BC Opposed the Inclusion of UCONN

[GG]

who was apparently the ACC's 2nd choice after the Cuse.

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleg...icles/2011/10/09/power_move_by_acc/?page=full

 

[NHUConnfan]

And what would be dreamy would be for the rest of the ACC to say - yeah BC - what exactly have you done for us lately? And boot them out and take us in. Heh. That would be poetry!

 

[Murph]

Here's hoping BCU never has another ounce of success on the field, on the court, etc.

 

[upstater]

I've been saying this for awhile but several people have been laughing at this idea.

Some people who laughed at my mentioning a veto should weigh in on this.

And yeah, I do think ESPN is exposed here--pretty badly.

 

[pap49cba]

So they screw Uconn and turn their heads on Pitt? What a joke.

 

[upstater]

It pays to understand how unofficial vetos work. If conference members don't honor a veto by another member, they fear that when it comes to blocking a move in their own interests, they won't have the support.

 

[buckley503]

Ouch. As long as DeFelipo is there UConn will never get into the ACC. If the whacky ND +1 scenario to the ACC occurred, you have to believe that RU would be 16.

Hell hath no fury as a scorned.

 

[buckley503]

btw, with their football and basketball programs in serious decline, how safe is DeFelipo's job?

that could be a saving grace down the road.

 

[upstater]

btw, with their football and basketball programs in serious decline, how safe is DeFelipo's job?

that could be a saving grace down the road.

The fact he is mentioning Brodhead and Kzyzyzyzyzewski so casually is OK with the people down at Duke apparently.

 

[uconndogs]

This is a very small man. No vision and even less leadership. He still views BC as an island and fails to realize the importance of regional interest in driving what's best for college athletics in the Northeast and, as a result, BC.

I am less and less concerned about BC as it relates to UCONN's regional dominance in collge athletics regardless of conference affiliation over the short or long-term. That's as much to do with UCONN's continued success as it is with BC's continued failures.

Keep in mind what Gene DeFilippo's current scorecard looks like. He fired/pushed out two of BC's most successesful coaches in O'Brien and Skinner. In their place he hired Jags and then Donohue. Jags inherited one of the best QBs and OLs in college football and was successful with them. He looks to the NFL, GDF fires him and hires a 60+ years old career assistant to a just signed 5 year contract extension. Spaz has already gone through three OC coordinators the most recent made it through 2 games of this current season. If you wish to see the state of BC football currently I suggest you watch one of their games. As a UCONN fan, I promise that you will not be disappointed. I fully expect that BC may not put 25K fannies in the seats by the end of this season. GDF cannot hold any credibility with promising coaching candidates and what is amazing is that he evidently still holds credibility within BC.

Donohue may be a good basketball coach. You will never know at BC. There is simply no way BC will be able to recruit for hoops as a northern outlier in the ACC. Conte is an absolute and utter disaster. Syracues and Pitt in the ACC will do little to alter that.

Please don't misunderstand my point. BC is in a much more stable conference environment than UCONN right now. And the conference shuffle poses significant risks for UCONN. But, BC is on the verge of becoming Duke and Indiana without the basketball. And if that happens, who will care about them. Yes, they will have conference TV money, but they will have nothing in the way of critical regional following.

I envision GDF as a vengeful, little man, but, in all truthfulness, I don't know him. I have seen his strategy and enough of his performance to know that he is very limited. He may for the moment be able to make life dificult for UCONN. But the much more imortant question is - Where can he take BC? The answer so far has been, the cellar.

 

[CT93]

Obviously, BC is not interested in Uconn being in the ACC, but it seems pretty clear that Blaudschun is making up the Uconn was second thing since he cites no ACC source. Does anyone really think BC has that much power in the ACC?

 

[upstater]

This is a very small man. No vision and even less leadership. He still views BC as an island and fails to realize the importance of regional interest in driving what's best for college athletics in the Northeast and, as a result, BC.

I am less and less concerned about BC as it relates to UCONN's regional dominance in collge athletics regardless of conference affiliation over the short or long-term. That's as much to do with UCONN's continued success as it is with BC's continued failures.

Keep in mind what Gene DeFilippo's current scorecard looks like. He fired/pushed out two of BC's most successesful coaches in O'Brien and Skinner. In their place he hired Jags and then Donohue. Jags inherited one of the best QBs and OLs in college football and was successful with them. He looks to the NFL, GDF fires him and hires a 60+ years old career assistant to a just signed 5 year contract extension. Spaz has already gone through three OC coordinators the most recent made it through 2 games of this current season. If you wish to see the state of BC football currently I suggest you watch one of their games. As a UCONN fan, I promise that you will not be disappointed. I fully expect that BC may not put 25K fannies in the seats by the end of this season. GDF cannot hold any credibility with promising coaching candidates and what is amazing is that he evidently still holds credibility within BC.

Donohue may be a good basketball coach. You will never know at BC. There is simply no way BC will be able to recruit for hoops as a northern outlier in the ACC. Conte is an absolute and utter disaster. Syracues and Pitt in the ACC will do little to alter that.

Please don't misunderstand my point. BC is in a much more stable conference environment than UCONN right now. And the conference shuffle poses significant risks for UCONN. But, BC is on the verge of becoming Duke and Indiana without the basketball. And if that happens, who will care about them. Yes, they will have conference TV money, but they will have nothing in the way of critical regional following.

I envision GDF as a vengeful, little man, but, in all truthfulness, I don't know him. I have seen his strategy and enough of his performance to know that he is very limited. He may for the moment be able to make life dificult for UCONN. But the much more imortant question is - Where can he take BC? The answer so far has been, the cellar.

It has nothing to do with revenge or vitriol.

Let's be serious here. Calhoun's public comments were not even of the caliber of Nordenberg's comments ("fox in the henhouse"), but we also know that many nastier things were said behind close doors. We know BC's president was chastised by a board member of one the two schools just admitted to the ACC. In VERY STRONG language. You honestly think this is a vendetta?

It's always been about the same thing. BC is trying to destroy UConn, just like that quote from ages ago given by Bob Ryan. BC fears being swallowed up by UConn.

 

[Vowelguy]

I've been saying this for awhile but several people have been laughing at this idea.

Some people who laughed at my mentioning a veto should weigh in on this.

Ditto.

This was so obvious from the start, I don't understand why anyone ever doubted it.

 

[upstater]

Obviously, BC is not interested in Uconn being in the ACC, but it seems pretty clear that Blaudschun is making up the Uconn was second thing since he cites no ACC source. Does anyone really think BC has that much power in the ACC?

He cites no source? WHHHHAAAA?

“We didn’t want them in,’’ he said. “It was a matter of turf. We wanted to be the New England team.’’

In direct quotes BC didn't want them in.

 

[CT93]

So if the ACC is so hot for Uconn, and basketball matters as Blaudschun would have you believe, why were they not considered during the first expansion?

 

[coachcap]

Reading that column made me feel like UConn is the second coming of Holy Cross. At one time, BCU-Holy Cross was THE rivalry in both football & basketball. Then Holy Cross decided to deemphasize major college sports. In the Big East BC went from a major player to an also ran in hoops at the expense of UConn. According to this column, UConn will be forced to demphasize at the expense of BC with some nudging from ESPN.
Susan Herbst has her work cut out for her. Tying this to another thread, let's hope that UConn gets an invitation to join the Big-10. The power of the Big 10 Network & academic influence of the CIC could once again isolate the Thunder Chickens to the Island of Elba.

 

[CT93]

Once again, the reading comprehension on this cite is lacking. I already stated "Obviously, BC is not interested in Uconn being in the ACC" i am asking for the proof Uconn was the second choice. Obviously the committee discussed numerous BE teams. I am sure Rutgers and WVU etc were also discussed.

 

[Vowelguy]

Does anyone really think BC has that much power in the ACC?

Did you read the story?

Suppose you're hiring someone for a job: you grade candidate #1 as an A-, and candidate #2 as a B+. One of your colleagues however argues passionately that candidate #1 is a an F---, and candidate #2 is an A+. Given that you viewed the 2 options as fairly close, you'd probably be willing to go with the 2nd one given your colleague's strong descent.

 

[NutmegState]

Trust in Susan to get it ironed out...

 

[CT93]

I read the story. Like Blaudschun, I see you are drawing your own conclusions as well. Did you ever think that maybe other people on the committee were also against having Uconn in? You are letting Baudschun's lazy journalism cloud your thinking.

 

[Hoophound]

The B10 needs to expand into the Northeast. The shrinking population and rust belt economic status will burn them if they sit still. Northerners underestimate Southerners. Southerners are crafty as hell and they are "growth" minded. They will come into your territory and eat you up. They don't have the "maintain the status quo" mentality of the north. They will eat you alive if you aren't growing and keeping your eye on the sheep. The SEC and ACC leaders are wreaking havoc all over the country.

Did anyone see the ACC football intro on NBC yesterday? They made it as exciting as the intro for Monday Night Football. The marketing machine has been activated, they intend to win this game. Those that aren't on notice don't get it yet.

 

[uconndogs]

It has nothing to do with revenge or vitriol.

Let's be serious here. Calhoun's public comments were not even of the caliber of Nordenberg's comments ("fox in the henhouse"), but we also know that many nastier things were said behind close doors. We know BC's president was chastised by a board member of one the two schools just admitted to the ACC. In VERY STRONG language. You honestly think this is a vendetta?

It's always been about the same thing. BC is trying to destroy UConn, just like that quote from ages ago given by Bob Ryan. BC fears being swallowed up by UConn.

You may be right that it's not personal at all. But, this is a guy who fired a very successful football coach and ducked up a football program because the guy wasn't a "BC Guy"

Regardless, my main point is that I am not at all conviced his strategy is the right one or will be successful. I don't think he can kill UCONN and he would be much better looking to raise collective interests throughout the Northeast. A rising tide lifting all the boats. He's so fixated on keeping UCONN down, that I don't see anything to suggest how he elevates BC.

 

[Hoophound]

Obviously, BC is not interested in Uconn being in the ACC, but it seems pretty clear that Blaudschun is making up the Uconn was second thing since he cites no ACC source. Does anyone really think BC has that much power in the ACC?

I think the story is clear. UConn was shot down by BC. He could have written it even more clearly, but I think it was crystal clear as presented. BC and Defillipo literally confessed, which was ballsy. They aired it out and threw down the gauntlet. No UConn on their watch and they aren't going to pretend they didn't block us. They did and they are proud of it. End of story. No controversy to see here.

 

[UConnJim]

Living in Boston, you have to understand that The Globe and Blaudschun have it in for BC. I would not take this story at face value, but it is one writers spin on what happened to cast DeFilipo and BC in a negative light. Did BC oppose UConn? Sure. Did they have the ability to block UConn? Probably not. Face it, Pitt is a good alternative to UConn and it has much more football history, so you can't blame the ACC, especially since football money is driving the bus.

In addition, if you think ACC basketball has been bad, what about ACC football? Remember when the ACC was going to get 2 BCS berths in many years? National championships? It has not happened since the ACC expanded.

Blaudschun has great contacts within the Big East including the BE offices and Calhoun. He does not have great contacts within the ACC so take this article with a grain of salt.

 

[upstater]

So if the ACC is so hot for Uconn, and basketball matters as Blaudschun would have you believe, why were they not considered during the first expansion?

First expansion was about football, obviously.