Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[Waquoit]

I don't know any students but I do remember reading a few posts by students who said it's awful.

Very weak. You disagree with me citing students then you say you don't know any. The students were there when we were in a decent league.

 

[Kolumbo]

Please point out the students who have been badmouthing the Rent on this board.

I don't know any students but I do remember reading a few posts by students who said it's awful and going to East Hartford is the problem. Is it your contention that students in Storrs would rather waste a couple hours getting to and from East Hartford than enjoy a football game on campus? I don't think any student would agree with that. That is just a given.

check that, I searched for you...

The Rent was pretty awesome at it's peak from 2007-2011 and that's coming from someone that was making the bus trip. The atmosphere in and outside the stadium was fantastic for students, alums, and fans.

The only negatives were 1) the bus ride itself was a time suck for students, but the student section was still full anyway so hardly a negative other than people's time, but 2) because of the bus, students left after the 3rd quarter most of the time to get back to campus and beat the bus line.

The problems are obvious and have already been stated here: the team needs to win, and not just win, but be good, which hasn't been the case in 13 years, and beat recognizable opponents (separate discussion that's been litigated 1,000x).

Secondarily, though, student habits around sports are not the same as they were a decade ago or even 5 years ago. Even if the team was just pretty good, I question how likely they'd actually go into the stadium.

I'm not going to act like I know the modern student that well, but anecdotally it feels like today's class of students at UConn are more studious and choosy of how to spend their time. "Why spend 6 hours in East Hartford to watch a 7-5 football team, when I can just spend 3 hours in a parking lot partying then go home." Then the supposed shutting down of much student tailgating post COVID doesn't help the situation either and further dissuades students from making the trip at all.

Anyway this is much ado about nothing in my opinion since I do not see a world where a stadium is built on campus unless something dramatically shifts and I'd give it like a <5% chance.

It took UConn Men's Basketball winning not 1, but 2 national championships back to back for the State and Athletic Department to get serious about renovating Gampel and I'm still unsure how substantial the changes will be. That's the type of mountain you are talking about climbing here.

I can second that. The entire experience felt disconnected from the college atmosphere. The setup seemed geared more toward the general public than the student body, especially now that students are crammed into the far reaches of the red lot.

I'm not saying it wasn't exciting at times, but overall, it lacked the campus experience. Even in victory, the excitement never carried over to the campus community. Getting off the bus or parking back on campus always felt very anticlimactic.

I was at UConn at the height of football success. I completely agree about losing the college atmosphere. It felt like I was off to watch a AAA baseball game or something. The bus ride is just too long. By the time you get there a lot of the hype is lost.

A college sports event should first and foremost cater to the college students. It's for them first and the community second.

 

[CJasmer]

I don't know any students but I do remember reading a few posts by students who said it's awful and going to East Hartford is the problem. Is it your contention that students in Storrs would rather waste a couple hours getting to and from East Hartford than enjoy a football game on campus? I don't think any student would agree with that. That is just a given.

check that, I searched for you...

This makes sense. The Rent would feel like minor league football team and not a real college football experience.

 

[huskymedic]

-> University of Virginia President James E. Ryan will serve as the league’s Chair of the Board of Directors for the second year of his two-year term. He will be joined by Wake Forest University President Susan R. Wente as the Vice-Chair of the league’s Board of Directors, announced by the Board of Directors following the annual winter meetings in February…

… The Conference’s Executive Committee will include Ryan, Wente, Boston College President William Leahy, University of Miami Chief Executive Officer and Acting President Joe Echevarria, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel, and Georgia Institute of Technology President Angel Cabrera. <-

 

[LoyalFanCT]

-> University of Virginia President James E. Ryan will serve as the league’s Chair of the Board of Directors for the second year of his two-year term. He will be joined by Wake Forest University President Susan R. Wente as the Vice-Chair of the league’s Board of Directors, announced by the Board of Directors following the annual winter meetings in February…

… The Conference’s Executive Committee will include Ryan, Wente, Boston College President William Leahy, University of Miami Chief Executive Officer and Acting President Joe Echevarria, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel, and Georgia Institute of Technology President Angel Cabrera. <-

Jim Ryan may be one of the best university presidents in the nation. UVA is lucky to have him.

 

[hank970]

Pretty much all of the folks badmouthing The Rent don't go to games.

Similarly, most folks who badmouth Porta Potties would rather not use them.

 

[noeynox]

Jim Ryan may be one of the best university presidents in the nation. UVA is lucky to have him.

How do people know such things?

 

[buddy]

-> University of Virginia President James E. Ryan will serve as the league’s Chair of the Board of Directors for the second year of his two-year term. He will be joined by Wake Forest University President Susan R. Wente as the Vice-Chair of the league’s Board of Directors, announced by the Board of Directors following the annual winter meetings in February…

… The Conference’s Executive Committee will include Ryan, Wente, Boston College President William Leahy, University of Miami Chief Executive Officer and Acting President Joe Echevarria, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel, and Georgia Institute of Technology President Angel Cabrera. <-

I imagine having the BC President on that committee eliminates UConn from joining the ACC in the event of a shakeup. I also believe that Miami and Georgia Tech also were opposed to UConn in the past.

 

[dayooper]

-> University of Virginia President James E. Ryan will serve as the league’s Chair of the Board of Directors for the second year of his two-year term. He will be joined by Wake Forest University President Susan R. Wente as the Vice-Chair of the league’s Board of Directors, announced by the Board of Directors following the annual winter meetings in February…

… The Conference’s Executive Committee will include Ryan, Wente, Boston College President William Leahy, University of Miami Chief Executive Officer and Acting President Joe Echevarria, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel, and Georgia Institute of Technology President Angel Cabrera. <-

I know it goes without saying but look who’s not on the board (or what schools are not represented).

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I imagine having the BC President on that committee eliminates UConn from joining the ACC in the event of a shakeup. I also believe that Miami and Georgia Tech also were opposed to UConn in the past.

What power do these presidents have above the ones not listed? Also I thought I read it’s on a rotating basis.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Please point out the students who have been badmouthing the Rent on this board.

USF is not remotely comparable to UConn vs an on Campus Stadium
It has many more students ( 50k) on campus than UConn but that almost irrelevant. Its campus is located in Tampa close to the greater metro area . So building an on campus stadium doesn’t make it more difficult for their non student fans . Face it Storrs is a brutal place to get to for the majority of the state’s population . The access roads are clogged for 10,000 at Gambel. I could not even imagine the nightmare of 40,000 at a football game . . I went to a BB game there last year with my grandson who lives in the Middletown area and it took us an hour with that traffic
His comment was why didn’t they build this campus in the Hartford area . My reply was that would have made to much sense,
I understand the land was donated Or extremely cheap
The reality is without substantial infrastructure improvement an on campus stadium is insane.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

How do people know such things?

He was on the short list for president of Harvard and Yale, just for starters

 

[noeynox]

USF is not remotely comparable to UConn vs an on Campus Stadium
It has many more students ( 50k) on campus than UConn but that almost irrelevant. Its campus is located in Tampa close to the greater metro area . So building an on campus stadium doesn’t make it more difficult for their non student fans . Face it Storrs is a brutal place to get to for the majority of the state’s population . The access roads are clogged for 10,000 at Gambel. I could not even imagine the nightmare of 40,000 at a football game . . I went to a BB game there last year with my grandson who lives in the Middletown area and it took us an hour with that traffic
His comment was why didn’t they build this campus in the Hartford area . My reply was that would have made to much sense,
I understand the land was donated Or extremely cheap
The reality is without substantial infrastructure improvement an on campus stadium is insane.

A whole hour?

 

[Rdkid]

The on-campus/off-campus stadium debates are the biggest wastes of thumb typing time on this board.

 

[TheDrifter75]

USF is not remotely comparable to UConn vs an on Campus Stadium
It has many more students ( 50k) on campus than UConn but that almost irrelevant. Its campus is located in Tampa close to the greater metro area . So building an on campus stadium doesn’t make it more difficult for their non student fans . Face it Storrs is a brutal place to get to for the majority of the state’s population . The access roads are clogged for 10,000 at Gambel. I could not even imagine the nightmare of 40,000 at a football game . . I went to a BB game there last year with my grandson who lives in the Middletown area and it took us an hour with that traffic
His comment was why didn’t they build this campus in the Hartford area . My reply was that would have made to much sense,
I understand the land was donated Or extremely cheap
The reality is without substantial infrastructure improvement an on campus stadium is insane.

I feel for ya. I just looked up Middletown to Storrs and it says it's a 43 minute drive. That means an additional 17 minutes was tacked on to an approximately 40 mile drive. That's a huge sacrifice, the travesty.

 

[Kolumbo]

I imagine having the BC President on that committee eliminates UConn from joining the ACC in the event of a shakeup. I also believe that Miami and Georgia Tech also were opposed to UConn in the past.

I believe the ACC Board of Directors includes 18 members representing all 18 Universities. I would assume everyone gets one vote but it is the ACC, so who knows. Maybe ND only gets a 75% share vote.

 

[hank970]

USF is not remotely comparable to UConn vs an on Campus Stadium
It has many more students ( 50k) on campus than UConn but that almost irrelevant. Its campus is located in Tampa close to the greater metro area . So building an on campus stadium doesn’t make it more difficult for their non student fans . Face it Storrs is a brutal place to get to for the majority of the state’s population . The access roads are clogged for 10,000 at Gambel. I could not even imagine the nightmare of 40,000 at a football game . . I went to a BB game there last year with my grandson who lives in the Middletown area and it took us an hour with that traffic
His comment was why didn’t they build this campus in the Hartford area . My reply was that would have made to much sense,
I understand the land was donated Or extremely cheap
The reality is without substantial infrastructure improvement an on campus stadium is insane.

Traffic and parking are problems at every campus on game days/nights, whether urban or rural. Some are better than others, but none is perfect. It's a given that high volumes of traffic exiting major arteries over a relatively short time span are going to clog lesser ones enroute to a single destination. We've all experienced delays and backups when construction activity obstructs a lane and obliges motorists to merge onto what remains open. And so, you need multiple wider pathways leading to more dispersed multiple parking areas in surrounding areas to spread impacts over a larger area or entice earlier arrivals over a greater interval of time (by improving the tailgating experience, for instance). Design and analysis of alternatives might be a worthy exercise for civil engineering undergrads. Turn them loose on it and see what kinds of ideas they generate.

 

[noeynox]

Lets go easy an @AZHuskiePop , he's a good poster, but yeah making a big deal about an hour in traffic for a sporting event, is lol funny. Those of us that have gone to Foxborough for a Pats game in the snow, know traffic. I personally can't do those types of games anymore. Prefer to watch on tv now. Went to Rams/Ravens this year in Baltimore, which was probably the game of the year in the NFL and i couldn't wait for it to end before it even kicked off.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

A whole hour?

From Middletown 30 or so miles away ! ..
The point is Storrs is a logistics problem especially for most of the Ct population centers. If you were an established power not a big deal. We will drive yo NY or Boston but we’re not the Red Sox or Yankees.
if your going to spend $100 million on a stadium without infrastructure improvements you wasting the tax payers money .

 

[noeynox]

From Middletown 30 or so miles away ! ..
The point is Storrs is a logistics problem especially for most of the Ct population centers. If you were an established power not a big deal. We will drive yo NY or Boston but we’re not the Red Sox or Yankees.
if your going to spend $100 million on a stadium without infrastructure improvements you wasting the tax payers money .

We can't move the campus. So you're talking at most an extra 30 minutes? Even the best situated stadiums are going to have those types of issues on game days.

 

[Kolumbo]

From Middletown 30 or so miles away ! ..
The point is Storrs is a logistics problem especially for most of the Ct population centers. If you were an established power not a big deal. We will drive yo NY or Boston but we’re not the Red Sox or Yankees.
if your going to spend $100 million on a stadium without infrastructure improvements you wasting the tax payers money .

Well, a new stadium would be a heck of a lot more than $100 million.

What sticks in my craw is how short our travel distance is compared to most big-time programs and how much we complain about travel time. I'm sure the average Penn State fan spends far more time getting to and from a game than anyone in CT. Complaining about travel time is such a bush-league attitude.

 

[CJasmer]

Well, a new stadium would be a heck of a lot more than $100 million.

What sticks in my craw is how short our travel distance is compared to most big-time programs and how much we complain about travel time. I'm sure the average Penn State fan spends far more time getting to and from a game than anyone in CT. Complaining about travel time is such a bush-league attitude.

Penn State is a perfect example where over 100,000 people show up for games on Saturday in the middle of nowhere. The impression I am getting for people against a stadium on campus is UConn fans are not willing to put in any extra time to see a game. UConn games are unique with people tailgating not even coming into the stadium for the start of the game and clearing out before the 4th quarter.

 

[The Viking]

Getting back to expansion it still blows me away the Atlantic Coast Conference took teams on the Pacific coast and a Dallas team over us.
I would still love to know if there any backchanneling in regards to what type of discount we'd take financially to join and if so how much

 

[UConnTrumbull]

We don’t sell out the rent now (or close to it). Traffic argument is overblown. Basketball is always 7pm weekday or noon weekend. Football has 3 hour of tailgate time.

 

[buddy]

Getting back to expansion it still blows me away the Atlantic Coast Conference took teams on the Pacific coast and a Dallas team over us.
I would still love to know if there any backchanneling in regards to what type of discount we'd take financially to join and if so how much

I hate to say it, but the situation is being monitored. As I mentioned in a previous post, give that the president of BCU is a member of the ACC executive committee, it is highly unlikely that he would allow an invite to UConn.