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

[How Sway?!]

Both. New on-campus stadium which includes pt labs, study halls, concerts and other student activity centers. Including wifi.

All those things already exist on campus, including wifi

 

[CL82]

So that's a no, he didn't complain about an off-campus stadium as far as you know. Whining about the stadium isn't advocating for his program, it sounds like part of an exit strategy to me. Bob Diaco never whined about the The Rent. He said he got all he needed fron UConn, he just didn't execute.

Of all the posts I never expected to see on the board, this one has to be pretty much at the top of the list:

"Why can't Jim Mora be more like Bob Diaco?"

 

[CL82]

Both. New on-campus stadium which includes pt labs, study halls, concerts and other student activity centers. Including wifi.

I feel like we've got that covered at other venues. Particularly because Shenkman and Burton buildings, I feel like an on-campus stadium would be as "cost-effective" as his possible since a lot of the support things that would be thrown into a new build already exist on campus.

 

[Kolumbo]

All those things already exist on campus, including wifi

I must have missed all the stadium concerts. Bottom line, the facility would be used year round, not just a few weekends.

I feel like we've got that covered at other venues. Particularly because Shenkman and Burton buildings, I feel like an on-campus stadium would be as "cost-effective" as his possible since a lot of the support things that would be thrown into a new build already exist on campus.

Yeah, we did it wrong but it can always be corrected. All the football offices and support could have been built into the stadium rather than a separate training facility. I think the practice facility has great locker rooms but they have to duplicate them in East Hartford to be used 6 times a year. They could always give or share Shenkman with the soccer and baseball teams. And UConn Lax.

 

[superjohn]

Bringing recruits to an empty parking lot in East Hartford surely leaves quite an impression.

You realize the men's basketball team plays games in a dump in Hartford, right?

 

[CashewCrew]

You realize the men's basketball team plays games in a dump in Hartford, right?

it's our dump and we love it

 

[Kolumbo]

You realize the men's basketball team plays games in a dump in Hartford, right?

You realize when recruits visit campus they actually get to see their home arena, Gampel Pavilion, right? I hope they aren't driving down Route 44 just to show football recruits where they could potentially play.

 

[jostar1]

 

[superjohn]

You realize when recruits visit campus they actually get to see their home arena, Gampel Pavilion, right? I hope they aren't driving down Route 44 just to show football recruits where they could potentially play.

View attachment 101925

One of their home arenas which is also a dump with some charm and a whole lot of history. Win some games and you'll get better recruits and people will actually care.

UConn basketball recruits don't come to play at UConn because of the facilities.

 

[jostar1]

 

[Kolumbo]

One of their home arenas which is also a dump with some charm and a whole lot of history. Win some games and you'll get better recruits and people will actually care.

UConn basketball recruits don't come to play at UConn because of the facilities.

Point being, they don't even see the football stadium when they visit campus, and it's not worth driving to East Hartford.

Wait a minute. The football recruiting trip may not be so bad after all. They can visit Cabella's and the new Lowe's and Wayfair warehouses next door.

 

[Hoophound]

Point being, they don't even see the football stadium when they visit campus, and it's not worth driving to East Hartford.

Wait a minute. The football recruiting trip may not be so bad after all. They can visit Cabella's and the new Lowe's and Wayfair warehouses next door.

View attachment 101927

I would think they visit the Rent in many cases.

 

[CL82]

I must have missed all the stadium concerts. Bottom line, the facility would be used year round, not just a few weekends.


Yeah, we did it wrong but it can always be corrected. All the football offices and support could have been built into the stadium rather than a separate training facility. I think the practice facility has great locker rooms but they have to duplicate them in East Hartford to be used 6 times a year. They could always give or share Shenkman with the soccer and baseball teams. And UConn Lax.

I don't know, we've got first class football facilities already on campus. I don't see the point in duplicating them in the stadium. Obviously, we will still need something, like locker rooms, trainers room etc.

 

[Kolumbo]

I'm curious though, why are they underrated, or by whom? I'd think they would all be great places to visit.

 

[huskymedic]

You realize when recruits visit campus they actually get to see their home arena, Gampel Pavilion, right? I hope they aren't driving down Route 44 just to show football recruits where they could potentially play.

Point being, they don't even see the football stadium when they visit campus, and it's not worth driving to East Hartford

I would think they visit the Rent in many cases.

They visit the Rent in the vast overwhelming majority of the visits and there are plenty of pics on recruiting visits out there.

 

[Waquoit]

Both. New on-campus stadium which includes pt labs, study halls, concerts and other student activity centers. Including wifi.

Will everyone get a pony too?

 

[UConnJim]

I'm curious though, why are they underrated, or by whom? I'd think they would all be great places to visit.

Everyone I have brought to the Rent have been impressed by the experience, especially tailgating. There are not many college stadiums that are as easy to get to with almost unlimited parking for tailgating for the home fans as well as the visitors. The seating is terrific with no bad seats and plenty of leg room, especially when compared to older stadiums. Compared to other stadiums, there are enough restrooms at The Rent as well.

 

[John]

You realize the men's basketball team plays games in a dump in Hartford, right?

Gampel needs help too

 

[CL82]

Will everyone get a pony too?

I would like a pony.

 

[jostar1]

I would like a pony.

'With all this manure, there must be a pony in here somewhere!'”

 

[ZooCougar]

Mora is telling people what they NEED to hear. We need a real on campus stadium, a conference and more financial support to be taken seriously as a football program.

Yeah. It’s refreshing to hear someone speak their mind.

He needs to walk a fine line between honesty and built in excuses though.

 

[Kolumbo]

Will everyone get a pony too?

Great idea! And horses! Fits UConn more so than generic concrete stands on abandoned contaminated runways.

 

[Kolumbo]

Everyone I have brought to the Rent have been impressed by the experience, especially tailgating. There are not many college stadiums that are as easy to get to with almost unlimited parking for tailgating for the home fans as well as the visitors. The seating is terrific with no bad seats and plenty of leg room, especially when compared to older stadiums. Compared to other stadiums, there are enough restrooms at The Rent as well.

Sure, I enjoy going to the Rent too. It's very easy to get to, awesome for tailgating, and caters to everyone off campus who finds it too difficult to get to Storrs. It will never be power material though, and it sucks for students. But until we get that invite, use the cheapest band-aids.

 

[UConnJim]

Sure, I enjoy going to the Rent too. It's very easy to get to, awesome for tailgating, and caters to everyone off campus who finds it too difficult to get to Storrs. It will never be power material though, and it sucks for students. But until we get that invite, use the cheapest band-aids.

Since UConn has been bad, it sucks for students (and for many fans), but when UConn was good, people showed up including students. Sure, an on campus stadium would be great, but let's start winning first.

 

[Sea Goat]

Since UConn has been bad, it sucks for students (and for many fans), but when UConn was good, people showed up including students. Sure, an on campus stadium would be great, but let's start winning first.

How quickly we forget the packed Rent for BE FB games in the mid 2000's! It was working! We packed the Rent and it had a great atmosphere, including tailgating!

The Pasqualoni hire and the first screw job on conference realignment in 2011 is what started FB down the toilet. There is simply no denying that hurt us the most. Before that time, we were dominating Syracuse (won 6 in a row from 2005-2011) and on a par with Pitt. (I have written ad nauseam about the reasons we were screwed, so I won't rehash the same here.) Then, once the first conference screw job occurred, we started to repeatedly shoot ourselves in the foot FB-wise.

The question is - can we get it back? I say "yes", but only in a better conference setting. To do so, we need to monetize March Madness as I have suggested. If MM becomes controlled by an organization akin to CFP (and why not?), UConn will be an important player. It may actually have the gravitas as a BB program to drag FB along with it to a suitable conference. But change has to occur regarding MM. The NCAA makes over $1b each year from MM and the payouts to the schools suck in comparison.

Why does this matter? First of all, for all our greatness, our athletic dept needed a university subsidy of $38m+ to pay for operations.
The single biggest reason for this is being in an inferior conference. The BE paid UConn about $6.5m in 2023 (about same as Creighton - let that sink in!) For comparison, Big 10's Northwestern, hardly a big earner, received somewhere between $50-60m - more than all 11 Big East members received in distribution combined! This is not sustainable! The push to get into a better conference, with football, should be the A-number 1 goal.