No XL games until Fall 2021 | Page 3 | The Boneyard

No XL games until Fall 2021

I don’t understand how anyone thinks they’re going to watch a basketball game in-person this year, regardless of venue.
 
CL82 said:
Why?
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Because u can’t have every game at gampel, besides the game itself , everything else is sub par, long drive from central ct, no place to hang out beforehand and eat/ drink confortably, no cell service inside gampel(what is this 1998?) , brutal traffic getting in and out -especially the parking garage. U need some games to appeal to the rest of states residents geographically. I think it’s perfect the way the schedule was set up with 8-9 games in Hartford. Just easier access for all - unless yer 20 yrs old. Me and the fellas like to hang out before hand and after the game and drink /eat. Can’t do that in storrs really. don’t get me wrong, I like going to gampel , just want to have the option of Hartford as well. And Hartford can get some pretty big crowds for the decent games. (Cincy , Arizona A couple years ago) When Indiana played there maybe 7-8 years back I never heard the place so loud
 
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Ajs120102 said:
. I never understood the argument that people won’t show up.
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The argument isn't that people won't show up, the argument is that roughly 7,000 fewer people can go.

Particularly when we're good. Gampel severely limits the amount of fans who can go, which is never good for the fan base.
 
The XL Center makes it much easier to go to a mid-week home game for those of us that work in the Hartford area. It would be great to have some upgrades and a way to bring the fans closer to the court, but it was built for hockey. Who doesn't like to play in a brand new arena?
I have been to packed games at Gampel and at the XL Center and when it comes down to it, ~2x the people is just louder, weird how that works. The Memphis game last year was one of the most impressive crowds we have had in quite some time, IMO.
With everything that has already been stated; ease of access (parking and traffic), restaurants, bars, higher capacity, alcoholic beverages served in the arena, it is just necessary to have a 2nd home at this point that is off campus.
I feel like it is not so much an argument of the games being in Hartford as it is the outdated arena that they are played in.
 
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SprtsThrpyCT said:
I feel like it is not so much an argument of the games being in Hartford as it is the outdated arena that they are played in.
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Cameron Indoor is older, Duke is doing OK. Not playing in Hartford hurts the program. Now that things have turned around, why would one want to hurt the program?
 
Waquoit said:
Cameron Indoor is older, Duke is doing OK. Not playing in Hartford hurts the program. Now that things have turned around, why would one want to hurt the program?
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Are you really comparing Cameron to the XL?

Have you been to Cameron?
 
8893 said:
Are you really comparing Cameron to the XL?

Have you been to Cameron?
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No. It's old. Would anyone say it was great if Wake played there?
 
How far do people consider "too far" in terms of travel for a game a Gampel? 45 minutes? 60 minutes? 75? And where does that correlate to in terms of physical location of fans?

I would think anyone living east of the river and north of Middletown could get from their starting location to their seats at Gampel and less than an hour. To me that's not asking too much for fans.

Even New London has to be able to do that in about an hour.

Roughly, put 1K students in Gampel and you are asking for 9000 fans to come from Windham and Tolland Counties and parts of Hartford, New London and Middlesex for a weeknight game. That doesn't seem like too much to ask for, is it?

Weekend games, could bring in fans from southern CT, and Southwest CT.

Everyone understands the dilemma is population center of CT goes from center of the state south and southwest and the school is north central to northeast part of the state.

There's about 3.5 million residents in the state, but its not like there is a requirement for equal representation in the stands from every town and city.
 
Has anyone ever watched a game at Rupp Arena? I went a long time ago, about 25 years ago, and the place was a dump. I think they've renovated it since then. No idea what it looks like now.
 
Chin Diesel said:
Even New London has to be able to do that in about an hour.
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Probably about 35 minutes depending on where you are.
 
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If you weren't at the XL for the Syracuse and Georgetown games in January of 1990 you may not appreciate how loud and exciting that arena can be. We went to all games in both arenas from the mid-80's on and even opening night against St. Johns at Gampel wasn't as loud and electric as those two games......and many others, because the sheer difference in the numbers of fans (double with Gampel at 8240 capacity) added to all the promise of a great season in progress.

Of course, we were on the rise, not languishing in a bad league with odd start times, but you could feel the anticipation during warmups and as you got closer to game time. Introduction of starting lineups didn't need the phony bell ringing and the recording telling us to "get ready to rumble". We already were.
 
Connecticut = Shortsightedness.

The State requires UConn to play in Hartford to prop up the city. At the very same time, UConn Basketball loses out on having a dedicated home that is so prevalent in college athletics. A program as big as ours and as successful as ours should have a dedicated and upgraded facility.

For decades our state has failed to invest in our cities and they use UConn to keep one of those cities afloat, not understanding that maybe if they had invested the correct way they wouldn’t need UConn to play at the XL. If that had happened maybe the state would be able to shift some resources to the flagship university to make the necessary improvements to build up our only true college town, instead of applying band aid fixes to our cities and the facilities (XL) located in those cities.
 
BPT2Storrs said:
For decades our state has failed to invest in our cities and they use UConn to keep one of those cities afloat, not understanding that maybe if they had invested the correct way they wouldn’t need UConn to play at the XL.
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Does anyone in this thread actually follow the program or are they just using it to hate on Hartford and the state? UConn needs Hartford as much as Hartford needs it. AD Dave knows it and that's why he's saying it out loud.
 
formerlurker said:
I've done zero research, z but I'm pretty sure I know developers who would have made it fit.
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For what it'd cost, they're better off building a new place from scratch. It isn't a Yost/Williams Arena situation.
 
BFieldHusky said:
Has anyone actually heard from UConn about this today?
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I never even got the survey about attending games - not sure how they picked the season ticket holders that'd get it.
 
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Waquoit said:
Does anyone in this thread actually follow the program or are they just using it to hate on Hartford and the state? UConn needs Hartford as much as Hartford needs it. AD Dave knows it and that's why he's saying it out loud.
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Explain.
 
Watchdog said:
If you weren't at the XL for the Syracuse and Georgetown games in January of 1990 you may not appreciate how loud and exciting that arena can be. We went to all games in both arenas from the mid-80's on and even opening night against St. Johns at Gampel wasn't as loud and electric as those two games......and many others, because the sheer difference in the numbers of fans (double with Gampel at 8240 capacity) added to all the promise of a great season in progress.

Of course, we were on the rise, not languishing in a bad league with odd start times, but you could feel the anticipation during warmups and as you got closer to game time. Introduction of starting lineups didn't need the phony bell ringing and the recording telling us to "get ready to rumble". We already were.
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The dilemma is too much of the HCC/XL is still the same as it was for those games 30 years ago. It's a known money pit and isn't efficient for basketball, hockey or concerts.
 
Waquoit said:
Does anyone in this thread actually follow the program or are they just using it to hate on Hartford and the state? UConn needs Hartford as much as Hartford needs it. AD Dave knows it and that's why he's saying it out loud.
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When you say UConn needs Hartford, are you referring to the University's academic mission, athletics, or both? I don't think you will get much kickback suggesting UConn should have a presence for its programs in the capitol city. I think the pushback is on why does the athletics "need" to be in Hartford regularly.
 
Just got the email update. Basically no new info. It said there will be a season ticket holder options communication in early November
 
The email UConn just sent was a whole lot of nothing.

Don't even know why they sent that
 
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WingU-Conn said:
The argument isn't that people won't show up, the argument is that roughly 7,000 fewer people can go.

Particularly when we're good. Gampel severely limits the amount of fans who can go, which is never good for the fan base.
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Yes. The Red Sox, Duke etc are obviously held back by their small stadiums. If only the world had more Sox and Duke fans!
 
gampelcrazies said:
I get that but you have to send more info than that.
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Agree. As part of the news regarding no games at XL the other day why not just say more info for season ticket holders will be sent in early November? To send a specific message to us with literally no new information was kind of ridiculous. It was basically “hey we said you would need to wait to hear about options, well you will need to wait longer, bye”
 
Vuce said:
Agree. As part of the news regarding no games at XL the other day why not just say more info for season ticket holders will be sent in early November? To send a specific message to us with literally no new information was kind of ridiculous. It was basically “hey we said you would need to wait to hear about options, well you will need to wait longer, bye”
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I find it really hard to believe they don't have more info they can share. The season is only a little over a month away.
 
Waquoit said:
Cameron Indoor is older, Duke is doing OK. Not playing in Hartford hurts the program. Now that things have turned around, why would one want to hurt the program?
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i highly doubt staff drives recruits down to Hartford when they come on their official visits to tour XL.... that actually sounds like an awful idea. it's not like SJU getting to play some games at MSG or Gtown at the Verizon Center or Nova at Wells Fargo. ya know, professional arenas.
Waquoit said:
No. It's old. Would anyone say it was great if Wake played there?
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yes we would. just b/c it's old doesnt mean it's crap. XL just happens to be both.
 
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Guapo said:
Yes. The Red Sox, Duke etc are obviously held back by their small stadiums. If only the world had more Sox and Duke fans!
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Try reading what I wrote. I didn't say the program was "held back". Those are your words.

I said it's not good for the fan base. Because fewer fans can go.

I guess it's crazy to think that more kids going to games will result in more UConn fans when they grow up.
 
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