How did you first hear about the Boneyard?

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Earlier than the Courant mess ... mid/late 90s ... some low tech online gizmo just after the then incredible Husky B&W paper. Names of forums and such changed, the technology itself was not so good then, but discussion quality ...

Edit: Yup, uconn-toto mailing list, McD, HuskyHoops, etc. all good along with discussions on earlier versions of the Boneyard regardless of technological evolutions good and sometimes not so great.

 

[Vuce]

I first jumped on board on the AOL site. Dialed in and argued with Umass fans back in the mid 90s. I subscribed to Husky Blue and White and remember hoping we would sign Kevin Garnett as a recruit. I used to follow recruiting a LOT closer then and go to some local camps to "scout" then report back on the board. Anyone remember "JKUL" I think his name was Jeff Kulas and he really was into recruiting too. Followed the group through the many boards/servers over the years. The Boneyard has gotten me through many work days!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I want to add that while (sixteen and a half years ago) I found out about online sports forums and eventually stumbled upon this place (with its unique cast of characters) due to need to satisfy a UConn basketball fix, I became a regular here shortly before the Rent opened due to a need to find someway to have conversations about the football program.

 

[jrazz12]

From a buddy, I believe it was the first day of the Big East tourney 2011. We've been #winning ever since.

(Disclaimer: In no way connected to Maker'sMuppet, I promise)

 

[zymurg]

So I've been struggling to remember, but I know my timing is similar to alexd, except I think it was a few months before 77-74 for me, and thanks to nomar I now remember that it was absolutely through McD's site that I found this place. Thanks for that, McD. Where y@?

I do remember that this was my first message board experience, and my original handle was Hungry Husky--yes, 15 years before Shabazz made it famous. I was simply hungry at the time I registered to post.

I attended the Final Four that year and was so exuberant after my prior 15 years experience as a Husky fan that I made one of those overly optimistic posts about our prospects for the next season--especially after having attended the vaunted FF practice at which Ajou looked like the best we'd ever had--and my premise was immediately attacked by Zymurg, who employed a combination of elderly wisdom and confusing vocabulary that befuddled me. I tried to fight back, but I was basically a blubbering baby seal in a sea of sharks. I believe I signed off with some parting shot to the effect that this place being a circle jerk of friends, and I disappeared for a while.

I came back under my current handle at some point the following season. Zymurg may have been the first person to enlighten me to the "progress is not linear" mantra that I now preach. I've dropped out for weeks, months and years since, after varying degrees of frustration with how precipitously the level of discourse has dropped, but I like talking about some my life's greatest passions with some of the folks who post here, so I keep coming back.

I'm not exactly sure how I found the board, but it was in 97-98 I think. Wow, the 'Yard was a revelation. What ever happened to the Duke
poster who had a dancing skeleton as a giff. Back in the day we had some interesting posters who supported other teams beakumhawks was probably the longest lasting resident alien. Today the board is pretty xenophobic. The women's board still has regular posters from
other schools. I used to read a number of other boards every day. I still visit a few semi-regularly. I posted on a few others: Vandy, ND,
Rutgers, SJU, and PC. I haven't posted on another board for at least two or three years. The 'Cuse board was the first I stopped posting and reading. It became too confrontational. Back in the day I had a couple of sources; I tried to impart several pieces of information about s couple of players 'Cuse really wanted and took a lot of heat.

Now I mostly lurk, but I still spend a couple of hours a day during the season reading the 'Yard. I suppose I could do something more productive with the time, but at my age, why.

ps zymurg is lower case, and it comes from zymurgy, but that is a story for another day.

 

[Fishy]

One time zymurg sent me a case of beer in the mail and it made it to the last mile before the post office accidentally smashed it.

And then threatened to fine or otherwise prosecute me for having booze delivered via USPS.

 

[HomeKing93]

I've been lurking since the Courant days in 1996 or so.

 

[Frank06830]

If RabidHusky is still alive, (he is), he's the poster with the longest tenure. If he's not, I might be.

The Courant had a site called the Husky Howl - it was threaded style message board. There were days in the offseason where you could go an entire weekend without a post because most folks had computer access from work and not home. I remember Deepster, Suzy, Deadrody from back in those days...I can probably think up some others with a lil time.

At some point, they switched the format and the growing mass of posters rebelled. They complained, the administrator said "suck it" and we left in mass. We went to a College Insider UConn message board and crushed their servers. We then went to another site and crushed their servers. And so on.

Then, guy named Frank, who still posts here, thought up the name Boneyard and the original URL, uconnfan.com. He set up a server, set up a board and we all migrated there. And all was well. But Frank had a job and a life and eventually morons other than the ones the board was intended for found the site and started to spoof poster's handles and post nonsense.

At some point thereafter, I got an email from someone I didn't know named Tom who said that he had set up a version of the board on his personal site and would I take a look at it. It was on a Pair Networks home page. Frank was nice enough to give us the name Boneyard and the URL. The two of us posted on it for a while and then sent word for the rest...and that worked for a while.

At some point, Pair became alerted to the massive traffic going to one of their customer's home pages and we were booted. We then went to an Earthlink server account. And then Net-something or other. And then someone else. We crushed servers along the way.

Then, in 2000, we received an email from the original nitwits at Rivals. Tom and I met them at HCC one afternoon before a UConn-Syracuse game and I marveled at Tom's ability to ask for the most ridiculous s--- without blushing and equally marveled at the Rivals' nitwit's ability to say yes without thinking about it. That was an early hint as to the ultimate viability of Rivals as a business. (Another hint...right after we signed, they were having a convention in Vegas and were willing to fly Tom and I out there and put us up at the Venetian for three or four days. Neither of us went because we are models of integrity.)

So, given the rising servers costs and general headaches, we went with Rivals. I think that lasted 18 months until they went bankrupt. Then we were on our own. And then back with Rivals. And then with Scout. And then not.

The bumper sticker version of the story is - I heard about the Boneyard a really long time ago.

Thanks for the recognition Fishy...I can't believe it was 16 years ago we told the Courant to stuff it...courtesy of Wayback Machine...see uconnfan.com circa 1998 below

 

[Fishy]

So from that page....

Deadrody is still around. SuzyQ is still around. Swami is still around. Prankster is still around. "x" is still around, but his handle is "pj" now and he sticks to the realignment board. DrDos is still around.

I'm sure some of the other names on that board are still here under different names.

 

[Fishy]

I first jumped on board on the AOL site. Dialed in and argued with Umass fans back in the mid 90s. I subscribed to Husky Blue and White and remember hoping we would sign Kevin Garnett as a recruit. I used to follow recruiting a LOT closer then and go to some local camps to "scout" then report back on the board. Anyone remember "JKUL" I think his name was Jeff Kulas and he really was into recruiting too. Followed the group through the many boards/servers over the years. The Boneyard has gotten me through many work days!

Jeff Kulas became Jeff K and then JK and then kind of faded away.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thanks for the history. Very interesting. You guys found your love and passion. You are now living your dream.

 

[zymurg]

One time zymurg sent me a case of beer in the mail and it made it to the last mile before the post office accidentally smashed it.

And then threatened to fine or otherwise prosecute me for having booze delivered via USPS.

Fishy won the case of select hard to find imported beers by correctly naming the oldest European brewery. As I remember the selections, they included beers from Sri Lanka, Poland, Brazil as well some from more common locations like England, Scotland, Belgium, and Germany.

 

[Hoophound]

I found it in 2000 or so when surfing around AOL. Someone on a board there mentioned "the real UConn board" and linked to it or said the name and I went and found it.

I've learned a lot here over the years. Going from a guy in his mid 20's to a guy in his early 40's in that time, I've grown up a lot, moved a couple of times, had kids and lost loved ones.

There is a lot of valuable information and advice available here and it is generally a very accepting place if you play nice and keep an open mind. The best advice and life lesson I've gotten from the Yard? There was a poster several years back who used to call his wife his "bride". I can't remember if we had an exchange about it or not but it stuck with me. I love my wife but she can really get on my nerves sometimes. In fact, there were a few times in the last 15 years where I truly thought we might not make it. I have continually found that if I think of her as my bride at the worst times that my levels of patience, empathy and love for her immediately come to the surface. For that alone, this place has made a big difference in my life, her life and the lives of our kids.

On top of that sappy item, there have been many times when I've been inspired by the charity and good will displayed here. Whether it was the donations for Coach Calhoun's send off gift to the UConn Health Center, a board member buying season football tickets for another poster that was tight on cash or all the other little charities supported here. In all honesty, I didn't donate to any of these causes. I donate almost all of my charitable funds to one particular cause that I truly believe in, the Children's Hospital that saved my youngest child as a newborn. I can't imagine my life without her, she is the ultimate Daddy's girl and the sweetest, smartest, most creative person I know. Nonetheless, the Boneyard's giving spirit is amazing.

So, I'm glad I found the Boneyard, and frankly, I don't know what the hell I'd do with my time without it. This place is a true community and offers a wealth of information, knowledge and camaraderie far beyond anything I ever could have expected.

 

[Fishy]

Fishy won the case of select hard to find imported beers by correctly naming the oldest European brewery. As I remember the selections, they included beers from Sri Lanka, Poland, Brazil as well some from more common locations like England, Scotland, Belgium, and Germany.

And the worst thing was that it managed to make it from Cape Cod to upstate New York in one piece...and then didn't survive the one mile trip from the post office to my door.

 

[Gurleyman]

Jeff Kulas became Jeff K and then JK and then kind of faded away.

He got more into politics. Ran into him on a political messageboard some time ago - maybe the mid 00's (as JeffKulas). Basically said after starting a family, he didn't have enough time in his life for everything and following sports was the thing that gave out.

Then he said, "gotta go - going to watch the Muppets Movie with my kids tonight. Then put them to bed and crack open a bottle of Maker's Mark."

 

[Waquoit]

Anyone remember "JKUL" I think his name was Jeff Kulas and he really was into recruiting too. Followed the group through the many boards/servers over the years. The Boneyard has gotten me through many work days!

I remember The Cool One on the AOL board. Besides you two, I remember Chuck who used to "bleed Husky blue." And it turned out he was an 8th grader.

 

[uconndoit]

In Jan 1999 I moved overseas and must have found it out of desperation for Husky news. I really don't remember if I found it before or after the championship though. (I do remember that during that time I usually had to follow scores on teletext and that I listened to the NC game (audio only) via dial up and it ended at 4am. Good times.)

I do remember being in the "fort the ead" thread. When was that?

 

[CAHUSKY]

Bret or one of the Kervicks mentioned the Boneyard on her mail list. .

What was that list called? I remember that too. Uconnbball@toto.com or something? Or maybe that's a combo of the names of two different lists.

 

[Fishy]

Brett Rabideau used to run the mailing list at toto.com

 

[444JR]

After endless days and hours of unfulfilled google searching for UCONN recruiting news I finally stumbled upon this gem of a message board. Don't know what I would do without it now and I'm thankful there are so many others to share both the moments of elation and misery with; all the way from St. Louis, Missouri soon to be Louisiana.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Brett Rabideau used to run the mailing list at toto.com

Thats right. I remember being surprised when I realized Brett was a female.

 

[Eskapeesto]

I was on a pizza forum and someone recommended The Boneyard in a thread about "Best Basketball Message Boards in CT."

 

[Fishy]

I was on a pizza forum and someone recommended The Boneyard in a thread about "Best Basketball Message Boards in CT."

​

lol....dick.

 

[progrocks]

McD hada site that listed links to any UConn article. I assume I came from that. Definitely before the first championship.

 

[boog204]

I started on the uconn-toto mailing list and then made my way to the AOL and Compuserve boards where Jeff Kulas was the resident recruiting expert. There was also someone named Dnasoft who had a uconn centric recruiting site that really got me into that side of things. From there I think I followed the various migrations although I took Some of 98-99 off (my freshman year at UConn) and only rediscovered the board when I searched online for "older" Uconn fan's reaction to the championship. I still remember that the thread was entitled "Storrs is on fire!" After that I was hooked again and recognized a lot of the names.

 

[Bezzz]

And we coincidentally had Civic Center season tickets in back to back rows, right?

We did, and at some point DoggieDaddy was a row in front of me. I've still got those seats.

 

[HuskyNan]

Where is uconnhenry, btw?

 

[August_West]

In Jan 1999 I moved overseas and must have found it out of desperation for Husky news. I really don't remember if I found it before or after the championship though. (I do remember that during that time I usually had to follow scores on teletext and that I listened to the NC game (audio only) via dial up and it ended at 4am. Good times.) I do remember being in the "fort the ead" thread. When was that?

Fort the ead was on a game chat ( nuzzis chat applet!) I think 2002 maybe 2003. Richz creation.

 

[prankster]

I was originally on a e-mail listserv for years - I forget the name but somebody here has to remember it. Basically you would send and e-mail to a server and it would distribute your message to everyone who was signed up - or if you got an e-mail from the listserv and replied it would go to everyone. The list started to die as people began migrating to a much more friendly message board format and I followed. I found the Boneyard sometime before the 99 championship because I remember timing it so that my 1000th post was 'We just won the National Championship'. At some point when we were crushing servers, I had access to extra memory modules that I either attempted to or was told it was too late to send to Tom to help his overtaxed server. Any idea what that year would have been? Based on my post rate, I would imagine I found it sometime between 95 and 97.

That was Brett Rabideau's listserv, uconnbball.com. I still have the shirts!

 

[Danzz]

Where is uconnhenry, btw?

Nan, he was on briefly I want to say 5-8 years ago after somebody asked about him.