buy whatever he wants. But it would be a cool, useful and lasting gift that he would be likely to remember, and it would be somewhat unique as among the thousands that will be contributed in various ways. Or, a really nice set of beach cruiser bikes for them to cruise around the shoreline, and give him a reasonable and safer alternative to the road bike on which he suffered his recent accident. Just trying to think of something useful, different and realistic.

The other thought is to establish some sort of scholarship to honor him, maybe for a kid from a single-parent home who fits certain other criteria that we could agree upon and define. But the problem with scholarships is that they require someone to oversee them, and I don't see that being feasible on our own. We would need to contribute to one that is administered by someone else.

I had heard a while back that JC was selling the house in Madison (maybe someone can confirm?). Also, if JC wanted kayaks, he's already have them. Just saying. I'm starting to like the painting idea that someone just posted. It's personal and more in our price range and logistically a lot easier to pull together.

Hadn't heard that about the Madison house. Could be. I know that's where he was riding his bike when he was injured recently. Yes, it is true of any useful gift: He could buy it himself. The ol' "what-do-you-get-the-man-who-has (or can buy)-everything?" dilemma. That can be said about everything other than charitable donations, a scholarship or some type of memorial (e.g., billboard, portrait, plaque, statue, etc.). Each of those has drawbacks, too. Charitable donations, although certainly worthy and appreciated, won't stand out; scholarships would be too tough to administer on our own; a memorial, while nice, is not terribly useful.

I was just trying to think of things that hadn't been mentioned, because we seem to have a problem arriving at anything close to a consensus, and momentum appears to be waning because of that imo.

How do you donate?

Well, here's my two cents...

There are over 2500 members here. Everybody should be able to swing $20. Assuming even HALF of the total membership, that's $25K right there. Meaning a billboard is hardly out of reach. Furthermore, pledging the money doesn't cost a penny.

So, for a billboard, I'm in for $100. But only for that.

Somewhat surprised we don't have more pledged at this point, but whatever the decision is I'm in for $200.

I'll go $100. Who is collecting.

Shouldn't someone open a paypal account?