The fickleness of our fanbase

[Dann]

I will preface this by saying that I'm not trying to be argumentative when I ask this.

Do you have any real insight into how the school is run and its fiscal condition? What their priorities are and where the pain points are? Based on what I know or believe I know (and Herbst has told me directly that she cares about the direction of the program, the conference affiliation, etc), they will spend the 3 dollars. You may disagree on the timing, but I believe they will invest in the program until I see FACTS that prove otherwise.

i hope they spend the 3 dollars, i really do. but they have made 1 move so far that tells otherwise and it has nothing to do with the fball program.

here was the right move for the bball program

-you name DB coach this year. long time asst here and much respected. has he been getting old? sure and hes lost is touch some on the court. fine all valid. but this year is a throw away year. you can not put that year on KO's resume and in any way judeg him good or bad off that. its a crap shoot. if u judge him bad then it wasn't a fair chance. if its good how coul u say so based off things outside his control. you name DB coach for 1 year andd let him tell everyone he is retiring at years end and we can have a party with cake, jc can be guest speaker.
-what u also do is name KO coach in waiting. many here are either blind to it or refuse to realize it but the recruits from the past 2 years are 100%, 100fucking% ko/kh and the boys. JC was doing the joepa thing on the trail recently. he shoed his face at certain times and watched certain aau games and stuff. it was all ko/kh and crew on the trail. so based off that i think he could have had better sucess longterm if he was in this position.
-what this does is allows him to not only continue to tell kids hes next in line buy into me and this school but its now a fact that can be confirmed. it allows the fanbase in a down year to watch him and get excited about the future without havingg to worry during the throw away year if he can get it done and if its fair etc chance wise.
-the school as result for doing this could have signed KO to a somewhat cheap 5 year deal in march next spring. for $$ wise vs other big time programs KO could have been a great buy $$ wise for years before his next contract where he weither gets the long term your the next JC deal or bye bye u went good enough handshake.
-what happens if ko takes a ok team and makes a huge run and goes 27-2 for the year or w/e the numbers will be. then hey lets hire him blah blha and he gets his contract. you could have gotten a better deal $ wise the other way, way better deal and who is to say a certain pac school doesn't throw a bid out there just to see whats up and push uconn $ wise in a bidding war. KO would be stupid to pass up 3mil a year down the street from home vs 1 mil a year at his 2nd home. would this happen? i dont think so, but if u can't sit at your desk and atleast think about the risk of something like this then your blind.
edit add-lets talk recruiting. now instead of telling kids hes the coach of the future but teams will anti recruit and say yr deal blah bla he can go to kids and show them with proff of the furute he will be there. big boost imho.
-what we have now is a throwaway year with a fanbase split in many ways. fair chance vs not a fair chance. coaching search vs ko all the way. warde and susan have created a bunch of issues where there di not need to be issues at all. every issue is a negative one if we are talking about it. the issues they created aren't ones that will gets fans in seats for a throw away year. they are ones that turn off causal fans long term over disgust or just plain boredom as to why even bother when the school creates issues.

based off what warde and susan did so far with bball, i'm very worried money and decision wise for this atheltic dept.

edit note- dont get me going on the new policys with grades/scores for recruits. were not yale. either play ball or dont.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Of course fans have the right, but a real fan goes to the last two games without even thinking about it. Someone who has tickets, would be going if the team was better but is staying home just isn't that big of a fan.

Thanks for pointing out what I said on fan loyalty. . . . and ignoring the bigger point. . . those same fans deserve a better coach.

 

[J187Money]

i hope they spend the 3 dollars, i really do. but they have made 1 move so far that tells otherwise and it has nothing to do with the fball program.

here was the right move for the bball program

-you name DB coach this year. long time asst here and much respected. has he been getting old? sure and hes lost is touch some on the court. fine all valid. but this year is a throw away year. you can not put that year on KO's resume and in any way judeg him good or bad off that. its a crap shoot. if u judge him bad then it wasn't a fair chance. if its good how coul u say so based off things outside his control. you name DB coach for 1 year andd let him tell everyone he is retiring at years end and we can have a party with cake, jc can be guest speaker.
-what u also do is name KO coach in waiting. many here are either blind to it or refuse to realize it but the recruits from the past 2 years are 100%, 100****ing% ko/kh and the boys. JC was doing the joepa thing on the trail recently. he shoed his face at certain times and watched certain aau games and stuff. it was all ko/kh and crew on the trail. so based off that i think he could have had better sucess longterm if he was in this position.
-what this does is allows him to not only continue to tell kids hes next in line buy into me and this school but its now a fact that can be confirmed. it allows the fanbase in a down year to watch him and get excited about the future without havingg to worry during the throw away year if he can get it done and if its fair etc chance wise.
-the school as result for doing this could have signed KO to a somewhat cheap 5 year deal in march next spring. for $$ wise vs other big time programs KO could have been a great buy $$ wise for years before his next contract where he weither gets the long term your the next JC deal or bye bye u went good enough handshake.
-what happens if ko takes a ok team and makes a huge run and goes 27-2 for the year or w/e the ****ing numbers will be. then hey lets hire him blah blha and he gets his contract. you could have gotten a better deal $ wise the other way, way better deal and who is to say a certain pac school doesn't throw a bid out there just to see whats up and push uconn $ wise in a bidding war. KO would be stupid to pass up 3mil a year down the street from home vs 1 mil a year at his 2nd home. would this happen? i dont think so, but if u can't sit at your desk and atleast think about the risk of something like this then your blind.
-what we have now is a throwaway year with a fanbase split in many ways. fair chance vs not a fair chance. coaching search vs ko all the way. warde and susan have created a bunch of issues where there di not need to be issues at all. every issue is a negative one if we are talking about it. the issues they created aren't ones that will gets fans in seats for a throw away year. they are ones that turn off causal fans long term over disgust or just plain boredom as to why even bother when the school creates issues.

based off what warde and susan did so far with bball, i'm very worried money and decision wise for this atheltic dept.

I hear what you are saying, and I agree with much of it in terms of what "I" might have done in their shoes. But I really don't think it was about $. I think it was about trying to navigate through strange waters trying to keep JC/KO/the fan base happy when there was really no clear slam dunk option. Disagreeing with a course of action is fine. Conjecturing (without real information) about why they did what they did is also fine, but it doesn't make it fact.

I'm convinced that the school will be in much better shape with Herbst at the helm. If she even gets the endowment to 50% of her goals, there will be more money for everything.

 

[whaler11]

One could say that Calhoun could be lumped in with Warde and Susan with his attempts to manipulate the process.

Ollie certainly has a fair chance. If he goes out and does a great job the problem is solved, he gets his long term deal and everyone is happy.

 

[J187Money]

Thanks for pointing out what I said on fan loyalty. . . . and ignoring the bigger point. . . those same fans deserve a better coach.

Of course they do. I think we are all in agreement on that. Aren't we?

(I mean - even those who think we have a lack of talent still aren't happy with the coaching)

 

[Dann]

I hear what you are saying, and I agree with much of it in terms of what "I" might have done in their shoes. But I really don't think it was about $. I think it was about trying to navigate through strange waters trying to keep JC/KO/the fan base happy when there was really no clear slam dunk option. Disagreeing with a course of action is fine. Conjecturing (without real information) about why they did what they did is also fine, but it doesn't make it fact.

I'm convinced that the school will be in much better shape with Herbst at the helm. If she even gets the endowment to 50% of her goals, there will be more money for everything.

its either a porr decision by warde and susan or a money decision by warde and susan. it can't be neither and it can be both. its either 1 or both. i would liek to know which one of them couldnt figure out how to shape the program for the future.

for the record, i have all the faith in KO fwiw. i think he alone is a great enough guy both off the court and on the chalk board x and o'ing that he will digg susan and warde right out of this poor decision and keep the program as a top 10 one by 2014. thats how high i am on him. i think that becuase KO will suceed, warde and susans dumb decision to start wont be seen for how bad it was and as result they will make other bad ones(fball seems to be the nexct place to make a decision) and we will pay for it brutally the next few years.

 

[Waquoit]

Thanks for pointing out what I said on fan loyalty. . . . and ignoring the bigger point. . . those same fans deserve a better coach.

The two points are really unrelated. A fan goes to the game no matter who's coaching.

 

[J187Money]

its either a porr decision by warde and susan or a money decision by warde and susan. it can't be neither and it can be both. its either 1 or both. i would liek to know which one of them couldnt figure out how to shape the program for the future.

for the record, i have all the faith in KO fwiw. i think he alone is a great enough guy both off the court and on the chalk board x and o'ing that he will digg susan and warde right out of this poor decision and keep the program as a top 10 one by 2014. thats how high i am on him. i think that becuase KO will suceed, warde and susans dumb decision to start wont be seen for how bad it was and as result they will make other bad ones(fball seems to be the nexct place to make a decision) and we will pay for it brutally the next few years.

Now I am busting your balls a little bit. If it turns out that it works out, it was still a bad course of action? Or maybe there is more than one pathway to success when dealing with a complicated situation?

 

[Dann]

Now I am busting your balls a little bit. If it turns out that it works out, it was still a bad course of action? Or maybe there is more than one pathway to success when dealing with a complicated situation?

fair enough. if its a bad course then we will see more bad decisions made elsewhere. if its a good decision that i couldnt see(my argument on how it should have been done) then im wrong.

but heres fact #1 in this already
-if you sign KO next year for a legit contract, then you have already up $ wise. you could have saved money and gotten the exact same result with my plan. so i find it hard to see it the other way.

 

[J187Money]

Now I am busting your balls a little bit. If it turns out that it works out, it was still a bad course of action? Or maybe there is more than one pathway to success when dealing with a complicated situation?

I guess what I'm saying is that it might not be how I would have done it, but I don't think it is a calamity the way they did it. I like the idea of KO coaching now and having access to JC to help him. Not sure I get the 1 year contract but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. I also don't worry that KO is going to leave and go somewhere else for a few extra dollars. If it was all about money he would have kept playing for another couple of years instead of leaving for the peanuts he was probably paid to come to UCONN.

 

[J187Money]

fair enough. if its a bad course then we will see more bad decisions made elsewhere. if its a good decision that i couldnt see(my argument on how it should have been done) then im wrong.

but heres fact #1 in this already
-if you sign KO next year for a legit contract, then you have already ****ed up $ wise. you could have saved money and gotten the exact same result with my plan. so i find it hard to see it the other way.

Right. He will be more expensive. BUT - it is only an issue if he is SO much more expensive that it affects decision making elsewhere, but constraining the school from doing something it otherwise would have done. And I doubt it will have that kind of impact.

If he got a multi-year deal and it turns out he stinks, money is wasted in a different way. Pick your poison, but either way I think it will end up being a non-issue.

 

[Dann]

Right. He will be more expensive. BUT - it is only an issue if he is SO much more expensive that it affects decision making elsewhere, but constraining the school from doing something it otherwise would have done. And I doubt it will have that kind of impact.

If he got a multi-year deal and it turns out he stinks, money is wasted in a different way. Pick your poison, but either way I think it will end up being a non-issue.

i would liek to add this. if u could have saved money, why wouldnt u?

its the same thing as the 3 more dollars vs no dollars thing. its common sense and good decision making that are in question here.

if i saved the school a million dollars over the next 5 years with the way i did the ko contract, that million can go to mkaing a great fire and hir for the fball team, or to build puck or to the baseball stadium etc... why wouldnt u help yourself money wise? its crazy to throw away money and make bad decisions doing so.

 

[J187Money]

I don't spend any time on the BB board, but I imagine there are some to think we are crazy handing the keys to a Bentley to a guy that just got his drivers license yesterday.

 

[J187Money]

i would liek to add this. if u could have saved money, why wouldnt u?

its the same thing as the 3 more dollars vs no dollars thing. its common sense and good decision making that are in question here.

if i saved the school a million dollars over the next 5 years with the way i did the ko contract, that million can go to mkaing a great fire and hir for the fball team, or to build puck or to the baseball stadium etc... why wouldnt u help yourself money wise? its crazy to throw away money and make bad decisions doing so.

See my previous post. If he stinks and needs to be fired (and I assume you would be leading the charge)...isn't money also wasted?

 

[Dann]

I don't spend any time on the BB board, but I imagine there are some to think we are crazy handing the keys to a Bentley to a guy that just got his drivers license yesterday.

yes some are, but im not mad about that part of the issue as i am a KO guy. im mad about how it happened decision wise.

 

[Dann]

See my previous post. If he stinks and needs to be fired (and I assume you would be leading the charge)...isn't money also wasted?

no its not. we would find out he stinks until he starts as a coach next year(not this year). that contract would be 3 4 or 5 years lenght wise i would asume and it would be cheap. cheap enough that it wouldnt be wasted money becuase we didnt spend much at all. when a contract pays little, the buyout is litte.

i will not lead any charge to fire ko no matter the product. if he does bad and is not the answer then i will also want a new coach and for us to mkae the moves needed but i will not be vocal like i am for P gone. i feel ripped off bt P beyond what others do here and will not go down in flames with him here.

 

[J187Money]

yes some are, but im not mad about that part of the issue as i am a KO guy. im mad about how it happened decision wise.

That's my point. So if KO isn't the guy, you would have wasted money signing him to a long-term deal. I LOVE the idea of KO (a UCONN guy, a YOUNG guy, if it works he will be here for 20 years type of hire) but I have NO idea if he can coach or recruit.

 

[J187Money]

Maybe KO didn't want a long-term deal when he had no negotiating power. His agent I'm sure would have advised against it.

 

[Dann]

That's my point. So if KO isn't the guy, you would have wasted money signing him to a long-term deal. I LOVE the idea of KO (a UCONN guy, a YOUNG guy, if it works he will be here for 20 years type of hire) but I have NO idea if he can coach or recruit.

we do know he can recruit. the ppl who need to know know he can recruit. this year good or bad was not a fair shot and shouldnt be used to judge him. if he does well its going to cost $$. you could have waited a year to spend that money and less of it and given him a 4 year deal. he can have his time to recruit and coach under a correct contract and prove us one way or the other.

some one has to coach the team so money will always be spent. you can get ko cheaper than any hot shot young guy some one posts here. so the money is not a waste, its a good buy. but we already that up so it doesn't matter.

 

[Dann]

Maybe KO didn't want a long-term deal when he had no negotiating power. His agent I'm sure would have advised against it.

ok, as silly as this is:

then why did warde give him a 7 month contract? warde then should have turned around and given DB the contract. again this is silly but for sake....

 

[J187Money]

we do know he can recruit. the ppl who need to know know he can recruit. this year good or bad was not a fair shot and shouldnt be used to judge him. if he does well its going to cost $$. you could have waited a year to spend that money and less of it and given him a 4 year deal. he can have his time to recruit and coach under a correct contract and prove us one way or the other.

some one has to coach the team so money will always be spent. you can get ko cheaper than any hot shot young guy some one posts here. so the money is not a waste, its a good buy. but we already ****ed that up so it doesn't matter.

But if he is great he will renegotiate his deal after two years anyway so I don't think it would have saved as much as you would think. And they wouldn't get in a pissing match with him.

 

[J187Money]

ok, as silly as this is:

then why did warde give him a 7 month contract? warde then should have turned around and given DB the contract. again this is silly but for sake....

DB = who? George Blaney?

 

[mauconnfan]

They will still go ... They're just venting. The upside to having a fan base who cares more about tailgating is that they'll be there for the booze... Booze are always to be had. Stadium will look great by end of 2nd Qtr and mid way through 3rd. Other than that nothing else is guaranteed.

Guessing some will be listening or watching the mens game vs Michigan State in Germany which is live ESPN at 5:30 EST.............either not come to game or come in late..........

 

[Dann]

But if he is great he will renegotiate his deal after two years anyway so I don't think it would have saved as much as you would think. And they wouldn't get in a pissing match with him.

can't take this idea and factor it into the decision. if he does that good that this does happen, then we just won something and the $/media/fans/etc as result is flowing good so now the $ doesn't matter.


and yes db i ment gb. my bad. it was a good argument. im done for now.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Not going to games when the team is down or the coaching staff sucks (or both) is the very definition of a front runner or fair weather fan. Spin it any way you want.

There are more than enough front runners who will or have already bailed to get the message across. The die hards will be at the last 2 games.