Jeff Jacobs: As the season dies, it’s worth asking if UConn football is worth keeping alive? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Jeff Jacobs: As the season dies, it’s worth asking if UConn football is worth keeping alive?

RSTuthill said:
Why don't you go live down south where CFB is all they have to live for if you want to be like them. Tiring of hearing this whining line.
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UConn aspires to be like Big Ten schools. Besides Chicago, did any ever mention dropping football?

Jeff, you lowly weasel.
 
There have been schools that dropped football. The most notable for me was UVM which made the national news. They also dropped baseball after having a pretty good record and not too many years after Kirk McCaskill became a star with the Angles and White Sox. He also played hockey in the AHL with the Sherbrooke Jets.
 
Would someone explain to me exactly how we're going to get into a P5 conference with football attendance at less than 95% average capacity? And, as much as no one wants to hear it (including me), who thinks we can do that in the next several years??

I view it sort of like the Whalers, where there are probably 8,000 people who would buy season tickets tomorrow. But not enough others to make the business case for an NHL team here. Hence, we have AHL hockey (sort of like FCS football...) I hope I'm wrong.
 
Exit 4 said:
Ah UVM, they have to be a power in hacky sack, quidditch and of course frisbee golf.
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And who doesn't remember Kirk McCaskill? He played obtuse, right, straight and acute when he was the Angles.
 
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Hoophound said:
It’s pretty obvious we need to not only save it, but further invest in it. Jacobs should simply state that. He knows the Big East is not going to thrive long term assuming a P5 split. Letting the uninformed think that’s a great solution to bring us back to the good old days is malpractice.
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You are correct
But what do you expect from JJ and the rag he writes for....
JJ, Susan Herbst and AD David Benedict can all ride into the sunset or oblivion - sooner the better
The NBE is not a place for UConn not now and as far as I can see - forever
 
The number of people that worry about empty seats for a few years killing off the program is staggering. Crappy teams don’t sell tickets. There are half empty stadiums at all kinds of P5 schools at this point. We have to win. If we win, fans will buy tickets again. The powers that be are well aware no one is coming to see a one win team. If fans would come see that, we wouldn’t care who the coach was. Just support the school and ride this out. I know it may be unconventional thinking for some stubborn Yankees, but you don’t have quit everything you aren’t good at. This is unheard of and pathetic.
 
A friend of mine (sports fan, doesn't follow UConn football closely) read the article today. All news to him, says Jacobs makes a good argument.
 
Dooley said:
What I really want to read, God forbid, is how the heck UConn can win at football again. Can we increase funding to bring in a high quality (or highest possible quality) FBS staff? Is it time to cut or decrease funding of other sports to better fund football? Other than winning, can we improve gameday atmosphere somehow? You know, the questions that every other fanbase in the country asks when their teams struggle. Not quitting the sport. I guess that's only unique to our entitled media and fanbase.
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yes they should drop sports and fund football. but they do the opposite - they spend even more on other sports and hire randy.

maybe randy can live in the idiotic hockey shed
 
Skiblets said:
My beef with Jacobs is that whenever he has a beef, he invokes coaches pay. He did it again today. I remember Randy being quite gracious to Jeff when he came back after his heart attack. Too bad Jacobs didn't have the balls to come today if true (and assuming he's healthy of course). Perhaps he was busy at lunch with Delaney and Swofford?? :)
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Agree’d. It is very damaging to constantly harp on coaching salaries. People with little understanding of sports find it outrageous that coaches are paid so well. They don’t understand how hard it is or the market. Arming the ignorant majority with bad information won’t help the sports programs. I’m amazed how many people used to use Ken Kreyske as their info source.
 
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Hoophound said:
Jacobs has a job to do. Part of that job is to say controversial things sometimes to encourage readership and discussion.

I cannot think of any appealing scenario that involves dropping football. You can’t do it.

1. It will jeopardize the basketball programs long term.

2. We have great facilities and they are already built.

3. Every week or two some FCS school anoounces that they are upgrading.

4. If UMass is in FBS for the long haul, which they are, we sure as heck are as well.

In most parts of the country, this discussion would NEVER happen. It is amazing to me that some of you even consider it. We are more likely to go along being terrible in FBS than we are to drop to FCS. As far as dropping football altogether, highly unlikely. Syracuse and BC are in the Top 25 and UMass just beat us. All that proves is there is no reason we can’t be average in the AAC.
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We don't have the culture similar to most parts of the country....
 
We know the program is losing $$$. However, I doubt that includes the Nike deal, other sponsorships and corporate and Alum donations. Seems to be left out of the equation. If someone has info to clear this up...please correct me. I would like to know.
 
Keep football, it's Jeff the sports editor we can live without. He has to keep thinking of things to write about, and UConn is the number one topic in Conn.
 
RSTuthill said:
There have been schools that dropped football. The most notable for me was UVM which made the national news. They also dropped baseball after having a pretty good record and not too many years after Kirk McCaskill became a star with the Angles and White Sox. He also played hockey in the AHL with the Sherbrooke Jets.
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Baseball and wrestling were destroyed by title ix
 
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whaler11 said:
yes they should drop sports and fund football. but they do the opposite - they spend even more on other sports and hire randy.

maybe randy can live in the idiotic hockey shed
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$45M for a part-time hockey arena / meditation center / quiet study hall / sleep aid. Just wonderful use of that kind of money.
 
Hoophound said:
Agree’d. It is very damaging to constantly harp on coaching salaries. People with little understanding of sports find it outrageous that coaches are paid so well. They don’t understand how hard it is or the market. Arming the ignorant majority with bad information won’t help the sports programs. I’m amazed how many people used to use Ken Kreyske as their info source.
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Coaches are effectively CEOs. People take issue with those as well. So I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising.
 
Madmannsucks said:
We know the program is losing $$$. However, I doubt that includes the Nike deal, other sponsorships and corporate and Alum donations. Seems to be left out of the equation. If someone has info to clear this up...please correct me. I would like to know.
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Don't forget about the upcoming new AAC deal. I think once that is finalized and news of a pay increase is released, UConn fans will step off the ledge. A tiny baby step backward but a step nonetheless.
 
Dooley said:
Oh, you must mean the $25M funding on a soccer /baseball facility that has no impact on P5. Or the $45M on a part-time hockey venue to play 3 games a year in front of a dozen students.
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I agree in general with what you're saying and wholeheartedly agree on the hockey venue. But even though soccer has zero impact on P5, it has historically been part of UConn's identity, both from a fan and national relevance perspective. Not enough fans to pay for itself, but a good draw.
I have mixed feeling on baseball/softball. We have carved a nice identity for ourselves in BB and have been sending players to the league. But other than when BB plays at The Dunk, I'm not sure what kind of attendance we get to justify that costly of a facility.
I'd suggest we look at Track, Cross Country, Tennis and Swimming & Diving. Outside of an occasional track person, I don't think we've ever done anything of real relevance in those sports. I picked those since we have them for men & women and might be the easiest to drop. No clue on what they cost on an annual basis.
While I'm dropping sports, I still feel like we're dropping the ball on men's lacrosse. The B1G and ACC both play it and I think with the right hire, CT could get good quickly. I'm sure it doesn't move the P5 needle, but it's a resume builder for those conferences.
 
Fairfield_1st said:
I agree in general with what you're saying and wholeheartedly agree on the hockey venue. But even though soccer has zero impact on P5, it has historically been part of UConn's identity, both from a fan and national relevance perspective. Not enough fans to pay for itself, but a good draw.
I have mixed feeling on baseball/softball. We have carved a nice identity for ourselves in BB and have been sending players to the league. But other than when BB plays at The Dunk, I'm not sure what kind of attendance we get to justify that costly of a facility.
I'd suggest we look at Track, Cross Country, Tennis and Swimming & Diving. Outside of an occasional track person, I don't think we've ever done anything of real relevance in those sports. I picked those since we have them for men & women and might be the easiest to drop. No clue on what they cost on an annual basis.
While I'm dropping sports, I still feel like we're dropping the ball on men's lacrosse. The B1G and ACC both play it and I think with the right hire, CT could get good quickly. I'm sure it doesn't move the P5 needle, but it's a resume builder for those conferences.
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I agree with everything you wrote. I am not a fan of cutting sports. I also really do like soccer - used to play for many years back in the day (Al Bundy alert! :)). I just have a hard time seeing UConn commit soooo much money to every sport but football when football has been driving the CR bus in the past, present, and near future.
 
Unfortunately the UConn AD will likely have to start dropping sports soon due to the budget shortfalls facing the state.

Re-allocating funds might work if we could sustain the current $70MM budget but, I don't see that as being realistic. It's more likely that the football budget actually gets reduced, not increased, going forward.
 
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Dooley said:
Oh, you must mean the $25M funding on a soccer /baseball facility that has no impact on P5.
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I believe they have already raised $18m of the $25m for the soccer/baseball/softball facilities through private donations. The intent is 100% private funding (much like Werth).
 
Fairfield_1st said:
I agree in general with what you're saying and wholeheartedly agree on the hockey venue. But even though soccer has zero impact on P5, it has historically been part of UConn's identity, both from a fan and national relevance perspective. Not enough fans to pay for itself, but a good draw.
I have mixed feeling on baseball/softball. We have carved a nice identity for ourselves in BB and have been sending players to the league. But other than when BB plays at The Dunk, I'm not sure what kind of attendance we get to justify that costly of a facility.
I'd suggest we look at Track, Cross Country, Tennis and Swimming & Diving. Outside of an occasional track person, I don't think we've ever done anything of real relevance in those sports. I picked those since we have them for men & women and might be the easiest to drop. No clue on what they cost on an annual basis.
While I'm dropping sports, I still feel like we're dropping the ball on men's lacrosse. The B1G and ACC both play it and I think with the right hire, CT could get good quickly. I'm sure it doesn't move the P5 needle, but it's a resume builder for those conferences.
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Big East is also a lacrosse conference. Consists of Notre Dame, Rutgers (whose actually good), GTown, Marquette, St. Johns, Villanova, Denver (don't ask), Providence.
 
Fairfield_1st said:
I agree in general with what you're saying and wholeheartedly agree on the hockey venue. But even though soccer has zero impact on P5, it has historically been part of UConn's identity, both from a fan and national relevance perspective. Not enough fans to pay for itself, but a good draw.
I have mixed feeling on baseball/softball. We have carved a nice identity for ourselves in BB and have been sending players to the league. But other than when BB plays at The Dunk, I'm not sure what kind of attendance we get to justify that costly of a facility.
I'd suggest we look at Track, Cross Country, Tennis and Swimming & Diving. Outside of an occasional track person, I don't think we've ever done anything of real relevance in those sports. I picked those since we have them for men & women and might be the easiest to drop. No clue on what they cost on an annual basis.
While I'm dropping sports, I still feel like we're dropping the ball on men's lacrosse. The B1G and ACC both play it and I think with the right hire, CT could get good quickly. I'm sure it doesn't move the P5 needle, but it's a resume builder for those conferences.
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I am sure the P5 conferences are going to love to admit a new member that has eliminated every other athletic team to finance one sport.
 
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