Geno: "We did a lot of dumb things that are still haunting us."

[CL82]

It makes me laugh that so many people believe that UConn is being excluded from the ACC over hurt feelings. It is being excluded because the certain presidents and ADs feel that it is the best interests of their institutions to exclude them. That's what executives do. They pursue course of action that best position their business enterprises to pursue their long term goals. The lawsuit didn't change that nor would its absence change it.

GDF plainly stated why BCU acted to block Connecticut. It wasn't that his feeling were hurt. It was because he and his administration felt that they could not compete against Connecticut on a level playing field. People were making business decisions in multi-million dollar enterprise and not sulking over perceived slights like a teenage girl. But I'm sure he is wrong and you guys are right.

 

[Gampeltiles]

A contribution to BC is going too far. I'd rather stay in the AAC.

Let's hope that Tulane can fill those 24,000 seats.

 

[TerryD]

Let's hope that Tulane can fill those 24,000 seats.

I hope so too, but have my doubts.

I have lived in Baton Rouge for 31 years. In the Eighties, Tulane's program was fairly healthy. They gave LSU some good games. Tulane went 12-0 back in 1998.

However, lately (and since Katrina), Tulane has played in a cavern (Superdome). I was at the Syracuse/Tulane game a couple of years ago.

There were only about 5,000 people in the 65,000 seat Superdome. Probably 2,000 were Syracuse fans. It is a shame what has happened to its program.

I wish them well and hope that they rebound.

 

[noeynox]

It makes me laugh that so many people believe that UConn is being excluded from the ACC over hurt feelings. It is being excluded because the certain presidents and ADs feel that it is the best interests of their institutions to exclude them. That's what executives do. They pursue course of action that best position their business enterprises to pursue their long term goals. The lawsuit didn't change that nor would its absence change it.

GDF plainly stated why BCU acted to block Connecticut. It wasn't that his feeling were hurt. It was because he and his administration felt that they could not compete against Connecticut on a level playing field. People were making business decisions in multi-million dollar enterprise and not sulking over perceived slights like a teenage girl. But I'm sure he is wrong and you guys are right.

Or your right and Geno thinks like 16 yearly old girl.

 

[CL82]

Or your right and Geno thinks like 16 yearly old girl.

Well that would explain why he is so successful coaching them....

 

[noeynox]

I don't think its the number one reason, but to pretend it has had no bearing when you have a school official all but telling you its a factor, I don't even know what to call that.

 

[CL82]

I don't think its the number one reason, but to pretend it has had no bearing when you have a school official all but telling you its a factor, I don't even know what to call that.

I'm sure you are right and it is part of the mix. I doubt it is a big a part, but I could be wrong. I don't think Geno was speaking from firsthand knowledge of the thought processes of other schools. He was speaking off the top of his head without a lot of reflection. It's part of his charm.

 

[UConnDan97]

I'm sure you are right and it is part of the mix. I doubt it is a big a part, but I could be wrong. I don't think Geno was speaking from firsthand knowledge of the thought processes of other schools. He was speaking off the top of his head without out a lot of reflection. It's part of his charm.

Here's how the conversation would probably go down:

ACC Presidents: "I've hated UConn since that stupid lawsuit!"
Swofford: "Adding UConn will grow our revenue by 3 million per each school and possibly allow for the formation of our own tv network."
ACC Presidents: "Hmm. Well, let's let bygones be bygones, shall we?"

College presidents....shining examples of integrity since 1910...

 

[Gampeltiles]

Let's hope that Tulane can fill those 24,000 seats.

I posted this on the other thread but does'nt a stadium have to seat 30,000 minimum to be FBS?

 

[FASTEDDY]

I agree. Frankly, I'm sick of people putting the blame on UConn. And that includes Geno.

CRAZY to blame Geno for anything!

All the man does is WIN & REPRESENT THE UNIVERSITY & STATE IN THE BEST POSSIBLE LIGHT!

Without his HUGE contributions and that of the MEn's Team, we would not even be sniffing a potential position in a better conference.

 

[FASTEDDY]

Does anyone know if Geno's 3 hour son the radio is availabel for replay?

I was out of town last week and would LOVE to hear him on the radio. Sounds like he did a GREAT JOB!

 

[buddy]

CRAZY to blame Geno for anything!

All the man does is WIN & REPRESENT THE UNIVERSITY & STATE IN THE BEST POSSIBLE LIGHT!

Without his HUGE contributions and that of the MEn's Team, we would not even be sniffing a potential position in a better conference.

I would say that his statements on CR burst our bubble for near term CR.

 

[Sea Goat]

I would say that his statements on CR burst our bubble for near term CR.

I guess I don't see it that way. First, there nobody better suited to make such a comment currently than Geno. I don't think he went off half-cocked on his comments without some vetting. Call me an unbridled optimist, but I thought it was helpful to finally confront the issue of the lawsuit. It has been out there and proffered as a reason against UConn's inclusion for a long time. Whether it is the chief reason or a more convenient reason, UConn's Mea Culpa (via Geno) gets it off the table. Now if CR picks up again with the ACC, it will be hard for our detractors to start out the discussion with "But those bastards sued us."

 

[coachcap]

I posted this on the other thread but does'nt a stadium have to seat 30,000 minimum to be FBS?

I think the rule for FBS qualification is total capacity of 30,000. Tulane gets there with standing room.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

There is so much ignorance in these threads. The idea that these guys make these decisions because of perceived slights a decade ago is provably wrong by VTech voting to include Louisville. Louisville did a lot worse to VTech than anything we did to BCU.

We didn't close the sale. It is that simple. Everyone thought we had closed the sale, but we hadn't, and Louisville and Pitt and Syracuse all handed us our ass. Herbst kept playing by the rules while one school after another was jumping over us. If BCU was that big an obstacle, we needed to play dirty with BCU and show the rest of the league how they were leaving money on the table by expecting that black hole of an athletic department to bring New England to the ACC. If you don't know how to negative sell, you don't know how to sell.

 

[1husky]

There is so much ignorance in these threads. The idea that these guys make these decisions because of perceived slights a decade ago is provably wrong by VTech voting to include Louisville. Louisville did a lot worse to VTech than anything we did to BCU.

We didn't close the sale. It is that simple. Everyone thought we had closed the sale, but we hadn't, and Louisville and Pitt and Syracuse all handed us our ass. Herbst kept playing by the rules while one school after another was jumping over us. If BCU was that big an obstacle, we needed to play dirty with BCU and show the rest of the league how they were leaving money on the table by expecting that black hole of an athletic department to bring New England to the ACC. If you don't know how to negative sell, you don't know how to sell.

And if you think its easy selling a partnership to people who despise you, don't understand your culture, and believe you have your decisions made by stakeholders who don't understand the business you're in, then you've never sold before.

 

[FASTEDDY]

You are not impressing me with your knowledge of the law. Ever been sued? or have someone other than a client get sued? say a close personal friend? For those not jaded by the experience of making a living in the legal arena, litigation that names you personally creates rancor and bitterness beyond proportion. In these matters, appearance becomes reality and Blumenthal happily played the lead "bad cop" throughout. They all seem to remember him as the villian - in Chestnut Hill in Charlotte in Miami.

Read Blumenthal's comments from the NYT in 2003 below:

['The reason these lawsuits are critically important to Connecticut are UConn spent tens of millions of dollars on a new stadium and to upgrade its football program,'' Mr. Blumenthal said. ''There has been substantial damage to our state by the illegal scheme of these schools and the A.C.C. to destroy the Big East.'' He said that action was taken against Mr. DeFilippo because he allegedly misused information about the Big East's future plans as chairman of the Big East's athletic directors committee and misled Big East officials regarding the school's intention of staying in the conference. Mr. Blumenthal said that Mr. DeFilippo had ''reassured UConn and the other Big East members about continued allegiance and loyalty.''
Mr. Blumenthal said that the plaintiffs were seeking financial compensation in the hundreds of millions of dollars caused by the possible loss of broadcast and other revenues associated with a devaluation of the Big East, and are also seeking a court order stopping any other wrongdoing.]

So whether it is fair or unfair, Blumenthal is a bit of a lightening rod on this. What Geno said is true - the lawsuits were stupid and have caused us some trouble. But as I have noted they also presented the likes of BC with useful pretense to disguise their dislike for competing with us generally. As far as you being egomaniacal regarding your knowledge of the law, don't worry I hope we'll continue help it wear off soon. The greater risk in your profession is becoming educated beyond your intelligence. If you would like, I can act as a sentinel and remind you every time I perceive it to be a problem. In fairness, while I am somewhat disturbed by your recent posts, I recognize we have a lot more in common then we don't. We share a frustration concerning UConn's position in CR for myriad reasons. I think we all have a common goal for UConn and CR. Indeed, we probably will be equally happy when UConn is finally situated in an approprite conference.

Have a good weekend.

I understand for many reasons why 'Yarders are pissed at Blumenthal. However, in reading the blurb from the NYT, everything he stated is absolutely correct! GDF's actions were absolutely harmful to UCONN and State of CT and they acted in a completely misleading and disingenuous manner. In my mind, he was right to try to get some financial remedy / reparations for us. I know that this pissed off the ACC guys, but what was he supposed to do, just let them pull this sh_t and not say anything? What am I missing here?

 

[Sea Goat]

I understand for many reasons why 'Yarders are pissed at Blumenthal. However, in reading the blurb from the NYT, everything he stated is absolutely correct! GDF's actions were absolutely harmful to UCONN and State of CT and they acted in a completely misleading and disingenuous manner. In my mind, he was right to try to get some financial remedy / reparations for us. I know that this pissed off the ACC guys, but what was he supposed to do, just let them pull this sh_t and not say anything? What am I missing here?

You can be correct and still left without a reasonable litigation route to prove it. (Jez, look at what Nordenberg of Pitt to the BE did in 2011.) IMO, that's where we were. In addition, I didn't think it was necessary to make it so personal by naming GDF, Swofford and half his staff personally in suit. The "relief" hoped for would have been obtainable against the institutions also sued. (BC, ACC etc.) What I'm happy about is that I think Geno's comments have helped take the "lawsuit" reason off the table. And, without looking disingenuous, BC will be hard pressed to proffer it as the big reason for our exclusion anymore. (That being said, I sure hope we go to the B1G.)

 

[nelsonmuntz]

And if you think its easy selling a partnership to people who despise you, don't understand your culture, and believe you have your decisions made by stakeholders who don't understand the business you're in, then you've never sold before.

I have sold before. That is a big part of what I do, and there is always an obstacle that you need to sell through.

We lost to two schools in dying cities and a Kentucky based commuter school. It wasn't like they picked USC, Texas and Notre Dame (all sports) instead of UConn.

 

[1husky]

[QUOTE We lost to two schools in dying cities and a Kentucky based commuter school. It wasn't like they picked USC, Texas and Notre Dame (all sports) instead of UConn.[/QUOTE]

Exactly.

 

[ASweet3781]

There is so much ignorance in these threads. The idea that these guys make these decisions because of perceived slights a decade ago is provably wrong by VTech voting to include Louisville. Louisville did a lot worse to VTech than anything we did to BCU.

Perhaps the people at VA Tech are not as childish, petty, and vindictive as the people at BCU?

 

[FAIRTIDES]

I understand for many reasons why 'Yarders are pissed at Blumenthal. However, in reading the blurb from the NYT, everything he stated is absolutely correct! GDF's actions were absolutely harmful to UCONN and State of CT and they acted in a completely misleading and disingenuous manner. In my mind, he was right to try to get some financial remedy / reparations for us. I know that this pissed off the ACC guys, but what was he supposed to do, just let them pull this sh_t and not say anything? What am I missing here?

Yes. You sometimes swallow hard in realization that civil litigation between peer organizations is like a divorce. It pisses everybody off and creates ill-feelings, among huge egos, that get taken to the grave. At times, I've worked closely with three in-house corporate legal groups. They consistently argued against lawsuits involving anything other than theft or misuse of Intellectual Property.

Not that it ever mattered (like, who cares?), but my reaction on one of the old sites, when news of the lawsuit broke, was a wishy-washy, "I hope you guys know what you're doing. You're probably going to need these folks down the road."

SH, after the round that took Pitt and Cuse, handled the situation well by saying (to paraphrase), "We understand that each school must do what it feels is best for it. We wish our former partners well in their new home." She was probably swallowing hard and grinding her teeth, but she was all class. Scorched earth only works when you're burning the other guy's stuff.

 

[FASTEDDY]

Yes. You sometimes swallow hard in realization that civil litigation between peer organizations is like a divorce. It pisses everybody off and creates ill-feelings, among huge egos, that get taken to the grave. At times, I've worked closely with three in-house corporate legal groups. They consistently argued against lawsuits involving anything other than theft or misuse of Intellectual Property.

Not that it ever mattered (like, who cares?), but my reaction on one of the old sites, when news of the lawsuit broke, was a wishy-washy, "I hope you guys know what you're doing. You're probably going to need these folks down the road."

SH, after the round that took Pitt and Cuse, handled the situation well by saying (to paraphrase), "We understand that each school must do what it feels is best for it. We wish our former partners well in their new home." She was probably swallowing hard and grinding her teeth, but she was all class. Scorched earth only works when you're burning the other guy's stuff.

I'm sure that you are correct and that it would have been best to just "Grin and Bear it". As an alum and passionate fan, I'm far to emotional and hot-headed to ever be able to to that at he moment it all went down. Of course, the administrators and professionals need to be far more strategic and level-headed in their actions.

 

[Kolumbo]

I have sold before. That is a big part of what I do, and there is always an obstacle that you need to sell through.

We lost to two schools in dying cities and a Kentucky based commuter school. It wasn't like they picked USC, Texas and Notre Dame (all sports) instead of UConn.

Do you think Pittsburgh is a dying city? Hartford can't sniff its jock strap. Correction: I'd go so far as to say all three of those cities have more life than Hartford. Save the possibility of a new minor league ballpark.

 

[Sea Goat]

If you're including Syracuse in "all three of those cities", IMO you couldn't be more wrong. Ever been there between November 1 and May 1? Please. It has the look and feel of a back lot set for the movie "The Day after Tomorrow." I spent a week there one day. It makes Hartford look like Paris.

 

[whaler11]

Yes. You sometimes swallow hard in realization that civil litigation between peer organizations is like a divorce. It pisses everybody off and creates ill-feelings, among huge egos, that get taken to the grave. At times, I've worked closely with three in-house corporate legal groups. They consistently argued against lawsuits involving anything other than theft or misuse of Intellectual Property.

Not that it ever mattered (like, who cares?), but my reaction on one of the old sites, when news of the lawsuit broke, was a wishy-washy, "I hope you guys know what you're doing. You're probably going to need these folks down the road."

SH, after the round that took Pitt and Cuse, handled the situation well by saying (to paraphrase), "We understand that each school must do what it feels is best for it. We wish our former partners well in their new home." She was probably swallowing hard and grinding her teeth, but she was all class. Scorched earth only works when you're burning the other guy's stuff.

It was never even clear what the end game was? Some money? Derek Coleman might comment: whooptie damn doo.

 

[Kolumbo]

If you're including Syracuse in "all three of those cities", IMO you couldn't be more wrong. Ever been there between November 1 and May 1? Please. It has the look and feel of a back lot set for the movie "The Day after Tomorrow." I spent a week there one day. It makes Hartford look like Paris.

I'm not saying Syracuse is Eden, but I spent several months there and there was some kind of festival going on almost every weekend. It's the entertainment center of that area. Many people I know avoid going into Hartford at all costs. Including me.

 

[noeynox]

It was never even clear what the end game was? Some money? Derek Coleman might comment: whooptie damn doo.

The end game was preserving the automatic bid to the bcs. If you want to point at anything remotely positive, the big east hung on to the bid a decade longer. The acc came back to finish the job, and the other bcs commissioners pulled the plug on the big east football conference.

 

[Stray_Dog]

Yes, but who are the people? A blogger on ESPN.com? A poster here? The people who know who their enemies are are the executives -- all represented by experienced counsel -- who were sued. And they all voted for Pitt. It is their perception that drives this debate, and they all know exactly what happened.

You assume the weight behind the closed doors is as equal or greater than the weight of what is seen in newspapers across the country??? Not sure I understand your logic but think of the point this way. A man is arrested for murder and his picture is seen on the front page of the paper. He goes to trial and is found to be completely innocent - he is declared innocent! And this fact is on page 7. He was publicly smeared although it was legal. That is the correlation to Blumenthal. He may not have brought the charges but who did lead the humiliation charges through the public eye? Answ. Blumenthal. This is why lawyers have a bad reputation. You want the public figure who was the AG of CT at the time to take an equal footing to the others. But he lead the charge and as has been pointed out, they all shared in the money suits but did thy all share in the public ridicule? ANSW: No So, perhaps technically Blumenthal is the lesser evil as each school had their own representative who allowed the state of CT to house the charge for the lawsuit, but Blumenthal has the credit of the newspapers that lead this charge onto the front page everywhere, I wonder in fact if it had stayed in the backroom if things would have been this bad for UConn, after-all, as you eloquently have shown us, there is no difference other than that from what Pitt did to what we did?

 

[auggie22]

I'm not saying Syracuse is Eden, but I spent several months there and there was some kind of festival going on almost every weekend. It's the entertainment center of that area. Many people I know avoid going into Hartford at all costs. Including me.

Not sure what to make of this. Wow. You are either an incredibly self loathing CT resident, or you have never been to Syracuse and Hartford before. Neither city is a destination, but...I mean...jeez...Syracuse, NY, right?