Warde on conference reailignment:

[Hoophound]

I like Warde's swagger here:

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-huskies/hc-uconn-warde-manuel-0424-20130423,0,1381837.story

"We need to sell tickets, we need to raise money," he said. "It was a lot worse in the early 90s. We weren't making as much money as the big boys then, and we started winning national championships. That has never been an excuse at UConn, and it's not going to be an excuse going forward. You know what? A lot of schools make a lot more money – and they've never won anything. Quote me on that."

 

[specialisthusky]

Warde's showing some fire. I'll take it. Better late than never I guess.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

He has a point. The AAC is UConn’s home for the moment. The best that UConn can do is to kick ass in it keep pushing (not pleading. Actions speak louder than words. Of course, if UConn can’t even win in the AAC, we are dead.

 

[storrsroars]

Maybe it's due to my 12 years of living in Pittsburgh and following the Pirates, but seems I've heard this kind of drivel before.

 

[Kevin Caliendo]

It's sad. in the early 90s they could sell out the HCC playing Yale

 

[FDNY99]

One thing I have to say...Warde Manuel has done more to improve the facilities in his short tenure than the man he replaced did in his 8 year's here (Burton/Shenkman was it for him). He may not impress me in some ways...but when I look at the hand he was dealt...I am amazed at the amount of work he faced when he signed up for this job.

 

[FDNY99]

It's sad. in the early 90s they could sell out the HCC playing Yale

That's what happens when you hand the keys for a Ferrari to a guy who can't even ride a bicycle...then watch him wrap it around a tree!

 

[The Funster]

He's right. We have to suck it up, be the best we can be and force someone to take us. Good to hear they are are looking to continue upgrading athletic facilities.

On second thought maybe we should drop football and snuggle up with our old best buddies in the Big East.

 

[IMind]

That's what happens when you hand the keys for a Ferrari to a guy who can't even ride a bicycle...then watch him wrap it around a tree!

The malaise and lack of ticket sales happened long before Warde showed up. We have the worst PR department on the planet.

What if instead of tanking the basketball team, having a joke for a compliance department, and letting the team's APR hit rock bottom... Hathaway actually did his job?

 

[djct1999]

Please stop with this rhetoric of "we have to make the best of the situation we are in". That simply doesn't work in business. And, yes, college athletics is a business. The bottom line is UConn has a small window of time to join a power conference or its best years as an athletic program is in the past, not the future. Some programs will die an immediate death, others like womens hoops(until geno leaves), mens hoops, mens soccer, etc will take more time. Eventually, all programs will be a shell of themselves. Without revenue, UConn cannot continue to be a national player..........that is the situation we are in and with time, if things don't change, there is nothing to make good with.

 

[Huskyfan990411]

The malaise and lack of ticket sales happened long before Warde showed up. We have the worst PR department on the planet.

What if instead of tanking the basketball team, having a joke for a compliance department, and letting the team's APR hit rock bottom... Hathaway actually did his job?

Thank You. Everyone wants to pin this situation we are in on WM and SH. I guarantee we are not in this conference still if they were her 5 years ago instead. Anybody notice that JC hated Hathaway but loves SH and WM. That is all I need to know to get an idea of what type of job Hathaway did while he was here.

 

[NutmegState]

Please stop with this rhetoric of "we have to make the best of the situation we are in". That simply doesn't work in business. And, yes, college athletics is a business. The bottom line is UConn has a small window of time to join a power conference or its best years as an athletic program is in the past, not the future. Some programs will die an immediate death, others like womens hoops(until geno leaves), mens hoops, mens soccer, etc will take more time. Eventually, all programs will be a shell of themselves. Without revenue, UConn cannot continue to be a national player..........that is the situation we are in and with time, if things don't change, there is nothing to make good with.

You are wrong about basketball. We can and will be just fine, regardless of conference. Football is a different story...

 

[zls44]

What if instead of tanking the basketball team, having a joke for a compliance department, and letting the team's APR hit rock bottom... Hathaway actually did his job?

Orson Welles clapping dot gif.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Biggest fear I have is not even the total amount of media money we can bring in. Worst case, we can always try to raise the money from somewhere to compete with the power conferences. The thing I am seriously concerned about is recruiting. Being in the AAC will hurt recruiting big time in football. If we can't get the kind of kids that can compete at the top level, we will be screwed. Until we hire a real coach and can replicate what Boise has done up to date, we could become a mid-major like rest of the AAC teams. UCONN has to continue to invest in football and hire an upcoming football coach. If we have another year like the previous two, we might as well kill the football program now. The main difference on why UL got into the ACC over UCONN is the fact that Jurich got UL to invest millions into their facilities and coaches while UCONN sat still.

 

[The Funster]

Please stop with this rhetoric of "we have to make the best of the situation we are in". That simply doesn't work in business. And, yes, college athletics is a business. The bottom line is UConn has a small window of time to join a power conference or its best years as an athletic program is in the past, not the future. Some programs will die an immediate death, others like womens hoops(until geno leaves), mens hoops, mens soccer, etc will take more time. Eventually, all programs will be a shell of themselves. Without revenue, UConn cannot continue to be a national player..........that is the situation we are in and with time, if things don't change, there is nothing to make good with.

So other than "making the best of the situation we are in" what should we do? Nuke some campuses? Start taking hostages? Go all nelsonmuntz and drop football? What? Rather than just panning the "rhetoric" tell me something better that UConn should be doing. How long is the window? One year? Three years? Five years?

I mean, the ACC is at 14+1 and the B1G is at 14. Neither is considered optimal for scheduling purposes. Sixteen is much better.

So if the hope is that within 5 years some kind of spot would open up what could be better than doing the best that we can to make ourselves the most attractive option?

 

[uconndennis]

Biggest fear I have is not even the total amount of media money we can bring in. Worst case, we can always try to raise the money from somewhere to compete with the power conferences. The thing I am seriously concerned about is recruiting. Being in the AAC will hurt recruiting big time in football. If we can't get the kind of kids that can compete at the top level, we will be screwed. Until we hire a real coach and can replicate what Boise has done up to date, we could become a mid-major like rest of the AAC teams. UCONN has to continue to invest in football and hire an upcoming football coach. If we have another year like the previous two, we might as well kill the football program now. The main difference on why UL got into the ACC over UCONN is the fact that Jurich got UL to invest millions into their facilities and coaches while UCONN sat still.

you do realize that we already have top-notch football facilities and a 10 year old stadium. Im not buying that the YUM center was the reason UL got in and we didnt

 

[djct1999]

So other than "making the best of the situation we are in" what should we do? Nuke some campuses? Start taking hostages? Go all nelsonmuntz and drop football? What? Rather than just panning the "rhetoric" tell me something better that UConn should be doing. How long is the window? One year? Three years? Five years?

I mean, the ACC is at 14+1 and the B1G is at 14. Neither is considered optimal for scheduling purposes. Sixteen is much better.

So if the hope is that within 5 years some kind of spot would open up what could be better than doing the best that we can to make ourselves the most attractive option?

The ACC Gor is until 2026-2027. That means, the ACC will not feel the urgency to add UConn at any point until then. As a result, the Big 10 may decide that the remaining options don't add the value it desires, so they can decide to stay at 14. If both happen, UConn will not be able to afford to continously invest all athletic programs and keep them relevant nationally until a slot, it ever, opens up. In my mind, the window is less than 5 years. That being said, I do think if our best hope is that 14 is an inconvenient scheduling number, than that is simply hopeless and senseless.

UConn needed to be proactive and still does. I recommended awhile ago, that UConn should explore the possibility of pulling an ND, go independent in football and approach the Big 10 to join in all other sports. This adds immediate value to the BTN, it preserves the UConn brand, and it will allow the school to invest more in teh football program(as well as gain AAU status) to join the Big 10 in football down as well down the road. To sit in the AAC, continue to invest in football, and hope something happens is not viable.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Biggest fear I have is not even the total amount of media money we can bring in. Worst case, we can always try to raise the money from somewhere to compete with the power conferences. The thing I am seriously concerned about is recruiting. Being in the AAC will hurt recruiting big time in football. If we can't get the kind of kids that can compete at the top level, we will be screwed. Until we hire a real coach and can replicate what Boise has done up to date, we could become a mid-major like rest of the AAC teams. UCONN has to continue to invest in football and hire an upcoming football coach. If we have another year like the previous two, we might as well kill the football program now. The main difference on why UL got into the ACC over UCONN is the fact that Jurich got UL to invest millions into their facilities and coaches while UCONN sat still.

I agree that Louisville invested time and resources into a ‘national’ football coaching staff and not just one who was liked by the local Connecticut and Northeast football apparatus. Less so on facilities as the Burton complex is top notch and the Rent, which would need to be expanded to join big time football, is a good stadium and was the ‘right’ size (Memorial 12,000 to the Rent at 40,000) at that time. The problem with the Rent is that UConn football has gone from getting into the Big E to needing to get into the B1G in less than 10 years. That is a massive and very quick shift.
It also helped that Louisville was marketing itself as being attractive to the XII and sold it’s football ‘pedigree’, even if a sub .500 UConn team beat them at Papa John’s, to the ACC football powers. It gave the ACC ‘no choice.’

 

[The Funster]

Well, first off we're not ND so it would be kind of hard to pull an ND. Secondly, why would the B1G want us for all other sports? We're either all in there or we're not. I could see doing that and joining the ACC for all other sports. At least then the ACC would stay at 14 for FB and have 16 for all other sports. The big problem with going independent is that we could quite possibly end up facing crappier teams than we'd play if we were still in the AAC. Conferences have expanded and that means OOC games are reduced. There is also the factor of having to rely on getting OOC games when conferences are in the meat of their conference schedule.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

you do realize that we already have top-notch football facilities and a 10 year old stadium. Im not buying that the YUM center was the reason UL got in and we didnt

PS – The Yum Center’s financial success is built on smoke, mirrors, and the Uniervsity’s hose job over the city with respect to the lease agreement.

http://insiderlouisville.com/news/2...uy-kfc-yum-arena-if-arena-authority-defaults/

 

[upstater]

Maybe it's due to my 12 years of living in Pittsburgh and following the Pirates, but seems I've heard this kind of drivel before.

The Pirates have won 3 championships?

Look, Cuse, Rutgers, Pitt and Louisville have won squat over the last decade. And they've landed on their feet. Let's not overblow it. UConn is outside. If people need a warm body, they'll come calling.

 

[upstater]

Was UConn taking recruits from other good BCS schools? I don't think so. UConn will lose recruits maybe to Syracuse and Rutgers, but otherwise, it should be business as usual with the changes.

 

[UCFBfan]

The ACC Gor is until 2026-2027. That means, the ACC will not feel the urgency to add UConn at any point until then. As a result, the Big 10 may decide that the remaining options don't add the value it desires, so they can decide to stay at 14. If both happen, UConn will not be able to afford to continously invest all athletic programs and keep them relevant nationally until a slot, it ever, opens up. In my mind, the window is less than 5 years. That being said, I do think if our best hope is that 14 is an inconvenient scheduling number, than that is simply hopeless and senseless.

UConn needed to be proactive and still does. I recommended awhile ago, that UConn should explore the possibility of pulling an ND, go independent in football and approach the Big 10 to join in all other sports. This adds immediate value to the BTN, it preserves the UConn brand, and it will allow the school to invest more in teh football program(as well as gain AAU status) to join the Big 10 in football down as well down the road. To sit in the AAC, continue to invest in football, and hope something happens is not viable.

So wait, if the ACC and B1G don't see the value of adding UConn why would they take us for all sports but football? You're whole argument contradicts itself. I really think that the ACC will see that their GoR has forced other conferences to take notice of UConn. How long? Who knows but to stop investing in the program would be stupid. Until it's done, we better continue to go all in.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[djct1999]

So wait, if the ACC and B1G don't see the value of adding UConn why would they take us for all sports but football? You're whole argument contradicts itself. I really think that the ACC will see that their GoR has forced other conferences to take notice of UConn. How long? Who knows but to stop investing in the program would be stupid. Until it's done, we better continue to go all in.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

How does it contradict itself? The Big 10 doesnt see value in UConn football. They certainly see value in men and women's basketball and all the Olympic sports. It helps them because its a New York presence in sports UConn excels in and will do wonders for BTN programming.

In fact, if I read into it, your argument contradicts itself. Its well documented how many times the ACC passed on UConn when their own conference was far from stable. Now with a signed GOR, they will now view UConn as more attractive? huh?

 

[FDNY99]

The malaise and lack of ticket sales happened long before Warde showed up. We have the worst PR department on the planet.

What if instead of tanking the basketball team, having a joke for a compliance department, and letting the team's APR hit rock bottom... Hathaway actually did his job?

That was what I was trying to say..if that moron had even done his job a little bit we would NOT be where we are today!