Guess our year wasn’t that bad

[Dogdeacon]

Virginia’s season was worse. How is that even arguable?

Every great program has had a period like the one we’re in. You fire the coach, get better, and everyone forgets it happened.

What Virginia did was monumentally, historically bad. A choke job to top all other choke jobs. It will live in for decades as a huge failure. It will never go away, and every win they had this year was an empty gimmick that built up to this embarrassment.

Thanks, we hadn’t heard from the school of what people think about you is far more important than what you are.

 

[AdamaNation]

I think Sanchez is known for the wins. He’s like Rick Ocaceck pulling Paulina Porizkova & Sanchez gets props for doing what he did despite otherwise being/playing ugly as all get out.

Not to bring the vibe down to least common denominator and unfavorite topic, but this makes the case that at some point in not having a job legacy occurs to him & Ollie settles, drops lawsuit and is always known for a national championship.

I can see that.
See people. This is called a discussion.

 

[Huskybass]

Only on The Boneyard can someone proudly start a thread mocking a team that won more games this season than UConn won in the last 2 seasons combined.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Just as we see George Mason on damn near every NCAA Tournament highlight reel, UMBC just added themselves to that as well.

It really sucks and the loss will go down in infamy in NCAA Tournament lore, but UVA will break through some year soon and ease the sting of the loss similar to 09, 11, and 14 for us.


That said, that Mason game still bothers me 12 years later.

 

[champs99and04]

I don't think the George Mason game is nearly as relevant nationally as it is amongst UConn fans. With the '06/'07 Florida teams having been immortalized - rightly or wrongly - as dominant, George Mason having lost the designation as the only 11 seed to make a final four (VCU did it in 2011 and actually won five games), and UConn going on two perceived miracle runs of their own, there isn't much symbolic value left from that day. At the time, it was huge nationally, bigger than I can remember any on court college basketball story being since. Between Jim Larranaga suspending one of his best players for the first game of the tournament and Marcus Williams roaming free and A.J. Price on the bench, the optics were really bad. Add that to the fact that UConn was an overwhelming favorite loaded with pros while George Mason was from the CAA (UConn players famously didn't know what conference they were in) and you had the recipe for a true David/Goliath match-up.

As for this thread, it's an interesting question to ponder. I don't think anybody reasonably thinks we had a better year than Virginia. However, if you're a Virginia fan, you just got served the biggest slice of humble pie at the table. And given this is a culmination of past tournament failures rather than an isolated incident, it will be impossible to shake free from the stench of this disgrace until they break through. "Don't let others define you" is a great quote but you don't tend to hear it from winning locker-rooms. This is one of those times as a fan where you just have to shut up and take it.

UConn fans have to take some too, but in a more dignified way. Hire the right coach, put together a strong OOC performance, and you're right back on the saddle like nothing ever happened. When it comes to sleeping at night, you'd much rather an empty closet than one with skeletons.

 

[billybud]

I don't think the George Mason game is nearly as relevant nationally as it is amongst UConn fans. With the '06/'07 Florida teams having been immortalized - rightly or wrongly - as dominant, George Mason having lost the designation as the only 11 seed to make a final four (VCU did it in 2011 and actually won five games), and UConn going on two perceived miracle runs of their own, there isn't much symbolic value left from that day. At the time, it was huge nationally, bigger than I can remember any on court college basketball story being since. Between Jim Larranaga suspending one of his best players for the first game of the tournament and Marcus Williams roaming free and A.J. Price on the bench, the optics were really bad. Add that to the fact that UConn was an overwhelming favorite loaded with pros while George Mason was from the CAA (UConn players famously didn't know what conference they were in) and you had the recipe for a true David/Goliath match-up.

As for this thread, it's an interesting question to ponder. I don't think anybody reasonably thinks we had a better year than Virginia. However, if you're a Virginia fan, you just got served the biggest slice of humble pie at the table. And given this is a culmination of past tournament failures rather than an isolated incident, it will be impossible to shake free from the stench of this disgrace until they break through. "Don't let others define you" is a great quote but you don't tend to hear it from winning locker-rooms. This is one of those times as a fan where you just have to shut up and take it.

UConn fans have to take some too, but in a more dignified way. Hire the right coach, put together a strong OOC performance, and you're right back on the saddle like nothing ever happened. When it comes to sleeping at night, you'd much rather an empty closet than one with skeletons.[/QUOT

 

[WrenchFan69]

UConn has 4 national championships and hooray for that. They also have 2 NCAA investigations into the program, the first leading to a post season ban and scholarship reduction

The APR ban was not due to an "investigation" lol

 

[billybud]

To be, or not to be, that is the question.

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.....

or..

To die, to sleep....and by a sleep, to say we end
the heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
that Flesh is heir to?
.
.
Yes...the Cavaliers suffered the arrows of outrageous fortune, but is it really better to sleep the sleep of the dead and not participate?

Yeah..Cav fans will bear their cross...but I think it is still better "to be, then not be".

They had a good season, made the tournament...and own the loss in a historic upset.

 

[AdamaNation]

Only on The Boneyard can someone proudly start a thread mocking a team that won more games this season than UConn won in the last 2 seasons combined.

Not so much mocking THEM, but more of tickling you. let’s see that happy face again sunshine. This is the boneyard. We have 4 rings in a very short period of time and hit a snag. Will be fine.

 

[QDOG5]

Fight the good fight @Dogdeacon. @MervthePurvis, you sound like your afraid of losing. I'd rather have a good/great year ending with a horrific loss (which we have done sort of GMU, San Diego) than not get invited to the dance at all.

 

[ctchamps]

You guys are drama queens, it is one game and to say 31-3 is worse than under .500 is nuts. UConn was unwatchable, lost to non-tourney teams by 20 and generated apathy.

I’d rather date the prettiest girl even if I knew I’d eventually get dumped than sit in the basement winning 2/5 solitaire games.

Every good team but one ends with a loss. If you can’t take your buddies ribbing or the press obsessing over one game get thicker skin.

Sucks for you. I ended up marrying her.

 

[August_West]

I don't think the George Mason game is nearly as relevant nationally as it is amongst UConn fans.

It is.

On the tournament App for watching games this year. It was the top March upset game listed for rewatch before the weekend. They listed three. Ours was first.

It wasnt the worst March upset ever, but it certainly has had traction.

 

[ctchamps]

To be, or not to be, that is the question.

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.....

or..

To die, to sleep....and by a sleep, to say we end
the heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
that Flesh is heir to?
.
.
Yes...the Cavaliers suffered the arrows of outrageous fortune, but is it really better to sleep the sleep of the dead and not participate?

Yeah..Cav fans will bear their cross...but I think it is still better "to be, then not be".

They had a good season, made the tournament...and own the loss in a historic upset.

Which of those fans played any games? Fans are wanna bes who dream they are doing something.

 

[tzznandrew]

It is.

On the tournament App for watching games this year. It was the top March upset game listed for rewatch before the weekend. They listed three. Ours was first.

It wasnt the worst March upset ever, but it certainly has had traction.

It has the (sigh) advantage of being a good game. OT, late game basket to send it there, 3 at the buzzer for the win that missed.

UConn is also a bigger name than Virginia. It's the perfect recipe for a re-watchable upset. Why would anyone ever re-watch a 20-point blowout unless you are a UMBC alum?

 

[Dogdeacon]

Which of those fans played any games? Fans are wanna bes who dream they are doing something.

All the more reason ‘to be’ Fans don’t get anything win or lose, but you get a lot more fun evenings out of 31-3 vs our mess.

Can’t even pretend a dream this year, 17-18 UConn fans are Sixers fans minus Hinkie and the process.

 

[ctchamps]

All the more reason ‘to be’ Fans don’t get anything win or lose, but you get a lot more fun evenings out of 31-3 vs our mess.

Can’t even pretend a dream this year, 17-18 UConn fans are Sixers fans minus Hinkie and the process.

These debates are subjective. All of this is about how we feel. We’re not dodging bombs or tidal waves and yet we feel lousy over outcomes of games or seasons almost to the same extent.

I felt lousy after last season. I felt worse after this season because lousy is cumulative. But i’d have a hard time convincing myself that I felt better after the GM loss or the loss to UCLA or Maryland or FSU or...... And still feel lousy when I think about those losses.

People in this thread are either trying to make themselves feel better about these past two seasons by emphasizing the ignominy of the Virginia loss or justify their current state of mourning over these past two seasons. Nothing wrong with that. I just don’t see how people can logically argue about emotions.

Given that so many people do it I must not be logical about what constitutes logic.

 

[Confident Carl]

Well they had a great year but I’d hate to be known as the only number 1 seed to lose their first game. Might be a while before we see it again.

I say probably never again.

 

[Huskybass]

Not so much mocking THEM, but more of tickling you. let’s see that happy face again sunshine. This is the boneyard. We have 4 rings in a very short period of time and hit a snag. Will be fine.

We will be fine, now that the problem has been eliminated.

 

[champs99and04]

It is.

On the tournament App for watching games this year. It was the top March upset game listed for rewatch before the weekend. They listed three. Ours was first.

It wasnt the worst March upset ever, but it certainly has had traction.

It's up there for sure, but in terms of enduring impact I just don't know how much it moves the needle anymore. George Mason was a damn good team compared to the VCU squad (a 12-loss team from the CAA!) that knocked off Kansas five years later. That one, I have to think, will be remembered more, not only because it was a bigger upset and more of a knockout, but also because it corroborated Kansas and Self's reputation as under-achievers in the tournament. And that's just taking a sample of elite eight games. Lehigh-Duke, Mercer-Duke, and Middle Tennessee State-MSU were far more egregious given the circumstances, in addition to being more recent.

Had we lost to Albany...and we almost did...that might have broken the internet. UMBC-Virginia would have been underwhelming comparatively. Now, though, I see UConn-GMU as closer to KU-Davidson in '08 - a tightly contested, fondly remembered games between an upstart and a traditional power. Losing to UMBC by 20 as the number one overall seed completely breaks the scale and will be used as a cautionary tale for years to come. That was JFK vs. Nixon in the first debate type stuff.

 

[AdamaNation]

Fight the good fight @Dogdeacon. @MervthePurvis, you sound like your afraid of losing. I'd rather have a good/great year ending with a horrific loss (which we have done sort of GMU, San Diego) than not get invited to the dance at all.

All good Q! Not afraid. Sadly too reckless as I’m really too careless. Anyway, the elite 8 loss was just crushing to US and the guys in Vegas.( still friggin burns/that team was better than 04 to me). And as much as that damn buzzer beater from the elbow stunk vs San Diego with AJ out(as a very young 4 seed) we went to Detroit the next year. No one outside of the bone yard or Storrs knows that. My point was merely that as bad as we think it has been, or two miserable years will be forgotten, as Virginia’s historically successful season will be forever remembered, not for a last second shot, but an absolute tail whipping by a 16 seed. I think it was some bad seeding. But it is what it is. I was really trying to bring some levity and perspective to our current state.

 

[QDOG5]

All good Q! Not afraid. Sadly too reckless as I’m really too careless. Anyway, the elite 8 loss was just crushing to US and the guys in Vegas.( still friggin burns/that team was better than 04 to me). And as much as that damn buzzer beater from the elbow stunk vs San Diego with AJ out(as a very young 4 seed) we went to Detroit the next year. No one outside of the bone yard or Storrs knows that. My point was merely that as bad as we think it has been, or two miserable years will be forgotten, as Virginia’s historically successful season will be forever remembered, not for a last second shot, but an absolute tail whipping by a 16 seed. I think it was some bad seeding. But it is what it is. I was really trying to bring some levity and perspective to our current state.

Bad beats happen and I am definitely a sore loser but I have learned to enjoy good seasons even if they end poorly. We are on opposite sides of this exchange but whose to say we won't see eye to eye on the next. I appreciate your civility and I too am a fan of levity. Let's hope we can return our winning ways and everyone can cheer up. See, levity.

 

[dogfan96]

I think Sanchez is known for the wins. He’s like Rick Ocaceck pulling Paulina Porizkova & Sanchez gets props for doing what he did despite otherwise being/playing ugly as all get out.

Not to bring the vibe down to least common denominator and unfavorite topic, but this makes the case that at some point in not having a job legacy occurs to him & Ollie settles, drops lawsuit and is always known for a national championship.

Stop it. Mark Sanchez = Butt Fumble.. EVERYBODY who watches football knows that. I guarantee you there are people who don't realize he started 2 AFC title games.

 

[AdamaNation]

Bad beats happen and I am definitely a sore loser but I have learned to enjoy good seasons even if they end poorly. We are on opposite sides of this exchange but whose to say we won't see eye to eye on the next. I appreciate your civility and I too am a fan of levity. Let's hope we can return our winning ways and everyone can cheer up. See, levity.

I cling a virtual glass to you Q! Now back to the marathon on UConn close to signing Hurley thread

 

[nomar]

To be, or not to be, that is the question.

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.....

or..

To die, to sleep....and by a sleep, to say we end
the heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
that Flesh is heir to?
.
.
Yes...the Cavaliers suffered the arrows of outrageous fortune, but is it really better to sleep the sleep of the dead and not participate?

Yeah..Cav fans will bear their cross...but I think it is still better "to be, then not be".

They had a good season, made the tournament...and own the loss in a historic upset.

FYI, I read this in the voices of Eric and Billy Madison

 

[billybud]

FYI, I read this in the voices of Eric and Billy Madison

I read it in the stentorian voice of the old NFL films voice over.