Random rumor on the the train this morning

[noeynox]

I mean, UConn obliterated Indiana... on the football field. And it's not like Indiana basketball has outplayed UConn in the last few decades.

I think our success works against us somewhat. UConn has proven, time and again that given an equal playing field they will excel. You could almost make the argument that given equal access, we would upset the apple cart by winning more than the upper echelon schools would like.

 

[whaler11]

Wrestling is so important the Olympics dropped it didn't they?

 

[SAMCRO]

A few months back in the NoLa airport, I had a conversation with a Hoosier alum with work experience in collegiate athletics and we discussed realignment at length. My initial premise was complete shock that no conference seemed to want UCONN despite our significant successes. After our dialogue, I was stunned by the level of disinterest by the Big10. He basically outlined it as such with some points making sense, while others seemed off base...

1. CT is not in the general geographic region with the Big10.
2. UCONN does not participate in two of the secondary sports -- wrestling and gymnastics.
3. Men's program will be irrelevant post-JC.
4. No one cares about women's basketball.
5. UCONN is not a school of first choice, nor a school that every generation of family members attends.
6. UCONN has existing public scandals.
7. Lacking football tradition.
8. Small football stadium.
9. Our relatively small endowment (I looked at numbers later...UCONN - $329 million; 9 Big 10 schools are each over $1 billion)
10. Our media region is simply Hartford, in which we get no alliance with NY or Boston.

I was left with the general sense that it's not necessarily one reason why we are being ostracized, but that there are too many real and perceived drawbacks that when batched together are difficult to overcome. He was persuasive enough that I felt dazed and briefly questioned our athletic program's and institution's worth.

You know what two things people care evenless about than women's basketball? wrestling and gymnastics.

 

[Jimdish255]

You know what two things people care evenless about than women's basketball? wrestling and gymnastics.

There's a third thing - Indiana.

 

[ZooCougar]

Squash is the sport of the future. Trinity to the B1G.

 

[Fishy]

Does anyone really believe that there is an Indiana fan out there somewhere who is aware that we don't have a wrestling or women's gymnastics programs?

Come on.

This one trips the BS meter in a big bad way.

 

[Adios]

This conference realignment gossip has reached nursing home level.

 

[spsct]

Almost every single point is irrelevant and inaccurate.

Wrestling? I am surprised you didn't laugh at him and walk away. Nobody gives a crap about that sport anymore.

Well the Olympics... Oh wait, never mind...

 

[husky91]

Did these two have any penny stock tips? Sounds like they are in the "know." Most ridiculous thing I've heard yet.

On my way to downtown Chicago on the train this morning I overheard a rumor on B1G expansion i hadnt heard before. I was sitting behind two guys who starting talking about the B1G. They were both Northwestern alumns, and one of them claimed to be some big shot. He insisted to his buddy that the B1G was in discussions with South Carolina to leave the SEC and come to the B1G as part of a large southern expansion with UNC, Georgia Tech, and FSU. I have no idea if this guy is actually connected at NW, or if he is just some yahoo message board guy like us who has no idea of what is really going on. I don't think this is realistic as I don't see SC willing to leave the SEC and join a "bunch of Northern Yankees", but it was interesting given South Carolina's history of previously being in the ACC with UNC and GT. Again, I doubt this is truly happening, but I hadn't heard the rumor before and thought it was an interesting conversation I overheard.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Almost every single point is irrelevant and inaccurate.

Wrestling? I am surprised you didn't laugh at him and walk away. Nobody gives a crap about that sport anymore.

you know wrestling is in trouble when after 2,700 years, they are dropping the sport from the Olympics because of ratings.

 

[GampelGladiator]

Does anyone really believe that there is an Indiana fan out there somewhere who is aware that we don't have a wrestling or women's gymnastics programs?

Come on.

This one trips the BS meter in a big bad way.

He believed that UCONN didn't match up culturally in regards to the sports offered and our relative strength in some of them. He didn't offer specifics. I later compared the Big10 and UCONN sites to see see what sports UCONN doesn't offer. Trust me...I would have walked away if he had specifically mentioned gymnastics.

My original intent was just to share a non-UCONN perception and perspective that I encountered...not to endorse it as meritorious.

 

[Marty Jackson]

I mean, UConn obliterated Indiana... on the football field. And it's not like Indiana basketball has outplayed UConn in the last few decades.

well, they do have really cool vertical striped pants.

 

[HuskyHawk]

For someone who works in college athletics, those are extremely shallow, uniformed opinions, and seem to be based in 1996. Literally every single one of those points can be used against Rutgers, except #10, which is untrue, #2 but Rutgers doesn't have Hockey, and #6, which will be gone after 2013. And #3 and #4 don't apply to Rutgers, because they have never been relevant.

Of course, but I think they reflect the majority view among people in the Midwest and south. Very typical. If you want to VB boil it down there is via basic truth that public higher end in New England has long been an afterthought, was underfunded and lowly regarded even locally. Whereas every major public school in the midwest has a huge alumni base and so is often the top local choice even for those without national reputations like Michigan. Those endowment numbers bear this out.

We know UConn is trying to break out of the mold, and some people tied in to higher end may know, but most people have no idea. We aren't much different than UNH in their eyes.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Adios]

We know UConn is trying to break out of the mold, and some people tied in to higher end may know, but most people have no idea. We aren't much different than UNH in their eyes.

They know we are an up and coming school in a major market with an athletic department that brings more to the table than Rutgers.

 

[John]

You know what two things people care evenless about than women's basketball? wrestling and gymnastics.

guy should have hit him over the back of the head with a folding chair then clamped the Cobra Clutch on him. YOU WANT WRESTLING BITCH, HERE'S SOME WRESTLING

 

[mrhandyman]

well, they do have really cool vertical striped pants.

So do the Harlem Globetrotters.

 

[uconnfan68]

well, they do have really cool vertical striped pants.

Just like prisons.