Don't patronize me Susan

[RuffRuff]

The problem with the Memphis' of the world, despite the rankings, is that they've never really been part of anything. There isn't a whole lot of substance behind them, they kind of feel like new money. Artificial southern money(Calipari charged). Like it can go as fast as it's come. There is no history, no being part of something bigger(rivalries, conferences, traditions), no sporting gravitas. It's a commuter school. They had it when they had Calipari, but that was all Calipari and his polarizing way. If there is one thing I've gained from all this BS, its an appreciation for sports rivalry/history. It's such a big part of sports. Great team sports is made up two ways:

1) A game that has juice, ie a tourney game, a game that has(or gives the feeling of) post season ramifications/significance, a game that has some sort of championship impact
2) A game of rivals, two fan bases that hate each other or fan bases that kill to beat each other. A LOT of that is based on geography.


Everything else is pretty much blah. A mid season MLB game of two random teams, booo. But give me the Sox/Yanks anytime. Even early season NFL can even be a little lackluster until things start playing out and the season develops identity.

We are never going to develop rivalries with anyone in the NBE. We aren't going to build a rivalry with an Ohio based school or a Florida based school. I'm with you on Cinci - I know Oscar Robertson played there once and Huggy bear ran a nice thug like program there once. It's hard to even get too pumped about Cuse right now knowing that there will be no continuity(until further notice) as two teams being part of something bigger moving forward together.

For that reason alone, I don't care if it's just a blown up ACC. Let's hope we are there soon. It might not be big time football(let's face it, Uconn will never be big time football), but we get some of our history/rivalries back. We'll get Pitt, Cuse, Ville and maybe even Duke in hoops. Maybe we even get BC, who we would naturally hate - would love it. That's good sports. I'll head up to the airport to see that game. If we get that back after all this crap, that will feel even better.

NBE feels like a league whose had it's balls chopped - like it can still ram it's schlong a bunch, but will shoot blanks.

 

[upstater]

The problem with the Memphis' of the world, despite the rankings, is that they've never really been part of anything. There isn't a whole lot of substance behind them, they kind of feel like new money. Artificial southern money(Calipari charged). Like it can go as fast as it's come. There is no history, no being part of something bigger(rivalries, conferences, traditions), no sporting gravitas. It's a commuter school. They had it when they had Calipari, but that was all Calipari and his polarizing way. If there is one thing I've gained from all this BS, its an appreciation for sports rivalry/history. It's such a big part of sports. Great team sports is made up two ways:

1) A game that has juice, ie a tourney game, a game that has(or gives the feeling of) post season ramifications/significance, a game that has some sort of championship impact
2) A game of rivals, two fan bases that hate each other or fan bases that kill to beat each other. A LOT of that is based on geography.


Everything else is pretty much blah. A mid season MLB game of two random teams, booo. But give me the Sox/Yanks anytime. Even early season NFL can even be a little lackluster until things start playing out and the season develops identity.

We are never going to develop rivalries with anyone in the NBE. We aren't going to build a rivalry with an Ohio based school or a Florida based school. I'm with you on Cinci - I know Oscar Robertson played there once and Huggy bear ran a nice thug like program there once. It's hard to even get too pumped about Cuse right now knowing that there will be no continuity(until further notice) as two teams being part of something bigger moving forward together.

For that reason alone, I don't care if it's just a blown up ACC. Let's hope we are there soon. It might not be big time football(let's face it, Uconn will never be big time football), but we get some of our history/rivalries back. We'll get Pitt, Cuse, Ville and maybe even Duke in hoops. Maybe we even get BC, who we would naturally hate - would love it. That's good sports. I'll head up to the airport to see that game. If we get that back after all this crap, that will feel even better.

NBE feels like a league whose had it's balls chopped - like it can still ram it's schlong a bunch, but will shoot blanks.

Memphis gets a lot of fans at their games. There's a lot more juice there than at a St. John's game for instance.

 

[Alum86]

For hoop yes. They were relevant recently. For FB ? Not so much. Not a lotta interest there

 

[upstater]

For hoop yes. They were relevant recently. For FB ? Not so much. Not a lotta interest there

Nor for St.John's football. So yes, I was comparing the two in bball.

 

[Alum86]

Agree. St, John's cannot draw fleas for hoop. Carneseca Arena a gloified HS arena

 

[TRest]

No one disagrees with you. Herbst is simply dealing with reality here. UConn fans simply must show up to UCF v. UConn at the Rent, and frankly, UConn fans have shown up at MAC teams at the Rent. Just keep doing what we're doing. I know PP is a problem. I can't imagine what's going through their heads other than the fact you don't want to be known as a program that gives coaches only 2 years to prove themselves. Clearly, he's not going to work out. Consider though that Jurich, who is treated as a God around here, gave Krapthorpe 4 years.

Jurich got it done on the ultimate matters. Even Krapthorpe was considered a great hire at the time.

 

[RMoore1999]

No one disagrees with you. Herbst is simply dealing with reality here. UConn fans simply must show up to UCF v. UConn at the Rent, and frankly, UConn fans have shown up at MAC teams at the Rent. Just keep doing what we're doing. I know PP is a problem. I can't imagine what's going through their heads other than the fact you don't want to be known as a program that gives coaches only 2 years to prove themselves. Clearly, he's not going to work out. Consider though that Jurich, who is treated as a God around here, gave Krapthorpe 4 years.

Other than a handful of radio-only games, I've watched every men's hoops game since 1989 (and many before that), attended every game contested at the Rent and spent many pennies traveling across the Nation to watch Connecticut.

I'm not going anywhere irrespective of what league we're in. I'm sure many others who contribute to this Board feel the same way.

Its everyone else, not to mention the next generation of would be Connecticut fans, that I worry about....

 

[upstater]

Other than a handful of radio-only games, I've watched every men's hoops game since 1989 (and many before that), attended every game contested at the Rent and spent many pennies traveling across the Nation to watch Connecticut.

I'm not going anywhere irrespective of what league we're in. I'm sure many others who contribute to this Board feel the same way.

Its everyone else, not to mention the next generation of would be Connecticut fans, that I worry about....

I'm only one decade ahead of you, and I assure you, when UConn was sucking under Dom Perno, there were a lot of people in the stands paying to get in. The only that's changed is ticket prices, but that too can be dealt with,

 

[FDNY99]

Nor for St.John's football. So yes, I was comparing the two in bball.

Upstater...St Johns shut down football years ago.

 

[FDNY99]

Other than Georgetown, I'm honestly not going to miss any of the Catholics. I'd rather play the 3 schools I mentioned. Seton Hall or Tulane or rubbing mus on the belly. Take it or leave it, who cares?

EDIT: LOL, must + ard -- now condiments are banned. Say, what if we rub must + ard on a South Carolina Gamerooster?

TOTALLY agree with you here but I add Nova to Gtown

 

[zls44]

I'm only one decade ahead of you, and I assure you, when UConn was sucking under Dom Perno, there were a lot of people in the stands paying to get in.

When they were playing Big East teams. Who does that in the NBE besides Memphis and MAYBE Temple? Nobody. That's the problem. That's why they will be lucky to draw 8,000 to home games. Lucky.

I'm not happy about that fact. But it is a fact. Nobody's gonna care other than us.

 

[upstater]

When they were playing Big East teams. Who does that in the NBE besides Memphis and MAYBE Temple? Nobody. That's the problem. That's why they will be lucky to draw 8,000 to home games. Lucky.

Cincy.
But what you forget about Perno's teams is they lost. Again and again and again. And they were embarrassing at times. Earl Kelley!!! And I assure you more than 8,000 fans showed up at those games.

It's amazing what winning can do.

To quote Susan Herbst, "Just win, baby!"

 

[zls44]

Cincy.
But what you forget about Perno's teams is they lost. Again and again and again. And they were embarrassing at times. Earl Kelley!!! And I assure you more than 8,000 fans showed up at those games.

It's amazing what winning can do.

To quote Susan Herbst, "Just win, baby!"

They lost playing a ton of top 10 teams with great histories. There was the idea, the hope, the hope of seeing something special, seeing an upset.

What's special about playing Tulane? About playing Houston? Central Florida?

Who cares?

And heaven help you if you lose.

 

[upstater]

They lost playing a ton of top 10 teams with great histories. There was the idea, the hope, the hope of seeing something special, seeing an upset.

What's special about playing Tulane? About playing Houston? Central Florida?

Who cares?

And heaven help you if you lose.

Winning is special. Just wait. And you forget that back then, these teams were not well regarded nationally. Seton Hall, Providence, Pittsburgh, Villanova, BC. All these teams were regional teams. These teams elevated themselves in the early 80s the same way UConn did. Only St. John's, G' Town and Syracuse had the nation's attention. The other teams were not turning heads.

 

[zls44]

Winning is special. Just wait. And you forget that back then, these teams were not well regarded nationally. Seton Hall, Providence, Pittsburgh, Villanova, BC. All these teams were regional teams. These teams elevated themselves in the early 80s the same way UConn did. Only St. John's, G' Town and Syracuse had the nation's attention. The other teams were not turning heads.

They also had a unique national TV deal. It was the perfect intersection of time and opportunity when the Big East and ESPN did that deal.

What now? What's unique now? There's a million channels, it's just hard to sell UConn-SMU when you have Syracuse-UNC or even Syracuse-Wake on another channel.

It's typical of how everything is getting swallowed up now. Remember when the MAAC had a couple of NCAA-caliber teams every year? The MAC? The CAA? The Sun Belt? All of them are way down, talent getting swallowed up by the major conferences, who have cash to splash on facilities and high-profile TV games.

UConn has a decrepit municipal arena 30 miles from campus. And an arena on campus where the roof is LITERALLY FALLING APART.

Ten years of laziness and a lack of vision are the greatest problem. UConn's issues are almost entirely self-made.

 

[UCFBfan]

Ten years of laziness and a lack of vision are the greatest problem. UConn's issues are almost entirely self-made.

That's a big ALMOST. UConn can only do so much in order to get an invite to a bigger conference. They can't do anything about that. What could they have done differently? The only thing I can see is upgrade to FBS many years earlier but who, honestly, would ever have thought they'd be in this situation back in the mid-90's when the decision was made to move up?

No one knows what happened or didn't happen behind closed doors in regards to getting into the ACC over Louisville or getting an invite sooner. So that's all hypothetical thinking.

I just can't say that UConn's current situation is it's own fault. Could their facilities be better? Sure. But would you be trumpeting these facility problems had UConn gotten into the ACC over Louisville? The answer is no. They'd be mentioned as things needed upgrading but that's all.

 

[upstater]

They also had a unique national TV deal. It was the perfect intersection of time and opportunity when the Big East and ESPN did that deal.

What now? What's unique now? There's a million channels, it's just hard to sell UConn-SMU when you have Syracuse-UNC or even Syracuse-Wake on another channel.

It's typical of how everything is getting swallowed up now. Remember when the MAAC had a couple of NCAA-caliber teams every year? The MAC? The CAA? The Sun Belt? All of them are way down, talent getting swallowed up by the major conferences, who have cash to splash on facilities and high-profile TV games.

UConn has a decrepit municipal arena 30 miles from campus. And an arena on campus where the roof is LITERALLY FALLING APART.

Ten years of laziness and a lack of vision are the greatest problem. UConn's issues are almost entirely self-made.

ESPN used to be bass fishing, college basketball, rodeo, bass fishing, sports center, deer hunting, etc. ESPN was nowhere near what it is today, nor did everybody watch it. It hit big around 1985 or 1986. For sure, it had the BE on Monday nights before that and that was huge. But otherwise, the channel was pretty moribund. No pro sports whatsoever other than tennis.

At the time, I actually used to watch a CNN sports show hosted by Nick Charles and Fred Hickman. It was the same as ESPN but just ran more during the day. Think about that, ESPN was going toe-to-toe with CNN Sports back in the day.

 

[uconnfan68]

ESPN used to be bass fishing, college basketball, rodeo, bass fishing, sports center, deer hunting, etc. ESPN was nowhere near what it is today, nor did everybody watch it. It hit big around 1985 or 1986. For sure, it had the BE on Monday nights before that and that was huge. But otherwise, the channel was pretty moribund. No pro sports whatsoever other than tennis.

At the time, I actually used to watch a CNN sports show hosted by Nick Charles and Fred Hickman. It was the same as ESPN but just ran more during the day. Think about that, ESPN was going toe-to-toe with CNN Sports back in the day.

Now they just screw UConn 24x7.

 

[Waquoit]

Why did she lower academic standards then when she could have made an even bolder PR statement by upping admissions standards?

To what end?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Cincy.
But what you forget about Perno's teams is they lost. Again and again and again. And they were embarrassing at times. Earl Kelley!!! And I assure you more than 8,000 fans showed up at those games.

It's amazing what winning can do.

To quote Susan Herbst, "Just win, baby!"

Calling BS.

We are one of the most successful programs of the past 20 years anc coming off a National Title in 2011 and Gampel/XL were morgues for the majority of games. I went to every single home game that season and aside from the 'big' games the crowd was nonexistent.

You think going 24-7 with a C-USA schedule is going to sell out the building to a pretty awful fanbase?

For crying out loud we come off a ranked road win to play #1 Ville at home andthe upperdecks behind the baskets are empty. Im sorry but that was a pathetic showing by the fanbase.

 

[upstater]

Calling BS.

We are one of the most successful programs of the past 20 years anc coming off a National Title in 2011 and Gampel/XL were morgues for the majority of games. I went to every single home game that season and aside from the 'big' games the crowd was nonexistent.

You think going 24-7 with a C-USA schedule is going to sell out the building to a pretty awful fanbase?

For crying out loud we come off a ranked road win to play #1 Ville at home andthe upperdecks behind the baskets are empty. Im sorry but that was a pathetic showing by the fanbase.

Calling BS on the fact that we had lots of fans when we lost during the 1980s? That's what I wrote.

 

[upstater]

To what end?

What are you asking? I'm saying she could have upped standards by admitting better students.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Calling BS on the fact that we had lots of fans when we lost during the 1980s? That's what I wrote.

No. Calling BS on the "that its amazing what winning can do"

We need killer ooc opponents on our home - not preseason or neutral court.- to try and get peopleto come out.

 

[upstater]

No. Calling BS on the "that its amazing what winning can do"

We need killer ooc opponents on our home - not preseason or neutral court.- to try and get peopleto come out.

You're going to be surprised. UConn will be ranked high with the wins and it will bring people out. You watch.

 

[zls44]

ESPN used to be bass fishing, college basketball, rodeo, bass fishing, sports center, deer hunting, etc. ESPN was nowhere near what it is today, nor did everybody watch it. It hit big around 1985 or 1986. For sure, it had the BE on Monday nights before that and that was huge. But otherwise, the channel was pretty moribund. No pro sports whatsoever other than tennis.

At the time, I actually used to watch a CNN sports show hosted by Nick Charles and Fred Hickman. It was the same as ESPN but just ran more during the day. Think about that, ESPN was going toe-to-toe with CNN Sports back in the day.

ESPN went from nothing to national basically overnight. So, yes, that contract was a HUGE deal.