New member's thoughts.

[wolfman61]

Hello people, just registered after many years of lurking, not only here' but also on the Rivals, and Scout boards. Here's my two cents , help make Uconn the dominant force in this diminished Big East, support all it's athletic programs if you can, make the donations. Tell Ms. Herbst and Mr. Warde, to strengthen the university's national profile.

 

[Yonick]

That's exactly what needs to be done. On the admin. front, Herbst needs to raise UConn's athletic profile as high as she can. This will not be helped by Gov. Malloy's cutting 10 Mil from UConn's budget.
Mr. Manuel needs to market UConn's football program like it's never been marketed. We , as fans, need to sell out the rent for the next several years to force expansion.
Our coaches need to recruit the best players possible, even though the diminished BE will hurt recruiting. If they can't, Mr. Manuel needs to find the right coaches.
As far as Kevin Ollie, it wouldn't hurt to extent his contract now. But, it's football that is driving the bus. That needs preference otherwise the entire program goes to mid major. And we get left out of the 64 team super conferenc group that most likely splits from the NCAA over the next 5-10 years.

 

[pj]

Yes, attend games, get friends to attend games, talk to friends and family about UConn football, build up interest. We need to make it an event, like a women's basketball game.

 

[Jimdish255]

Thanks for making yourself heard. I'm pretty sure most of the posters here ARE the people that have been going to the games, dragging their friends, making donations and the like. Unfortunately the perception of the league has been horrible for a variety of factors, some of which outside of the control of individual schools leadership. The bottom line now is that our path to success on the gridiron has narrowed significantly, and the greatest deterrent is our placement in an unstable, regionally disparate and athletically deficient league. If you've been reading here for awhile this isn't news to you and that is why the anticipation of results from our new leadership has been replaced by a sense of disappointment and frustration. If Uconn athletics has been part of your life since the early 80's you've been blessed with a steady growth in academic and athletic success and you lived through the growing pains and hate to see it derailed. It's not up to posters on this board to chart our course for the future or to provide the leadership necessary to get us to that stable place.

We can continue to support the team (harder under the current regime), to promote to the extend we can the university and try to get on with things the best we can. Somewhere between the peanut gallery and the apologistas hopefully you can find a happy home here, but exchanging ideas and disagreeing is part of the deal. And while I personally want to support the team and our leadership as best I can, there's a clear line for me between that and being an enabler. So I guess I've said my piece. There's a lot of smart and incisive posters here with a sense of history and experience in athletics as well. But you will get your kicked from time to time. Don't take it personally and what took you so long? -JH

 

[uconNYC]

I live in NYC, don't even have a car, and was not planning to go to the Cicncy game. Only reason I am renting a car and going is because I feel university needs our support more than ever. Also will be at the NCState game (would have been there regardless).

 

[mattp]

Obviously we're all jealous of the "big 5" invites that some of our conference mates have received, but time will tell if they're better off in the long run. Of the original defectors, I'd say it's a slam dunk argument that VTech is the only one of the three that's actually better off as a result of leaving. I have a feeling that being Purdue v2.0 isn't going to be as exciting for Rutgers fans as they're hoping.

Of course I'd still trade places with them in a heartbeat, but you can make an argument that it's better to dominate a lesser conference than be an also-ran in a better conference. As far as BCS appearances Utah's access from the MWC may have been easier than winning the PAC12(2 in a decade is better than most BCS teams). As fans all we can do is play the hand we're dealt, and bide our time until we're invited elsewhere.

Personally I never tell people what to do with their own money, but to stop supporting the program due to this is silly. Most of us were fans when we were a 1AA school in football and basically a regional power in basketball. We may not be at our zenith and the NNBE may be nothing but CUSA v2.0, but 20 years ago I'd have loved to play CUSA ball so there's no reason we can't tolerate it for a short time.

 

[noeynox]

The problem were going to have is two fold. How do we compete in a region where our closest competitors, RU, BC, Syracuse, Maryland, all play in higher profile conferences that pay them significantly more money than our conference will. We have essentially been boxed in by the ACC and Big Ten. The recruiting disadavantage for us in the region cannot be understated. With less money coming in, we will fall behind in terms of facilities and the ability to draw talented coaches and assistants.

Second is that many casual fans in this state go to the games as a social event. Its one big party at the tailgate, and sometimes they don't make it in to the game. Some will show up for the bigger games on our schedule, SU, RU, Pitt, but have no interest in "wasting" a Saturday watching a game against UMass or Buffalo. I know that the die hards on this board all know people like that. The bigger games on our schedule are about to disappear. We will have a full schedule of UMass/Buffalo/Tulane types here soon.

I'm normally pretty optimistic, but I really fear what the crowds at The Rent will look like if we are in this version of the Big East for an undetermined amount of time. I feel we/our administration was lied to this last go round of expansion.

If UConn could get into the Big Ten by agreeing to take whatever the Big East payout would be for the next 15 years, so other members could make more, I would do it in heartbeat just so that the Rent doesn't end up with a mostly empty upper deck on game days.

 

[pj]

Yes, it is an issue that now all of our regional competitors are much better funded than we are. That wasn't the case before, when northeast football was a neglected commodity.

However, that doesn't preclude success. Boise is surrounded by better funded Pac-10 teams and rose to prominence.

My concern is that most schools didn't care much about football in the past, so it was easy for a Boise to care more and rise. Now that football is supplying huge amounts of money, every school is going to care. The environment just got hyper-competitive.

 

[pj]

Second is that many casual fans in this state go to the games as a social event. Its one big party at the tailgate, and sometimes they don't make it in to the game.

This is fine. Make the tailgate into a party, an all-day carnival. Hire DJs and carnival games and bring in a ferris wheel for the kids. Just require people to have a game ticket to get into the party. Shut down the events while the game is played.

Once you get more people in, expand the stadium to 55k and sell it out.

 

[Doggie Style]

This is fine. Make the tailgate into a party, an all-day carnival. Hire DJs and carnival games and bring in a ferris wheel for the kids. Just require people to have a game ticket to get into the party. Shut down the events while the game is played.

Once you get more people in, expand the stadium to 55k and sell it out.

PJ, that's a great idea. I went to a Jimmy Buffett concert two years ago and they made each person in the car produce a ticket upon entry to the facility. That's a good way of regulating things and selling some tickets. The people I went with said that they had never done that before in years past. The guards said they were just eliminating the people that were there to drink and hang out and not pay for the event. Maybe if the less than die-hard fans didn't have friends in the lot partying it up after half time, some may stay a little later in the game.

 

[huskymedic]

This is fine. Make the tailgate into a party, an all-day carnival. Hire DJs and carnival games and bring in a ferris wheel for the kids. Just require people to have a game ticket to get into the party. Shut down the events while the game is played.

Once you get more people in, expand the stadium to 55k and sell it out.

NO DJ!!!

 

[pj]

NO DJ!!!

Alright, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

 

[huskymedic]

Alright, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

Unless we get Dale.... (Blue/White Kid).

I've wanted to ask him what HE thinks of a DJ @ the game.

 

[Woof 101]

Not going to be easy. The revenge of Hathaway has poked us with a double edged sword. Not only have we lost a lot of rivilary type of competition, but these are the level of schools that directly affect recruiting.
Right now we are going up the down escalator and are going to have to maintain a hard pace to stay in the game on a major scale.

 

[jdb50]

Something positive is that we have a great training facility for football and are going to have one for hoops so we will be competitive there. It is the full stadium for football that is the problem. We will never know if a different coaching selection after Edsall would have had enough success to keep up the momentum for an ACC bid over L-Ville. Going forward we know what needs to be addressed and if it takes cheaper seats to do it, a change in the coach (at least on offense), more promotion whatever, the problem has been identified and will be addressed. The fans need to keep the faith and help us get to where we want to be.

 

[SAMCRO]

However, that doesn't preclude success. Boise is surrounded by better funded Pac-10 teams and rose to prominence.

True, but Boise has 2 HUGE advantages. It pulls a lot of talent from CA, and anyone with a HS diploma is accepted there.

 

[wolfman61]

Thanks for all the input, I'm going to do my part next year by getting season tickets, I have only been to just a couple of games, and ironically, I live only one town over(on company road trip asI type this, in Honolulu). So next year I'm hanging out at home. Go Huskies.

 

[Huskyenmass]

+1000 on this thread and wolfman. I've been thinking the same exact thing. Lots of blame to go around regarding our perception. Everybody's got to do their part to turn that around -- especially us as fans. And I don't mean the BY's. We're the core. It's our job to continue to support the team, help expand the fanbase (friends and family) and it starts tomorrow. Herbst is taking care of the academics and endowments. Manuel needs to get on his game -- get Ollie locked up so he becomes the next hot coaching commodity. The difference being Ollie is a UCONN man and will never even look to "greener pastures." I know the PR hire seems like an excess, but let's face it, we've had a lot to sell in the last 20 years and have done an abysmal job of doing it. Bottom line, as Suzie said, lots of this stuff is out of our control -- certainly out of the fans control. But we can control one thing and that how we support and promote our teams and this university. So you can choose to wallow it self pity or be part of the solution.

 

[ZooCougar]

+1000 on this thread and wolfman. I've been thinking the same exact thing. Lots of blame to go around regarding our perception. Everybody's got to do their part to turn that around -- especially us as fans. And I don't mean the BY's. We're the core. It's our job to continue to support the team, help expand the fanbase (friends and family) and it starts tomorrow. Herbst is taking care of the academics and endowments. Manuel needs to get on his game -- get Ollie locked up so he becomes the next hot coaching commodity. The difference being Ollie is a UCONN man and will never even look to "greener pastures." I know the PR hire seems like an excess, but let's face it, we've had a lot to sell in the last 20 years and have done an abysmal job of doing it. Bottom line, as Suzie said, lots of this stuff is out of our control -- certainly out of the fans control. But we can control one thing and that how we support and promote our teams and this university. So you can choose to wallow it self pity or be part of the solution.

Exactly. Channel your anger and dissappointment into greater love for the program.

Don't let the ACC and the other stuff steal too much space in your mind and keep you from enjoying UConn.

I am very very bummed out, but I am still really looking forward to Saturday's contest.

 

[chiller99]

Guys,let me tell you first hand the ACC is by no means a power conference.We already know we can compete nationally in hoops,and most of their teams are barely .500 in football.Its not the land of milk and honey and teams like Cuse and Pitt will be forced to bend over to the tobacco gods at both UNC and Duke with the most unbearable calls known to man.Even little ECU has at least an even record with all the instate schools except for Carolina.With the right leadership and some wise team selection the NBE could be ahead of its time.I wear my UCONN here in NC proudly and the fear the conference has of UCONN and especially Calhoun was comical.I guess my ideas are more of a change just for the sake of change is not the answer,like it or not our football programs needs growth,and a direction for the future.My speculation is that the BE teams that have left are going to lose their identity and quickly,if you think for a moment that the conference is going to let Pitts style of play go on in the dean dome or cameron think again.Now they have forced you to play their type of ballgame,and thats one they can beat you at.