Skip to the 9 minute mark if you are not interested in WBB (I am not but different strokes for different folks).
It's tough to listen to DiMauro stutter. Jacobs comes across as someone who prepared and had some intelligent things to say. I'm still frustrated with Joe Zone's Marchi/Diaco comment and also the comment about PP deserving credit for Newsome's commitment.
I think that it's ridiculous that the UCONN beat writers have hurt feelings over things that are said on a message board. We are all fans here. We are not paid to express our opinions on this board. We are all fans of UCONN and, for the most part, are an ornery bunch because we see local rivals being tapped into bigger/better conferences while UCONN is left behind battling the likes of Memphis, Tulsa and Tulane. Football fans are especially ornery because, again for the most part, we all KNEW that hiring Pasqualoni/DeLeone was a mistake from Day 1 and seeing the program derailed like it was over the years was incredibly frustrating. Naturally, any position taken that defends PP/GDL is not going to go over well because football fans realize that football is the bus driver in CR and there is a fair share of resentment left from the previous regime. Whether you want to blame Hathaway for hiring him or PP himself, UCONN sits in the AAC while the listless Fruit, BCU, and Rutgers are all in P5 conferences because, in large part, UCONN football has struggled for the past 3 years under PP.
I think it's great that some writers come on here to get ideas for stories or to tap into the pulse of UCONN fans. I have no problem with that. And I do think that some of the comments directed towards them from us Yarders are over the line. But this is a message board filled with peoples' opinions. Not everyone agrees with my opinions that I post and I surely don't agree with all of the opinions that I come across from others on here. But that's what makes this site great and why UCONN fans migrate here more and more. I used to post on the ESPiN Big East football boards and HATED the lack of coverage for UCONN and respect shown to the program that, at the time, won the friggin' conference. That board, at the time, was written for WVU fans and 90% of the articles were WVU-centric. I don't care about WVU. I don't care about anyone other than UCONN until it's time to play them.
As for the anonymity of the board, I think it's needed in the world we live in today. In an age of identity theft, cyberstalking/cyber bullying, workplace background checks and other internet crimes, I think protecting all board posters identities and giving the right to privacy is an essential element of what makes this board so successful. Personally speaking, I rarely post anything on a message board that uses my real name. That doesn't mean that I go out and say outlandish things that cross the line. It just means that I do not want someone to get a snapshot of my life from a simple internet search of my name and steal my identity. Am I paranoid? Probably a little. But I've had my identity stolen once already and the guy who stole it used it to charge up thousands of dollars in airfare to exotic locations. It took several VERY stressful months to clear my name and absolve my responsibility in paying for these charges. So I'm sorry that I don't want to post my real name here nor do I want anyone else to have to do it either. If I ever meet any of the UCONN beat writers in person (or any of you in person), I'll happily share my name in face to face context to introduce you all to the "real Dooley". But until the day that I can be 1000% guaranteed that cyber crimes and identity theft is no longer an issue, there is not a shot in hell that I will ever post my name here (or any other public forum site). Sorry.
