. ESPN going to feature the conflict

[Tenspro2002]

Say what you want about me or my often-stated personal feelings about the Bristol Cartel, but look: is this stuff really just some crazy conspiracy theory if it's actually happening?...

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you."

 

[UConnNick]

Remember how it felt walking into the Rent when we played Rutgers? That was a rivalry. We don't have that feeling with a single team on our schedule, so why would ESPN make light of this? I thought it was silly, but it makes more sense in the context of trying to recapture some of the excitement that we've lost these last few years.

I think we should make every effort to schedule Rutgers, Syracuse or BS College so we play at least one or more of them every season. We had developed a real rivalry with these teams, particularly Rutgers. They're all close enough to bring a significant number of their fans to games at PAWS-ARF, which adds to the interest and excitement of playing against them.

Picking a team like UCF for a rivalry game made zero sense. They already have an arch rival in the same conference, USF. Very few of their fans will be at games in E. Hartford, and the same goes for our fans in Orlando. It was always a hair brained idea that was doomed to failure.

 

[Caronimo]

Just look at our real rivalries in basketball in the big east... Cuse, BC, Pitt... even St. John's. Calhoun never created some dumb trophy and came out and said these were rivalries. They just happened. You can't just come out and tell someone they are your rival. They are created with close, competitive games where fan bases hate each other. I definitely don't hate UCF... To be honest I like them even more now for making a mockery of the situation.

 

[Marty Jackson]

But rivalry games are a thing and they're cool. And in rivalry games you play for a trophy.

Look, I get it. We didn't ask for this, and he's nuts, and a rivalry with UCF makes zero sense, and....he's nuts.

But at the same time, the groundwork was laid. Whatever embarrassment we'd have to endure already happened. UCF isn't the powerhouse they were when the trophy was created, so they're certainly not above a rivalry with UConn anymore. Everyone in this conference now knows they're stuck here. The garbage trophy Diaco went out and bought at Things Remembered has its own mythos. There's a story there.

And you know, if we can't keep this rivalry game then we're never going to have a rivalry game, because this is how any rivalry game we're in will have to be formed. Like it or not we can't go back in time and make a rivalry game that's actually based on something, and even if we could we probably wouldn't be in the same conference as that other team today.

It's a damn shame if they call it all off now. It is!

My girlfriend went to Northeastern so she didn't have a football team when she was in school, and she's been coming with me to UConn games and has adopted it as her team. There was nothing terribly special about going to a game against a mediocre team in the cold and rain, but I told her about the backstory surrounding the ConFLiCT and she was all about it.

"So Diaco created this out of thin air, like, just for fun?"
"Yep"
"And it's just called the conflict?"
"Well, he capitalized the FL and CT for Connecticut and Florida."
"That's actually pretty good. So we've won it every time?"
"Uh, sort of...Yeah. Well they beat us the first game but Diaco didn't put that game on the trophy for some reason."
"That's hilarious.....this is kind of awesome, we have to win."
"Yes, yes we do"

Long live the damn ConFLiCT.

I agree with you. I am not a 'rivalry expert', but in order to have a rivalry the games need to matter to the fans.
you're traditional football fans and those that have given up on Diaco will probably look down on this as a stupid stunt that only provides negative exposure.
I think it's kind of funny and actually 'peppers the gumbo' for next year's match-up.
Almost to the point of 'hmmmm', was all this done on purpose?

Would be awesome for Uconn to go down next year, put some whooping on the Knights, maybe even run up the score, and then bring out that trophy.

People complain about everything. here's a guy that took a shot, tried to generate some juice in the league and you'd think he just molested someone's dog given some of the reactions.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

At the time UCF by all appearances was the biggest kid on the block and for us to publicly claim we were going after them (considering where we were at the time) was a very bold move and a statement to the entire team as to what he was aiming for.

The bulk of this was lost once UCF's 2015 season turned into a dumpster fire but at the time Diaco went public with this, nobody thought UCF was about to take the nose dive they ended up with.

Well that's just silly. It would be like Tulane declaring UConn their rival in hoops. What would that get them?

 

[whaler11]

The stupidest part was
A: Picking the one FBS team they beat year 1 seemingly for the reason it was the only FBS team they beat.
B: Building a trophy that left the prior year's UCF blowout off of it

 

[Marty Jackson]

Well that's just silly. It would be like Tulane declaring UConn their rival in hoops. What would that get them?

actually it would be nothing like that. Uconn hoops is a blue-blood program. Tulane hoops, not so much.
A better analogy would be Tulane declaring UCF their rival in hoops.

Last time I looked, UCF football was not a top 5 program.

 

[Pudge]

Come on ...

Diaco did it in jest. If that seems quirky; if that seems odd ... that was entirely part of the presentation. And, it still resonates as odd. I bet the Team found a reason to target UCF (despite the miserable last Saturday). Be angry at Diaco for not returning punts or throwing 89% of passes target to #5 or not blitzing really fast big guys. The trophy crap is done.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

But...how can you not see this is a bad idea? What other example do you have where a school created a rivalry with another school THAT THEY HAD NOTHING IN COMMON WITH other than they were forced into a conference together a few years ago? If he tried this with natural rivals...people would love it BC....RU...Cuse...even Temple. But he picked a school that UConn has virtually no history with.

I don't think it was a bad idea either. If the schools you mentioned (excl Temple) played us every year they would be perfect rivals, but they don't. I would imagine that if lowly G5 UConn tried to set up a rivalry game with a P5 school, we'd be publicly mocked again. We've got very little in common with anyone in our league. He's trying to build interest in games we otherwise could care less about if not for being in conference. What is your idea for making USF, UCF, Tulsa, Tulane, etc... interesting games to the casual fan? If they're not ranked coming in then it's just another game. Even when I looked at the schedule, outside of 'Cuse & Virginia, I had no great desire to see any of them. If I wasn't a season ticket holder, those might have been the only games I would have purchased tickets for.

 

[Marty Jackson]

I don't think it was a bad idea either. If the schools you mentioned (excl Temple) played us every year they would be perfect rivals, but they don't. I would imagine that if lowly G5 UConn tried to set up a rivalry game with a P5 school, we'd be publicly mocked again. We've got very little in common with anyone in our league. He's trying to build interest in games we otherwise could care less about if not for being in conference. What is your idea for making USF, UCF, Tulsa, Tulane, etc... interesting games to the casual fan? If they're not ranked coming in then it's just another game. Even when I looked at the schedule, outside of 'Cuse & Virginia, I had no great desire to see any of them. If I wasn't a season ticket holder, those might have been the only games I would have purchased tickets for.

assume you forgot BC (and local rival Maine )...

 

[Fairfield_1st]

assume you forgot BC (and local rival Maine )...

BC was away so that was intentional. I did forget Maine . Maine would have been a great rivalry game in the 1-AA days. They always had good football teams.
Looking ahead to next year, outside of BC and Missouri I'm not sure there's much else.Houston comes back. Hopefully Herman is still there. I should be refunded for the Holy Cross game.

 

[tiger paw]

I was one of the few (as usual) fans that stayed to the end of the game. If I knew they left the trophy I would have been more than happy to take it home. Bring it back to the USF game. It will look good at my pre-game tailgate party.

 

[ZooCougar]

UCF is actually kind of brilliant. In this rivalry, the loser keeps the trophy.

 

[UConnNick]

A sad reality....I would go to the radio show and ask him about the stupid trophy...but.the question would get twisted into some type of recipe for goulash.

Goulash is a good description of our red zone offense.

 

[Drew]

UConn coach defends 'Civil Conflict' rivalry - ESPN Video

 

[ZooCougar]

Lovely.

 

[TheDrifter75]

Though not one of the great all time rivalry games, Nebraska v Colorado was not a rivalry game until Colorado said it was. For years Nebraska never really acknowledged it as one, but Colorado sure hated them and with time the dislike went the other way as well. Now, I know several here will try to pick this apart stating all the differences between that game and the conflict but the fact is no two rivalries start the same. I agree the distance between schools is the biggest hinderence, but there are other long distance rivals. Navy v Airforce v Army and the biggest long distance one to me is ND v USC. Whether anyone wants it or not, something has been started. Only time will tell if this will fester into an oozing wound that can never heal but only be soothed by a victory. I know I'll check the date when the schedule comes out next year.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Like it or not, whenever we play UCF from now on, it's going to be referred to as the ConFLiCT.

In a league with no juice, no backstory, no tradition, why the hell not try something.

 

[TheDrifter75]

Though not one of the great all time rivalry games, Nebraska v Colorado was not a rivalry game until Colorado said it was. For years Nebraska never really acknowledged it as one, but Colorado sure hated them and with time the dislike went the other way as well. Now, I know several here will try to pick this apart stating all the differences between that game and the conflict but the fact is no two rivalries start the same. I agree the distance between schools is the biggest hinderence, but there are other long distance rivals. Navy v Airforce v Army and the biggest long distance one to me is ND v USC. Whether anyone wants it or not, something has been started. Only time will tell if this will fester into an oozing wound that can never heal but only be soothed by a victory. I know I'll check the date when the schedule comes out next year.

Oh, and another thing about Nebraska, not sure how I left this out on the original post, since they joined the B1G, at least 3 new "rivalries" were started with trophies. They have the Heroes trophy with Iowa. They have the Freedom trophy with Wisconsin, to be played this weekend. If those aren't contrived I don't know what is..... Then there is this Internet joke becomes actual Big Ten rivalry trophy

 

[UConnNick]

Oh, and another thing about Nebraska, not sure how I left this out on the original post, since they joined the B1G, at least 3 new "rivalries" were started with trophies. They have the Heroes trophy with Iowa. They have the Freedom trophy with Wisconsin, to be played this weekend. If those aren't contrived I don't know what is..... Then there is this Internet joke becomes actual Big Ten rivalry trophy

The difference between most of these other trophy games and the now deceased "ConFLiCT" is that both schools, or at least fans of both schools agreed on the trophy. Despite what Diaco is claiming went on at the AAC media event, UCF has repeatedly and consistently denied that they wanted any part of it ever since.

Rivalries have to be a two way thing or there's nothing to them. If Husky fans now want to get even for any real or perceived disrespect based on UCF's failure to play along that's fine, but even that factor doesn't make it a rivalry because it's not and it's doubtful it ever will be.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The difference between most of these other trophy games and the now deceased "ConFLiCT" is that both schools, or at least fans of both schools agreed on the trophy. Despite what Diaco is claiming went on at the AAC media event, UCF has repeatedly and consistently denied that they wanted any part of it ever since.

I see it a bit differently.

If a mediocre mid-major men's hoops program tried t star a trophy game with a new conference opponent who while having no real history had a recent run to the sweet sixteen in the tourney nobody would really care. If the UConn men's program somehow ended up with trophy games against Temple, Memphis and a ridiculous twitter created trophy with SMU, it would be time to lock a few people up.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

You know what creates a rivalry... Beat them.
Then beat them again. Bad.

I mean that's exactly what happened last year and the year before.

 

[TheDrifter75]

The difference between most of these other trophy games and the now deceased "ConFLiCT" is that both schools, or at least fans of both schools agreed on the trophy. Despite what Diaco is claiming went on at the AAC media event, UCF has repeatedly and consistently denied that they wanted any part of it ever since.

Rivalries have to be a two way thing or there's nothing to them. If Husky fans now want to get even for any real or perceived disrespect based on UCF's failure to play along that's fine, but even that factor doesn't make it a rivalry because it's not and it's doubtful it ever will be.

To this I point to what I mentioned about Colorado v Nebraska, though it wasn't a trophy game it was a one sided perceived rivalry on Colorado's part. Nebraska just eventually got sick of hearing about Colorado's occasional win and started to look forward to putting the whooping on them. If I'm not mistaken, it was Colorado's HC McCarthy that designated Nebraska as their rival.

 

[BlueMAB]

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I don't care that they left the trophy. It doesn't make me want to beat them any more. Yes, he got some national attention for us. We were made fun of for a couple years, and then we lost a game, at home, against a mediocre team, in front of 20,000 people. Great promotional job Bobby.

I'm not mad at UCF for leaving the trophy, I'm mad at Hathaway, Pasqualoni, and DeLeone for burying the program; and Diaco for losing more games than he wins.

At least we have love and trust and brotherhood and unicorns and rainbows and fairy dust and all that happy horseshit.

 

[StoweD210]

To this I point to what I mentioned about Colorado v Nebraska, though it wasn't a trophy game it was a one sided perceived rivalry on Colorado's part. Nebraska just eventually got sick of hearing about Colorado's occasional win and started to look forward to putting the whooping on them. If I'm not mistaken, it was Colorado's HC McCarthy that designated Nebraska as their rival.

That's the way I remember it, in terms of McCarthy making the Nebraska game Colorado's rivalry game. I think he took it to the lengths of forbidding anyone who worked on his staff (not just coaches, but secretaries and office personnel) from wearing red during the week before the game. Before both teams left for different conferences, the Big 12 moved their game to the day after Thanksgiving to showcase it.