Death of The "Casual Fan"

[Hans Sprungfeld]

UConn Basketball can be successful in the AAC and most if not all of our wounds in this league are self inflicted.

That issue with the fanbase? That's a lot harder to say. I was lucky enough to be in Storrs pre-realignment and had a group text fired up for most games (football too).

These days the only person that even texts UConn sports is my old man (also an alum). Nobody cares anymore about these league games. It's sad but it's the reality my interest isn't the same either.

.
I can't bring myself to like this, but I acknowledge its reality.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

UCONN used to be a big talking point at my company. Now the only thing I hear are snarky remarks like, "Great game last night.....", "Did you watch the game last night? What a joke." "At least we have the women's team." etc. Mostly it's apathy. People just don't care anymore. They've become accepting that this is our reality now. No one gets upset anymore.

I can't bring myself to Like this, but I acknowledge its reality.

 

[Durks07]

The casual fans not dead, he's just tied up in chiefs basement.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

This thread is like an AA meeting but for recovering UConn fans.

Pretty apt, actually. And that's a good thing.

For those who monitor such things, it wouldn't require big data analysis to see how much intersection and overlap there is within this thread between what has often showed up a factions passionately thin-slicing who's a better or worse fan. The consensus is unmistakable and shouldn't be ignored.
We want to come together.
It really is about connecting.
And we have to acknowledge reality.

 

[whaler11]

It’s more than just the recent poor play. This is part of a trend that started a while back.

1. As the school has gotten academically better you have fewer kids who pick it because they grew up fans locally or who focus on sports
2. The student body is more national and international than ever and we ship them and our in-state kids out of town post grad.
3. If you were an adult when the Big East came into being you are either near or past retirement age - so many of those people retire elsewhere.
4. The last 10 years or so of college kids everywhere are less interested in college sports. I think that’s a combination of technology, competition and taste.
5. A lot of the fans who are left are spoiled. We really haven’t had a bad period since they won the NIT. Even when the team was down they still were competitive and in the best league in the country.
6. There are some fans we’ve lost to women’s basketball. They just don’t want to be bothered with something that doesn’t guarantee them 2 national championships every 3 years or so.
7. The NBA is destroying college basketball. That league blew up.
8. College basketball is now only about March. I think people see the small
sample size of games on TV where there are still loud and engaged crowds and ignore the 330 schools where disinterest is in vogue.
9. Everywhere frontruns - but Connecticut is the most frontrunning place I’ve seen. When teams are bad they cease to exist. People just drop them - and that goes for all the professional teams as well. Wait until Brady and Bill move on - it will be hilarious the first Patriots 7-9 season with some below avg QB.

I work for a big company and sit in Hartford. UConn is not a topic and other than fantasy football I don’t hear much sports talk at all from the employees in their 20’s. 15-20 years ago my generation that was all we talked about. We had an 8 hour a day email chain on sports with a huge distribution. The only thing any of my friends who are fans of other teams ask me now about UConn is when is Ollie gone.

 

[Chief00]

The casual fans not dead, he's just tied up in chiefs basement.

Chief has always been a fan, advocate and supporter of the “casual fan”! I really don’t know where that narrative comes from?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

@whaler11 Fantasy Sports (especially football) is a two edged sword. It gets way more people involved in the game, but also ruins some of the integrity (that's too strong of a word, but whatever) of following the sport. Nowadays people would rather their NFL team lose and root for rival players in fantasy over real life.

The NFL product sucks, so I know it's great for the league, but fantasy football in general jumped the shark for me years ago.

As it pertains to UConn, look no further than cell phones and the proliferation of social media. People are buried in their phones even in live events. It's more important to show people that you were there, than actually being there. It's quite deranged. People need their dopamine shot from checking instagram rather than the ballgame. Sad but true.

So, even if we were in the Big East I think you'd still see near empty buildings for Rutgers, USF, Depaul, etc.

 

[whaler11]

@whaler11 Fantasy Sports (especially football) is a two edged sword. It gets way more people involved in the game, but also ruins some of the integrity (that's too strong of a word, but whatever) of following the sport. Nowadays people would rather their NFL team lose and root for rival players in fantasy over real life.

The NFL product sucks, so I know it's great for the league, but fantasy football in general jumped the shark for me years ago.

As it pertains to UConn, look no further than cell phones and the proliferation of social media. People are buried in their phones even in live events. It's more important to show people that you were there, than actually being there. It's quite deranged. People need their dopamine shot from checking instagram rather than the ballgame. Sad but true.

So, even if we were in the Big East I think you'd still see near empty buildings for Rutgers, USF, Depaul, etc.

Someone asked me yesterday who I want to win the Super Bowl. I told them I’d them know when I made my bet. I can’t imagine caring about the NFL outside the context of gambling.

The NCAA tourney is the same thing for 80% of the population. They care about their brackets not who wins.

Concerts are amazing - I have no idea what people do with those cellphone videos.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Concerts are amazing - I have no idea what people do with those cellphone videos.

I swear every morning/night my ear drums are going to get blown out when my fiance plays a snap chat / instagram of a friend at a concert. Always recorded and played at maximum volume (of course).

I actually had been to less than maybe 2 shows up until a few years ago, but since then I've seen Springsteen, Tom Petty, Steely Dan, J. Geils, ZZ Top, Brit Floyd (Pink Floyd cover band), and then taken my fiance to Zac Brown at Fenway and Kenney Chessney at Gillette. Even the country shows, which I don't like, we're fun to attend.

 

[Dove]

can't.stop.watching.

 

[Huskybass]

can't.stop.watching.

Creeper.

 

[8893]

 

[Dove]

During the prime of our prime, you missed a game because you raked leaves.

The Boneyard doesn’t forget.

No bunnies were killed that day @Deepster

 

[Fairfield_1st]

I thought that was Fred Blassi?

I thought that too. But when I fact checked before putting it out there, the first bunch of links gave it to Jesse.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The casual fans not dead, he's just tied up in chiefs basement.

Say no to the lotion casual fans!

 

[HuskyHawk]

Well I might as well weigh in on this. I’ve been a fan since, Jr. High in the late 70s I’d say. Perno years. Great fun teams. Mike McKay, Corny, Verne, Hobbs, Bailey, Chuck A. So what is different then vs now? Some of that was pre Big East. Then I was at Storrs 84-88. Not our best years, except the awesome NIT win. That was huge. But we went to the games and cheered the team.

So I think about the differences. Is it the local opponents? Nah. I don’t really think so. Might have a slight impact at most. I think the two biggest differences are (a) that we won 4 national championships and were a dominant program since, and (b) that the team is so moribund, disorganized and difficult to watch.

Here’s an example. WSU game. We lost at home. But it was entertaining. Tulsa was entertaining. Nova was even somewhat entertaining because we watched a truly great team take us apart, but we tried. Memphis? Arkansas? Temple? Auburn (admittedly a very good team)? Even our OT wins against bad teams. The entire team, and staff, looked like they’d rather get back on the bus and go out for pizza. If the team you are rooting for is just going through the motions, why should you bother? I never got that from Perno’s teams. Maybe the kids are expending effort in those games, but so does a chicken with its head cut off. And we looked more or less like that.

I still get quite a bit of joy watching them when they decide to show up. But it seems like it is only every other game. And I don’t buy the no talent argument. You can’t beat SMU and never really trail and have talent that so bad that you lose to Temple by 20+. That is something else.

 

[ZenConn]

I got a $8 Vance Jackson jersey!!!!!

10 more and you could trade it in for a Big Baller t-shirt!

 

[Huskybass]

Well I might as well weigh in on this. I’ve been a fan since, Jr. High in the late 70s I’d say. Perno years. Great fun teams. Mike McKay, Corny, Verne, Hobbs, Bailey, Chuck A. So what is different then vs now? Some of that was pre Big East. Then I was at Storrs 84-88. Not our best years, except the awesome NIT win. That was huge. But we went to the games and cheered the team.

So I think about the differences. Is it the local opponents? Nah. I don’t really think so. Might have a slight impact at most. I think the two biggest differences are (a) that we won 4 national championships and were a dominant program since, and (b) that the team is so moribund, disorganized and difficult to watch.

Here’s an example. WSU game. We lost at home. But it was entertaining. Tulsa was entertaining. Nova was even somewhat entertaining because we watched a truly great team take us apart, but we tried. Memphis? Arkansas? Temple? Auburn (admittedly a very good team)? Even our OT wins against bad teams. The entire team, and staff, looked like they’d rather get back on the bus and go out for pizza. If the team you are rooting for is just going through the motions, why should you bother? I never got that from Perno’s teams. Maybe the kids are expending effort in those games, but so does a chicken with its head cut off. And we looked more or less like that.

I still get quite a bit of joy watching them when they decide to show up. But it seems like it is only every other game. And I don’t buy the no talent argument. You can’t beat SMU and never really trail and have talent that so bad that you lose to Temple by 20+. That is something else.

I said several months ago that the Perno era was more enjoyable than these last two seasons. We usually played better opponents pretty tough and won most of the games we were supposed to. The teams were never "great", but they were easy to root for. In 38 years as a UConn fan, these past two seasons have been the darkest stretch.

 

[UConnNick]

@whaler11 Fantasy Sports (especially football) is a two edged sword. It gets way more people involved in the game, but also ruins some of the integrity (that's too strong of a word, but whatever) of following the sport. Nowadays people would rather their NFL team lose and root for rival players in fantasy over real life.

The NFL product sucks, so I know it's great for the league, but fantasy football in general jumped the shark for me years ago.

As it pertains to UConn, look no further than cell phones and the proliferation of social media. People are buried in their phones even in live events. It's more important to show people that you were there, than actually being there. It's quite deranged. People need their dopamine shot from checking instagram rather than the ballgame. Sad but true.

So, even if we were in the Big East I think you'd still see near empty buildings for Rutgers, USF, Depaul, etc.

Agreed, but Rutgers and USF aren't in the NBE. We still play USF in the AAC, and Rutgers moved on to the B10. Think Marquette, Creighton, Butler, Xavier and Seton Hall for some of the NBE teams our fanbase might greet with a collective yawn.

We don't really have any more in common with most of the NBE teams than we do with any of the teams in the AAC. For that matter, we didn't have much in common with the original founding members of the BE. We hardly ever played any of those teams pre-BE. We developed rivalries with a few of them, but only after we became good under Calhoun.

 

[Fishy]

You have to go a long, long way to find a fan base that has taken the body blows that this one has. If the casual fan has dropped off, they’ve got good reason.

The first round of realignment in 2003. The second round in 2011. The third round. The fourth round. The implosion of the Big East. The chaos with the retroactive application of the APR penalty. Calhoun retires. Being slapped into a georgraphically-ludicrous conference with schools that no one cares about. Instead of Big Monday, we know have games at 11 am on Sundays. And now not only do we play bad teams that we have nothing in common with, we lose and lose badly to those teams. Our coach is disengaged and inept and now we have the NCAA snooping around.

If you think you’re a casual fan and you’re still paying attention, you’re a hardcore fan. The casual fans have already been swept away by the avalanche of crap that’s come down on us. We can get them back, but it’s gonna take a while.

 

[UC313]

You have to go a long, long way to find a fan base that has taken the body blows that this one has. If the casual fan has dropped off, they’ve got good reason.

The first round of realignment in 2003. The second round in 2011. The third round. The fourth round. The implosion of the Big East. The chaos with the retroactive application of the APR penalty. Calhoun retires. Being slapped into a georgraphically-ludicrous conference with schools that no one cares about. Instead of Big Monday, we know have games at 11 am on Sundays. And now not only do we play bad teams that we have nothing in common with, we lose and lose badly to those teams. Our coach is disengaged and inept and now we have the NCAA snooping around.

If you think you’re a casual fan and you’re still paying attention, you’re a hardcore fan. The casual fans have already been swept away by the avalanche of crap that’s come down on us. We can get them back, but it’s gonna take a while.

It hurts when you truth like that.

 

[Thirty Three]

Things I learned on the Boneyard this weekend:

1. Joe Zone is killing our democracy.

2. Kevin Ollie is committing genocide.

The most shocking thing I learned on the Boneyard this week:
Chief (according to him) has a masters degree (from UConn).

Which begs the question:
Did he write his thesis in the third person?

Is his masters degree even real, or did he pull a "Drummond" on us?

How many UConn bitches did he hang out with back in the day?

So many questions.

 

[Huskybass]

The most shocking thing I learned on the Boneyard this week:
Chief (according to him) has a masters degree (from UConn). Which begs the question: Is his masters degree real, or did he pull a "Drummond" on us? Did he write his thesis in the 3rd person? How many UConn bitches did he hang out with back in the day? So many questions.

What you talkin' bout Willis?

You must agree though that the Chief persona is absolutely epic. I like Chief, but I would never want to meet him in person. I like the version of Chief that captures his online persona. I would be disappointed in person, because online he is larger than life. A Paul Bunyan of a man, if you will.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I said several months ago that the Perno era was more enjoyable than these last two seasons. We usually played better opponents pretty tough and won most of the games we were supposed to. The teams were never "great", but they were easy to root for. In 38 years as a UConn fan, these past two seasons have been the darkest stretch.

I remember the last four years under Perno far differently than you do.

 

[Bonesbrigade]

The Casual Fan - my thoughts
- Watches most games
- Fills seats at XL /Gampel
- Makes being a die hard more interesting because you have more people to talk about the program with.
- Casual Fan becomes a die hard in tournament play

I work on a campus of around 2,000 employees for the 10 years in North Haven, CT (I think this is a good sample size to gauge current state) . You could go into my cubicle in the early years or office now and easily see I'm a big UConn fan. This drew in a lot of causal fans and a few die hards to regularly talk UConn basketball. This has changed dramatically over the past 4 years but mainly last two.

The few die hards are more casual fans these days and the casual fan has all but disappeared outside of occasionally stopping by after the latest blowout they read in the paper to bust my balls.

I miss the casual fan and hope/believe they will come back once UConn returns to a winning, competitive, relevant program.

I know its hard to quantify but the current lack of interest in the program has to be costing more than KO's buyout over the next few years.

Im still here...lurking...waiting...aint nothing changed on my end...

 

[FfldCntyFan]

You have to go a long, long way to find a fan base that has taken the body blows that this one has. If the casual fan has dropped off, they’ve got good reason.

The first round of realignment in 2003. The second round in 2011. The third round. The fourth round. The implosion of the Big East. The chaos with the retroactive application of the APR penalty. Calhoun retires. Being slapped into a georgraphically-ludicrous conference with schools that no one cares about. Instead of Big Monday, we know have games at 11 am on Sundays. And now not only do we play bad teams that we have nothing in common with, we lose and lose badly to those teams. Our coach is disengaged and inept and now we have the NCAA snooping around.

If you think you’re a casual fan and you’re still paying attention, you’re a hardcore fan. The casual fans have already been swept away by the avalanche of crap that’s come down on us. We can get them back, but it’s gonna take a while.

Before we get too deep into this pity party, keep in mind how long of a way you need to go to find a fan base that has had as much to celebrate over the past 2 1/2 decades, including last season and this one.

 

[Huskybass]

I remember the last four years under Perno far differently than you do.

The records were usually 13-15 or 12-16, but they played hard and rarely got blown out like we are seeing with this team. And most of the losses were to more talented teams. Other than Earl, there wasn't much star power.

 

[willie99]

Most people who talk men's basketball with me ask me about Ollie and when do I think he should be or might be fired. I say the same things I say on this board, the last two years have hurt by Hamilton and injuries and transfers after the reset. It's hard to know where we'd be otherwise, so I give him this year and next. We have good young talent on this roster, talent sitting on the bench and waiting to play, and talent arriving next season.

We need to give him an opportunity to see what he can do with a healthy and complete roster with a little more depth available to him. I don't believe firing Ollie now is the best option for the program.

If they ask about any specific game, I certainly don't pretend there's a game they won't lose, I'm just hoping for the best this year. Without Gilbert AND without Larrier being a stud, this team is simply lacking enough talent to compete day in and day out, too many holes to fill.

I also don't see how either Adams or Larrier are going pro next year, anywhere. Not unless they finish like Caron did in 2002 or MSG did in 2004. Conversely, they can both change to pro status immensely by playing on a team with more talent and more options around there next year.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The records were usually 13-15 or 12-16, but they played hard and rarely got blown out like we are seeing with this team. And most of the losses were to more talented teams. Other than Earl, there wasn't much star power.

I remember too many games against the limes of Georgetown, Nova, St John's where remaining within 20 or so (when there was no shot clock) was a moral victory. I remember a Northeastern team humiliating us and I remember only needing to beat (a then winless in conference) Seton Hall to guarantee a 500 finish (regardless of our BET results) and a bid to the NIT.

Perno's teams led the nation in no shows (except against Cuse and a stray game here or there), even when he had Corny, McKay, et al.

 

[WallStreetHusky]

I remember too many games against the limes of Georgetown, Nova, St John's where remaining within 20 or so (when there was no shot clock) was a moral victory. I remember a Northeastern team humiliating us and I remember only needing to beat (a then winless in conference) Seton Hall to guarantee a 500 finish (regardless of our BET results) and a bid to the NIT.

Perno's teams led the nation in no shows (except against Cuse and a stray game here or there), even when he had Corny, McKay, et al.

I still burn over the game in Hartford against St. Johns with Walter Berry and Willie Glass where we led the the whole game and choked down the stretch for a crushing loss and Dom said to the Courant something along the lines of "I knew we werent meant to win that game". After that the paper bag came with me to home games.