Parade is Sunday at 4 PM | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Parade is Sunday at 4 PM

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WingU-Conn said:
I mean no disrespect, but he said he'd do it if given the chance. He had the chance in 2011 and didn't do it. The school did something in 2011, Pasqualoni showed that what happens on the field is what's going to determine fan interest.

He won't drive an hour for a free look at the rent and free football game with free parking because basketball isn't involved? Then he won't pay to drive back this fall, when basketball isn't involved.

Like I said repeatedly. We should be doing something. It's crazy not to. But to expect it to have a meaningful impact is naive. Winning games is what will have an impact.

We are completely screwed if there are a bunch of fans like this. They seem to understand that without support for the football program we are stuck in the AAC and the basketball programs are on life support. But driving an hour for an entirely free event is too much to ask because it's not tied to basketball.

That's like saying I know I need to see the doctor to help me get better, and there's no co-pay involved, but it's too far to drive without a free lollipop.

@CHB- I totally agree, I don't recall ever saying those were bad ideas. All I said was I didn't have a problem with the 4pm Sunday parade and that they should also be doing something Saturday.
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I'm assuming that I'm the "he" that I rewrote above in national flag blue, but you didn't quote my post so I could be wrong. If I'm that guy, let me add to the conversation.

In "Confessions of an Advertising Man," David Ogilvy wrote (essentially) that the purpose of an advertisement was to get a person to try a product for the first time. It would be up to the product to live up to the invitation. He also said something like 'nothing could kill a bad product faster than good advertising.' I think he used the example of Gablinger's, which was the first low-carb beer. Many liked the concept and flocked to try the product. It tasted terrible and the product died. But it certainly validated the concept, which was thereafter revisited by Lite Beer from Miller and then Bud Light and now countless others. Probably doesn't much matter how many Boneyarders wouldn't touch either product, but we have an off season for such OT stuff.

Throughout, I've simply shared what would get this one faithful basketball fan to take 4+ hours out of his Saturday (probably solo this time) to do a recon on something that he imagines one day working with either the friends I went to the Yale game with, my uncle, or (best) my girlfriend's grandchildren. To refresh, I'm the guy who was teaching the 3 year olds to say "Go Huskies" last Saturday. The oldest turned 10 on Tuesday and one of the first questions he asked NeNe when she called that morning was whether UCONN had won last night. Knowledge of UCONN in that household prior to the Round of 64? ZERO.

You keep agreeing that something should be done on Saturday. Terrific. But why keep casting aspersions on me, when I'm just trying to be helpful toward elucidating the mindset of a potential fan who has not yet been converted? The doctor's visit analogy doesn't hold up to any close inspection; it attempts to paint me as an idiot and invites me to respond in kind. I can't see any advantage in that.

UCONN has spent a quarter century building a brand, and this is the current key piece of the puzzle. You are correct that there is no substitute for winning football teams, but it's more than plausible that my narrative is worth a respectful consideration. While you claimed that no disrespect was meant, that's a pretty low bar . . . and you might not have succeeded.

Fwiw, in 2011,
  • I did not reside as close to East Hartford as I now do;
  • There were not 2 National Championship teams;
  • Conference Realignment hadn't played out as it did thereafter;
  • There wasn't a new football coach
Otherwise, you are correct that I had my chance and didn't go. But you already know from my first post on the matter, that I didn't even know that there was a Spring Game this coming Saturday until my reading of this thread. And I know that you agree that some basketball presence would help and no basketball presence would be a missed opportunity. Why not stick with the points of agreement, and leave aside questionable assumptions?
 
Will Senhor T. make an appearance or two in the crowd on Sunday? Since it's a family crowd, the full monty, or nutty, wouldn't be appropriate, but seeing his face on some signs in the crowd would be awesome or even a "Thanks for another championship season. The Boneyard" would be great too. I'm away on business until Sunday morning and don't have materials here or I'd make one myself.
 
The idea of combining the Spring Game and the Parade sounds awesome. But logistically, I have no idea how that would work. You have a four-mile parade from downtown Hartford to The Rent? So what, anybody who wants to go to the Spring Game clearly isn't going to be downtown, right? Cause otherwise they'd have to go downtown, watch the parade, then drive to the Rent, presumably with road closures, etc. So that means no tailgating. Which for many younger fans is half the pull.

So now everybody's at The Rent, and nobody's in Downtown Hartford... I mean, it just doesn't make sense. Logistically, it's just too tricky. A great idea, but just extremely difficult to pull off in practice.
 
Irish Loop said:
The idea of combining the Spring Game and the Parade sounds awesome. But logistically, I have no idea how that would work. You have a four-mile parade from downtown Hartford to The Rent? So what, anybody who wants to go to the Spring Game clearly isn't going to be downtown, right? Cause otherwise they'd have to go downtown, watch the parade, then drive to the Rent, presumably with road closures, etc. So that means no tailgating. Which for many younger fans is half the pull.

So now everybody's at The Rent, and nobody's in Downtown Hartford... I mean, it just doesn't make sense. Logistically, it's just too tricky. A great idea, but just extremely difficult to pull off in practice.
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I'm fully intending on tailgating for 4 hours Saturday... would have been a shame to have to choose between that and the parade. But I hope they honor the hoops teams appropriately.
 
No response from the AD office. Too bad, they are dropping the ball on this one. They've made a lot of progress in their marketing, that they missed this opportunity surprising.
 
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WingU-Conn said:
No response from the AD office. Too bad, they are dropping the ball on this one. They've made a lot of progress in their marketing, that they missed this opportunity surprising.
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Thanks for your info, efforts and willingness to find common ground.
 
Hans Sprungfeld said:
Thanks for your info, efforts and willingness to find common ground.
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I apologize if I was being douchey. Was frustrated with dealing with Whaler ignoring my posts that they should do something, while trying to mock me as if I said they shouldn't do anything, and I probably took that out on you.

An hour in the car for me is like 5 minutes, so that wouldn't stop me, but I've driven to Toronto, Indiana (ND), Michigan and Louisville for games. Sometimes I forget people aren't as willing to make an hour drive as I am.
 
So, after thinking about this matter for a few days, I have two questions I want to pose. 1) Is spring football game attendance is really the best way to convert bball-centric fans like Hans to football fans? Or 2) Is spring game attendance a cause of the football fanbase malaise, or is it a symptom of it?

Hans is a bball fan who acknowledges the importance of football for UConn, and we do need fans like him to become ticket buyers and put butts in the seats at the Rent. But let's be honest with ourselves... the spring game is not the same thing as a real game against a real opponent. There's nothing at state as far as UConn vs. another school, and it's even debatable how much is at stake as far as starting positions, and the casual fan won't care about that stuff anyway. I would suggest to Hans and the other casual "football curious" fans, to check out the BYU or Boise State home game. Buy a miniplan when they go on sale, or individual game tickets if you don't want to invest in season tickets yet.

Hopefully Diaco gets the team winning quickly, which is the best cure for attendance issues. If the program gets back on track, THEN you will see spring game attendance improve (relating to #2). But I think we are over-valuing the spring game on this thread... it's not like even if we get 25,000 in the rent for the SG, College Game day will mention it for more than a second anyway. Yes, Uconn still has much room to improve in marketing, etc. Winning games, and having fans in the seats takes precedence. Cure the disease, not the symptom.
 
WingU-Conn said:
I apologize if I was being douchey. Was frustrated with dealing with Whaler ignoring my posts that they should do something, while trying to mock me as if I said they shouldn't do anything, and I probably took that out on you.

An hour in the car for me is like 5 minutes, so that wouldn't stop me, but I've driven to Toronto, Indiana (ND), Michigan and Louisville for games. Sometimes I forget people aren't as willing to make an hour drive as I am.
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You said there is no point because people knows it exists.

Well I told a basketball season ticket holder who has never set foot in the Rent this morning I was going to the spring game tomorrow.

He said: Football? That has already started? Then he asked me who the coach is.

So I'm guessing there are some other people who haven't really been exposed.
 
Second person I told who invited me to parties for both final four games asked me 'whats a spring game'.

So maybe some opportunity here to raise awareness.
 
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Not to belabor this further but Whaler and my examples, while they seem inconceivable to us, are really what a lot of UConn basketball fans think around the state about UConn football.

Diaco seems really likable, and maybe if he got 100 people to sign up for tickets and 100 more considered it after hearing him and seeing the game, it'd be a win.

The key is getting people there just once and tailgating with friends and hopefully seeing a UConn win.

In my opinion, fan bases are like compounding interest.. They start out slow but they build upon themselves overtime until you say wow, I have 14 people getting tickets on my crew when we started with 4.

Regardless of how the spring game plays out I hope UConn puts a lot of Diaco centric ads up this summer.
 
Anyone know if the parade be streamed online?
 
whaler11 said:
You said there is no point because people knows it exists.

Well I told a basketball season ticket holder who has never set foot in the Rent this morning I was going to the spring game tomorrow.

He said: Football? That has already started? Then he asked me who the coach is.

So I'm guessing there are some other people who haven't really been exposed.
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Congratulations, you've given this board a second Waylon. As if one wasn't enough.
 
Ironically the guy you are agreeing with has said he and I are largely in agreement. I would ask why you choose to be an a--hole but it's obviously just your nature.
whaler11 said:
Look at that now we are talking. Nice job.
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WingU-Conn said:
Ironically the guy you are agreeing with has said he and I are largely in agreement. I would ask why you choose to be an a--hole but it's obviously just your nature.
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I was commenting on the tweet.

I'm not being anything - you are just all over the place on this one and started all of this nonsense by acting like there was no opportunity to draw some attention.
 
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WingU-Conn said:
Because this is the Boneyard where no matter how many times you post something, someone will ignore it. I agree there's an opportunity to do something at the spring game, and they should do something more than just having the trophies there. But...

Are there fans of UConn sports that don't realize we have a football team? (rhetorical)

It's been 10 years, we've won two conference championships, and gone to a BCS bowl. People know we have a team, and they know that we were good for a few years (the attendance shows that) and that we sucked the past few years (the attendance shows that). We are long past the point where using basketball to introduce people to UConn Football will have any meaningful impact (JMHO).
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Read what you wrote here.

Not doing something related to basketball Saturday would have been a missed opportunity.

Now you can say it's complaining over nothing or it's not a big deal...

UConn has never capitalized on any athletic success. The basketball programs can't really be more successful - attendance shrinks over time. Football goes to a BCS Bowl and season ticket sales drop the next season.

So maybe you think the status quo half a**ed event is fine for Saturday. Or you can read Dooley's post on the football board and imagine what other schools would do with an opportunity like a double national championship won the prior week.

Nobody is saying you are going to turn women's basketball fans into Spackler or BizLaw overnight because they went to a spring game.
But this idea that everyone knows we have a team so who cares, no big deal is right out of the Hathaway playbook.
 
UCONN has a football team?

I'm not a devoted UCONN Football fan. I go to a few games. I think the product needs to get better. I had no idea the Spring game was today until I saw it in this thread.
I do think a little tie-in with the new coach and the 2 championship coaches would have helped attendance today. It won't keep them coming w/o an improving team. But that's all you can ask for when trying to promote a team. An opportunity was missed. Huge or small, it was missed
 
whaler11 said:
Read what you wrote here.

Not doing something related to basketball Saturday would have been a missed opportunity.

Now you can say it's complaining over nothing or it's not a big deal...

UConn has never capitalized on any athletic success. The basketball programs can't really be more successful - attendance shrinks over time. Football goes to a BCS Bowl and season ticket sales drop the next season.

So maybe you think the status quo half a**ed event is fine for Saturday. Or you can read Dooley's post on the football board and imagine what other schools would do with an opportunity like a double national championship won the prior week.

Nobody is saying you are going to turn women's basketball fans into Spackler or BizLaw overnight because they went to a spring game.
But this idea that everyone knows we have a team so who cares, no big deal is right out of the Hathaway playbook.
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Again, one nelson/waylon on this board is enough.

This is the third or fourth time you've accused me of writing something I didn't write.

The reason you think I'm all over the place is because you're making things up to respond to.
 
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whaler11 said:
I was commenting on the tweet.

I'm not being anything - you are just all over the place on this one and started all of this nonsense by acting like there was no opportunity to draw some attention.
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You mean the one that said they are doing what I suggested in my email to Warde Manuel?

:rolleyes:
 
Anyone know the route? Gotta plan which bars I'll need to hit up.
 
Hans Sprungfeld said:
A couple pages back......... "You're welcome" for my interest in Connecticut football.
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As for UCONN basketball fans being late to the UCONN football party - late is better than never. Thanks for interest in UCONN football. Welcome to the party.

As for realizing the importance of football to the grand scheme of things in intercollegiate athletics and what levels of competition an institution may aspire to compete at, and associate with nationally - late to the party is better than never, but not by much. We were already in the party, but as a majority our leadership were not prepared for big boy football, when the party moved recently, we were left holding the tab for damages and no invite to the new party spot.

Only thing that can be done, the football way, is study your performance in great detail, figure out what you did wrong, and work to correct those mistakes for the next time you do something. It's good to see some of the basketball fans like you writing and showing not only interest, but actual knowledge of the subject matter. I do not mean this in a derogatory way. Please don't take it that way. I write that, because the things you have written show that knowledge of the subject matter is spreading. That is good.

In 132 days, UCONN will kickoff the 2014 season against a historically significant and relevant national football program. BYU won a national championship in football, when UCONN's big game of the year wasn't even a home game - it was a road game played in New Haven. BYU has a national title in football, we do not. I want one, but it's a long, long road to get there but nothing is impossible. When BYU won a national title in football, the concept that UCONN basketball would be a 4 time national champion in men's and 9 times in women's was laughable. Time and effort and goals.

The one thing I will note and hopefully change the line of thinking a bit, is that the major - HUGE - difference in football to basketball among the fans is hidden below the surface in what you write. In basketball, there are ample, AMPLE opportunities to enjoy the experience of being a fan - to back and forth to games and share the time with people and FAMILY with similar interests. The basketball FAMILY has had decades of winning and ample - ample numbers of games to enjoy. In football, there are at maximum - 8 home games a year to build the UCONN FAMILY. Literally - as you say with parents and children and figuratively. Usually 7 sometimes only 6. Each home game for football is a very rare and important experience for fans.

The tailgating experience, if you are able - is part of it. The environment inside the stadium needs to be part of it. The team on the field kicking ass is part of it. Each person that shows up on game day is part of making the entire experience successful. It is a full day commitment really - unlike a basketball gameday. It needs to be, because football games are so few and far between during the course of a calendar year - yet are so important to the health and vitality of a division 1A athletic department.

UCONN is now into it's second decade of building that experience. We've won a bunch along the way too, which is nice - and the winning is essential really - as it was 10 years ago before we got the official invite to the big boy party, and now in 2014, we find ourselves outside again. But it is only now, that effort, real effort is being made to bridge the interest in the UCONN brand. That goes along with the same root of the problem as to why our leadership failed to understand the changing landscape from 2002-2012. Virgins in big boy football the vast majority of our leadership was. Not anymore. We have a powerful thing at UCONN, in our fan base that has built up around basketball in the past 3 decades.

It would be great Hans, if you would take the plunge and buy tickets to the game vs. BYU in 132 days. Come a few hours early. Walk through parking lots, up and down the rows. Keep a safe arm's length distance minimum from the drunken college students. They tend to spill beer a lot and want to hug you. Feel free to walk up and ask the people what they are cooking and how long they've been coming. As you get closer to the stadium, you'll meet more and more veteran than rookies at the whole thing.

Talk to your friends about it. We have 3 home games in September. That's when game day is a little less rigorous. Come home game days in late NOvember and December - the game day experience gets a little more hard core. And hardcore is what UCONN fans do well.

So the freebie dive in spring game - unfortunately - doesn't get you the real taste - that comes on actual game day in the fall, and if you enjoy it in the warm days of September, chances are a game played in hardcore conditions to a win or loss in a hard fought game that has championships meaning - late in the season will give you an entirely new and amazing experience of UCONN sports.
 
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