I'm convinced that we'll eventually have a new on-campus stadium. Too much chatter about it.
We all remember Hathaway never taking advantage of the success we had with our football program during the 2003-2011 period. He was a weak and reticent leader. He never saw realignment coming and wasn't wired for the anticipatory steps needed to play in that arena. He never took the uncomfortable position of pushing his superiors to support stadium expansion, or a high priced coaching replacement once Edsall left. Later, Warde Manuel was caught flatfooted when it counted. But Dave Benedict understands that when the stars align you have to jump at the opportunities. He arrived with Auburn sensibilities. Unlike Hathaway and Manuel, he lived in the SEC as an administrator. He yanked our BBall into the Big East. Smart. When the brash Brett Yormark spoke of an NYC vision for the B12 and how much value he placed on BBall, DB jumped at the idea. Turns out Yormark loved us, but their Prez's didn't have his vision--and the Pac12 debacle presented him the 4-Corner schools that were too good to pass up. That left us standing once again at the altar. (Imagine the B12 being able to tout Kansas, UConn and Houston?) Now, with survival on the horizon, DB believes our footprint makes the ACC the better choice--in whatever form, after the coming defections. Our football needs a conference and our regional rivals make sense for us to be in a reconstituted ACC, as the $$ will always be an issue.
Lots of things are happening and UConn has never been more in the forefront of the sports psyche than right now. Leave it to a crazy Lakers and Hurley kismet moment. We need to show up at The Rent this year and win some competitive games with new portal players we don't even know yet. If we can feed off the fervor that's burning hot right now for the Huskies, it can sweep right into the football stadium.
We'll be heading down to Maryland to watch our debut. Last time we were there, Nicky-Will ran back a punt for a TD, we all went wild and we beat the Terps. Stefon Diggs was a Terp freshman then, but you knew right away he was a superstar. It was an awesome game and a great atmosphere. And we had a huge UConn fan turnout. Let's make this the year when the good juju finally heads our way. So, with a firm belief that they owe us, I'm making a good faith offering to the juju gods. I'm taking UConn over 4.5 wins, and UConn +24 vs MD. We all need to do that. Unlike Hathaway or Manuel, let's have the insight to anticipate what's coming, and the balls to "go big or go home"!
