jbdphi
Aussie Aussie Aussie!
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Just saw this quote on an unrelated website and it made me think of Conference Realignment.
I don't think there is much doubt that this board has been mostly pessimists (Fishy et. al.) and a few potentially delusional optimists (OK, mostly HFD). Any time a realist pops their head up they get abused, but here goes.
I'll cheer for UConn pretty much no matter who they play in the sports that I care about most (football and basketball). If the bastardized frankenstein that is the NNBE survives this latest defection, I'll be thankful that we still play games against a couple of decent teams which gives us a chance to prove ourselves. After all, UConn today probably doesn't qualify as one of those good teams today (in football at least) and I won't complain about the spectre of us going undefeated yet missing out on a National Championship due to SOS issues until we actually manage to go undefeated in a season at which point I'll pass out from joy.
Regardless of when the conference realignment carousel stops, the school needs to continue to get better at what it can control which is investment in the UConn product. Basketball training facility is a great step. Giving KO a longer-term contract assuming first semester grades come out well? Makes a lot of sense to me. Moving on from PP and GDL after they likely the bed one more season and then investing in a quality coaching staff (committing to spend decent $'s from HC down to GA's) - if PP managed to miraculously turn things around next season then I'll be the first to be happy for him. Most importantly though, as many others have recommended, the university needs to significantly improve their marketing efforts, particularly locally, to promote the UConn academic and athletic brands. Be proactive about publishing our successes - don't be evasive or in denial about our problems.
My strong belief is that Conference Realignment is far from over. A cartel of 65 disparate universities will not hold forever - someone will think they can do better skinnying that number down to get a bigger piece of the pie and the landscape will change. We do what we can to build / promote UConn in the interim and we'll be a logical pickup for someone down the road. I look at what Cinci has done with Tuberville. Is there a doubt from anyone that their athletic department is committed to being successful in football?
If I'm the UConn athletic department, I sure hope to hell they aren't all walking around today with their heads down and moaning about our future like 90% of this board (or just lying in a fetal position hoping that Jim Delaney calls which is the other 10% of this board). If today is Day One of the new world order, we need to map out our long term strategy / vision, determine what needs to be done and then move our asses to go about making that happen.
Just my $0.02. Feel free to bash away.
I don't think there is much doubt that this board has been mostly pessimists (Fishy et. al.) and a few potentially delusional optimists (OK, mostly HFD). Any time a realist pops their head up they get abused, but here goes.
I'll cheer for UConn pretty much no matter who they play in the sports that I care about most (football and basketball). If the bastardized frankenstein that is the NNBE survives this latest defection, I'll be thankful that we still play games against a couple of decent teams which gives us a chance to prove ourselves. After all, UConn today probably doesn't qualify as one of those good teams today (in football at least) and I won't complain about the spectre of us going undefeated yet missing out on a National Championship due to SOS issues until we actually manage to go undefeated in a season at which point I'll pass out from joy.
Regardless of when the conference realignment carousel stops, the school needs to continue to get better at what it can control which is investment in the UConn product. Basketball training facility is a great step. Giving KO a longer-term contract assuming first semester grades come out well? Makes a lot of sense to me. Moving on from PP and GDL after they likely the bed one more season and then investing in a quality coaching staff (committing to spend decent $'s from HC down to GA's) - if PP managed to miraculously turn things around next season then I'll be the first to be happy for him. Most importantly though, as many others have recommended, the university needs to significantly improve their marketing efforts, particularly locally, to promote the UConn academic and athletic brands. Be proactive about publishing our successes - don't be evasive or in denial about our problems.
My strong belief is that Conference Realignment is far from over. A cartel of 65 disparate universities will not hold forever - someone will think they can do better skinnying that number down to get a bigger piece of the pie and the landscape will change. We do what we can to build / promote UConn in the interim and we'll be a logical pickup for someone down the road. I look at what Cinci has done with Tuberville. Is there a doubt from anyone that their athletic department is committed to being successful in football?
If I'm the UConn athletic department, I sure hope to hell they aren't all walking around today with their heads down and moaning about our future like 90% of this board (or just lying in a fetal position hoping that Jim Delaney calls which is the other 10% of this board). If today is Day One of the new world order, we need to map out our long term strategy / vision, determine what needs to be done and then move our asses to go about making that happen.
Just my $0.02. Feel free to bash away.
