Anyone else still pissed?

[RegisteredUconn]

....and when you don't get results, you better have some image left.

Better to look good than to feel good.

 

[uconndogs]

UL's president was in the Bahamas with their basketball team.

Yup, and his AD got his university into the ACC.

 

[uconndogs]

Better to look good than to feel good.

No, it's better to feel good, but absent that, you better have something to hang your hat on.

Look, Ward and Susan may have already known that we were screwed before Ward was having drinks with little umbrellas. Absent that, he should have been doing EVERYTHING humanly possible to get us into the ACC during that round......EVERYTHING and ANYTHING! Maybe he did, maybe he didn't - I have no idea. All I'm saying is that when this storm hit, I would not have been on an island.

 

[HawkHusky]

No amount of lobbying would have gotten UCONN into the ACC this last time around...the southern ACC schools weren't having it...why is this so difficult to understand?

 

[UConn990411]

I actually really appreciate the Warde-bashing threads.

It let's me know which posters to ignore.

 

[uconndogs]

I actually really appreciate the Warde-bashing threads.

It let's me know which posters to ignore.

Happy to help out..........

 

[UC990411]

No amount of lobbying would have gotten UCONN into the ACC this last time around...the southern ACC schools weren't having it...why is this so difficult to understand?

Dude, it's perception. It doesn't matter if we had no shot. The fact that he was on an island makes it seem like he was ok with us being passed over. Why is this so difficult to understand?

 

[Excalibur]

Dude, it's perception. It doesn't matter if we had no shot. The fact that he was on an island makes it seem like he was ok with us being passed over. Why is this so difficult to understand?

So UL's president was OK with them getting passed over too?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Herbst and Warde blew it. Up until 24 hours before the vote, UConn looked like a lock. All this nonsense about enemies and football schools is a meme that developed after we had lost the vote. If it was so obvious that we had no chance, then why was UConn a lock until 24 hours before the all that stuff was true, and why wasn't Louisville the obvious choice from the beginning?

How did UConn lose an argument about who had the better football program when Louisville was just a few years past being terrible under Kragthorpe? Louisville, like most programs, is only as good as its coach. When it has a good coach, like Pitrino or Strong, it is good, and when it has a bad coach, like Kragthorpe or Cooper, it is bad. True football programs like Clemson can go decades with bad coaches and still be good. The irony is that UConn, with a bad coach, had just beaten Louisville in Louisville right before the vote was taken to select Louisville as a football school.

There is no excuse for losing the sale to Louisville. None. In the real world, the sales team would get fired for this mistake. I have seen CEO's of small companies get fired for not getting a big sale, and this was the biggest for the athletic program. Athletics is a small part of Herbst's job, so I obviously don't think she should get fired for this, but let's not make excuses for them. They should have closed the sale.

As I think about the reasons for the decline, including Jurich's genius ability to make the ACC think an invitation from the Big 12 was imminent if the ACC didn't grab Louisville, I think all of it is fixable. This is a change of position for me. I think that the Pasqualoni situation made people question UConn's commitment to football, and the fact that we didn't have a permanent solution for basketball was definitely stupid. I said at the time that Warde should have signed Ollie to a modest 3 year deal with a small buyout rather than do what he did. By putting Ollie on probation, he was telling the world he didn't think Ollie was the guy, which raised questions for the ACC about the condition of UConn's entire athletic program. I do think Warde's pissing match with Calhoun impacted us at least a little in the vote with the ACC.

On the market and academics, UConn was light years ahead of Louisville, and that should have been driven home. I know a booster at FSU, and I know the school is very sensitive about the national academic perception of the university. I think if UConn had been a little more public about the academic angle, they might have moved just enough members of the FSU BOT to at least make FSU neutral rather than pro-Louisville.

Some of it was just bad timing. Jurich was able to create the illusion of competition for Louisville, whereas if the vote had happened a few months later, he probably wouldn't have been able to pull that off. I also think that if FSU had won a national championship before the vote, they would have been less concerned about the football pedigree of their league and not been an obstacle to UConn.

The bigger problem than the ACC not wanting UConn is that they may not want anyone. The Big 10 is revisiting their ESPN TV contract in about 3 years, which is our next shot at an invitation. The ACC is locked in a deal with 10 or 12 years left on it. There are a couple of look ins, which is our only hope.

 

[CTMike]

I actually agree with everything you wrote Nelson other than the Herbst and Manuel blew it. And even with that- maybe they did. None of us know enough (I sure don't) about how it all went down, what arguments were presented. But I refuse to believe the OP's premise that WM was sunning himself on a beach instead of actively working on our behalf.

 

[SAMCRO]

UConn was never "a lock". UConn was a strong possibility, UConn was a viable and attractive option, UConn was a preferred choice by a number of ACC schools - particularly the historical decision makers, but the only people who had UConn as "a lock" were message board posters/bloggers/some jouranlists, not the people who made the actual decisions. There is absolute truth to schools blocking/lobbying against UConn (and that is documented long before UMd announced they were leavign the ACC, back when SyraPitt was chosen). Posters can place blame on WM and SH all they want. They were in charge at the time this all went down, so they do have accountability. But these seeds were sowed long before either stepped into office, in the form of a stagant AD more itnerested in saving a dollar for the school than making a dollar for the shool; in th eform of a grandstanding state politician, and in the fomr of a lame duck President. Would WM staying in Storrs and using social media to lobby for support have changed the ACC's decision? We will ever know for sure (IMO, no it would not have). Would it have improved his perception amongst UConn fans? No one will ever know for sure (IMO, no, the posters who want/wanted him gone would still feel that way, and the posters who are supportive of him would still feel that way).

We are here now, and all they can do is be prepared for the next round...and there will be a next round.

 

[gioff23]

UConn was a lock in your mind and that of some media, with whom you wisely choose to agree or disagree with, depending on whether their opinion aligns with yours. There is no evidence that any school was a lock.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Herbst and Warde blew it. Up until 24 hours before the vote, UConn looked like a lock. All this nonsense about enemies and football schools is a meme that developed after we had lost the vote. If it was so obvious that we had no chance, then why was UConn a lock until 24 hours before the all that stuff was true, and why wasn't Louisville the obvious choice from the beginning?

How did UConn lose an argument about who had the better football program when Louisville was just a few years past being terrible under Kragthorpe? Louisville, like most programs, is only as good as its coach. When it has a good coach, like Pitrino or Strong, it is good, and when it has a bad coach, like Kragthorpe or Cooper, it is bad. True football programs like Clemson can go decades with bad coaches and still be good. The irony is that UConn, with a bad coach, had just beaten Louisville in Louisville right before the vote was taken to select Louisville as a football school.

There is no excuse for losing the sale to Louisville. None. In the real world, the sales team would get fired for this mistake. I have seen CEO's of small companies get fired for not getting a big sale, and this was the biggest for the athletic program. Athletics is a small part of Herbst's job, so I obviously don't think she should get fired for this, but let's not make excuses for them. They should have closed the sale.

As I think about the reasons for the decline, including Jurich's genius ability to make the ACC think an invitation from the Big 12 was imminent if the ACC didn't grab Louisville, I think all of it is fixable. This is a change of position for me. I think that the Pasqualoni situation made people question UConn's commitment to football, and the fact that we didn't have a permanent solution for basketball was definitely stupid. I said at the time that Warde should have signed Ollie to a modest 3 year deal with a small buyout rather than do what he did. By putting Ollie on probation, he was telling the world he didn't think Ollie was the guy, which raised questions for the ACC about the condition of UConn's entire athletic program. I do think Warde's pissing match with Calhoun impacted us at least a little in the vote with the ACC.

On the market and academics, UConn was light years ahead of Louisville, and that should have been driven home. I know a booster at FSU, and I know the school is very sensitive about the national academic perception of the university. I think if UConn had been a little more public about the academic angle, they might have moved just enough members of the FSU BOT to at least make FSU neutral rather than pro-Louisville.

Some of it was just bad timing. Jurich was able to create the illusion of competition for Louisville, whereas if the vote had happened a few months later, he probably wouldn't have been able to pull that off. I also think that if FSU had won a national championship before the vote, they would have been less concerned about the football pedigree of their league and not been an obstacle to UConn.

The bigger problem than the ACC not wanting UConn is that they may not want anyone. The Big 10 is revisiting their ESPN TV contract in about 3 years, which is our next shot at an invitation. The ACC is locked in a deal with 10 or 12 years left on it. There are a couple of look ins, which is our only hope.

Excellent post, Nelson. It speaks to how hell-bent the ACC was to employ illogic in selecting Louisville over UConn. What I don't understand is what Warde was supposed to use to combat irrationality.

For example, Conference X proclaims an unalterable allegiance to academics then invites a new member as distant from its least illustrious member as that conference bottom feeder is from Harvard. What were we supposed to say, "Hell, we don't care all that much whether the kids get an education either"? A prospect (the ACC) with no standards renders a cogent sales pitch, if not impossible, unneccesary. Were I in the market for a house and you a real estate agent, you might ask about my requirements. Were I to say, "I have no idea," what would you do? Ask questions? If I told you I absolutely wouldn't consider living in a certain neighborhood and later you discovered I'd bought a home there from another agent, would you consider yourself a lousy salesman or me a nut?

Our problem in the latest ACC selection wasn't perception. The fix was in and we weren't going. We're persona non grata in Charlotte. If the ACC further expands, look for announcements from Cincinnati and Philadelphia. The whole notion that Louisville was picked, in part, to block the Big 12 from getting them is utter nonsense. What skin would it have been off the ACC's nose if Louisville went to the B12? Why would the ACC be so fevered about contesting yet another small piece of SEC territory with one more University of Afterthought? It made no sense.

Warde wasn't the problem. Swofford's problem solving skills continue to be to throw crap against the wall to see what sticks. You'd think that, at the very least, he'd be looking for what doesn't.

 

[businesslawyer]

Dude, it's perception. It doesn't matter if we had no shot. The fact that he was on an island makes it seem like he was ok with us being passed over. Why is this so difficult to understand?

Why is it so difficult to understand? Because in the real world being on a business trip is not evidence that you don't care about the business just because other things are going on that, God forbid, you keep up with using a cell phone and a laptop or Ipad.

 

[Husky25]

On an even playing field, UConn looks like the better choice. The rub remains that an even field, it was not.

That is the bottom line. Period.

I'm done with the ACC. I'm rooting for a Big Ten invite and from the looks of it, so is UConn's Administration.

 

[CL82]

Why is it so difficult to understand? Because in the real world being on a business trip is not evidence that you don't care about the business just because other things are going on that, God forbid, you keep up with using a cell phone and a laptop or Ipad.

Does a phone call beat a meeting if you are trying to close a deal, particularly if the opposition is actively pursuing the close? When it gets down to the short strokes being there is often critical.

 

[UConn Dan]

Let's face it... this is the real reason why UofL won out...

 

[uconndogs]

There are two basic scenarios. One is that Ward was blind sided and felt that UCONN was a lock and was surprised at the last minute when Louisville was chosen. Under that scenario, he simply dropped the ball, because given the gravity of the issue, he needed to be plugged in and continuing the push for UCONN. The other scenario was that he learned Louisville was the choice with reasonable lead time and came to the conclusion that the dye was caste and there was nothing left to do.

Again, it's just me, but under either scenario, I would have passed on the tourney on the island both for practical reasons and perception. Just me, but when I lead an organization I try to be aware of what the perception of my actions will be. When it's a drop dead issue, I'm visible and available and often it is just flag waiving. In Ward's case there might just have been a scenario where he needed to get to a major airport in a hurry and would have been well served being...........I don't know............in Connecticut.

I seldom agree with much of what Nelson posts, but the comments about Ollie ring some truth to me. I think Ward needed to or get off the pot a lot sooner than he did. Not sure it had any impact on the ACC, but who knows.

I hope Ward turns out to be terrific and I think there is a reasonable chance that turns out to be the case. I'll wait and see.

 

[Sea Goat]

It's 13 months since the ACC decision to take Louisville over UConn. No use dredging up any more stuff re: WM. I just want to see action now (or ASAP) to move us along. It bears repeating until I am "National Flag blue" in the face - the ACC sold a piece of their soul to take Louisville and it will haunt them at some point. As for us, everyone who is anyone has to work to get UConn where it should be - a P-5 conference. And I hope to hell it is the B1G - not because we can then all raise our collective middle fingers at the ACC, but because it will be a far superior situation for UConn. (OK, OK, OK - some of both!)

 

[Husky25]

Let's face it... this is the real reason why UofL won out...

Very confused. Are you saying that this person has something over East Hampton's own Miss USA? Is that Miss Kentucky? Erin Brady went to CCSU but she did flip the coin at the home opener in September...sorry, August.

 

[HawkHusky]

Very confused. Are you saying that this person has something over East Hampton's own Miss USA? Is that Miss Kentucky? Erin Brady went to CCSU but she did flip the coin at the home opener in September...

Maybe he meant UofL girls are easier to get with...

That would also explain the Petrino hire...

Louisville: A University of Low-Standards

 

[UConn Dan]

Very confused. Are you saying that this person has something over East Hampton's own Miss USA? Is that Miss Kentucky? Erin Brady went to CCSU but she did flip the coin at the home opener in September...sorry, August.

Maybe he meant UofL girls are easier to get with...

That would also explain the Petrino hire...

Louisville: A University of Low-Standards

That's the one and only... Jennifer Lawrence... hello?

 

[huskymedic]

That's the one and only... Jennifer Lawrence... hello?

You really need help posting pictures!

 

[Husky25]

Probably should just went with the second picture. The first is not so flattering.

Also, try and indicate the subject. Now that I am a father, my pop culture portfolio is not as diversified beyond the sporting world and I don't get to read US Weekly or People as often.

 

[HawkHusky]

Probably should just went with the second picture. The first is not so flattering.

Also, try and indicate the subject. Now that I am a father, my pop culture portfolio is not as diversified beyond the sporting world and I don't get to read US Weekly or People as often.

Just looked like another typical Louisville Community College sorority b!ch in the first pic.

And no one looks flattering in Louisville apparel...