Mind change: The new dynamic..

[coachcap]

This Catholic is pi$$ed at the C7. May they endure all the rings of Dante's Inferno for Eternity. That said, it's time to look forward for new revenue streams.
1. I've made a 180 degree turn on the Michigan game. Move it to the Meadowlands. Negotiate in short order :
a. With the New Jersey Sports Authority- UConn gets 100% of gate receipts & 50% of concessions. The Sports Authority has access to the UConn Co-Op's full inventory of souvenir merchandise, & can sell Wolverine swag also. UConn & the Authority agree to a multi-year deal to host a season opener against a top national opponent (Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Oregon, you name it).
b. In return for acquiescence to Michigan's request, specify that the Wolverine's sign a multi-year deal (of at least 6 years duration) with the Huskies across the board for football, men's & women's hoops, & hockey, thus ensuring a sellout at the XL when Michigan comes to visit.
2. W. Manual needs to beef up the out of conference schedule in whatever way possible. Get major opponents into the Rent. Tie football contracts to appearances with Men's & Women's hoops (& hockey if applicable)
3. Revisit the Notre Dame contract: Jack Swarbrick (or was it Muffett McGraw?) mentioned that he would like to continue playing UConn in men's & women's hoops. UConn & the Domers will soon be conference partners in Hockey East. Sign a 12 year contract with the Leprechauns tying football & the hoops squads. The carrot for getting the hoops squads: Notre Dame MUST agree to 3 x 4 year cycles of home & homes with the Irish visiting the Rent once in each 4-year cycle. The other UConn home game can alternate between the Meadowlands & the Razor (the Irish's choice OR whichever of the Kraft's or the Meadowlands Authority offers UConn the best financial terms).

If you have any other Bizarro World additions to new revenue streams, feel free to add them!

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

You think Michigan/UConn hockey at the XL sells out? 5k maybe.

 

[Palatine]

Do not move the Michigan game.

Let's go big time by pissing off the season ticket base, that makes ZERO sense.

 

[Nostical]

This grandiose watershed game v Michigan will produce no better stadium attendance at kickoff than any other on our schedule. When the TV cameras roll and folks in the B1G tune in they'll see tons of empty seats and assume (confirm) our apathy. We as fans are simply unmotivated to change our habits and seem incapable of doing so. We better find a way.

 

[Greenback]

This grandiose watershed game v Michigan will produce no better stadium attendance at kickoff than any other on our schedule. When the TV cameras roll and folks in the B1G tune in they'll see tons of empty seats and assume (confirm) our apathy. We as fans are simply unmotivated to change our habits and seem incapable of doing so. We better find a way.

As a long time college football fan( Nebraska where my father was born and raised) I was very excited when the announcement was made that Uconn was going to compete in D 1 football .Big-time football was finally coming to Connecticut. I begged my wife to come to the first game at Rentschler Field. We packed up the pick-up, filled it with food and drinks for 20 and we were on our way. You may be asking yourself why pack for 20 if it was just me and my wife wife, well in Nebraska tailgating is a hugh event, a party that everyone is involved in. The game and tailgate are the place to be no matter who they are playing everyone shows up, and everyone wears red and everyone is in the stadium at kickoff, heck, they get 90,000 for their spring game. Anyway when my wife and I got to the game we/I was in for a bite of a shock. Uconn was D1 in football, but our fans were not. People were late to get in their seats they did not wear the school colors and most left early. I knew that day there was going to be a large learning curve for the Nutmeggers. Unfortunately here we are some 10 years later and not much has changed. I think our fan base needs help. I tried coaching fans in a polite manor I’ve tried sarcasm and letters to AD I don’t know what else to do. This program is very important to me and it breaks my heart that people just don’t get it. We have all the pieces to be a big time program except our fans suck.

 

[businesslawyer]

As a long time college football fan( Nebraska where my father was born and raised) I was very excited when the announcement was made that Uconn was going to compete in D 1 football .Big-time football was finally coming to Connecticut. I begged my wife to come to the first game at Rentschler Field. We packed up the pick-up, filled it with food and drinks for 20 and we were on our way. You may be asking yourself why pack for 20 if it was just me and my wife wife, well in Nebraska tailgating is a hugh event, a party that everyone is involved in. The game and tailgate are the place to be no matter who they are playing everyone shows up, and everyone wears red and everyone is in the stadium at kickoff, heck, they get 90,000 for their spring game. Anyway when my wife and I got to the game we/I was in for a bite of a shock. Uconn was D1 in football, but our fans were not. People were late to get in their seats they did not wear the school colors and most left early. I knew that day there was going to be a large learning curve for the Nutmeggers. Unfortunately here we are some 10 years later and not much has changed. I think our fan base needs help. I tried coaching fans in a polite manor I’ve tried sarcasm and letters to AD I don’t know what else to do. This program is very important to me and it breaks my heart that people just don’t get it. We have all the pieces to be a big time program except our fans suck.

O.K., I do not mean to pick on you particularly, but that post is a great example of searching for the pimple on JLos butt instead of enjoying the view. We drew 10k to our football games, we build a 40k stadium, we invite in a Big Ten team (a bad one but a Big Ten team nonetheless), we fill up the stadium for the game, destroy the Big Ten team completely on the field, and your reaction was to walk out of the stadium with a list of problems?

Seriously, you need therapy.

 

[APA]

This Catholic is pi$$ed at the C7. May they endure all the rings of Dante's Inferno for Eternity. That said, it's time to look forward for new revenue streams.
1. I've made a 180 degree turn on the Michigan game. Move it to the Meadowlands. Negotiate in short order :
a. With the New Jersey Sports Authority- UConn gets 100% of gate receipts & 50% of concessions. The Sports Authority has access to the UConn Co-Op's full inventory of souvenir merchandise, & can sell Wolverine swag also. UConn & the Authority agree to a multi-year deal to host a season opener against a top national opponent (Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Oregon, you name it).
b. In return for acquiescence to Michigan's request, specify that the Wolverine's sign a multi-year deal (of at least 6 years duration) with the Huskies across the board for football, men's & women's hoops, & hockey, thus ensuring a sellout at the XL when Michigan comes to visit.
2. W. Manual needs to beef up the out of conference schedule in whatever way possible. Get major opponents into the Rent. Tie football contracts to appearances with Men's & Women's hoops (& hockey if applicable)
3. Revisit the Notre Dame contract: Jack Swarbrick (or was it Muffett McGraw?) mentioned that he would like to continue playing UConn in men's & women's hoops. UConn & the Domers will soon be conference partners in Hockey East. Sign a 12 year contract with the Leprechauns tying football & the hoops squads. The carrot for getting the hoops squads: Notre Dame MUST agree to 3 x 4 year cycles of home & homes with the Irish visiting the Rent once in each 4-year cycle. The other UConn home game can alternate between the Meadowlands & the Razor (the Irish's choice OR whichever of the Kraft's or the Meadowlands Authority offers UConn the best financial terms).

If you have any other Bizarro World additions to new revenue streams, feel free to add them!

Funny stuff.

 

[Greenback]

O.K., I do not mean to pick on you particularly, but that post is a great example of searching for the pimple on JLos butt instead of enjoying the view. We drew 10k to our football games, we build a 40k stadium, we invite in a Big Ten team (a bad one but a Big Ten team nonetheless), we fill up the stadium for the game, destroy the Big Ten team completely on the field, and your reaction was to walk out of the stadium with a list of problems?

Seriously, you need therapy.

You may be right about the therapy, however, I think you missed the point I was trying to make. This fan base still has a long way to go and does not seem to be improving over time.

 

[businesslawyer]

This Catholic is pi$$ed at the C7. May they endure all the rings of Dante's Inferno for Eternity. That said, it's time to look forward for new revenue streams.
1. I've made a 180 degree turn on the Michigan game. Move it to the Meadowlands. Negotiate in short order :
a. With the New Jersey Sports Authority- UConn gets 100% of gate receipts & 50% of concessions. The Sports Authority has access to the UConn Co-Op's full inventory of souvenir merchandise, & can sell Wolverine swag also. UConn & the Authority agree to a multi-year deal to host a season opener against a top national opponent (Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Oregon, you name it).
b. In return for acquiescence to Michigan's request, specify that the Wolverine's sign a multi-year deal (of at least 6 years duration) with the Huskies across the board for football, men's & women's hoops, & hockey, thus ensuring a sellout at the XL when Michigan comes to visit.
2. W. Manual needs to beef up the out of conference schedule in whatever way possible. Get major opponents into the Rent. Tie football contracts to appearances with Men's & Women's hoops (& hockey if applicable)
3. Revisit the Notre Dame contract: Jack Swarbrick (or was it Muffett McGraw?) mentioned that he would like to continue playing UConn in men's & women's hoops. UConn & the Domers will soon be conference partners in Hockey East. Sign a 12 year contract with the Leprechauns tying football & the hoops squads. The carrot for getting the hoops squads: Notre Dame MUST agree to 3 x 4 year cycles of home & homes with the Irish visiting the Rent once in each 4-year cycle. The other UConn home game can alternate between the Meadowlands & the Razor (the Irish's choice OR whichever of the Kraft's or the Meadowlands Authority offers UConn the best financial terms).

If you have any other Bizarro World additions to new revenue streams, feel free to add them!

I am not Catholic, and am personally reluctant to tell Catholic organizations how to act as they are based on a foundation of principals and beliefs that I do not fully share. Having said that, if I was a Connecticut Catholic, I would be very clear to my parish. To quote Jim Calhoun, "Not a dime." I would pressure the church the only way you pressure any non-profit institution -- by withholding dollars. My message would be you can't expect to receive contributions from me while Catholic institutions are working to damage the State of Connecticut, through its flagship state university, out of greed and ego (which I'm fairly certain are not catholic principals anyway).

Of course, I would have cut off contributions until the Church showed it was serious about turning over Priests who committed crimes to civil authorities, so no one who is Catholic should feel compelled to listen to me.

 

[ZooCougar]

Who the are the Catholic 7? Are they against birth control?

Were these the schools with boutique athletic departments that just made an announcement about choosing to embrace further irrelevance?

 

[ETSA]

O.K., I do not mean to pick on you particularly, but that post is a great example of searching for the pimple on JLos butt instead of enjoying the view. We drew 10k to our football games, we build a 40k stadium, we invite in a Big Ten team (a bad one but a Big Ten team nonetheless), we fill up the stadium for the game, destroy the Big Ten team completely on the field, and your reaction was to walk out of the stadium with a list of problems?

Seriously, you need therapy.

I was at that IU game and nothing will take away from the wonderful feeling it was to see UConn advance to that stage against a Big 10 team. (I am a grad of IU, but I root for UConn in all sports against everybody including IU - especially in basketball.) This Terry Caulley run is still vivid in my memory:

 

[ZooCougar]

That period of football was incredible. I really remember think that the sky was the limit back then.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

O.K., I do not mean to pick on you particularly, but that post is a great example of searching for the pimple on JLos butt instead of enjoying the view. We drew 10k to our football games, we build a 40k stadium, we invite in a Big Ten team (a bad one but a Big Ten team nonetheless), we fill up the stadium for the game, destroy the Big Ten team completely on the field, and your reaction was to walk out of the stadium with a list of problems?

Seriously, you need therapy.

And how does this posters foresight look right now? Curious what's your master plan?

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Coach cap . . . While I am a fan of your sense of urgency, it's not without a lot of reservation. I might be OK with moving the Michigan game it would not be without a guarantee for 6 or more games the UM and a visit to Rentschler no later than 2015. A true home game with a big program is a must for the perception of UConn being big time. Can't be seen as overly willing to export "home games".

I would totally be in favor of scheduling neutral site games with anybody, anytime. But neutral site, not away at your yard and neutral for my home game.

Would be willing to enter into a multiple sport agreement with Notre Dame, but . . . Neutral site games in football fine however no South Bend without appearances at Rentschler.

 

[coachcap]

Coach cap . . . While I am a fan of your sense of urgency, it's not without a lot of reservation. I might be OK with moving the Michigan game it would not be without a guarantee for 6 or more games the UM and a visit to Rentschler no later than 2015. A true home game with a big program is a must for the perception of UConn being big time. Can't be seen as overly willing to export "home games".

I would totally be in favor of scheduling neutral site games with anybody, anytime. But neutral site, not away at your yard and neutral for my home game.

Would be willing to enter into a multiple sport agreement with Notre Dame, but . . . Neutral site games in football fine however no South Bend without appearances at Rentschler.

Maybe, in my haste, my message wasn't clear. If so, I apologize for any misunderstanding. The Michigan game is a stand alone. My suggestion was, in consideration of moving this game to the Meadlowlands this time only, that Michigan & UConn negotiate a 6 year contract of home & homes (UConn's home is the RENT) & extend the contract to include the men's & women's hoop teams (advantage UConn) & the hockey team (to help with attendance). Just an aside, Notre Dame has dropped Michigan from its football schedule, so the Wolverines have an opening to fill.
The suggestion for an annual season opener in the Meadowlands against a major national team is a separate issue. I'm looking for revenue streams to support the athletic department. Playing in that venue against a national opponent yearly does multiple things.
1. First & foremost increases revenue from ticket sales. Initially, the draw would be of course the opposition. Should UConn achieve a modicum of success, more closet UConn fans will come out of the woodwork to buy tickets to this annual affair.
2. Gives even greater visibility to UConn in the tristate area. Gives greater access to a UConn home game to lower Fairfield County. Deflects, for one weekend at least, attention away from Rutgers toward UConn.
3. Revives the annual Meadowlands Kickoff Classic so popular in the 80s & 90s.

The point of my initial post, is that with the C7 leaving, UConn faces a monumental task toward future scheduling & identifying revenue streams. I've provided some suggestions to help mitigate these problems. I'm open to other suggestions, can take constructuve criticism, & sincerely HOPE that the Athletic Department is also thinking outside of the box.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

Coach cap . . . While I am a fan of your sense of urgency, it's not without a lot of reservation. I might be OK with moving the Michigan game it would not be without a guarantee for 6 or more games the UM and a visit to Rentschler no later than 2015. A true home game with a big program is a must for the perception of UConn being big time. Can't be seen as overly willing to export "home games".

I would totally be in favor of scheduling neutral site games with anybody, anytime. But neutral site, not away at your yard and neutral for my home game.

Would be willing to enter into a multiple sport agreement with Notre Dame, but . . . Neutral site games in football fine however no South Bend without appearances at Rentschler.

TDH and others: As of this minute UCONN is not perceived, in any way, shape or form, as a big-time football program. The situation reminds me of a "passed-over" Field Grade. He's got a chest full of medals, including those given for valor/courage under fire and can't understand what happened to his career. He was once considered a great leader of men. Now he's ashamed to go to the Officers' Club. Unfortunately, in his record, sit a couple of old "ER's" (submitted by rating officers with whom he got sideways) that have been waiting to bite him in the ass.

Right now, we look at UCONN's medals (awards); multiple National Championships in what we thought were major sports, a new FB Program with BCS Conference Championships and a BCS Bowl in what has become the only major sport, plus an incredible and successful climb to the top twenty public universities. We wonder why the school has been passed over multiple times. It is unbelievable to us. What are the evaluators looking for?

Damn it, we better get off our high horse and come at this situation with the humility more in tune with an organization with little to no remaining leverage. For the time being, we need to be willing to play anyone, anywhere, at any time. All the University has earned and all partners who, in great part, helped earn it, are gone. We, to a great degree, are on our own.

Quibbling about where we are willing to play one of the real movers and shakers is no longer an option. Hell, as we now know, it never was an option. As the school works it's way through this mess, flexibility and humility better become watch words.

 

[businesslawyer]

And how does this posters foresight look right now? Curious what's your master plan?

I can guaranty you that if you allocate our current dilemna to different factors that have led to it, the color that people wear to the stadium would be allocated the percentage equal to Bluto's gpa.

 

[Vowelguy]

Having said that, if I was a Connecticut Catholic, I would be very clear to my parish. To quote Jim Calhoun, "Not a dime."

I assume you will also

• no longer be driving on NJ Turnpike or other toll road in NJ in protest of Rutgers departure, since such tolls go to the state of NJ
• research the list of top donors to Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, Rutgers, WVa and no longer patronize any products that said donors produce

 

[Marty Jackson]

As a long time college football fan( Nebraska where my father was born and raised) I was very excited when the announcement was made that Uconn was going to compete in D 1 football .Big-time football was finally coming to Connecticut. I begged my wife to come to the first game at Rentschler Field. We packed up the pick-up, filled it with food and drinks for 20 and we were on our way. You may be asking yourself why pack for 20 if it was just me and my wife wife, well in Nebraska tailgating is a hugh event, a party that everyone is involved in. The game and tailgate are the place to be no matter who they are playing everyone shows up, and everyone wears red and everyone is in the stadium at kickoff, heck, they get 90,000 for their spring game. Anyway when my wife and I got to the game we/I was in for a bite of a shock. Uconn was D1 in football, but our fans were not. People were late to get in their seats they did not wear the school colors and most left early. I knew that day there was going to be a large learning curve for the Nutmeggers. Unfortunately here we are some 10 years later and not much has changed. I think our fan base needs help. I tried coaching fans in a polite manor I’ve tried sarcasm and letters to AD I don’t know what else to do. This program is very important to me and it breaks my heart that people just don’t get it. We have all the pieces to be a big time program except our fans suck.

You tried coaching fans? Really...

 

[Greenback]

You tried coaching fans? Really...

I think coaching may have been the wrong term, Perhaps my story was not written as well as it could have been.
I'm not someone that goes up and down my section chastising people for not showing up and wearing blue. These were conversations with people in my tailgate party and other season ticket holders in the area. People who you get to know quite well during a three year season ticket deal. The point I was trying to make was simply, coming from a family of fanatical cornhusker fans and having gone to Nebraska football games I have seen what a huge difference a loyal and passionate fan base can make with a team and a state. I think Connecticut can be that state, it just has a ways to go and while we can agree to disagree, perception is important in College athletics and selling out games, being in your seats at kickoff and wearing blue does matter.

 

[freescooter]

Here's my gameplan. I gave my plan for hoops and nobody like it, though I'll wager that its what we do in 3 years, it will just be harder then. For football we need to generate some excitiment on offense for starters. That means at a minimum a new Offensive coordinator if not a new head coach. When you are a lesser team you need to take more chances and we will likely be a lesser team for a while. Top teams can play power football, and most of them do. Lesser teams open it up mostly because its the only way they have a chance.
As far as recruiting, we need to comb the JUCO ranks big time. UConn has never been a big desitnation for JUCO players, we bring in a quarterback here, a backup linebacker there. We need to greatly expand the numbers. If you look at rosters from places like Boise they have much larger numbers. Boise has something like 12 JUCOs on the roster. We had 2 last year. On eof the tings Temple did to become more competitive was to bring in a number of JUCO kids. I think they had 5, as well as try an dland transfers from other D1 programs. We need to do the same. JUCOs give you developed experienced players who can play right away and at a minimum provide depth. You can also find some very talented guys who were missed or who didn't fit their original schools.