You know ? The more I think about it, I don't think it was a mistake. I think Ken Davis was correct and it was calculated, but what is wrong with that? If this was any other year or any other coach, the most fans would get is a quick press release and an announcement by a beat writer on Twitter or Facebook. Not only that, but it would have come over the weekend. Does anyone really think Coach Diaco didn't know who his starter for BYU was going to be on Friday? or Sunday Night? or Monday Morning? Do you really think he flipped a coin after practice? Absolutely not. If you say yes, you are only trying to convince yourself. He withheld the decision to create anticipation. Done and Done.
Given past and expected events, the press conference was out of the ordinary, but again, that was the point. He called a press conference to draw attention to THE PROGRAM. He knows how important it is for the Athletic Department to be included in a 5CSMA conference. He knows how important the money is. Why do you think he mentions the S.T.E.M. academic fields by name in 80% of his interviews? He knows how important it is to align the school with the Big Ten caliber institutions. S.T.E.M. drive research. Research drives AAU election. AAU Election facilitates a Big Ten invite.
Regarding timing...First of all, who in UConn's target demographic for football watches the local 5:30, 6:00, or 6:30 news? Even if one is "lucky" enough to get out of work at 5:00, they are stuck in traffic and miss the local news anyway. My wife and I were watching some show on NBC (For the life of me, I can't remember what), and a commercial for Calhoun's bike ride came on. My wife asked who the other guy. I said it was Kevin Nathan. To which she responded, "Who's that?"
If the announcement came in the manner which I would have expected in any other year, it would have gotten 10 seconds on Channels 30, 8, and, 3, and 61 and that would be that. Wonderful. What ends up happening? The announcement is made over Terrestrial radio (by the afformentioned stuck in I-84 grid lock). There are at least six tweets in a row (by the 2 "aults," Conner, Duffy, and Fuller, UConnFootball among others) There are umpteen re-tweets of the same, there were announcements on Facebook, and Low and behold, there is even video (How did that happen if the local channels weren't there? Who would have guessed that quality video production and distribution would be available to the masses without the local affiliates?) of the new incumbent that goes viral and is picked up by Yahoo and Deadspin to the point that in a 24/7 new cycle where a story has an average life span of 27 1/2 minutes, it is still being discussed 2 days later.
Besides, local news most likely had coverage in their 10:00 (Fox61) or 11:00 news, which is a better method of reaching their target demographic, as it leads in to the late night comedy shows.
But yeah, Let's b**ch about the fact that grandma didn't get to hear who UConn's QB is between getting home from the Early Bird Special at Olive Garden and The Wheel of Fortune...Because that's a solid use of spent calories.
