How Many UConn Football Fans Feel Betrayed Today?

[LoyalFanCT]

A college Board of Trustees led by a temporary chairman, Tom Ritter, a one-time politician who now represents special interests, possibly gave a death sentence today to our once mighty UConn Huskies football team's future. It is true that some solution could be in the works -- where UConn can survive and perhaps thrive -- if powerful TV companies can intervene to help with airtime and scheduling. But without their help, UConn football likely will become irrelevant, much like Yale football, which itself once thrived. At worst, UConn football will soon be the way of the football teams of Boston University and the University of Vermont. They no longer exist.

I, unlike many of you, do not largely blame outgoing president Susan Herbst, though she could have done a better job. If anyone could have saved the situation today it was Geno Auriemma. If the popular women’s basketball coach said "no" to the Big East plan, people would have listened. My own feeling is that if David Benedict cannot find a viable solution soon, he needs to be fired as the athletic director.

In the meantime, the one person to me who is a role model in all of this is football coach Randy Edsall. He shows his fans and his players one should be honest when speaking on an important issue. He told it like it is. And he continues to do his job. I still have faith the team can do well this year, perhaps even qualify for a bowl game. If so, it may be the last of these for a while.

In the future, if conference realignment occurs at the ACC or Big Ten levels, the governor and legislature need to be held accountable if UConn is in the running and is not given a spot. We cannot rely on the highly paid bureaucrats and hacks who struggle to lead our great university.

 

[zls44]

So many people tried to donate to the UConn Foundation at 1 PM when it was officially announced, their site crashed.

 

[J187Money]

Betrayed? That's a little strong.

In reality - we came to the party 10-20 years late with big time football. Was always a tough hill to climb - now it is impossible.

 

[John]

A lot of people's money went into that program, including mine.

 

[BlueDogs]

Betrayed. Misled. Bamboozled by scumbag politicians.

 

[polycom]

So many people tried to donate to the UConn Foundation at 1 PM when it was officially announced, their site crashed.

All these people who fell betrayed didn't feel betrayed enough by our play to donate money to the school...

 

[BlueDogs]

All these people who fell betrayed didn't feel betrayed enough by our play to donate money to the school...

Umm, that’s just flatly false.

 

[CTMike]

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

"Once mighty UConn football team"

 

[VAHuskyFan]

Yes, let’s lay the blame for the football situation where it belongs - with Geno. And let’s absolve the one person who clearly had no hand at all in the decline of UConn football post Fiesta Bowl - Randy Edsall.

 

[CTMike]

You seem to be having a very hard time coming to grips with the facts that:

1) of all the factors that *may* lead to footballs eventual demise, this is like number 382.
2) this was evaluated by all of UConn’s decision makers and they all disagree with you.
3) the AAC was no panacea. Expecting UConn to subsidize payouts to absolute dregs and thank the conference for the privilege is no friend of ours.
4) it’s only conventional wisdom and people rooting for UConn’s failure that are calling this a death sentence. It makes a tough path harder, no doubt- I hope AD David Benedict has the fortitude here to make it work. But there’s also an opportunity to be a strong regional presence in the Northeast. That’s ok. No AAC team was ever being considered for the championship anyway, we were never playing for that, we didn’t lose anything there. Keep as much rights as you can, try to get games on SNY or another platform... build, win, try to make an occasional bowl when there aren’t enough teams to fill slots. It’s not perfect but it’s not death... at least, not yet.

 

[bmayuc]

Nope feel pretty good thanks for asking tho!!

 

[TRest]

The program was on borrowed time the moment Louisville was announced to the ACC. Everyone here with half a clue knew it might ultimately be the death of UConn sports when relegated to the G5. (Non-BCS back then).

 

[browndog319]

Yes, let’s lay the blame for the football situation where it belongs - with Geno. And let’s absolve the one person who clearly had no hand at all in the decline of UConn football post Fiesta Bowl - Randy Edsall.

 

[John]

Yes, let’s lay the blame for the football situation where it belongs - with Geno. And let’s absolve the one person who clearly had no hand at all in the decline of UConn football post Fiesta Bowl - Randy Edsall.

Randy Edsal should have never hired Paul "The Local Dinosaur" Pasqualoni and Bob "Crazy Bob" Diaco.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I feel betrayed by everyone that wanted to stay in the southern mid-major conference after it was obvious that UConn was never getting invited to a P5.

 

[John]

Nope feel pretty good thanks for asking tho!!

Now maybe you so-called basketball fans can actually start attending, you know, basketball games. Havent seen many of you there in years.

 

[Husky25]

You seem to be having a very hard time coming to grips with the facts that:

1) of all the factors that *may* lead to footballs eventual demise, this is like number 382.
2) this was evaluated by all of UConn’s decision makers and they all disagree with you.
3) the AAC was no panacea. Expecting UConn to subsidize payouts to absolute dregs and thank the conference for the privilege is no friend of ours.
4) it’s only conventional wisdom and people rooting for UConn’s failure that are calling this a death sentence. It makes a tough path harder, no doubt- I hope AD David Benedict has the fortitude here to make it work. But there’s also an opportunity to be a strong regional presence in the Northeast. That’s ok. No AAC team was ever being considered for the championship anyway, we were never playing for that, we didn’t lose anything there. Keep as much rights as you can, try to get games on SNY or another platform... build, win, try to make an occasional bowl when there aren’t enough teams to fill slots. It’s not perfect but it’s not death... at least, not yet.

I want to believe this. I'm not there yet.

 

[CTMike]

I want to believe this. I'm not there yet.

I’m not 100% there either...

 

[uconnphil2016]

Betrayed? That's a little strong.

In reality - we came to the party 10-20 years late with big time football. Was always a tough hill to climb - now it is impossible.

I don’t feel betrayed, but do think this was poorly executed and relegates us to small time athletics in perpetuity. We’ll eventually be small time basketball, as these small private schools won’t be able to compete financially in the long run with P5

 

[businesslawyer]

Yes, let’s lay the blame for the football situation where it belongs - with Geno. And let’s absolve the one person who clearly had no hand at all in the decline of UConn football post Fiesta Bowl - Randy Edsall.

It's not Geno's fault. It's not Edsall's either. He was an employee. He had every right to leave and take what he perceived to be a better job, right or not. And whatever you think about how he left, that is inarguably irrelevant to where we are today.

CEO's leave corporations all the time. Those in charge have to find competent replacements. Our Trustees, our Presidents and our ADs failed beyond miserably in that. If we were still a Top 60 football program, we'd be able to work something out with the AAC just for football.

 

[polycom]

Umm, that’s just flatly false.

How is this false? If we had a Phil Knight bag man we’d be better at football because we could afford better coaches... How is this false?

 

[bmayuc]

Now maybe you so-called basketball fans can actually start attending, you know, basketball games. Havent seen many of you there in years.

Wait, you mean if I disagree with you it means I'm strictly a so-called basketball fan?

Ahhhhh man and all this time I thought that graduating from the University meant I could root for all the sports teams.

Bummer

 

[John]

Wait, you mean if I disagree with you it means I'm strictly a so-called basketball fan?

Ahhhhh man and all this time I thought that graduating from the University meant I could root for all the sports teams.

Bummer

So you're a football fan?

 

[Guapo]

I’m a UConn fan and alum. I admit that I care about the basketball team the most.

However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about the football team.

I may be the only one, but I’m actually really interested to see what we can do as an independent. Unlike what I’ve read in various reports, I think, as a school, we have substantially more clout than UMass when it comes to scheduling and hopefully we can leverage the MBB and WBB teams and, along with some help from Fox, chisel out a halfway decent schedule.

Or, at least, a schedule with teams that I have more interest in playing than the slate the AAC offered.