A lot of UConn 'fans' should be ashamed of themselves

[whaler11]

are you one of those people that scream at the fans around you to STAND UP when you feel the moment is right and you're not seeing the enthusiasm you're expecting from real fans?

Sorry nope.

I'll let you all wallow in your excuses now - it's entertaining to watch people turn into such babies when their opinions are challened.

The fanbase sucks - this was a fun exercise in being reminded why.

Can't wait to see the crowd at the parade for the women's championship - that's a chance to bask in some reflected glory.

 

[John]

Sorry nope.

I'll let you all wallow in your excuses now - it's entertaining to watch people turn into such babies when their opinions are challened.

The fanbase sucks - this was a fun exercise in being reminded why.

Can't wait to see the crowd at the parade for the women's championship - that's a chance to bask in some reflected glory.

ok, well you'd better start resting up for next year since you're going to be attending EVERY SINGLE GAME because you are a REAL FAN®. Get that check writing hand strong too, only REAL FANS® write the big donation checks.

 

[whaler11]

ok, well you'd better start resting up for next year since you're going to be attending EVERY SINGLE GAME because you are a REAL FAN®. Get that check writing hand strong too, only REAL FANS® write the big donation checks.

Solid strawman.

Good thing everyone loves bragging about the past - because at this point that is all we are going to have left in the future.

Boy those good old days were great - thank God we were too good for the AAC - this is way better!

 

[Calhoun's Court]

With me timing was everything too. Our crew of people had the top back corners (Meriden heaven - Mielcarz's, Kazcor's and their buddies etc etc ) section 328 if memory serves me correctly. Majority of these people were not UConn grads but huge UConn fans, many of whom were with us at the ECAC events prior, Field House, road trips to McDonough, PCC, Carrier Dome, UMass, Brendan Byrne (a lot) etc etc.. Anyway we bought our packages every year, requested to stay in the same exact seats and they boiled - until they started becoming the program it eventually it was. As soon as the bandwagoners came, mostly after 89-90 and mid 90's we were asked for more and more to continue sitting there until we didn't give, then were thrown to UU and ZZ in the middle. By the end of the 90's and early 2000's I was coaching my son and he was growing up so everything changed and I just stopped as I was missing too many games as it was. My brother would have kept them I am sure but he was in a car crash in Charlotte the day UConn beat Cal and Campinelli and had trouble with that walk up to ZZ. Many things happen with people, I am sure there are more stories than mine. I still try to get to games as much as I can but I am not the kind of guy who goes alone and sits there, not a dig on people that do, just not me. Hard to get the WesMass friends to go and I try to meet others when time allows everyone.

Miss those days when you would have 30-40 Meriden guys who couldn't wait to get together and watch these Huskies no matter the situation. Saw you and Pete all the time, Mr Hazard, Eddie Zajac, Mr Siebert and Hamrah, Kevin Curry (the other one lol) and so many more. Still love to go, wanted to go couldn't get anyone.

But I laugh at whaler calling me out, talking about golfing 12 hours (never golfed while they were on TV) without knowing me! LOL...again thanks T for the reply!

Those were great days. 4 Banners later here we are still cheering on the Huskies harder than ever.

Just spoke to Mr Hamrah yesterday. Had a nice talk with him about our Huskies !!!!!
.

 

[pepband99]

Solid strawman.

Good thing everyone loves bragging about the past - because at this point that is all we are going to have left in the future.

Boy those good old days were great - thank God we were too good for the AAC - this is way better!

I guess he could just ignore responses that don't fit your story, like you?

 

[John]

I guess he could just ignore responses that don't fit your story, like you?

he's primarily talking about a mass failure; that the fans failed the product. However, if he was truthful he'd consider that maybe the product failed the fans.

 

[The Funster]

I don't have any skin in this game but it should be noted that attendance at NCAA regular season and playoff games has declined for 8 straight years up to 2015-16 season. Of course the tally is incomplete for this season but who expects it to rise?

If you go to games or don't go to games that's your business. This thread is posters trying to show who's got the biggest e-penis? I can't believe I read the whole thing!

 

[Husky25]

Yes UConn is the only program impacted by technology and youth soccer was invented in the last few years.

No, they are not the only ones affected. Attendance is down all over...and yes, youth soccer WAS invented (in my life) in the last few years. My kid is 4. It didn't affect me prior to 2012. I can't speak for anyone else, ergo my statement ("Personally, if given the "choice"...").

There are a number of reasons the Tournament attendance was down. I mentioned a couple (FYI, you did not address socioeconomics). A few others have been mentioned over the course of 10 pages. Likely, a combination of these factored into one's decision to go/not go on Saturday.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Oddly enough - I went to the Syracuse/UConn game at MSG this year and I have to admit I was shocked that we outnumbered them. In my opinion it was at least 60/40 in favor of UConn.

I agree with Whaler that by and large the fanbase has become front running, but I also think there are a lot of people who are UConn fans first and foremost but along with that, part of the identity and passion was from being in the Big East.

I'm 30 now and from growing up and then going to Storrs, being a UConn fan was always first and foremost in my fandom, but being a Big East member was a big deal and I took a lot of pride (or as much as someone can as a fan) being in that league.

So, while I think the fanbase has dropped off a bit, even for lower level OOC games and the Big East dredges back in even 2009, whenever the top teams came out, the fans did too.

I think that while being a UConn fan is important to a lot of us (or why else would be here) getting downgraded in perception because of our league has taken a ton of wind out of my sails at least. If there was the notion that you could play you're way back up into a top league, I'd still be game, but I'd be lying if I wasn't questioning the investment in time/money I've made to date and will continue to try and do so in the future, knowing that as a whole our programs could be relegated to second tier status forever.

Now look, I can admit I'm not the fan I once was when living in CT and not missing XL/Gampel/Rentschler games for years, but I do think if we were still playing in the Big East for football/basketball I'd go regardless of record - like we did in years past. At some point it just seems kinda hopeless.

I know that's a pretty big excuse and may not apply to everyone, but it's sorta my take on it. I know now more than ever the program needs us, so I'm going to try and get to some more games this year, but I think we'd be ignoring reality by not acknowleding the above.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

This is not true.

That a couple of people keep saying it doesn't make it true. There were almost zero tickets distributed to the other schools.

My God people overcomplicate simple things.

They were selling all session tickets for $10. Ten dollars. You can't cry about Saturday face value when you pass up $10 all session tickets. Sorry when you tried to jump on the bandwagon it had gotten a little bit more expensive.

The secondary sites were $35 yesterday afternoon - there are posts with the data pictured.

You can't expect 10000 people to buy sessions for the 2nd or 3rd day, before the tournament has even begun. It's not "jumping on the bandwagon", you dingus. Congratulations for buying $10 sessions ahead of time, that must mean you are a bigger fan than everyone who didn't.
You sound like someone that would only say this behind the keys of a message board, rather than tell it to people in person who said they couldn't make the tournament, or didn't want to spend near $100 just for a couple people.

You have zero right to determine who is a "fan". I can guarantee you that the majority of people on this message board have contributed a lot to the university.

 

[whaler11]

You can't expect 10000 people to buy sessions for the 2nd or 3rd day, before the tournament has even begun. It's not "jumping on the bandwagon", you dingus. Congratulations for buying $10 sessions ahead of time, that must mean you are a bigger fan than everyone who didn't.
You sound like someone that would only say this behind the keys of a message board, rather than tell it to people in person who said they couldn't make the tournament, or didn't want to spend near $100 just for a couple people.

You have zero right to determine who is a "fan". I can guarantee you that the majority of people on this message board have contributed a lot to the university.

It was $10 to buy all the sessions.

I understand that is a lot to ask dingus.

I haven't determined who is a fan and who isn't.

I'm more than happy to tell anyone in person that we have a garbage fanbase which will make every excuse on the planet rather than just admit the fanbase's performance for the AAC tournament was PATHETIC.

 

[huskymagic]

Its not the boneyard without Whaler and his self-serving righteousness preaching to the fanbase.

We are in a losing and lost season in the AAC with a blue-blood program that has been permanently demoted to being in the ginger conference of America. It's not hard to understand the attendance problems. If we were in the Big East or the ACC the attendance problems would take care of itself.

Our basketball program is not the reason why we have lost our entitlement to a P-5 conference or why we are in purgatory. This is just one of the expected side effects of being relegated and not playing well.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

It was $10 to buy all the sessions.

I understand that is a lot to ask dingus.

I haven't determined who is a fan and who isn't.

I'm more than happy to tell anyone in person that we have a garbage fanbase which will make every excuse on the planet rather than just admit the fanbase's performance for the AAC tournament was PATHETIC.

It was pathetic. But there are reasons. It was not easy to find reasonably priced tickets.
Which doesn't make sense because the building was empty, which is why I suggested that people must've held on to tickets and not sold them because there were barely any left on the XL website, and the secondary markets were not cheap.
Also, were many people aware that you could go to the entire tournament for $10 ahead of time? Did I miss a thread? Because I certainly did not know that was the case, otherwise I would've definitely purchased it.

 

[BUConn10]

Oddly enough - I went to the Syracuse/UConn game at MSG this year and I have to admit I was shocked that we outnumbered them. In my opinion it was at least 60/40 in favor of UConn.

I agree with Whaler that by and large the fanbase has become front running, but I also think there are a lot of people who are UConn fans first and foremost but along with that, part of the identity and passion was from being in the Big East.

I'm 30 now and from growing up and then going to Storrs, being a UConn fan was always first and foremost in my fandom, but being a Big East member was a big deal and I took a lot of pride (or as much as someone can as a fan) being in that league.

So, while I think the fanbase has dropped off a bit, even for lower level OOC games and the Big East dredges back in even 2009, whenever the top teams came out, the fans did too.

I think that while being a UConn fan is important to a lot of us (or why else would be here) getting downgraded in perception because of our league has taken a ton of wind out of my sails at least. If there was the notion that you could play you're way back up into a top league, I'd still be game, but I'd be lying if I wasn't questioning the investment in time/money I've made to date and will continue to try and do so in the future, knowing that as a whole our programs could be relegated to second tier status forever.

Now look, I can admit I'm not the fan I once was when living in CT and not missing XL/Gampel/Rentschler games for years, but I do think if we were still playing in the Big East for football/basketball I'd go regardless of record - like we did in years past. At some point it just seems kinda hopeless.

I know that's a pretty big excuse and may not apply to everyone, but it's sorta my take on it. I know now more than ever the program needs us, so I'm going to try and get to some more games this year, but I think we'd be ignoring reality by not acknowleding the above.

Since it seems this thread is still alive... I agree with you here ConnHusk.

I definitely think our fan base certainly does NOT have the raw passion that on paper you would expect from a "4 titles in 2 last decades in a state with no pro sports" program. We do alright and get pumped for certain games like the MSG events, which to me just highlights the validity of what you said.

The loss of the Big East and anything resembling any rivalry we had is gone and the fan base has taken a palpable hit in terms of media attention in the state, hype and ticket sales/prices. You simply can't discount the importance of rivalry games in college sports, it's pretty much the core of the college fan experience. No other school has been asked to endure so much for reasons not in their control than UConn and the fan base definitely took a hit too.

I also think we here in CT have the unique predicament of being essentially blue bloods in both men's AND women's basketball. And if you note how shockingly little cross over their is of fans of the men and women simply on the boards here on the Yard, you could imagine our fan base is heavily fragmented between those fans for games as well. The faces you see at the women's games look shockingly different than those at men's games. These are dollars and time being rationed differently in our state.

 

[whaler11]

It was pathetic. But there are reasons. It was not easy to find reasonably priced tickets.
Which doesn't make sense because the building was empty, which is why I suggested that people must've held on to tickets and not sold them because there were barely any left on the XL website, and the secondary markets were not cheap.
Also, were many people aware that you could go to the entire tournament for $10 ahead of time? Did I miss a thread? Because I certainly did not know that was the case, otherwise I would've definitely purchased it.

Yes there were multiple threads.

 

[jibsey]

Let's stop attacking each other and all pull in the same direction. Whether a person goes to the games, watches on tv or listens on radio as long as they care they are a good fan IMO. Kumbaya. Fans get motivation from performance, media hype, national rankings, and opponent quality. We had problems in all 4 categories this season, but that season is over and I think there will be an upswing next year. I'd rather see intelligent discussion about what we have and what we need to make it happen, and I think there are no foregone conclusions there.

 

[J187Money]

Sorry nope.

I'll let you all wallow in your excuses now - it's entertaining to watch people turn into such babies when their opinions are challened.

The fanbase sucks - this was a fun exercise in being reminded why.

Can't wait to see the crowd at the parade for the women's championship - that's a chance to bask in some reflected glory.

The best part about that is that the bulk of the people at the parade couldn't be bothered to go to a game.

I get asked every year to buy Final 4 tickets for the Women, but when I say "hey - do you want opening/2nd round seats also?" - "Nope - just the Final 4 - thanks"... clearly it's less complicated to fly to Dallas than it is to go to Storrs for a game.

 

[Deepster]

Sorry but this isn't about ticket prices at all or inconvenient starting times. It's all about desire. If fans had the passion to attend they'd make the time and find the money. Frankly, here's my bet. If they announced free admission to all those who would simply agree to attend both games of the Friday nightcap, the stands would still have been "empty". The cold reality is there's a demonstrably diminished zeal for this MBB program. Until it 's rekindled, our venues will look like crap to the viewing public. Watching that Championship game was an embarrassment to the greater Hartford sports market--and the AAC's ability to entice fans to the venue.

This hits the nail on the head.

They did, in fact, offer free tickets to the football games at times and still played to a stadium maybe a third full. CT just isn't a rabid sports market. I remember a friend who moved to Atlanta and called the day of a Braves playoff game and got decent tickets through the box office once. Every state can't be "New York" or "Boston" with it's rabid fan base. With CT? The state may latch onto a new team as a novelty, then stick around if they win....but drift off once the product hits a rough patch. It's a front runner state. Right now, UConn Men's Basketball is drying on the vine with the 2nd/3rd tier fan base.

 

[ASweet3781]

This is so stupid and tired.

- Yes the fan base is front running. As is almost every college or pro fan base except a select few. In the mid 90's when the Red Sox were still cursed and the Patriots were one of the worst franchises in the NFL nearly half of my high school was wearing Yankees/Giants gear to school. In Western...Massachusetts. I went to a Yankees-Red Sox game in 1998 at Fenway, and it sounded like Yankee Stadium when Chuck Knoblauch hit a grand slam. Now...Patriots gear is all over the place and you have "Red Sox Nation" that usually sells out every game. Things go in cycles and stages. I thought everyone understood this but apparently Whaler doesn't.

- Whaler's MO is to take impossible no win situations where he knows damn well the attendance is going to be weak and hype it to the 10th degree. A December home game at the RENT vs Tulane with a 3 win UConn football team and one of the worst offenses in America...WHY IS THERE ONLY 10K THERE?!?! A January weekday game at home in basketball vs East Carolina in a 15 win season is 60% full....OUR FAN BASE SUCKS!

UConn brings arguably the most fans of a visiting team to South Bend for the ND football game. Crickets. Take over MSG in basketball? Crickets. Selling out and watching in record numbers a niche sport like women's hoop. Crickets. Pretending like a ton of other schools, including MANY in far better conference don't have the same problem in weak seasons. Crickets.

Outside of Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke, who would have rabid sold out crowds if they were moved from their Power 5 league to the AAC and had a miserable season? Whaler will of course dismiss this as an excuse when it reality its just...reality. Maybe if Whaler had a similar post the day of the 2015 AAC title game when our fans repped big time in a big moment I'd respect his arguments. Quite frankly I think he just like to brag about how what a true fan he is and how awful everyone else is.

For the record Doris Burke complimented the crowd and commented during the broadcast that the crowd was a "different kind of crowd", loud and rowdy and not the usual donor type for season tickets.

 

[RJScootin]

How spoiled is your fanbase when:

A. You host the conference tournament
B. You can buy all session tickets for $10 in decent seats

And still people are too good to show up?

The last three days were shameful for a fanbase who claims to be worthy of a P5 invite.

The posts here are the best in this context:

A: Tickets are too expensive
B: The suits don't show up
C: I can't get good seats

If you have ever made any of those three comments - you should shut up forever.

Kudos to those who showed up and kudos to the team today for fighting their rear ends off with a short roster and a bad whistle.

The Purvis chant was one of the nicer moments in program history (I'm 43 so I've got some context).

I'm sure everyone has their excuse - I hope you found an illegal stream to follow along instead of actually putting a little money where your boneyard mouths go.

As someone who was there for the three games I can't disagree with you more. For the fans who went they were great. That was defiantly a home court advantage with big red leading us into ever break with the place rocking. So to fans who were there hats off to you representing our great program.

There are plenty of reasons not excuses why people can't make it and you're no less of a fan if you're home watching or recording to watch later from home. Who are you to judge someone fandom and tell them about spending money. I'm prolly part of a fan base who is spoiled by winning is that really a bad thing?

Back to attendance. It's a different time even during regular season. We were in a conference that brought outside fans like cuse, pit, ND and so on. In the AAC you get next to zero attendance outside the band from the visiting team. Makes it a lot tougher to fill the building.

The tournament. As a XL season ticket holder why would I buy the AAC toureney package and pay for a bunch of tickets I have no interest in. I bought the three games for tourney for no more than $25 a game and was able to get great seats once in the building. This turns off the season ticket holders with these session packages. Once again there's no attendance from visiting schools so it's extra empty.

Bottom line. I'm sure there's not many under .500 teams with better attendance than the huskies.

Although the team had a bad season the Uconn fans have nothing to be ashamed of!

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Is whaler the guy that use to paint himself blue and white for every game 10 years ago, Dale? If not, he isn't a real fan

 

[BUConn10]

This is so stupid and tired.

- Yes the fan base is front running. As is almost every college or pro fan base except a select few. In the mid 90's when the Red Sox were still cursed and the Patriots were one of the worst franchises in the NFL nearly half of my high school was wearing Yankees/Giants gear to school. In Western...Massachusetts. I went to a Yankees-Red Sox game in 1998 at Fenway, and it sounded like Yankee Stadium when Chuck Knoblauch hit a grand slam. Now...Patriots gear is all over the place and you have "Red Sox Nation" that usually sells out every game. Things go in cycles and stages. I thought everyone understood this but apparently Whaler doesn't.

- Whaler's MO is to take impossible no win situations where he knows damn well the attendance is going to be weak and hype it to the 10th degree. A December home game at the RENT vs Tulane with a 3 win UConn football team and one of the worst offenses in America...WHY IS THERE ONLY 10K THERE?!?! A January weekday game at home in basketball vs East Carolina in a 15 win season is 60% full....OUR FAN BASE SUCKS!

UConn brings arguably the most fans of a visiting team to South Bend for the ND football game. Crickets. Take over MSG in basketball? Crickets. Selling out and watching in record numbers a niche sport like women's hoop. Crickets. Pretending like a ton of other schools, including MANY in far better conference don't have the same problem in weak seasons. Crickets.

Outside of Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke, who would have rabid sold out crowds if they were moved from their Power 5 league to the AAC and had a miserable season? Whaler will of course dismiss this as an excuse when it reality its just...reality. Maybe if Whaler had a similar post the day of the 2015 AAC title game when our fans repped big time in a big moment I'd respect his arguments. Quite frankly I think he just like to brag about how what a true fan he is and how awful everyone else is.

For the record Doris Burke complimented the crowd and commented during the broadcast that the crowd was a "different kind of crowd", loud and rowdy and not the usual donor type for season tickets.

If we are classified as front runners, you can BET YOUR A** Duke's fan base are front runners as well. The whole demographic that makes up their true fans, and not casual TV observers, is made up of sure fire wealthy, New England roots, front runners.

 

[CTBasketball]

How a about you just compare UConn today to UConn historically. That's what matters.

A few notes:

1. Obviously finding attendance for XL, Gampel, Field House, etc. individually is difficult, so to save time I just averaged the size of both arenas and their capacity that year. Not the most accurate because of the XL's larger size, it'll bring the average up a little, but we have enough data here to iron that out I think.

2. There was a stretch before 1990 where we played home games at the New Haven Coliseum, Hugh S. Greer Field House, and then-larger Hartford Civic Center. Attendance figures show this - they are lower considering the capacity of the FH was ~ 4,500.

3. You have to go back to 1987 to find our next lowest attendance prior to 2017. We were 9-19 that year.

4. In years we were under 0.500 (1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987) we posted some of our worst attendance figures.

5. Average attendance peaked in the mid-2000's, held on solidly until Calhoun left, then the attendance numbers went down by almost 2,000-3,000 per game once the AAC and Ollie kicked in.

6. I got these from the NCAA official attendance records.