Jim Calhoun, on realignment...

[UConn Dan]

"but somehow or another"

That's code for: I really want to put a boot up BC's ass. . .

The interest isn't mutual though

 

[pnow15]

I thought it was Last Train to Clarksville.

 

[dayooper]

I thought it was Last Train to Clarksville.

Maybe, but Elvis eats at a Burger King in Kalamazoo Michigan

 

[buddy]

“The landscape has kind of, I don’t think it’s treated us unfairly, but somehow or another, we didn’t catch the [proverbial] last train to Tucson,” Calhoun said. “And so we aren’t necessarily, well, I can’t say we’re not where we want to be, because in 2011 we won a national championship and in 2014 we won a national championship, and so therefore, I have concerns like everybody here and everybody anyplace. And that’s why I say, the only thing we can control is us. ”

It's Calhoun, so it needs to be parsed, but basically, he thinks it sucks that we're in the American. If you think there's a secret plan out there in place to move us elsewhere, there's not.

Adjustment Continues for Jim Calhoun

It may not be a secret to those who know!

 

[CAHUSKY]

Let's just hope it wasn't actually the last train.............

 

[Adios]

Let's just hope it wasn't actually the last train...

It isn't. But the problem is he is speaking of a train going to Tucson instead of Ann Arbor.

I am actually enjoying the American but don't expect it to be permanent.

 

[MattMang23]

I too am enjoying the small crowds, lack of historical rivals, and the feeling of being in a conference that is irrelevant on a national level. Mid major life at its finest!

Awww, who am I kidding? It's great!

 

[CL82]

“
It's Calhoun, so it needs to be parsed, but basically, he thinks it sucks that we're in the American. If you think there's a secret plan out there in place to move us elsewhere, there's not.

 

[Adios]

I too am enjoying the small crowds, lack of historical rivals, and the feeling of being in a conference that is irrelevant on a national level. Mid major life at its finest!

Awww, who am I kidding? It's great!

High mid major, some schools with history in the majors and some that will most definitely be in the majors. It is what it is.

 

[MattMang23]

High mid major, some schools with history in the majors and some that will most definitely be in the majors. It is what it is.

I'm sorry for my sarcastic post based on your comment, Butch. I'm glad you're enjoying UConn sports. Personally, I'm just at my wit's end being in this league and I can not accept it. But I shouldn't have poked fun at you for enjoying UConn games.

 

[Dooley]

 

[junglehusky]

JC is going out of his way to restrain himself from saying "This conference suuuuuuuuuuuucks".

 

[UConn Dan]

JC is going out of his way to restrain himself from saying "This conference suuuuuuuuuuuucks".

Yes. Just a look at the way he phrases everything. He really does mean that we were treated unfairly and that we are not happy where we are.

 

[Sea Goat]

I am sure he bites his tongue half off when asked about CR. Especially since he played a huge role in earning a P-5 spot for us.

We'll get there and we'll take advantage when we do, because nothing has come easy for UConn and still we persevere.

Academically we have become a public institution powerhouse while competing in the backyard of the Ivy League. We have elevated public higher education in the northeast beyond what any of the regional second tier private schools are comfortable with.

Athletically, we have accomplished more in a shorter period of time than any peer institution.

Still while the inauthentic darlings of CR are safely ensconced in P-5 land, we wait. In the meantime, we watch Rutgers give up, Syracuse blow up and Louisville fall up. Eventually it will be our day and not an fool anywhere will be suffered gladly if he says we didn't earn it.

 

[Ha Who]

It's like telling Hartford Whaler fans to enjoy the AHL

 

[HuskyHawk]

I think JC is trying to tell us its party time w/ the BIG.

The secret message is in his use of the phrase "Last train to Tuscon." He is pointing us to author Forrest Landry and his "novel about Love." Why? Love is BIG Love when accompanied by Forrest Landry (and, btw, its party time): http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/n...com-owner-forrest-landry-news-photo/161104790

What I see is a cactus giving us the finger, just like realignment has.

 

[MattMang23]

Not to speak for JC, but this has got to be killing him. He dedicated close to a third of his life to making UConn a powerhouse and along the way won three national titles, accomplishing that goal.

Now, as we are in the middle of being "what is," we are being treated in conference realignment like every other "has been" and "never was" school, effectively slapping someone who has as much pride as JC has, in the face.

 

[Kolumbo]

I assumed JC was taking a job with espn to work a P5 invitation. If not, I'd be disappointed.

 

[B1GOSU]

At least UConn isn't as low on the pole as Rice. Rice used to be in a Power Conference in the old Southwest Conference. Now it is stuck in Conference USA 2.0 with only dreams of ever being invited to the American Conference.


It was kind of sad watching UConn women's basketball play a conference championship game against USF. It would have been more interesting seeing UConn vs. Maryland or UConn vs. Notre Dame for a conference championship.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I go back and forth on Connecticut vs. UConn.

Connecticut is a mouthful to say as the default name for a school or sports team, and while I like the unique identity of being UConn, it does seem to lack a bit of prestige that comes with simply being referred to as the state.

 

[Kolumbo]

well, there is a school whose official website is www.upenn.edu, so UCONN isn't entirely on its own and will bring its own prestige.

 

[MattMang23]

At least UConn isn't as low on the pole as Rice. Rice used to be in a Power Conference in the old Southwest Conference. Now it is stuck in Conference USA 2.0 with only dreams of ever being invited to the American Conference.


It was kind of sad watching UConn women's basketball play a conference championship game against USF. It would have been more interesting seeing UConn vs. Maryland or UConn vs. Notre Dame for a conference championship.

I can see that, based on the second paragraph, you don't think UConn is playing in an appropriate league, so I know where you stand on the issue. Don't take the rest of this post as an insult, because I can see you don't hold us in the same regard as Rice, but if we are going to make the comparison, let me just state the following, (and as a UConn infomercial and not as a condemnation of your post):

Sure, we both used to be in power conferences, but the similarities end there. Rice is a nice little school playing in a league that is probably just right for them.

We are the land-grant, public university of the wealthiest state in the country. We are a top 20-public university that is quickly becoming the flagship institution for stem cell research in the entire country, with a remaining academic profile akin to most other schools which are commonly bandied about as being top quality institutions of higher learning. We are not quite on the level of Rice regarding academics, but our profile is not insignificant. We have a state that supports the university's infrastructure to the tune of over $3.8B pledged in the past twenty years for campus improvements, and have, entirely through private donations, completed state-of-the-art football and basketball practice and team facilities lauded as being amongst the finest in the country within the past ten years. We are a proven athletic powerhouse. We have a far larger fan base in a geographical area where college sports isn't already oversaturated. We are the largest and most athletically and academically relevant public school in New England, a region that, with 15 million people, would be the fifth largest state in the union. We have won nineteen national championships in three different sports (four if you consider men's and women's basketball to be different sports), and have a total of twenty varsity teams. We are the only school to have participated in a BCS Bowl, and men's and women's basketball final fours in the same school year- the same school year we sent our baseball team to the Super Regionals. We are the only game in town and also move the needle in the biggest town in the country, which just happens to be 140 miles from our doorstep and only 35 miles from our state's border.

Rice is cute and all, but this tumble is far more tragic.

 

[pj]

Yes. Rice is happy where they are, and doesn't want to compete in big-time athletics. UConn has been committed to competing in big-time athletics for decades and hates where it is.

 

[UConn Dan]

Anytime I hear Rice the only thing I think of is JFK's moon speech (given at Rice). "Why does Rice play Texas?"

 

[junglehusky]

Anytime I hear Rice the only thing I think of is JFK's moon speech (given at Rice). "Why does Rice play Texas?"

And whenever I hear the isolated clip of that speech "We choose to go to the moon in this decade, and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard", the "and do the other things" sounds funny to me. Maybe it reminds me of Edsall.