Demolish the XL center

[Guapo]

Because Tuscaloosa has a 100,000 friggin' people. To get Mansfield even a quarter of a way to that you better start counting the residents that moo.

And the reason people in Raleigh drive 39 minutes to Chapel Hill is because it gets them to Chapel Hill. The people saying Storrs being 39 minutes from downtown Hartford makes it difficult to get to Gampel on weeknights are starting their drive an hour south of Hartford in Fairfield or Bridgeport -- not in downtown Hartford.

And I know, I know, fans in Kansas City leave work at 12:30 on Tuesday to get to Lawrence for Jayhawks games. But this ain't Kansas and our fans don't operate that way, that's why Gampel has like 3,000 season-ticket holders -- but sure, let's double the number of games there and draw like an A-10 team, especially at a time when there's a thread on this site every other day about how current students don't care about basketball enough to show up or clap like they used to or whatever the complaint of the day is.

Speaking of which, enough about how hard it is for students to get to Hartford on weeknights a handful of times a year. Like half of us are UConn alumni and we all know the biggest decision we were making at 5 p.m. on a game night was whether to go to Huskies for happy hour or pregame in the dorm. You can leave Storrs at like 5:30-6 on a Tuesday and get back to campus at like 9:30-10 a handful of times a season and still graduate on time, I promise.

Fans who go to games in Hartford care every bit as much about this program as the ones who go to games in Storrs, and just because you and a few others decide to s*it post about it every time there's a loss at the XL Center -- which like 5 minutes of internet research disproved having any real impact on performance -- doesn't make that less true.

If you read any of these threads, you’ll know my anti-XL stance has nothing to do with wins and losses.

If you think Bama isn’t playing in Birmingham because Tuscaloosa has 100k people, you are thoroughly out of your depth in knowing what you’re talking about

 

[Kemba Time]

You are the one who made the excuse Tuscaloosa has 100k. Why are the building a 10k arena? My point has always been that we’ve negatively outgrown ( and some of it is team , some of its just todays day and age) 16k barn. It’s bad for us.

First off, I didn't make an excuse. I pointed out a fact. We had 16,000 at the XL Center like 6 weeks ago and everyone who is posting about the attendance against Creighton knows damn well (or should at least) that we'd be putting 16k in for all of these Big East games if the vast majority of downtown Hartford wasn't working from home during a pandemic. 16K in a sold out building anywhere that building sits is good for us, period.

Arguing about the split or that we play too many games in Hartford is fine, I enjoy games in both buildings. I enjoy going to UConn basketball games anywhere they're played -- That's part of what makes me a fan, not some fanboi. But the constant Demolish The XL bit is a slap in the face to a large portion of our fan base who, again, just wants to support our team at a time when our brand needs all the support it can get. It's old and played out (I'll even make the like the XL Center concourse joke for you).

 

[Guapo]

For the record, I don’t think they should play all games at Gampel. They should play all the games during break in Hartford, and you can throw a big Saturday game there during the season too as a bone to the city, if you want

 

[Kemba Time]

If you read any of these threads, you’ll know my anti-XL stance has nothing to do with wins and losses.

If you think Bama isn’t playing in Birmingham because Tuscaloosa has 100k people, you are thoroughly out of your depth in knowing what you’re talking about

Guapo, we've had this conversation before and it turns out we both like each other. One thing you can be damn sure of is that I am not out of my depth. Alabama doesn't play in Birmingham because Alabama and the entire SEC are absolutely nothing like Hartford, CT and the entire northeast and you know that no matter how many times you throw these examples out there.

 

[Guapo]

Guapo, we've had this conversation before and it turns out we both like each other. One thing you can be damn sure of is that I am not out of my depth. Alabama doesn't play in Birmingham because Alabama and the entire SEC are absolutely nothing like Hartford, CT and the entire northeast and you know that no matter how many times you throw these examples out there.

Fair enough. My thinking is if you have more games on campus, you’ll get better student buy-in which creates more fans in the future. In addition, I believe more events held in Storrs will lead to Storrs (continuing) to develop into more of a classic college town and the alumni/fanbase and state can build a more traditional relationship with the state flagship school

 

[Kemba Time]

Fair enough. My thinking is if you have more games on campus, you’ll get better student buy-in which creates more fans in the future. In addition, I believe more events held in Storrs will lead to Storrs (continuing) to develop into more of a classic college town and the alumni/fanbase and state can build a more traditional relationship with the state flagship school

I think winning and gameday experience is what gets you more student buy-in, not the number of games on campus. The not-a-diehard (bending over backwards to not say casual) student fan isn't going to all 10 of the current games at Gampel, let alone doubling that number. I'd be willing to bet that the lost future fans from children around the state who would lose out on the one or two XL Center games their parents get them to now under a Gampel-only plan far exceeds that.


I graduated from UConn during a dual-championship season (how lucky are we that that leaves you guessing how old I am) and don't remember a single person on campus thinking maybe they'd be more into the program if only we had played another 6 games at Gampel that year. On the other hand, I'm married to someone who came to UConn a diehard UConn basketball fan because her dad took her to the Civic Center for a game or two her entire childhood and quite possibly doesn't come to UConn with that if not for those experiences.

One place we can strongly agree is on loving to see UConn continue to develop as more of a classic college town vibe. I know you said you are from out of town, but I strongly strongly urge you and anyone else to get up to the new baseball complex, it's incredible. Made two trips up last spring to see them play and went out for lunch in downtown Storrs beforehand. Seems like a strong example of how UConn can increase its alumni/fanbase as a state flagship (UConn baseball/spring football game doubleheader, anyone?) without deriding the fans whose lives making attending weeknight basketball games in Hartford their primary way of supporting the program.

 

[Guapo]

I think winning and gameday experience is what gets you more student buy-in, not the number of games on campus. The not-a-diehard (bending over backwards to not say casual) student fan isn't going to all 10 of the current games at Gampel, let alone doubling that number. I'd be willing to bet that the lost future fans from children around the state who would lose out on the one or two XL Center games their parents get them to now under a Gampel-only plan.

I graduated from UConn during a dual-championship season (how lucky are we that that leaves you guessing how old I am) and don't remember a single person on campus thinking maybe they'd be more into the program if only we had played another 6 games at Gampel that year. On the other hand, I'm married to someone who came to UConn a diehard UConn basketball fan because her dad took her to the Civic Center for a game or two her entire childhood and quite possibly doesn't come to UConn with that if not for those experiences.

One place we can strongly agree is on loving to see UConn continue to develop as more of a classic college town vibe. I know you said you are from out of town, but I strongly strongly urge you and anyone else to get up to the new baseball complex, it's incredible. Made two trips up last spring to see them play and went out for lunch in downtown Storrs beforehand. Seems like a strong example of how UConn can increase its alumni/fanbase as a state flagship (UConn baseball/spring football game doubleheader, anyone?) without deriding the fans whose lives making attending weeknight basketball games in Hartford their primary way of supporting the program.

I still come home around Easter. I hope to get out to the new baseball stadium soon!

And just want to be clear, aside from user W******* ( ), my intention is never to deride the fandom of any UConn fan, my bone to pick is with the decision makers

 

[Kolumbo]

Because Tuscaloosa has a 100,000 friggin' people. To get Mansfield even a quarter of a way to that you better start counting the residents that moo.

And the reason people in Raleigh drive 39 minutes to Chapel Hill is because it gets them to Chapel Hill. The people saying Storrs being 39 minutes from downtown Hartford makes it difficult to get to Gampel on weeknights are starting their drive an hour south of Hartford in Fairfield or Bridgeport -- not in downtown Hartford.

And I know, I know, fans in Kansas City leave work at 12:30 on Tuesday to get to Lawrence for Jayhawks games. But this ain't Kansas and our fans don't operate that way, that's why Gampel has like 3,000 season-ticket holders -- but sure, let's double the number of games there and draw like an A-10 team, especially at a time when there's a thread on this site every other day about how current students don't care about basketball enough to show up or clap like they used to or whatever the complaint of the day is.

Speaking of which, enough about how hard it is for students to get to Hartford on weeknights a handful of times a year. Like half of us are UConn alumni and we all know the biggest decision we were making at 5 p.m. on a game night was whether to go to Huskies for happy hour or pregame in the dorm. You can leave Storrs at like 5:30-6 on a Tuesday and get back to campus at like 9:30-10 a handful of times a season and still graduate on time, I promise.

Fans who go to games in Hartford care every bit as much about this program as the ones who go to games in Storrs, and just because you and a few others decide to s*it post about it every time there's a loss at the XL Center -- which like 5 minutes of internet research disproved having any real impact on performance -- doesn't make that less true.

We're not Alabama. We're not Kansas. We're not UNC. That is correct. We are UCONN. We're only talking 13,000 seats. If someone wants to get to the game, they will make the drive to Gampel, whether it's 30 minutes or 2 1/2 hours. The most important factor is making it about the students, as easy as possible for the students. Alumni can afford to drive. CT is the smallest state geographically with a D1 basketball power and yet people complain about travel time.

 

[Kemba Time]

We're not Alabama. We're not Kansas. We're not UNC. That is correct. We are UCONN. We're only talking 13,000 seats. If someone wants to get to the game, they will make the drive to Gampel, whether it's 30 minutes or 2 1/2 hours. The most important factor is making it about the students, as easy as possible for the students. Alumni can afford to drive. CT is the smallest state geographically with a D1 basketball power and yet people complain about travel time.

This has been demonstrated time and time again as not true by season-ticket sales, the words of posters on this board and conversations with our fan base: "If someone wants to get to the game, they will make the drive to Gampel, whether it's 30 minutes or 2 1/2 hours."

It's exactly the kind of thing that's thrown out there by the dEmOlIsH tHe Xl CeNtEr posters to diminish the situation presented by other fans who want to support the program as somehow less than those who can get to Gampel by 7 p.m. on a Tuesday evening. The vast majority of fans and ticket purchasers are not diehards like (I assume) you and I, and very much factor feasibility and convenience of getting to the games into their decision whether to buy tickets our not.

"Alumni can afford to drive" is pretty close to the same, whether they can afford to pay for gas or not, leaving work early enough to often enough to justify season tickets for basketball isn't something everyone can afford to do. The commitment to being a basketball season-ticket holder is entirely different than being a football season-ticket holder for that very reason. Using your very terms, fans who get out of work at 5 p.m. can make the drive if it's 30 minutes, they cannot if it is 2 1/2 hours.

You are right though. We are UConn. And we became UConn by playing games in Storrs AND Hartford for the last 40 years, which speaks pretty loudly for how doing so helped us become UConn. Nobody is saying we should play all the games at the XL Center and it's time for the people who feel the need to say that those who can make it to games in Hartford but not get to Storrs by 7 p.m. on a Tuesday are somehow less UConn.

 

[John]

What kind of fragile program do we have that we need to talk about creating an on-campus safe space for it?

 

[Blades]

Wow, alot going on in this thread, but here's some other #'s for ha ha's . Demolish the XL Center along with the 2,700 fans who are willing pay and donate for season tix in Hartford, but have no interest in doing the same for a trip to Storrs. ( especially for FS1's 8:30 games). $ound$ like a logical move because DH's team forgets how to run offense and shoot when they come to the XL.

 

[August_West]

First off, I didn't make an excuse. I pointed out a fact. We had 16,000 at the XL Center like 6 weeks ago and everyone who is posting about the attendance against Creighton knows damn well (or should at least) that we'd be putting 16k in for all of these Big East games if the vast majority of downtown Hartford wasn't working from home during a pandemic. 16K in a sold out building anywhere that building sits is good for us, period.

Arguing about the split or that we play too many games in Hartford is fine, I enjoy games in both buildings. I enjoy going to UConn basketball games anywhere they're played -- That's part of what makes me a fan, not some fanboi. But the constant Demolish The XL bit is a slap in the face to a large portion of our fan base who, again, just wants to support our team at a time when our brand needs all the support it can get. It's old and played out (I'll even make the like the XL Center concourse joke for you).

16k once a year at XL just doesnt justify it. How was Creighton?

And Im already on record saying the large potion of "fan base" who would forgo tix becuase of Gampel instead of XL = 43.

I'll stand by that. Slap 'em.

I have no axe to grind with you personally and appreciate the discourse. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Kemba Time]

16k once a year at XL just doesnt justify it. How was Creighton?

And Im already on record saying the large potion of "fan base" who would forgo tix becuase of Gampel instead of XL = 43.

I'll stand by that. Slap 'em.

I have no axe to grind with you personally and appreciate the discourse. Just my 2 cents.

I've addressed everything you said here in great detail. As the great Guapo would say, you are out of your depth here. I think you know that though, appreciate the conversation.

 

[August_West]

I've addressed everything you said here in great detail. As the great Guapo would say, you are out of your depth here. I think you know that though, appreciate the conversation.

Your depth is as tired as XL

 

[CL82]

Why don't we put an 101,821-seat football stadium on campus

Why? What have you heard?

 

[Guapo]

What kind of fragile program do we have that we need to talk about creating an on-campus safe space for it?

God forbid we should have a college athletic program that plays on a college campus

 

[ctkaiser]

DH says in post presser they don't play well at XL basically. He said " need to find a way to play better when we come in here. "

Seems like he thinks playing at XL is a factor in loss. Not a great mindset for a team with half home games at a place they don't consider favorable to them.

I'll reference the quote from Bob Hurley about coach Dan. He likes to complain.

 

[Fatroony5]

God forbid we should have a college athletic program that plays on a college campus

The two main sports for UConn play a majority of its games off campus 35+ minutes away. What other schools do that? I’ll hang up and listen.

 

[businesslawyer]

By the way, for those of you going tomorrow, enjoy going to an on campus game where the students can just roll out of bed and show up.

What's that you say? They are playing in the city's main arena, a good half an hour away from campus? That can't be the case. I read the Boneyard.

 

[Kolumbo]

This has been demonstrated time and time again as not true by season-ticket sales, the words of posters on this board and conversations with our fan base: "If someone wants to get to the game, they will make the drive to Gampel, whether it's 30 minutes or 2 1/2 hours."

It's exactly the kind of thing that's thrown out there by the dEmOlIsH tHe Xl CeNtEr posters to diminish the situation presented by other fans who want to support the program as somehow less than those who can get to Gampel by 7 p.m. on a Tuesday evening. The vast majority of fans and ticket purchasers are not diehards like (I assume) you and I, and very much factor feasibility and convenience of getting to the games into their decision whether to buy tickets our not.

"Alumni can afford to drive" is pretty close to the same, whether they can afford to pay for gas or not, leaving work early enough to often enough to justify season tickets for basketball isn't something everyone can afford to do. The commitment to being a basketball season-ticket holder is entirely different than being a football season-ticket holder for that very reason. Using your very terms, fans who get out of work at 5 p.m. can make the drive if it's 30 minutes, they cannot if it is 2 1/2 hours.

You are right though. We are UConn. And we became UConn by playing games in Storrs AND Hartford for the last 40 years, which speaks pretty loudly for how doing so helped us become UConn. Nobody is saying we should play all the games at the XL Center and it's time for the people who feel the need to say that those who can make it to games in Hartford but not get to Storrs by 7 p.m. on a Tuesday are somehow less UConn.

What is not true? If people want to get to the game, they will drive. If they don't, they won't. If zero games are played in Hartford I'm pretty sure fans that used to go to Hartford will find a way to get to Gampel, even if it means cutting out of work early once in a while. What?! Casual fans who are not season ticket holders but want to go to a couple two three games a year, yeah, they'll pull the sled. I'm a big fan, I go to very few games, and I'll gladly go to Gampel because games there are great and players don't look like ants.

UCONN should dictate everything about the program. Start the games after 7:30. Allow more students. Play on campus.

 

[businesslawyer]

UCONN should dictate everything about the program. Start the games after 7:30. Allow more students. Play on campus.

Well, I thank you for making the point so clearly. Please explain how UConn goes about dictating to the state legislature that is primarily responsible for its existence and funding.

 

[John]

What is not true? If people want to get to the game, they will drive. If they don't, they won't. If zero games are played in Hartford I'm pretty sure fans that used to go to Hartford will find a way to get to Gampel, even if it means cutting out of work early once in a while. What?! Casual fans who are not season ticket holders but want to go to a couple two three games a year, yeah, they'll pull the sled. I'm a big fan, I go to very few games, and I'll gladly go to Gampel because games there are great and players don't look like ants.

UCONN should dictate everything about the program. Start the games after 7:30. Allow more students. Play on campus.

They can't dictate game times

 

[Fatroony5]

By the way, for those of you going tomorrow, enjoy going to an on campus game where the students can just roll out of bed and show up.

What's that you say? They are playing in the city's main arena, a good half an hour away from campus? That can't be the case. I read the Boneyard.

Yes where they play 3 games in an NBA arena on weekends against marquee opponents that will likely draw a sell out or close to it. That’s the type of set up I’d like to see for XL. Few big games and some winter break games. 3-5 a season is fine.

 

[CL82]

Well, I thank you for making the point so clearly. Please explain how UConn goes about dictating to the state legislature that is primarily responsible for its existence and funding.

Probably by explaining that the XL deal is in efficient, expensive, and cost the taxpayers money.

 

[businesslawyer]

Probably by explaining that the XL deal is in efficient, expensive, and cost the taxpayers money.

That makes sense. But in another life I served as Head Clerk of the Connecticut Appropriations Committee. They play half the games in Hartford because that is required to get the support of the General Assembly that they now have but didn't traditionally have if you go back to the days before basketball success. Facts don't change because you don't think they should be that way.