New signs of life in NE football (Blaudschun)

[huskymedic]

http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=8887

 

[metsfan2323]

So which former UCONN coaches get picked up by Whipple?

It's interesting that Whipple was a finalist at UCONN, Diaco was a finalist at BC and Adazzio was our boosters top choice. If BC picked Diaco, Adazzio would probably be our coach right now (assuming we would steal him from Temple), and if Hathaway picked Whipple he might very well still be our coach.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

If the queen had balls she'd be king.

 

[weyuo]

When BC figures it has more to gain than lose by playing UConn it will happen. UConn needs to rekindle that rivalry with UMass. Why Stoneybrook on the schedule? Because a former Husky coaches there? Blah....

 

[ZooCougar]

Blauds pushes Whipple so hard that you would think the two are secret gay lovers. He might as well have said the NE football was on the right path just because they hired the toilet paper guy.

 

[Kingspoint]

If the queen had balls she'd be king.

"Shi#" said the king. And there was a general movement throughout the land.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

UMass? D-2 football program, for one thing. Plus why give them a toehold at this level. BCU? Never . . . . unless it come hand-in-hand with an invitation to join the ACC. Whipple back at UMass? What next Paul Pasqualoni being hire back at UConn if Diaco leaves?

Yawn!!!! And this written by a jersey guy who will soon be following an inept BiG team. Ya got bigger worries, dude.

 

[Waquoit]

Ever since the squid, UMass has used badmouthing UConn as a tool to build their program. Screw 'em.

 

[coachcap]

Blauds is living in a Utopian world with no toehold in reality. You'd think that he'd have a sense of history. It will take a cataclysmic set of events to make his world a reality. UConn WILL be fine with Coach Diaco at the helm. UMass is stuck in an untenable situation: 100 mile road trips for HOME games with D-1AA facilities on campus & the rest of its conference mates in another time zone. The Thunder Chickens & their superiority complex won't allow N.E. college football to grow. They'll treat UMass as an FCS opponent (much like they treated Holy Cross in the '70s) & block any attempts to give UConn credibility by scheduling them. They'd be better served if they took a lesson from their conference mates in the Research Triangle.

 

[Colt house75]

http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=8887

UMass? D-2 football program, for one thing. Plus why give them a toehold at this level. BCU? Never . . . . unless it come hand-in-hand with an invitation to join the ACC. Whipple back at UMass? What next Paul Pasqualoni being hire back at UConn if Diaco leaves?

Yawn!!!! And this written by a jersey guy who will soon be following an inept BiG team. Ya got bigger worries, dude.

The article is well written and reflects a growing undercurrent up here in the Boston area. For clarification, Mark Blaudschun was a sports writer for the Boston Globe from 1987 to 2012. He then started a company.."ajerseyguy.com" - located in Boston and remains very close to the pulse with BC alumni and on campus reflecting a desire to extinguish the final link in the chill between BC and UCONN and renew the football series. Yes, many of the BC alum up here would like to see the game rescheduled. We need more articles like this to push the BC - UCONN series in the open press. Won't comment here on the UMASS situation as it's been burned out and exhausted in previous threads other than a UMASS-UCONN series as an OOC annual game would go a long way in growing local and regional fan interest. a lot of positives in the article re:UCONN.

One more thing: Blaudschun tweeted on January 2 commending George O'Leary (coach of UCF of the AAC) as having more BCS wins than ND. Very interesting seeing that as we could use any positives for the AAC goes a long way in helping us.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I think Blauds is correct. The reality is that New Englanders are parochial types, and care most about what happens in their backyard. BC will never revive fan interest playing a slate of ACC teams like GT and WF. UConn football won't beome a must see or attend event on Saturdays without more regional games. UMass desperately needs any lifeline it can get towards relevance.

I reject completely the argument that each team is strengthened by weakness in the other two. It's nonsense. Look no further than the state of Alabama to see what a strong local rival brings. It helps both teams. USC would not have become what it did witout a strong UCLA. UConn needs college football to be big in New England. For that to happen, UConn and BC need to be good, and UMass at least decent. That kind of relevance for the sport will drive more athletes to choose football over Lacrosse and other sports, enriching our local recruiting pool, while winning improves our recruiting elsewhere. To really make a major leap, the whole sport has to take a major step up in the region.

 

[huskyrob1]

So which former UCONN coaches get picked up by Whipple?

It's interesting that Whipple was a finalist at UCONN, Diaco was a finalist at BC and Adazzio was our boosters top choice. If BC picked Diaco, Adazzio would probably be our coach right now (assuming we would steal him from Temple), and if Hathaway picked Whipple he might very well still be our coach.

I think Diaco makes UCONN look better, a lot better. I think the Whipple hire makes UMASS look better, but I fail to see how Adazzio makes BC look better going 7-6 in the ACC, and is he all that great a recruiter? If anything, right now it's BC the school making Adazzio look better more so that the reverse of that. Not saying Adazzio won't get it done at BC, he might, but the author of this article completely skims over the fact that Paul Pasqualoni was Adazzio's mentor, yes people are saying they have different coaching philosophies, but I wonder.

 

[coachcap]

I think Blauds is correct. The reality is that New Englanders are parochial types, and care most about what happens in their backyard. BC will never revive fan interest playing a slate of ACC teams like GT and WF. UConn football won't beome a must see or attend event on Saturdays without more regional games. UMass desperately needs any lifeline it can get towards relevance.

I reject completely the argument that each team is strengthened by weakness in the other two. It's nonsense. Look no further than the state of Alabama to see what a strong local rival brings. It helps both teams. USC would not have become what it did witout a strong UCLA. UConn needs college football to be big in New England. For that to happen, UConn and BC need to be good, and UMass at least decent. That kind of relevance for the sport will drive more athletes to choose football over Lacrosse and other sports, enriching our local recruiting pool, while winning improves our recruiting elsewhere. To really make a major leap, the whole sport has to take a major step up in the region.

While I agree that UConn, BCU, & UMass being competitive will drive interest in the sport in the region, I'm scratching my head about h.s. athletes choosing football over "lacrosse & other sports." Generally, I see football players using Lacrosse as an off-season conditioning program. The same with football players participating in hoops & wrestling. I do agree that students who's primary sports are not football may more prone to specialization (e.g. AAU hoops, baseball, track). Those who's primary sport is football, use offseason sports to stay in shape & be more well rounded athletes.

 

[4BostonEagle]

The article is well written and reflects a growing undercurrent up here in the Boston area. For clarification, Mark Blaudschun was a sports writer for the Boston Globe from 1987 to 2012. He then started a company.."ajerseyguy.com" - located in Boston and remains very close to the pulse with BC alumni and on campus reflecting a desire to extinguish the final link in the chill between BC and UCONN and renew the football series. Yes, many of the BC alum up here would like to see the game rescheduled. We need more articles like this to push the BC - UCONN series in the open press. Won't comment here on the UMASS situation as it's been burned out and exhausted in previous threads other than a UMASS-UCONN series as an OOC annual game would go a long way in growing local and regional fan interest. a lot of positives in the article re:UCONN.

Blaudschun has no connection to BC alumni at all other than the few that send him nasty emails. I know for a fact that the BC Athletic Dept didn't like him when he was covering BC. BC was glad when the Globe let him go. I know many more BC alums affiliated with the BC program than Blaudschun and there isn't any interest in playing UCONN. What gets BC fans excited is playing teams like FSU, ND and Clemson in football. The regional rival will be Cuse not UCONN.

 

[huskyrob1]

Blaudschun has no connection to BC alumni at all other than the few that send him nasty emails. I know for a fact that the BC Athletic Dept didn't like him when he was covering BC. BC was glad when the Globe let him go. I know many more BC alums affiliated with the BC program than Blaudschun and there isn't any interest in playing UCONN. What gets BC fans excited is playing teams like FSU, ND and Clemson in football. The regional rival will be Cuse not UCONN.

How can BC fans get excited about 3 sure losses, and one possible loss? And probably getting blown out in at least 2 of them.

 

[Carl Spackler]

While I agree that UConn, BCU, & UMass being competitive will drive interest in the sport in the region, I'm scratching my head about h.s. athletes choosing football over "lacrosse & other sports." Generally, I see football players using Lacrosse as an off-season conditioning program. The same with football players participating in hoops & wrestling. I do agree that students who's primary sports are not football may more prone to specialization (e.g. AAU hoops, baseball, track). Those who's primary sport is football, use offseason sports to stay in shape & be more well rounded athletes.

I agree, football is a year round sport (as are most sports now - for the young athletes that are seriously committed). The majority of kids, anything done in the offseason of their chosen sport, is done to augment in-season performance. Just the way youth sports have developed into 2014. Long gone are the days when I was kid of football in the fall, basketball in winter, and baseball in spring.

The concept that there is a "lack of interest" in college football in the northeast is a false positive I think too, and I do agree that regular scheduling bw/ UConn, UMass, and BC would be a good thing. Just not going to happen though. All three programs are in different conferences.

There is plenty of interest in college football, it's just not consolidated. What lacks in the northeast USA when it comes to college football, and has lacked for 50 years, is a geographic sense northeastern based college football CONFERENCE at the top level of football. Any of this kind of discussion all reduces to that basic fact. A conference that makes geographic and regional sense for college football at the highest level in the region other than the Ivy League before they de-emphasized, simply has never existed for any amount of time substantial enough to create the roots of rivalry and the fall tradition of football between local institutions at the highest level of competition in the sport.

It's the culture we're in. THe longest period of time, and this is off the top of my head, that UConn has had the same conference football opponents on the schedule is the 3 years b/w 2007 and 2009. Every other year, since 1997, has UCONN with a new and different conference lineup. Some stability in a conference in football would be welcome, I would just rather it be the Big 10, than AAC - but that didn't happen.

 

[Chin Diesel]

How can BC fans get excited about 3 sure losses, and one possible loss? And probably getting blown out in at least 2 of them.

BCU athletics in the ACC is similar to beaten spouse syndrome.

 

[huskyrob1]

BCU athletics in the ACC is similar to beaten spouse syndrome.

BC lives in a fairy tale, in coming years BC will be the wicked stepmother to UCONN's cinderella with Bob Diaco as Prince Charming.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Blaudschun has no connection to BC alumni at all other than the few that send him nasty emails. I know for a fact that the BC Athletic Dept didn't like him when he was covering BC. BC was glad when the Globe let him go. I know many more BC alums affiliated with the BC program than Blaudschun and there isn't any interest in playing UCONN. What gets BC fans excited is playing teams like FSU, ND and Clemson in football. The regional rival will be Cuse not UCONN.

For the last home game against Clemson you had 5,000 empty seats, and another 12,000 filled with Clemson fans.

 

[metsfan2323]

Is Whipple officially their coach? I just went to the UMASS athletics website and there is no mention of Whipple. Whipple is known to get a job and then lose it quickly, he was kind of our coach for one day.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Since Blausschun is in utopia fantasy world....let's play a bit with the concept.

Nov. 19, 2011:

Harvard @ Yale Attendance: 55,137.
Louisville @ UCONN Attendance: 34,483.

Nov. 17, 2012
Yale @ Harvard Attendance: 31,123
Virginia Tech @ BC Attendance: 34,266

November 23, 2013
Harvard @ Yale Attendance: 50,934
(we were @ Temple that saturday but
November 30, 2013
University of New Jersey @ UCONN Attendance: 22,163



IF, in a theoretical, utopian world where the northeast culture was similar to other regions of the country, and there was ONE big football program in Connecticut and Massachusetts respectively, and they were in the same conference, and had decades of yearly tradition in competition, there is no reason whatsoever not to suspect that an 80,000 seat capacity arena would not be filled - at least in Connecticut - at least once a year.


THe real fantasy, is that northeast programs like UConn, BC, UMass, Syracuse, Temple, Penn State, Univeristy of New Jersey- could all be in the same conference.

In the real world - in 2014, we've got BYU, Stony Brook, Boise St, Cincinnati, Central Florida, SMU and Temple coming to play at Rentschler. If we win our conference and are a high ranking team at the end of the season, we will make a nice bowl game. If we qualify for post season, we will go to a bowl game in Florida, the Bahamas, Texas or someplace else warm.

UMass and BC, getting on the schedule would be nice, and should be pursued, but we've got higher priorities.

 

[Colt house75]

Blaudschun has no connection to BC alumni at all other than the few that send him nasty emails. I know for a fact that the BC Athletic Dept didn't like him when he was covering BC. BC was glad when the Globe let him go. I know many more BC alums affiliated with the BC program than Blaudschun and there isn't any interest in playing UCONN. What gets BC fans excited is playing teams like FSU, ND and Clemson in football. The regional rival will be Cuse not UCONN.

MR. Eagle,
Blauds spent 25 years at the Globe developing ties and connections. He is closer than you think...
IMO, you need to re-poll your fanbase because living up here in the Boston area, that is not the feelings I am hearing
a) You play fifth fiddle to the Bruins, Sox, Pats and Bruins.
b) Your fans aren't as excited as you might think, at least the many I have talked to...
c) You would generate more interest in BC football with a regional football series with UCONN and the spillover into other sports would be great for the Boston area. Aren't you averaging 1,500 in bb attendance?
d)You aren't filling seats anymore and the above would fill seats and start a new generation of young N.E. football fans, for both schools.
e)Cuse, your regional rival????Syracuse - 5 hours,45 minutes (if you're lucky)....The Rent- 1 hour, 45 minutes (88 miles)....
Moving on, go back to your own board...

For the last home game against Clemson you had 5,000 empty seats, and another 12,000 filled with Clemson fans.

 

[huskyrob1]

Since Blausschun is in utopia fantasy world....let's play a bit with the concept.

Nov. 19, 2011:

Harvard @ Yale Attendance: 55,137.
Louisville @ UCONN Attendance: 34,483.

Nov. 17, 2012
Yale @ Harvard Attendance: 31,123
Virginia Tech @ BC Attendance: 34,266

November 23, 2013
Harvard @ Yale Attendance: 50,934
(we were @ Temple that saturday but
November 30, 2013
University of New Jersey @ UCONN Attendance: 22,163



IF, in a theoretical, utopian world where the northeast culture was similar to other regions of the country, and there was ONE big football program in Connecticut and Massachusetts respectively, and they were in the same conference, and had decades of yearly tradition in competition, there is no reason whatsoever not to suspect that an 80,000 seat capacity arena would not be filled - at least in Connecticut - at least once a year.


THe real fantasy, is that northeast programs like UConn, BC, UMass, Syracuse, Temple, Penn State, Univeristy of New Jersey- could all be in the same conference.

In the real world - in 2014, we've got BYU, Stony Brook, Boise St, Cincinnati, Central Florida, SMU and Temple coming to play at Rentschler. If we win our conference and are a high ranking team at the end of the season, we will make a nice bowl game. If we qualify for post season, we will go to a bowl game in Florida, the Bahamas, Texas or someplace else warm.

UMass and BC, getting on the schedule would be nice, and should be pursued, but we've got higher priorities.

Not really a fantasy when considering that at one time they all were in the same conference, or almost were (Penn State), with the exception of UMASS.

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.../how-the-big-east-died-and-was-dead-all-along

 

[Carl Spackler]

Not really a fantasy when considering that at one time they all were in the same conference, or almost were (Penn State), with the exception of UMASS.

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.../how-the-big-east-died-and-was-dead-all-along

Preaching to the choir friend

I'm well aware of the history of college football in these parts.

 

[huskymedic]

Is Whipple officially their coach? I just went to the UMASS athletics website and there is no mention of Whipple. Whipple is known to get a job and then lose it quickly, he was kind of our coach for one day.

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/011314aab.html