DiMauro article

[Bootsthemonkey]

http://theday.com/article/20121129/SPORT01/311299580


I can't disagree. I think the national perception of UConn is a bit unfair and inaccurate but what he says here isn't much different from talks I've had with friends around the country.

 

[huskeynut]

Can't argue with the article. Outside of WBB, our other two programs have no respect. Fact of life. Perception is reality.

 

[warbler1055]

No comment on that is WM's role?

 

[uconNYC]

I agree with DiMauro. Only way to fix it is to win regularly in football and travel to bowl games - because as we well know by now basketball, womens basketball, field hockey and soccer don't matter. First step is sacking HCPP

 

[CL82]

So we're back to 1985? We've got to rebuild from scratch. Sorry not buying it. Our football facilities are great. The rent is smallish but was designed for expansion. We have a new BBall practice facility being built. That's a pretty enviable place to be for most institutions.

 

[Doggie Style]

No, she needs a "new speech writer" AND a new AD as well as a viable Marketing Department!!!!!

How many years have we been screaming about how pathetic Uconn's marketing effort was/IS!!??? I know I have voiced this concern personally to the Athletic Developemnt office, specifically the year before we beat ND in South Bend. At the time everything was just fine so things get cast aside when times are good. This GD article CONFIRMS what we've been saying all along, it doesnt matter what reality is, its what everyone else THINKS it is!! Maybe Susan should get off her ass, fire the architectural firm she hired to draw us a picture of a new campus and take a walk down to Madison Ave and hire the best GD Sports Marketing Firm in the country before we end up in the friggin MAC!!!!!

 

[LIuconn]

Give Nike carte blanche with everything

 

[Doggie Style]

Give Nike carte blanche with everything

Whatever the Hell it takes at this point! We need to cash in every CENT of brand equity NOW with whatever we have left before its gone and take loan if we have to at this point! Its now or never, we're either all in or we're not! Burton was right in the article published yesterday, the programs that have been working on this for 5 years are the ones that are being rewarded. We need to catch up NOW! The State needs to recognize this a make and unprecedented move or else were done.

 

[BlueDogs]

You have an egg head for a President who does not understand the first thing about Football and its relative importance to large university success. Herbst is living in an Ivory Tower fantasy land and what we learned is what I have been saying (no matter how unpopular), Herbst and Warde are way over their heads and have no idea how to market and manuever in a very highstakes full contact business sport (beacuse that is what NCAA football is). They have gotten their rear-ends handed to them. Did they have a bad deck of cards handed to them? Possibly, but they surely did nothing to improve it. Absolutely atrocious.

 

[noeynox]

"ACC officials, unsure if poachers are lurking, are petrified to lose Clemson and Florida State to the SEC. Hence, Louisville, with the better football program at the moment, drew the latest invitation from the ACC to appease Clemson and Florida State."

Come on, after reading that how can you take anything in that article serious. The SEC is on record talking about expanding into states where they don't currently have a team in. Florida and South Carolina don't want FSU and Clemson on equal footing with them. If he is that out of touch with those simple known conceptions I can't take anything in that article seriously. UConn is a top 25 or so public university. All this dude ever does is takes shots at UConn add him to the list of people that can suck it.

 

[BlueDogs]

"ACC officials, unsure if poachers are lurking, are petrified to lose Clemson and Florida State to the SEC. Hence, Louisville, with the better football program at the moment, drew the latest invitation from the ACC to appease Clemson and Florida State."

Come on, after reading that how can you take anything in that article serious. The SEC is on record talking about expanding into states where they don't currently have a team in. Florida and South Carolina don't want FSU and Clemson on equal footing with them. If he is that out of touch with those simple known conceptions I can't take anything in that article seriously. UConn is a top 25 or so public university. All this dude ever does is takes shots at UConn add him to the list of people that can suck it.

True. But, that is what perception does. It creates reality. You've got our little special projects at the helm when we need real proven talent and leadership. Niether have the tarck record to handle this or the weight and contacts on the inside to make anythng happen.

 

[UConn9604]

Another point of dispute that I found was DiMauro's comment that "nobody is convinced UConn men's basketball is going to be a national player again now that Jim Calhoun has retired, thus making Louisville a better option."

Wait -- correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't DiMauro written before that our chances would actually IMPROVE once Calhoun left? (Presumably because he wasn't smart enough to fabricate transcripts like they do at UNC?)

We lost because we didn't get enough votes. It's that simple. We didn't get any better or worse as an institution or athletic department yesterday morning, we just need to figure out how to get enough votes (either in the ACC or somewhere else).

 

[Doggie Style]

"ACC officials, unsure if poachers are lurking, are petrified to lose Clemson and Florida State to the SEC. Hence, Louisville, with the better football program at the moment, drew the latest invitation from the ACC to appease Clemson and Florida State."

Come on, after reading that how can you take anything in that article serious. The SEC is on record talking about expanding into states where they don't currently have a team in. Florida and South Carolina don't want FSU and Clemson on equal footing with them. If he is that out of touch with those simple known conceptions I can't take anything in that article seriously. UConn is a top 25 or so public university. All this dude ever does is takes shots at UConn add him to the list of people that can suck it.

Yeah, no doubt those "lurking" comments are crap but the "perception" angle is my issue. Clearly there is validity to this point and were already in the 4th qtr here. Its sink or swim time! If Malloy takes that 10 million hes cutting from the Uconn budget and allocates it to a Sports Marketing PR firm and is successful!!?? He just GUARENTEED himself his next election. THAT is whats needed here, a BOLD move to send a message to the conferences that we're ALL in and we intend to take a seat at the table from someone else if need be. What happened this week is a clear example that we cannot expect a conference to TELL us we are on the short list, we need to FORCE them to make it happen and thats with powerful messaging and PR. Not the Bull$h*t press releases we've gotten this week. It needs to come under the direction of a major sports marketing brand!

 

[Jimdish255]

None of these post-game rationalizations make any sense to me and getting the true reasons may take a long time. When it finally comes out I suspect Louisville as a perceived football juggernaut will have been a convenient cover for other agendas. Whatever reasons we weren't chosen there was still an obvious miscalculation as to who held the power in this process and it came back to bite us. And yes, Malloy should be part of the solution.

 

[businesslawyer]

Yeah, no doubt those "lurking" comments are crap but the "perception" angle is my issue. Clearly there is validity to this point and were already in the 4th qtr here. Its sink or swim time! If Malloy takes that 10 million hes cutting from the Uconn budget and allocates it to a Sports Marketing PR firm and is successful!!?? He just GUARENTEED himself his next election. THAT is whats needed here, a BOLD move to send a message to the conferences that we're ALL in and we intend to take a seat at the table from someone else if need be. What happened this week is a clear example that we cannot expect a conference to TELL us we are on the short list, we need to FORCE them to make it happen and thats with powerful messaging and PR. Not the Bull$h*t press releases we've gotten this week. It needs to come under the direction of a major sports marketing brand!

Yes.

 

[Nostical]

This thread is almost scary in how measured and accurate everyone is. The full story needs to be told, but there is no question that our perception out there is flawed and floundering. Dynamic, competent leadership is needed right now to promote the image of UConn going forward. As I stated before, we squandered all the "capital" our athletic success handed
us during the caretaker period of Austin, Hogan and Hathaway (sounds like a bad lawfirm)! If I'm Herbst, I'm convening a meeting soon with a top notch athletic marketing firm to take us to the next level of national perception. Even exploring stadium expansion. At the same time she needs to hire top professors, push for more grants, achieve AAU, and keep the spogots of money flowing in. That means courting and "marrying" some big corporate and individual interests to spur us forward. Burton and Shenkman, while phenomenally generous, are only the beginning of the kind of support we need. Hey T. Boone, do you like coal-fired pizza?

 

[ZooCougar]

Ding!

Mike DiMauro hit the nail on the head. We have serious image problem. And it's our fault that we let others define us so easily.

This thread is almost scary in how measured and accurate everyone is. The full story needs to be told, but there is no question that our perception out there is flawed and floundering. Dynamic, competent leadership is needed right now to promote the image of UConn going forward. As I stated before, we squandered all the "capital" our athletic success handed
us during the caretaker period of Austin, Hogan and Hathaway (sounds like a bad lawfirm)! If I'm Herbst, I'm convening a meeting soon with a top notch athletic marketing firm to take us to the next level of national perception. Even exploring stadium expansion. At the same time she needs to hire top professors, push for more grants, achieve AAU, and keep the spogots of money flowing in. That means courting and "marrying" some big corporate and individual interests to spur us forward. Burton and Shenkman, while phenomenally generous, are only the beginning of the kind of support we need. Hey T. Boone, do you like coal-fired pizza?

 

[RedSoloCup]

This thread is almost scary in how measured and accurate everyone is. The full story needs to be told, but there is no question that our perception out there is flawed and floundering. Dynamic, competent leadership is needed right now to promote the image of UConn going forward. As I stated before, we squandered all the "capital" our athletic success handed
us during the caretaker period of Austin, Hogan and Hathaway (sounds like a bad lawfirm)! If I'm Herbst, I'm convening a meeting soon with a top notch athletic marketing firm to take us to the next level of national perception. Even exploring stadium expansion. At the same time she needs to hire top professors, push for more grants, achieve AAU, and keep the spogots of money flowing in. That means courting and "marrying" some big corporate and individual interests to spur us forward. Burton and Shenkman, while phenomenally generous, are only the beginning of the kind of support we need. Hey T. Boone, do you like coal-fired pizza?

I can't find the article, but I seem to remember that improving the academic side of the house was part of her plan.

Makes me nuts since when I read it, I felt that she gets it. Improve that side of the house and get Warde to lead the athletics, not mis-manange it to death like Hathaway.

I will say that I have seen an uptick in the last year, bettor donor communications, better athletics notice of events, better use of social media. They just need to aim outwards with that as well. Get a *@&$^(@#* billboard in Times friggin square.

 

[FASTEDDY]

Ding!

Mike DiMauro hit the nail on the head. We have serious image problem. And it's our fault that we let others define us so easily.

This is exactly correct.

The public perception of UCONN is not nearly true and reflective of the ACTUAL FACTS! ITs a lack of proper marketing and promotion. UCONN is a TOP 25 Pubic University but do you think anyone outsie of CT even knows that? NO!!

Do they know of our Soccer, Baseball and outher successes? NO

We are vieweda a nice little northeastern school, nothing special. It because of the fuc_ked up decision thathave been made.

1) HCPP - GONE!
2) Warde MCFatty - GONE!
3) BIG PR & MARKETING PROGRAM - YES!
4) A PRO-ACTIVE PLAN for CONF. EXPANSION (SHOOT FOR BIG 10) - YES!
5) BIG PUSH TO IMPROVE ALL FACILITIES - YES!
6) STADIUM EXPANSION - YES!
7) FAIRFIELD COUNTY MARKETING PUSH - YES!
8) AGGRESSIVE PUSH to CONNECT / COURT WEALTHY ALUMS - YES!
9) GET IN BED BIG-TIME w/ NIKE - YES!
10) AMP UP NYC PRESENCE - YES!

I know non of this is too easy to do but it must be done or we will continue to be left out int he cold b/c nothing is guaranteed. Next time ACC expands, we can get passed by any number of schools with a lot to offer such as Cincy, USF oe even an UCF etc. The stakes are too large and other schools will have learned from UCONN's SCREW-UP and will have their duck in a row ready and waiting. WILL UCONN LEARN FROM THIS SCREW-UP and make necessary changes? I doubt it but time will tell?

If things are to change, they need to act soon. They don;t have forever in order to get this going. It has to be done @ WARP SPEED / HYPERDRIVE!

 

[uconnbill]

UConn and the state always think small time when it came to UConn sports.
Look at the Gampel Pavillion built to 8,200 and only expanded when it was necessary.
Look at the Rentschler being built to the bare minimum when it should have been built to 50,000.

Small time thinking leads to these kind of decisions by others. Connecticut mentality is small time and some of the fans agree. Now look at Rutgers and Louisville and look at UConn.