Can someone find a post that hasn't regressed into a diatribe on coach P?

[cohenzone]

Sorry Marty - this board is just a reflection the reality of what the feeling in the stands was at the end of Towson, Cincinnati, Temple, Western Michigan . . . . 7-8 at home since 2011. Just wondering, if this board didn't exist, what exactly would make it to be fun to a fan these days? If its not fun for you to be a fan, you're blaming the wrong people. Maybe start your own board where only good things can be said. People can tolerate a hiccup or two, a sustained downward path is a whole different matter.

Yeah, but you and some others are way too constant. It gets boring and monotonous. As boring as our O has been, I have news for you. Towson is good. Michigan is way better than us. We weren't that great when we went to the Fiesta Bowl - we won the league with less than a superior record. The difference between two 5-7 years and Edsalls teams was paper thin except for the Orlovsky years. Our lead rb is vey average and Edsall did not leave terrific QBs behind. I'm not a PP fan, but this season is only one game old. He is likely to last the season because firing the HC one game in us not only senseless and unlikely, but football is not a sport with a season so long that an early firing and an interim coach does much to change. If we go winless, I'm going to all the games and UConn is not ruined forever.

 

[ruskin]

CohenZ, I wouldn't have responded except for the unnecessary "I have news for you, Towson is good". Please. Certainly they had good individual talent, but don't turn a team with 22 fewer scholarships into the Monsters of the Midway to minimize how horrendous a loss that was. It was a game Edsall would not have lost.

Getting tired of this "PP is only 45 points from being 18-7" meme that's being floated, too. He's good at losing close games. It's not because Edsall caught all the breaks and he hasn't caught any. If a decent coach is worth 3-4 points a game, then a bad one costs you that much. PP is proving that.

What are you defining as "ruined forever"? If it means being shut out when the conference realignment musical chairs game ends, the damage of a 2-10 season or worse could take years to recover from. And if UConn is 0-11 on Dec. 7 be sure to say hello. It will be very, very easy to find one another at the Rent

 

[cohenzone]

Ruskin. Towson is good and you haven't the foggiest of whether or not RE would have beaten them. I'm disappointed we lost to them, but they had already had a game under their belts against a team and a program that is way better than ours.

You also have no idea how conference realignment will go and I guarantee you that one if 2 things will happen that will be fine for any conference looking at us. We either wind up with a decent record or PP us replaced. I think conferences are a little less apt to let one bad hire affect them. As for fair weather fans, even the Red Sux had a string of sell outs break in a down year.

The point really is, you and others can't stop whining. It truly is monotonous and boring. I don't read any if those threads any more and only the heading of this thread drew me in.

 

[mattp]

Can't we all just accept P needs to go as a given, rather than having to bring it up all the time? Nobody's defending him, so how is this even being debated? Everybody wants him gone. End of Story. This is like Lloyd Carr's last season in Michigan. Everyone knew he was leaving at the end of the season, but they still ended with a nice bowl win, why can't we pretend that's possible? Let's try to salvage some enjoyment from the season without a constant droning about our failure a week ago.

Also, in response to scdono's post above, if you think a win over Maryland (or Michigan for that matter) will combat the constant whining you haven't been here long enough. We could finish 12-1 after beating LSU in the Sugar Bowl and people would bitch about something. Probably that it would mean P and GDL returning.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Can't we all just accept P needs to go as a given, rather than having to bring it up all the time? Nobody's defending him, so how is this even being debated? Everybody wants him gone. End of Story. This is like Lloyd Carr's last season in Michigan. Everyone knew he was leaving at the end of the season, but they still ended with a nice bowl win, why can't we pretend that's possible? Let's try to salvage some enjoyment from the season without a constant droning about our failure a week ago.

Also, in response to scdono's post above, if you think a win over Maryland (or Michigan for that matter) will combat the constant whining you haven't been here long enough. We could finish 12-1 after beating LSU in the Sugar Bowl and people would bitch about something. Probably that it would mean P and GDL returning.

That's the issue. If you post something on here that doesn't snipe at pp or WM it's viewed as accepting the situation. Sadly, there are a lot of fans that really don't want PP to win, and would have conflicts if he did.

 

[cohenzone]

Hey mods, Marty says no more lookalike threads from here on. They're racist.

http://the-boneyard.com/threads/cincy-look-alike-thread.7936/#post-93595
http://the-boneyard.com/threads/louisville-lookalike-thread.6674/page-2#post-80731
I have a lot more faith in Warde as an AD than I do PP as a coach. All I want him to do is say something. Look at Texas and USC in the next two days. I guarantee the AD's there aren't going to be silent.

Why would WM make a public statement? Crappy boss if he did that. Who would want to work for him? If you have any idea what is or isn't happening out if the public eye, you must be WM or the NSA.

 

[Dooley]

We all want the same thing: UCONN to succeed. We all want Pasqualoni and DeLeone out. We all want UCONN to win. We all support the players no matter what and when we boo or make negative comments, it is directed at PP and/or GDL only. Are there alot of threads with anti-Pasqualoni diatribes on them? Yes. Why? Because we are stuck in the AAC and know that while football drives conference realignment, these types of results from the football program, a program that was once seen as the fastest-growing program in the country, hurts our chances of escaping conference purgatory. We are all extra-sensitive to it...I admit that I am extra-sensitive and took the Towson loss incredibly hard (as I'm sure all of you did too). We all know that this is an incredibly important season for UCONN football, perhaps the most important season ever. Get back to a bowl game and get back on the upward trend towards a better conference OR miss out on a bowl game, watch attendance spiral down even further and fall deeper into the AAC abyss.

Being blown out in our home opener by an inferior FCS opponent who is, by far, the worst opponent we will face all year raises the frustration levels even more. But I know that when the ball is kicked off around 7:30 on Saturday night, we will ALL be rooting like heck for the Huskies to win. If they win, we all will be excited for the Michigan game again and hope like heck that the team has turned it around and gotten back on a bowl game trajectory. If they don't win, well, we can all expect the frustration levels to be raised even more...until kickoff of the next game and the next game and the next game and so on.

I don't think it should be taken personally when a poster says something anti-Pasqualoni. It shows that the fanbase cares about losing seasons, losing to FCS opponents, dwindling attendance, an extremely negative national perception against UCONN, and our current standing in the conference realignment landscape. Sure, some of the diatribes are tedious and negative (mine included), but I think, for the most part, they are a direct reflection of what is like to be a UCONN fan right now. Frustration. Anger. Sadness. Passionate. Conference realignment has continually kicked all of us in the private parts and we all want to show, very badly, that UCONN belongs. The disconnect within our fanbase occurs when we use optimist/pessimist tone between gamedays. But I'm convinced that if Ruskin and Marty (or any of us) sat next to each other at the Maryland game, or any game for that matter, there will be high fiving when UCONN does something good and frustration when UCONN does something bad.

Point of all this rambling: let's all try not to have thin skin with one another and continue to support UCONN, however we can.

 

[uchusky32]

That's the issue. If you post something on here that doesn't snipe at pp or WM it's viewed as accepting the situation. Sadly, there are a lot of fans that really don't want PP to win, and would have conflicts if he did.

That's true for some, but if you complain about PP then some on this board say you aren't supporting the team. That sounds like if you didn't support the Iraq war you weren't supporting the troops.

Maybe we feel that we support the team by demanding a better leader.

 

[ruskin]

Towson is good and you haven't the foggiest of whether or not RE would have beaten them. I'm disappointed we lost to them, but they had already had a game under their belts against a team and a program that is way better than ours.

You realize last Thursday was Towson's opener, too, right? There were 0-0 jut like UConn, so there goes the "game under their belts" idea. They played LSU last September. And UConn actually manged to beat a ranked team on the road in November, with five Edsall recruits who are going to be playing Sunday. Randy Edsall was unbeaten (convincingly for the most part) against FCS teams. Not a small sample size either. Lots of data out there to suggest Edsall would have won that game.

 

[junglehusky]

I support the players and school, but the school's leadership -- starting with Larry McHugh and Hathaway - let the players and its constituents down when they made this horrendous mistake in Jan. 2011.

Finally! Putting the majority of the blame where it should go.

EDIT - of course PP gets the majority of the blame, tracing it back to who hired him leads to McHugh and Hathaway.

 

[ZooCougar]

Ruskin. Towson is good and you haven't the foggiest of whether or not RE would have beaten them. I'm disappointed we lost to them, but they had already had a game under their belts against a team and a program that is way better than ours.

WTF are you talking about? Towson had zero games under their belts, go read Mother Jones or something.

 

[UConnDan97]

Well, at least this thread hasn't regressed...

 

[cohenzone]

WTF are you talking about? Towson had zero games under their belts, go read Mother Jones or something.

Picked up the wrong year, for which I am deeply sorry. Which leaves 2 facts unchanged. Towson is a good team and you are a sorry fool who is still hiding behind Fishy's skirt and don't know how to leave the Cesspool out of a sports thread.

 

[cohenzone]

You realize last Thursday was Towson's opener, too, right? There were 0-0 jut like UConn, so there goes the "game under their belts" idea. They played LSU last September. And UConn actually manged to beat a ranked team on the road in November, with five Edsall recruits who are going to be playing Sunday. Randy Edsall was unbeaten (convincingly for the most part) against FCS teams. Not a small sample size either. Lots of data out there to suggest Edsall would have won that game.

I indicated in a reply that I'd clicked on Towsons wrong year. But I don't see how anyone can know what would have happened under Edsall. We will never know and Towson is a good team. Lets see what happens from here on out. Are you sure with Edsall we beat LVille last year? I'm not.

 

[ruskin]

I indicated in a reply that I'd clicked on Towsons wrong year. But I don't see how anyone can know what would have happened under Edsall. We will never know and Towson is a good team. Lets see what happens from here on out. Are you sure with Edsall we beat LVille last year? I'm not.

We did with Don Brown blitzing like crazy

 

[cohenzone]

We did with Don Brown blitzing like crazy

You don't quit. PP was the head coach. You can't blame him for the bad and give him no credit for the good without looking off base.

 

[ruskin]

You don't quit. PP was the head coach. You can't blame him for the bad and give him no credit for the good without looking off base.

Yes, the defense looked just as aggressive as last year against Towson. How did they ever gain almost 400 yards? . . . . .UConn beat Louisville because of Don Brown, Trevardo Williams and the other 3 guys in the league, Yawin, and IN SPITE of PP. You Gil Thorp pollyannas really ought to start your own board, get one "under your belt", as it were.

 

[ZooCougar]

Picked up the wrong year, for which I am deeply sorry. Which leaves 2 facts unchanged. Towson is a good team and you are a sorry fool who is still hiding behind Fishy's skirt and don't know how to leave the Cesspool out of a sports thread.

You have your years mixed up? It's not like we lose to an FCS every session

There is no reason or evidence to suggest any of your posts have any credibility. Now go hand out condoms to 4th graders or something.

 

[RedStickHusky]

We all want the same thing: UCONN to succeed. ...I don't think it should be taken personally....

This is a really excellent post. I wish I could like it twice. Your reference to taking things personally is in the context of BY posts but I think, for most of us, it applies to our fandom (fanhood?) in general. What I want, when I get up at 2 am every Sunday is to go more than one or two possessions before being reminded again that my fanhood is an exercise in masochism. I'd like to not be reminded every week that my inner Pollyanna, convinced that we turned a corner in practice this week that'll put us back on the golden path, is a blithering idiot for rejecting all empirical evidence in favor of unfounded wishes. What I want, is for belief in UConn football to be something not on par with belief in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. It wouldn't take a whole lot of success to make me happy, just a reasonable hope of success would probably get me there.

Oh, and I'd like to able to not consider a 7-pt deficit a three-possession game.

 

[Carl Spackler]

You don't quit. PP was the head coach. You can't blame him for the bad and give him no credit for the good without looking off base.

True. But it's also true that for every good win (i.e. Louisville '12, Pittsburgh '12, Syracuse '11, stomping Rutgers '11 to prevent their BCS game) there are at least two very ugly losses (i.e., Temple '12, NC State '12, USF '12, W. Michigan '12, Vanderbilt '11, Iowa State '11, Pitt '11, W. Mich '11)

The simple fact is that we're 10-15 under Pasqualoni. 5-7, 5-7 and 0-1 so far. This is the worst stretch of UCONN football since the 2005-2006 seasons.

It got turned around in 2007 though when we opened up the season 8-1, with the only loss a 1pt affair on the road at Virginia. It was crystal clear by the end of that season, that we were still not ready to be considered among the top in the country when we went to West Virginia and got steam rolled, but we got it turned around.

There is a long way to go in the 2013 season, and things need to get turned around. One week at a time, that's the only way I can take it now, without a doubt.

We got Maryland on Saturday.

 

[UConn07]

If its not, it's WM, or the fans, or the marketing, or whatever.

The negativity on this board is sucking the fun out of being a husky fan.

Sorry Marty, but us fans don't approve of mediocrity. If you are pleased with what this program has become because of these 2 guys, then good for you. No one is calling out the players, in fact we are all supporting them. But GDL and P have sucked the life blood out of everyone. If the diehards here are jumping ship, what do you think about the fans that consider doing other things besides going to The Rent? I think they would choose something else. It's going to take A LOT for them to want to come back some point down the line, especially with the schedule we are going to have in the future.

 

[cohenzone]

True. But it's also true that for every good win (i.e. Louisville '12, Pittsburgh '12, Syracuse '11, stomping Rutgers '11 to prevent their BCS game) there are at least two very ugly losses (i.e., Temple '12, NC State '12, USF '12, W. Michigan '12, Vanderbilt '11, Iowa State '11, Pitt '11, W. Mich '11)

The simple fact is that we're 10-15 under Pasqualoni. 5-7, 5-7 and 0-1 so far. This is the worst stretch of UCONN football since the 2005-2006 seasons.

It got turned around in 2007 though when we opened up the season 8-1, with the only loss a 1pt affair on the road at Virginia. It was crystal clear by the end of that season, that we were still not ready to be considered among the top in the country when we went to West Virginia and got steam rolled, but we got it turned around.

There is a long way to go in the 2013 season, and things need to get turned around. One week at a time, that's the only way I can take it now, without a doubt.

We got Maryland on Saturday.

I'm not a PP fan. I think he was a bad hire if for no other reason than he was too near retirement. But Ruskin is a being ridiculous. As I said you can't have it both ways, no credit for wins and all the blame for losses.

Beyond that, while I give RE a lot if credit for making us competive faster than I thought possible, I've been to almost every game at the Rent and we were never world beaters with the limited exception of when RE had the good luck to have Orlovsky live in CT. We had perpetual QB issues and no game breaking receivers until RE discovered he had Easley sitting on the bench. While our O has sucked under PP, he didn't miss the field goals against Temple. His 5-7s were not wildly worse than REs records. RE left him with nothing at QB. While the O line might bear some responsibility, our tail back is no Brown, Todman or Dixon. But PP us too stuck on McCombs and last year the use of the wildcat was horrible.

I think Manuel had to keep PP this year. This is really the first year "his" players hit the field and at that, they are all underclassmen. That doesn't mean I like PP. I do know that better programs than ours have lost opening games to teams from lower divisions and had decent seasons. If we have to put up with a horrible season, we are not injured forever. Pure nonsense. If that's the case, PP is gone. If we have a decent record, PP likely stays. I don't think that he is a long term plus, but I also think changing coaches a game or 3 into the season rarely helps things very much.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I'm not a PP fan. I think he was a bad hire if for no other reason than he was too near retirement. But Ruskin is a being ridiculous. As I said you can't have it both ways, no credit for wins and all the blame for losses.

Beyond that, while I give RE a lot if credit for making us competive faster than I thought possible, I've been to almost every game at the Rent and we were never world beaters with the limited exception of when RE had the good luck to have Orlovsky live in CT. We had perpetual QB issues and no game breaking receivers until RE discovered he had Easley sitting on the bench. While our O has sucked under PP, he didn't miss the field goals against Temple. His 5-7s were not wildly worse than REs records. RE left him with nothing at QB. While the O line might bear some responsibility, our tail back is no Brown, Todman or Dixon. But PP us too stuck on McCombs and last year the use of the wildcat was horrible.

I think Manuel had to keep PP this year. This is really the first year "his" layers hut the field and at that, they are all underclassmen. That doesn't mean I like PP. I do know that better programs than ours have lost opening games to teams from lower divisions and had decent seasons. If we have to put up with a horrible season, we are not injured forever. Pure nonsense. If that's the case, PP is gone. If we have a decent record, PP likely stays. I don't think that Je is a long term plus, but I also think changing coaches a game or 3 into the season helps things very much.

That's a sane and rational response and approach. how dare you

I, on the other hand, am fed up, and I"ve got nothing to come back with except irrational anger, and disappointment in losing. I honestly don't know how I will respond to a loss next week. I think I will want the proverbial blood and heads on the platters. I'm actually pretty sure I will, but I'm an emotional type. I can't help it. I get fired up. I absolutely hate losing. I hate it more than anything, it ruins my days.

With that said, my only response, as irrational as it is, is that I think we need more of my attitude from the coaches and players. They need to establish that losing is completely unacceptable. There are just as many mistakes and things to fix and work to do when you are winning, as there are when you are losing, but I guarantee it feels a hell of a lot better to be winning than losing.

I can never accept losing, but I can live with it, when I feel that everybody has given everything they possibly can, and done everything they possibly can to get the win. When you listen to the head coach talk about a player that was in a bad mismatch for the duration of the game, and no adjustments were made, that's not something I can live with.

 

[cohenzone]

That's a sane and rational response and approach. how dare you

I, on the other hand, am fed up, and I"ve got nothing to come back with except irrational anger, and disappointment in losing. I honestly don't know how I will respond to a loss next week. I think I will want the proverbial blood and heads on the platters. I'm actually pretty sure I will, but I'm an emotional type. I can't help it. I get fired up. I absolutely hate losing. I hate it more than anything, it ruins my days.

With that said, my only response, as irrational as it is, is that I think we need more of my attitude from the coaches and players. They need to establish that losing is completely unacceptable. There are just as many mistakes and things to fix and work to do when you are winning, as there are when you are losing, but I guarantee it feels a hell of a lot better to be winning than losing.

I can never accept losing, but I can live with it, when I feel that everybody has given everything they possibly can, and done everything they possibly can to get the win. When you listen to the head coach talk about a player that was in a bad mismatch for the duration of the game, and no adjustments were made, that's not something I can live with.

We all like winning. But it is only football. Given a fairly expensive annual investment in the program, I certainly want the best possible show. As I said, PP seems not to be the one, but a lot of the season is left. If it sucks, I'll still sleep at night, and PP won't last beyond this season. Of course I think we ought to beat the Towsons of the world, but it seems they are a good team. They crushed Holy Cross last week. And it was last week, not last year. Not saying beating Cross is a major thing, but Towson killed them. We look to be killed by Michigan. Beyond that, well, we'll see.

As far as filling stands go, we totally have front running fans. We certainly are no Michigan or VTech (I'm familiar with both) where fans show up no matter what for the most part. We might never have that sort of fan base. I also think UConn does a bad marketing job. I am very friendly with someone in a position to know who thinks that the marketing and development offices might need an infusion of new blood, even though the current crew has well intentioned leadership. Those are the sorts of things the AD needs to attend to quite apart from coaching choices.

 

[Carl Spackler]

We all like winning. But it is only football. Given a fairly expensive annual investment in the program, I certainly want the best possible show. As I said, PP seems not to be the one, but a lot of the season is left. If it sucks, I'll still sleep at night, and PP won't last beyond this season. Of course I think we ought to beat the Towsons of the world, but it seems they are a good team. They crushed Holy Cross last week. And it was last week, not last year. Not saying beating Cross is a major thing, but Towson killed them. We look to be killed by Michigan. Beyond that, well, we'll see.

As far as filling stands go, we totally have front running fans. We certainly are no Michigan or VTech (I'm familiar with both) where fans show up no matter what for the most part. We might never have that sort of fan base. I also think UConn does a bad marketing job. I am very friendly with someone in a position to know who thinks that the marketing and development offices might need an infusion of new blood, even though the current crew has well intentioned leadership. Those are the sorts of things the AD needs to attend to quite apart from coaching choices.

Dagnabbit, will you stop being rational and sane? How are we supposed to get all worked up? LOL.

I completely agree on the marketing/thing. I've seen great change in the past 2 seasons, but I think the old school is too ingrained, and that kind of thing is what the AD needs to put priority on. I was at one of the regular fall fairs that happen all over CT this weekend, and just by observation, I was amazed at the amount of UCONN merchandise walking around. Even the new wolf dog t-shirts were out in force. UCONN has fantastic brand value, and it needs to be maintained, and I also agree, that we may never get a 40,000+ fan base that will show up come hell or high water, and that is most likely a cultural thing, but winning and tradition breeds the fans. It's been a few years since we had an 'official' sell out, but I recall a weekend a while back when Harvard and Yale played in the Yale Bowl, and UCONN hosted somebody at Rentschler, and the combined attendance to those two games - played at the same time, on the same day within an hour, hour and half drive of each other was in the neighborhood of 100,000.

Those are two entirely different fan bases without a doubt (Harvard/yale - UConn) but there is interest in college football in the region - but it's got to be either rich in tradition or winning. UCONN has no such tradition as Harvard and Yale, it's a joke to suggest that we do. Our biggest rival historically, is not URI, or UMass, it's Yale. And it's a rivalry much like our one sided rivalry for a short time was with West Virginia. Yale routinely whipped our tails for decades, until the tide eventually turned, for a very, very brief time, and then it was over.

Oh well, I'm just rambling now. I confess, that it really does bother me when we lose. I get really worked up about it, and it affects me. It's what makes me the fan I am. I've always had the same attitude, whatever it is I'm engaging in. I am competitive by nature, and I want to win and I get upset when I don't. I don't care if I'm bowling against a 12 year old, or a game of monopoly or what. It's often a source of comedy for my family. They love it when I'm losing at something because they know they can press buttons and set me off.

 

[Waquoit]

As far as filling stands go, we totally have front running fans.

I guess that's why all the Preferred seats sold out the minute they went on sale 10 years ago. This program has had the worst marketing from the start. Now that they have lousy marketing and a horrible coach you point to the fans?

 

[Carl Spackler]

I guess that's why all the Preferred seats sold out the minute they went on sale 10 years ago. This program has had the worst marketing from the start. Now that they have lousy marketing and a horrible coach you point to the fans?

That's not really what he did at all. My interpretation is that he pointed out that even with the changes and effort in promotions/marketing, etc... there may be an underlying attitude, that even deeper fundamental change needs to happen to get it right, and he pointed out that in our cultural environment, we may never have the type of fan base that is a guaranteed sellout when times are rough and we aren't winning. I happen to agree with those points. If you do not, then please say why.

 

[ruskin]

IWhile our O has sucked under PP, he didn't miss the field goals against Temple. His 5-7s were not wildly worse than REs records. RE left him with nothing at QB.

OK, since we're going to rehash last season, lets put all those things in full context.

The Temple game should have never come down to field goals. UConn had a 14-0 lead at home after the first quarter, and GDL/PP went into their signature play-it-safe "turtle" mode, two weeks after they did the same exact thing against Buffalo and almost handed away that game (those two games were separated by the wonderful display of play calling and time management at Rutgers)

On paper, 5-7 is not "wildly worse" than 8-5. But with Edsall, for all his warts, you were fairly confident that when you pulled into the Rent the team would be fairly competitive no matter the opponent, and they were 90 percent of the time.

Edsall Rentschler Field record: 40-11. PP: 6-7. Yeah, I'd say that's wildly different.

 

[ctchamps]

If its not, it's WM, or the fans, or the marketing, or whatever.

The negativity on this board is sucking the fun out of being a husky fan.

There is not one UConn fan that felt good after the Towson game! That's a given.
Some people can move on, some can't.
And some of those that can't move on find the need to make sure no else moves on. The lesson isn't about convincing one another to change who we are but to realize that this is the nature of the world. Therefore the only solution for those who want to avoid negativity is to strengthen our resolve in spite of these people.

 

[Carl Spackler]

OK, since we're going to rehash last season, lets put all those things in full context.

The Temple game should have never come down to field goals. UConn had a 14-0 lead at home after the first quarter, and GDL/PP went into their signature play-it-safe "turtle" mode, two weeks after they did the same exact thing against Buffalo and almost handed away that game (those two games were separated by the wonderful display of play calling and time management at Rutgers)

On paper, 5-7 is not "wildly worse" than 8-5. But with Edsall, for all his warts, you were fairly confident that when you pulled into the Rent the team would be fairly competitive no matter the opponent, and they were 90 percent of the time.

Edsall home record: 43-15. PP: 3-4. Yeah, I'd say that's wildly different.

Well to be fair, you got to back further. Edsall was 9-24 in his first three seasons, and if he doesn't land a QB of Orlovsky's ability and play him as a freshmen? Who knows - but he did get Orlovsky and put him in as a frosh. Edsall established a program in BCS level competition in the Big East conference, that was consistent in what it's identity was, and it wasn't going to change for anybody or anything, and was good at it, and we were able for the most part, to be competitive with pretty much 90% of our opponents, except when we went up against teams that had top quality offensive skill and speed. He did not build a balanced offensive attack, and it put a cap on what we were able to accomplish as a program. Edsall also had his own share of head scratching game time decisions and calls.

I think Pasqualoni greatly underestimated the importance to this program, of winning at home. Edsall established that at Rentschler field, and we need to get it back, or it will probably cost Pasqualoni his job IMNSHO. If not mistaken, 2006 was the only season under Edsall at Rentschler field where we had a losing record at home. Had he not landed Orlovsky, I have to wonder if that would be the case, but the fact is he did, so it's moot.

THe fanbase in CT - as I have touched on with another here today, is either going to follow programs with rich, long traditions, or they're going to follow winners. It's our cultural environment, and the existence of the Big EAst conference, it's evolution and then demise, and UCONN's role in it, has left us with no tradition for fans of UCONN football aside from a handful of old timers.

Therefore it's going to take winning to get sell outs. The initial excitement and sales at Rentschler, were fumbled away before it could be capitalized on, but that time is gone, and won't be back, so it's no use mulling over it.