Cargo Cult Athletic Directors

[sdhusky]

Wrong. Winning is the most important. But the basketball team WON the NC in 2011 and the showing at the F4 in Houston was a disgrace. And it didn't translate into attendance in 2012.

Or weren't you watching? Or learning?

Ok. Pal.

UCONN has won more BB games than RU, BC, USF. Is our fanbase better or worse in BB?

If Geno went to SU and our womens BB sucked, who would have better attendance?

If Calhoun started at RU in 86 and stayed there, do you think they would have a better facility than the RAC? More fans?

Would you rather have Calhound & Geno or Radio ads & Billboards?

 

[BlueMAB]

You think RU benefited more from billboards or beating UofL and finishing in the top 10???

It's what drove the stadium expansion.

You think everything they do outside of the football stadium doesn't matter, when the fact is it's exactly what has helped everyone remember that one good season you just brought up.

I forgot they started handing out trophies for top 10 finishes and "almost" conference championships.

What drove expansion was an administration that saw the big picture. Despite not having the money, they did it anyway. Had UConn pushed through expansion after the BCS bid and two conference championships, we'd be in the ACC. People aren't complaining about a lack of billboards. They are complaining about an administration that calls itself bigtime while acting like a minor league program.

 

[ZooCougar]

Unless GDL was the problem. There have been enough good wins the last two years to conclude that maybe a third year with a new offensive coordinator will return us to our previous glory of 8 wins.

I think most of us would be happy to return to the days of unfulfilling mediocrity.

Fill the stadium again, score more than 2-3 touchdowns a game. That would be fantastic. Will next season be like 2007?

Unfortunately that gets us nowhere, but a long term seat in the new C-USA.

The year after next, we will be in the New, New, New Big East. And we must dominate that conference or at least be solidly in the top 3 to be taken even remotely seriously in terms of getting into a better conference.

Is Pasqualoni the guy who can assure us of that? Based on what we have seen? I don't think so.

 

[ZooCougar]

You think everything they do outside of the football stadium doesn't matter, when the fact is it's exactly what has helped everyone remember that one good season you just brought up.

I forgot they started handing out trophies for top 10 finishes and "almost" conference championships.

What drove expansion was an administration that saw the big picture. Despite not having the money, they did it anyway. Had UConn pushed through expansion after the BCS bid and two conference championships, we'd be in the ACC. People aren't complaining about a lack of billboards. They are complaining about an administration that calls itself bigtime while acting like a minor league program.

Rutgers really didn't accomplish all that much. But they capitalized on it through some incredible marketing. They took a fairly reasonable achievement sold to their fans, their state and their recruits. They were never a force in recruiting even in their own state and all of that changed.

When you win, schools like Rutgers and UConn have to promote it. When Alabama wins, that is just what is expected.

The Cargo Cult AD was Jeff Hathaway. The football program got its new toys and he assumed that it was mission accomplished. The stadium and the training facility were built and he just stopped. Attendance was still strong because the program was new and enthusiasm was still high. He assumed Edsall would stay forever. He never went out and secured the money to pay the assistant coaches more. One coach goes to WVU, Lakatos goes to UGA to coach the same position for more money. We just stopped progressing.

Then Edsall leaves and Hathaway AGAIN complete misreads the situation yet again. He assumed this was a Fiesta Bowl caliber program. But the truth was this was an OK program that had a solid foundation but required an incredible amount of TLC and luck on Edsall's part.

Because nobody every failed upwards better than HCRE.

Waquoit is right. The selling point on Pasqualoni was that he was going to pick up right where we left off. He wasn't going to miss a beat.

That would have been great if the program was in the kind of shape where it only needed a caretaker. But what it really needed was a Charlie Strong, Butch Jones type that would keep charging forward.

Why should we have fired Pasqualoni now? Because he was the wrong guy at the wrong time. Pasqualoni is like a John L. Smith. You hire him for one year when your head coach leaves at a bad time and you are in a bind. Sorry dude, this ain't working. Here is your million bucks. Heard Jerry Jones still needed some coaches down in Dallas.

He should have never been hired. Yeah we could do worse, but that's never a good reason to keep anyone. He is not what we need right now.

 

[BlueDogs]

There are some delusional folks here. To argue that PP has done a good job is clinical insanity. True, wins help a lot. But, to claim wins are the key and defend P in the same breadth is lunacy. He might bring in some talent, but it will be squandered. You can't recruit yourself into a great game day coach.

 

[HuskyBarker]

"It's about getting them right to put the best foot forward. Sell yourself. "

See. We disagree. I think winning is key. You think selling.

And the KEY TO WINNING is doing everthing WELL including the little things!

 

[J187Money]

I thought we had jumped the shark with HFD. Now we are on Cargo Cults? I stand corrected.

 

[RMoore1999]

We've had plenty of great players who were underestimated in HS.

To get to the next level, we need more talent everywhere.

I can't figure out which is more profound, "What made Michigan, ND, Alabama, TX etc was winning. At the highest level. For decades.", or "To get to the next level, we need more talent everywhere."

I vote for better marketing AND more wins. I'm guessing both might help Connecticut progress as a program.

And in the meantime, if we don't hear from Susan on conference affiliation again until we've moved on from the nnnnnbe, I'd be good with that too....

 

[zls44]

The stuff you bitch about is fine to bitch about. You can bitch about the size of the toilets in the Rent. The color of the grass.

Bitch all you want.

Just don't expect anyone to take you seriously when you suggest the difference between the B1G and the BE is how we handle luncheons.

I didn't say it was THE difference. I said it was symbolic.

As for being taken seriously...not worth worrying about. Love your life. Like your sports.

 

[zls44]

I really don't understand how sdhusky thinks that marketing plays no role and is meaningless, yet, here we are.

Do you think Coca-Cola became the most dominant brand on Earth just because it tastes good?

 

[Dann]

This board is full of Cargo Cult wannbe ADs who think the problems of UCONN can be solved by different answers to radio interviews or billboards or how we handle an out of season luncheon.

What made Michigan, ND, Alabama, TX etc was winning. At the highest level. For decades.

UofL showed a commitment to winning by overpaying Strong. That is a real commitment to winning. They gave Krags 3 years and only fired him after he could win only 2 BE games in the final two years.

Entertaining press conferences don't equal winning. Just look at the coaches in New England and the Jets.

HFD, ZLS and ZooWhiner all committed members of the Cargo Cult concept.

If you aren't familiar, Cargo Cults refer to the post WWII cults that sprung up in in the south pacific.

"After World War II anthropologists discovered that an unusual religion had developed among the islanders of the South Pacific. It was oriented around the concept of cargo which the islanders perceived as the source of the wealth and power of the Europeans and Americans. This religion, known as the Cargo Cult, held that if the proper ceremonies were performed shipments of riches would be sent from some heavenly place. It was all very logical to the islanders. The islanders saw that they worked hard but were poor whereas the Europeans and Americans did not work but instead wrote things down on paper and in due time a shipment of wonderful things would arrive.
The Cargo Cult members built replicas of airports and airplanes out of twigs and branches and made the sounds associated with airplanes to try to activate the shipment of cargo."

more cowbell

 

[sdhusky]

I really don't understand how sdhusky thinks that marketing plays no role and is meaningless, yet, here we are.

Do you think Coca-Cola became the most dominant brand on Earth just because it tastes good?

Really?

Are u that dumb?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Really?

Are u that dumb?

Aren't you the one who supported Hathaway because we won national titles and went to a BCS bowl on his watch? And now you're defending the job that P has done? I wouldn't throw stones. Just sayin...............

 

[Srqhusky]

Really?

Are u that dumb?

Coca cola was invented by a pharmacist in ga. Well before electricity. It got its fame via word of mouth mostly

 

[sdhusky]

Aren't you the one who supported Hathaway because we won national titles and went to a BCS bowl on his watch? And now you're defending the job that P has done? I wouldn't throw stones. Just sayin...............

I am saying that PP shouldn't be fired after two seasons. Not that they have been great seasons. They haven't been.

I am also hopeful that PP can turn it around. I want to see him do it and believe there are plenty of cases where a new coach took a couple of seasons to get the team going in his direction.

I supported the hire because of his great track record and the recruiting boost it would give us. I still think his upside is higher than Edsall.

If we have another 5-7 season, I would understand if he got fired, just not after two seasons.

 

[CL82]

Can't see smoke and gunfire everywhere,and it's friendly fire.

CR at least as it applies to our situation, has left a lot of raw nerves.