Boneyard inception?

[zls44]

And the day Tom died. That was very sad. So sad.

Oh G-d, now I'm actually laughing so hard I started crying. What a memory that was.

Kids today...they don't even know. I've only been watching since the 02-03 season and I feel like I missed out on most of the fun. I remember there was a guy on the Pitt Rivals site who was convinced Emeka Okafor was the most overrated player in college basketball. That was amusing, especially as the season wore on.

Oklahoma Eric.

Never has one photograph yielded such a torrent of mojo. Kelvin Sampson is STILL calling timeouts to try and slow that run.

 

[zls44]

Here's a look at the place from 1998: http://web.archive.org/web/19980524082316/http://www.uconnfan.com/

If I could impart something to the newer folks, its that people like Tom, Nan, Fishy, Bees, cto, alexd and probably ten-twenty other folks I'm forgetting (definitely not me btw), have actually invested a lot of time in this place. On the Syracuse side too. Money, time, humor, creativity, philanthropy. All of them came out of this...thing...we've got. Wherever we've been.

It's always been fun.

I think that's part of why the conference realignment stuff stinks. Besides UConn's predicament, it has a bit of a St. Elmo's Fire feel to it.

People like EssexEd and Tom shouldn't die, UConn and Syracuse shouldn't be in different conferences, we should be wondering why Jim Calhoun cant develop an inside game and we should all stay in college forever.

 

[Fishy]

While we're taking a trip down memory lane, years ago ESPN ran a poll for the best town/city in college basketball and someone on the Boneyard developed a program to stuff the ballot box for Storrs. Can't remember what it was called but damn that was funny. We inched up from behind Lexington and Durham to take the lead if I'm remembering right. Anyone have more details on that?

You have a great memory - I had forgotten.

I don't remember what we called it, but the guy who used to post as "x" was a freaking genius and he wrote a script that automatically registered votes every time someone loaded a particular link - people from Duke or Kentucky who were just trying to find out what we were up to ended up tallying vote after vote for Storrs.

We won going away.

 

[zls44]

Three other things:

1. I think Fishy posting Odds and Ends was why 25% of people logged on. It was a mix of a recap and harsh criticism of any and every team in the country. I appreciate those posts as the years have gone on and fatherhood has made the man lose his marbles. He's gone from buying Marist season tickets to just hanging around Poughipsiee. It's sad, really.

2. As I understand it, a board volunteer effort putting postcards on parked cars at Gampel Pavilion played a role in UConn going FBS. Posters put the cards on people's windshields with names and phone numbers of various state legislators to call and push the football upgrade. Didn't hurt.

3. The 2004 title commemorative Sports Illustrated ad was basically all Boneyard posters who were filmed walking around the Alamo.

"I get the shirt...AND THE HAT?!?!?!?"


99.99995% of message boards on the Internet are worthless crap. Maybe I'm wrong, but I really think that this place through the years is that other 0.00005%.

 

[temery]

That was "x" who set that up. Haven't seen him since '99.

While we're taking a trip down memory lane, years ago ESPN ran a poll for the best town/city in college basketball and someone on the Boneyard developed a program to stuff the ballot box for Storrs. Can't remember what it was called but damn that was funny. We inched up from behind Lexington and Durham to take the lead if I'm remembering right. Anyone have more details on that?

 

[HuskyNan]

i had forgotten about the kervics. If I remember correctly there were multiple generations of them on the mail list. I recall speaking with one of them about coordinating a group trip to the ncaa tourney since I'm in the travel biz. Or, maybe it was helping them Book a vacation in Tahoe? It's been a long time but I definitely remember them.

Maybe you mean the Husky Road Crew. Brett and I took the trip to Philly to see the men play Villanova at noon in the Wachovia Center (Okafor with a ginormous block with 2 seconds left in a two point game) then the women played on campus that night. The 'Nova fan threw beer bottle at our bus at the Wachovia, but we may have been a tad obnoxious.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I was a regular on the AOL UConn message board with UconnHenry in the early to mid 90s as Chuck. RRLBEES headed up the SU contingent there. Anyone from AOL?

I was originally on AOL 20 years ago, and remember JKul and Vuce posting frequently; I used my screenname, because I didn't know there were any other options. Think I kept the same name until Scout. My recollection is returning home from a southern California trip to visit my girlfriend's family and printing out & reading a huge number of posts from the 1999 NC & days afterward, having been confined to simply commandeering the den and leaving an odd impression during the game itself.

Shortly thereafter I made the migration to each successive BY location, and still miss the days when it seemed like browsers allowed exverything and chatroom access was free and universal. Then again, it was challenging to watch the game while glued to a desktop monitor with a bulky TV in aother part of the room. And was I really on dialup?

 

[temery]

I was originally on AOL 20 years ago, and remember JKul and Vuce posting frequently; I used my screenname, because I didn't know there were any other options. Think I kept the same name until Scout. My recollection is returning home from a southern California trip to visit my girlfriend's family and printing out & reading a huge number of posts from the 1999 NC & days afterward, having been confined to simply commandeering the den and leaving an odd impression during the game itself.

Shortly thereafter I made the migration to each successive BY location, and still miss the days when it seemed like browsers allowed exverything and chatroom access was free and universal. Then again, it was challenging to watch the game while glued to a desktop monitor with a bulky TV in aother part of the room. And was I really on dialup?

The kid Chuck, or Joyce's friend Chuck?

 

[temery]

Pretty much all of the BY's major names showed up for the BYC's of past and it was a pleasure meeting everyone. Hopefully a reunion of sorts on a golf course nearest to you will happen in the future!!

Best BYC moment - first time I ever played golf ... had to use one more of my drives, and I bounced my lefty slice off CinderellaJone's son's chest, right onto the fairway... for the win.

AAAB and Iron Mike pretty much carried the team.

 

[BobbyG]

The kid Chuck, or Joyce's friend Chuck?

I remember Vuce and seeing the old screenshot previously posted reminded me of Revrat. Question: Did McD's pre-exist the Boneyard? I remember going there for news articles and info before becoming a professional Yard lurker.

 

[mauconnfan]

Best BYC moment - first time I ever played golf ... had to use one more of my drives, and I bounced my lefty slice off CinderellaJone's son's chest, right onto the fairway... for the win.

AAAB and Iron Mike pretty much carried the team.

That would be 2nd to Connvict and his little buddy Rip rolling a cart on #13 at Quarry Ridge and the amount of alcohol on the ground thereafter was more than Team Fishy had total in 2 years (which is still amazing and maybe not but......)............and he wasn't done yet as he then took on the defensless pansies and shaved their tops near the pro shop which led to our inability to bring the horror show back to the Ridge!!

Good memories with the crew all sitting behind the 18th green chanting obscenities!!

 

[AtlHusky]

I was a regular on the AOL UConn message board with UconnHenry in the early to mid 90s as Chuck. RRLBEES headed up the SU contingent there. Anyone from AOL?

I found the Boneyard after first finding the AOL board soon after moving to Atlanta and firing up my first PC. I don't recall being on there very long before this came my home for everything UConn hoops.

 

[upstater]

While we're taking a trip down memory lane, years ago ESPN ran a poll for the best town/city in college basketball and someone on the Boneyard developed a program to stuff the ballot box for Storrs. Can't remember what it was called but damn that was funny. We inched up from behind Lexington and Durham to take the lead if I'm remembering right. Anyone have more details on that?

I wrote about this last week. It was a trojan horse program back in 1999. It was an ESPN poll that was remarkably easy to game. You could also vote repeatedly by clicking submit 100 times. Storrs did finish way ahead.

 

[Frank06830]

What a great stroll down memory lane. It seems not too long ago the Courant decided to try and fix something that didn't need fixing in 1996. Fisjy's and Temery''s recall of events is right on. I found myself a UCONN fan once my daughter became a student and cheerleader at UCONN in '95. I was immediately sucked into the board by the knowledge and insights posted by the board's denizens at that time. I happened to be in charge of an interactive group at an advertising agency at the time. It was 1996 and not too many people in the ad business gave a crap about this thing called the Internet. So I was running this start-up interactive group with the agency trying to get clients to build websites and run ad banners. So I was in a position to get a couple of web developers and designers in the group to do a quick work around the Courant problem getting some hosting, plain board functionality and catchy board and. the uconnfan.com UrlI. I was such a Husky fan by that time, no one questioned the allocation of agency resources to my new found passion. It was, as they say, as simpler time then. In any case,thank God Temery''s and Fishy approached me at a time the board was growing too large and clients at the agency seemed to understand the potential of the Net, I was happy to make the transition over to more capable hands.
The rest is history. 3 national championships, a lot of great memories as a fan made more special by this board. ...

 

[upstater]

You have a great memory - I had forgotten.

I don't remember what we called it, but the guy who used to post as "x" was a freaking genius and he wrote a script that automatically registered votes every time someone loaded a particular link - people from Duke or Kentucky who were just trying to find out what we were up to ended up tallying vote after vote for Storrs.

We won going away.

I actually took a screenshot of this.

Must be on my old Dell laptop!

sorry, it would take many man hours to find it, but if I ever find the time to transfer some files (the reason I still have it) then I'll grab it.

 

[upstater]

Wow, thanks for the WayBack Machine.
I thought I hopped on here in 1999, but apparently I was here on 5/11/98 according to that, and I responded to a guy who wrote:

": Calhoun is the most selfish coach in college basketball. First off, he cheats in getting recruits. Second, he pressured RIP in coming back so he could finally have a real chance at getting a shot at the final four. The whole country knows that UCONN is a joke in college basketball. They have top 5 talent every year, but still lose to inferior competition, can you say choke? Just look at ALL the NBA players who came from UCONN(all were bought btw), yet NO final fours, hahaha, you guys are pathetic. RIP is good, but he's not going to lead you to the Championship, maybe the weak @$$ big east, but surely not the NATIONAL. RIP should of gone to the NBA and be a bust instead of coming back for yet ANOTHER final 8 lost. UCONN will NEVER get there, just deal with it!! El-Amin is a joke too, that fat slob is a waste of a scholorship, and he'll end up having kids left and right. Once again, Calhoun should be ashamed of himself in risking a player's future. I like Calhoun as a PERSON, but as a coach and recruiter, he just doesn't have it."

Err, you contradict yourself. Read the first few lines and then the last line.

 

[gibhunter]

The mojo hangings started in the championship year.

The board had a bracket challenge on ESPN - everyone, I mean everyone, took UConn to win the title. Except a poster called DogFather - I think there was the potential to win a pizza for the high scorer and he figured Duke would give him the best chance.

So we had a trial. Obviously, it worked mojo-wise, so we kept doing it.

That's when I joined. I also picked Duke, got myself a hanging and had to post as my signature "Shane Battier is my daddy."

Having said that, the board back then was an ugly mess. I was using a bunch of other message boards for tech sites and the boneyard was by far the worst. Of course I was told to take it or leave it...

 

[61cygni]

Wish I had found out about it earlier... I came around only in time to spend half the day on Rivals and the other half on Scout

 

[tykurez]

Seems like we have a post like this every year or so. Who's going to build out the wikipedia page on the boneyard?

I remember joining as a lurker back in 2002-2003 when I was attending UConn, after converting over from whatever the Courant still had in place at the time.

Gotta say, what this place accomplished this past fall for the Jim Calhoun Foundation was remarkable. Lot of that credit goes to those who helped bring the site to what it is.

 

[The Funster]

I found the 'yard in the summer of 98 and was along for the ride for that magical run in 99. Those were good times. I had been posting on the Big East boards for two years prior to that.

 

[mauconnfan]

Fishy one you missed is GOUCONN ...............and I miss his comedic rant every once in a while about everything from to womens basketball every month or so in the past!!

 

[alexd]

My one regret is that I didn't discover the Boneyard until a month after 77-74. I always wished I had been around to celebrate that first national championship with all these crazy diehards.

My first chance to meet some 'Yarders was in the summer of 2000 when we had that Red Sox game road trip. Had to be 20 or 25 of us. We invaded some 3 floor bar behind the green monster, the name of the bar started with a "J"...a women's name??? First person beerfan and I met was Deepster.

Pedro pitched vs Texas. The Sox scored a ton of runs. We all sat in right field.

 

[gars44]

15 or 16 years and no avatar????
View attachment 2378

There's one!!

I nominate Patrick for "the man." !!

 

[CL82]

FWIW, I wondered over from the Courant board when Tom was hosting the site in his garage. I think HooperScooper, then MassHuskyFan, I think, suggested it. It's a great site and great community.

Let me add the obligatory old guy comment that as good as the site is now, and it still is funny and interesting, it is nothing like what it used to be. Great insights and hysterical commentary. Running jokes and pranks at the time used to go on for pages. There was a recent thread on the Love Potion thread that is my favorite example of this. Now some kind, but misinformed, soul will let someone know that the board is having a little fun with them.

There were some classic battles between posters, but they were funnier, and though harsh, rarely mean spirited. Fishy is a still pretty funny guy but his posts now pale by comparision.

Hangings generated more mojo because people used to fight them. The sentencing thread was hysterical as people would use reason and logic to explain why they shouldn't be hanged and everyone would pile on with trumped up charges. Finally the victim, er defendant, would launch into a go ahead and ban me tirade and then the Jurrdge would explain the actual sentence, typically the addition of a funny signature line. Fishy was hanged one year and his mandated signature line would almost certainly cause this site's profanity filter to blow an o-ring. I believe he is still on an FBI watch list because of it.

That might be the extent of my knowledge, and even much of that was made up.

 

[CL82]

While we're taking a trip down memory lane, years ago ESPN ran a poll for the best town/city in college basketball and someone on the Boneyard developed a program to stuff the ballot box for Storrs. Can't remember what it was called but damn that was funny. We inched up from behind Lexington and Durham to take the lead if I'm remembering right. Anyone have more details on that?

I beleive it was the Votamatic 2000 or something similar.

 

[ZenConn]

Fishy one you missed is GOUCONN ...............and I miss his comedic rant every once in a while about everything from to womens basketball every month or so in the past!!

Definately miss GOUCONN's posts. His posts actually ruined a couple keyboards of mine after spitting out whatever I was drinking at the time ....

 

[partial]

It's nice to know that there's so much history to this place relative to the age of the internet. I was too young and in a different country to even know what the huskies were 16 years ago and god forbid i went online by using the one computer in the country to search for the 'boneyard' looking for 'husky' fans(probably would have gotten stoned by the entire village).

 

[Dove]

In October of 1998 I was bored with the internet after 3 years and started looking for a place to talk Huskies I found McD's site through Husky Hardcores. His site had a link to something called The Boneyard. After two weeks of lurking I needed the right name. And in November I debuted with, of course, an OT thread called "Sexist Pigs of the Boneyard". Basically requesting everyone's top 3 hottest woman Husky players of all time. Back then the men's and women's board were one.

Will always cherish the mojo churning that took place in March. WINNING!! was the best, as was 11 wins in 11 games. Thanks Kemba!!

As for GOUCONN'S "Observations"...we gotta get those back even though they were part of the Golden Age of the Boneyard. Pat Summitt crank jokes NEVER get old.

 

[nomar]

I remember Vuce and seeing the old screenshot previously posted reminded me of Revrat. Question: Did McD's pre-exist the Boneyard? I remember going there for news articles and info before becoming a professional Yard lurker.

Yeah, I read every link on McD's site every day of the 1998-99 season, and started lurking on the Yard at some point because he had a link to that. I didn't post until after the title. The one thing I remember from that time is that Revrat had said in the chatroom during the Duke game that he would have Ricky Moore's baby.

I remember in the fall of 1999 (the Jacob Jaacks year -- ugh), Cuse fans started coming to the Yard in droves. It's amazing to think about it today, but they were extremely good-natured (CTO, for one, but she's still good-natured). There were so many of them that we told them, politely, to get their own board. The current Cuse board is the descendant of that board.

 

[SWHuskyFan]

I was a regular on the AOL UConn message board with UconnHenry in the early to mid 90s as Chuck. RRLBEES headed up the SU contingent there. Anyone from AOL?

I 've been mostly lurking for decades now. I also started with the AOL days. I can't even remember what it was called then. I think I went by huskymaniac for a while. At some point someone beat me to that and I've had several names since. Though I've probably totaled maybe 500 posts the whole time.