Are We A Spoiled Fanbase?

[HuskyNan]

yeah its so terrible they are getting the number 1 and 2 recruit next year, 24-3 for them is a rebuilding year they are a shoe in for the sweet 16 every year, even Geno has said how spoiled the fans are.

High school players #1, #2 and #6, three of the five finalists for Naismith High School POY.

I don't know how a team can lose a player like Maya Moore (or Kemba Walker) without feeling some pain.

 

[businesslawyer]

I don't blame the Hoop dysfunction on just the Kids. There is a core issue that is threaded through this whole year that NEEDS to be fixed. Otherwise, you can just say the loss of Kemba Walker ... and the add of Andre Drummond, Daniels & Boatwright ... are the killers. It's a fundamental malaise that I think Calhoun recognizes. And, George B. is not even a bandaid.

Sorry to be dense, but what fundamental malaise are we talking about?

 

[noeynox]

We're spoiled in football as well. Very few folks realize the significance of what has been accomplished in a short period of time playing at this level.

When the fan base doesn't expect success, you won't see every game at the Rent played to 96% capacity. The novelty/newness has worn off at this point. I know people who no longer get season tickets and instead cherry pick a few select games, but I think the program is establishing a hardcore fan base as well.

Its a small stadium, but the people of this state have taken to this team. Having expectations is good. A great deal of good has happened to this program both on the field and off since the moment the decision was made to go 1A in football.

I've seen games on TV of both SMU and UCF where their similar sized, new stadiums have tons of empty seats, for conference games. It doesn't look good. Will that change in the Big East, who knows, but to me those are signs of an apathetic fan base. I don't think you can spoil an apathetic fan base. UConn's fan base cares. Boise State's fan base cares. They're probably more spoiled than us since they also upgraded from 1AA and have had a ton more football success than us to date. They always pack their small stadium probably more so than us.

Sorry for the diatribe, but I don't think we are spoiled. Like everything else involving competition, you're in it to be the best. The best to me will be to compete for (not necessarily win) the conference title every year going forward and to ditch the excuses of small state, no recruiting base, no history, etc. We are paying the FB head coach a seven figure salary to compete to be the best, if he can't do it, get someone else up for the challenge. P gets a mulligan for the first year, going forward he HAS to do better with wins and losses or he has to go.

 

[huskypantz]

Yes, we are a spoiled fanbase. One thing that is starting to worry me on the football side is that our fanbase is so used to top 25 teams and postseason success in basketball that slightly above average is just not going to cut it, even in off years. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about top 25, but we're just not there yet. Sometimes it's better to have a healthy serving of lemmings to get you through the lean years. Rutgers has a drop of football success and their fanbase goes crazy - because they've never seen it before.

 

[J187Money]

When the fan base doesn't expect success, you won't see every game at the Rent played to 96% capacity. The novelty/newness has worn off at this point. I know people who no longer get season tickets and instead cherry pick a few select games, but I think the program is establishing a hardcore fan base as well.

Its a small stadium, but the people of this state have taken to this team. Having expectations is good. A great deal of good has happened to this program both on the field and off since the moment the decision was made to go 1A in football.

I've seen games on TV of both SMU and UCF where their similar sized, new stadiums have tons of empty seats, for conference games. It doesn't look good. Will that change in the Big East, who knows, but to me those are signs of an apathetic fan base. I don't think you can spoil an apathetic fan base. UConn's fan base cares. Boise State's fan base cares. They're probably more spoiled than us since they also upgraded from 1AA and have had a ton more football success than us to date. They always pack their small stadium probably more so than us.

Sorry for the diatribe, but I don't think we are spoiled. Like everything else involving competition, you're in it to be the best. The best to me will be to compete for (not necessarily win) the conference title every year going forward and to ditch the excuses of small state, no recruiting base, no history, etc. We are paying the FB head coach a seven figure salary to compete to be the best, if he can't do it, get someone else up for the challenge. P gets a mulligan for the first year, going forward he HAS to do better with wins and losses or he has to go.

When you are the Yankees and have the history and the fan base and the money and you can outspend everyone, you should expect to win every time. But while we are paying a lot for a coach and to run the program, so is everyone else and while our facilities are great they aren't far and away the best and we cannot lure the best players in the country to UCONN. And while I think you are right that we should expect great things here, I think the biggest disagreement is about the timeline. I feel we should keep steadily improving and I do think that we should be able to be a top 25 team on a consistent basis if we run the program right. To be a top 10 team and have a perennial shot at BCS games? I think we can get there but I'm not crying if it takes some time.

 

[SubbaBub]

I don't think I've ever heard any of.our FB fans upset that we aren't yet a top 25 team. At this point most want to beat the teams we are supposed to beat, recruit better than we have and win a big game now and then.

If anyone thinks being upset at a sub-.500 record with the cupcake schedule we have is spoiled, then I'm not sure why they would bother being a fan.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

[UConnDan97]

If anyone thinks being upset at a sub-.500 record with the cupcake schedule we have is spoiled, then I'm not sure why they would bother being a fan.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Well, you've just described me, and I have plenty of reasons that I bother to be a fan. But without getting into all of my reasons, I just wanted to touch on your use of the words "cupcake schedule." I certainly feel like we could have won 3 more games, so clearly I'm disappointed that we didn't, but let's describe your cupcakes, shall we? Are you referring to:

1) Vanderbilt - the bowl-team cupcake out of the SEC that smoked Ole Miss by 23, Wake Forest by 34, and Kentucky by 30, and lost a late game to top-15 Arkansas?
2) Iowa State - the bowl-team cupcake out of the Big12 that smoked Texas Tech by 34, beat Iowa, and laid the only loss on Oklahoma State this past year?
3) Western Michigan - the bowl-team cupcake that lost on a last minute play to Purdue but smoked Central Michigan by 30 (this is admittedly the cupcakiest of the "cupcakes" that we lost to)

So to recap, yeah, I want those games back. OF COURSE I want those games back. But let's not pretend as if we are so far above those teams that if we don't play our "A" game, we can still win. Ask Oklahoma State, Kentucky, and Texas Tech if they got away without playing their "A" games