Some quotes from Dave Benedict

[August_West]

So the alum are bigger fans than people who started to go to games at 3 years old.

according to Jmick yes

 

[JMick]

according to Jmick yes

Yes. It's college basketball.

 

[huskyrob1]

After reading the full interview in the current, I don’t think he was setting up Ollie’s return as much as he was signaling the start of a formal evaluation process.

Substitute the word "investigative" for "evaluation". The NCAA thing has legs and Benedict would have to be a total fool if he is just sitting in his office waiting for the NCAA to notify him of their findings. You can bet UConn is looking into this on its own, and if they find anything, will self report. Remember that "living up to UConn standards and practices" does not just refer to winning games.

 

[August_West]

Yes. It's college basketball.

So what is your rationale for you as an alum for hating Kevin Ollie? You think he brings a black mark to the university?

 

[The Funster]

OH NO. Can we please not get into what constitues a "fan" or a "good or great fan". It is one of the dumbest arguments one can possibly have.

 

[JMick]

So what is your rationale for you as an alum for hating Kevin Ollie? You think he brings a black mark to the university?

I think he's done things that have the potential to make us look bad nationally.

 

[Huskybass]

Yes. It's college basketball.

As an Alum who has attended games for 36 years I understand where you are coming from. There is definitely a different type of feeling rooting for a school that you attended and graduated from. I won't dispute that at all.

That said, fandom is what you make of it. There might be non Alum fans of UConn basketball who love the program as much or more than I do. You and I will never know for sure, and it really does not matter. Everyone is entitled to be a fan at whatever level suits them.

I know that my own feelings as a fan have changed. I remember when I used to feel absolutely terrible for a day or two when UConn lost a game. It was as if I had run over my own dog. Now it doesn't faze me in the least. I have become accustomed to it.

My hope is that next year is the first step toward becoming relevant again. All I want is a dog in the hunt come March. Perhaps this down period will make us all appreciate future success more when it arrives.

 

[JMick]

OH NO. Can we please not get into what constitues a "fan" or a "good or great fan". It is one of the dumbest arguments one can possibly have.

It is definitely different if you went to the school of the team you're a fan of. I'm not saying there aren't any non-alum fans because obviously that's not true but it will never be the same thing.

 

[August_West]

I think he's done things that have the potential to make us look bad nationally.

Worse than star players beating women?
Players stealing computers from other athletic teams players?
Providing illegal benefits to players?
Stealiing sneakers from Bob's stores?
Having abysmal graduation rates for years running?
Being suspended from tournament play for lack of Academic progress (spare me the NCAA vendetta crap, thats a different story. We did in fact put ourselves in that position. The NCAA screwed us. But we gave them something to screw us with)

That kind of bad nationally?

See the problem with your argument is you didnt give a rats ass on how our university looked as long as we were going to the final four every few years.
You didnt give a crap that outside of Connecticut our national nickname was "YouCon" and "UConnvict"

From every metric except on floor performance Kevin Ollie has RAISED the standard of integrity in the basketball program.



So spare me your disingenuous fake outrage over what "damage" KO has done to our school.
He's put a bad basketball program on the floor for a couple years. THATS IT!

You want me to get worked up at a guy dating a college student who isnt even a UConn student? Maybe a bit creepy and sad but we are talking consenting adults.

 

[Lefty2one]

My guess is AD Dave is giving KO one more shot with Adams, Gilbert, Akinjo, Vital, Wilson, etc.

If he doesn't make NCAA tournament, see you later.

For that to happen we have to hope that the rumors of a "mass exodus is coming even if KO is retained" isn't true.

 

[JMick]

Worse than star players beating women?
Players stealing computers from other athletic teams players?
Providing illegal benefits to players?
Stealiing sneakers from Bob's stores?
Having abysmal graduation rates for years running?
Being suspended from tournament play for lack of Academic progress (spare me the NCAA vendetta crap, thats a different story. We did in fact put ourselves in that position. The NCAA screwed us. But we gave them something to screw us with)

That kind of bad nationally?

See the problem with your argument is you didnt give a rats ass on how our university looked as long as we were going to the final four every few years.
You didnt give a crap that outside of Connecticut our national nickname was "YouCon" and "UConnvict"

From every metric except on floor performance Kevin Ollie has RAISED the standard of integrity in the basketball program.



So spare me your disingenuous fake outrage over what "damage" KO has done to our school.
He's put a bad basketball program on the floor for a couple years. THATS IT!

You want me to get worked up at a guy dating a college student who isnt even a UConn student? Maybe a bit creepy and sad but we are talking consenting adults.

You seem really mad. You should take a break.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It is definitely different if you went to the school of the team you're a fan of. I'm not saying there aren't any non-alum fans because obviously that's not true but it will never be the same thing.

I think this is a New England/Northeast sentiment. In the midwest and south, most of the fans of the local state U are not alumni. If you live in say, Iowa, you root for Iowa or Iowa State. Same in Alabama, Mississippi, etc. Period. It's a way of life for people, the same way those of us in the north feel about our pro teams.

I think UConn did a very good job for a long time or being that in Connecticut, and bringing in a ton of non alumni fans. I think they have lost most of them. The women still have a hold on many of them. The men, meanwhile, have managed to lose the interest of even the alumni and current students.

 

[UConnNick]

Substitute the word "investigative" for "evaluation". The NCAA thing has legs and Benedict would have to be a total fool if he is just sitting in his office waiting for the NCAA to notify him of their findings. You can bet UConn is looking into this on its own, and if they find anything, will self report. Remember that "living up to UConn standards and practices" does not just refer to winning games.

Please tell me, after we deliberately sabotage our head coach just to avoid paying a 10 million dollar buyout, what coach in his right mind is going to want to come work at UCONN?

 

[JMick]

I think this is a New England/Northeast sentiment. In the midwest and south, most of the fans of the local state U are not alumni. If you live in say, Iowa, you root for Iowa or Iowa State. Same in Alabama, Mississippi, etc. Period. It's a way of life for people, the same way those of us in the north feel about our pro teams.

I think UConn did a very good job for a long time or being that in Connecticut, and bringing in a ton of non alumni fans. I think they have lost most of them. The women still have a hold on many of them. The men, meanwhile, have managed to lose the interest of even the alumni and current students.

That doesn't really mean anything though. You can be a fan of whoever you want but that doesn't mean it's not different when you're actually a graduate from that school. These are college sports. You can't tell me it's not a different experience when you actually see players in your classes or see them at a house party or bar.

 

[August_West]

You seem really mad. You should take a break.

I’m fine bro. Having fun exposing your hypocrisy

 

[CL82]

To whoever said Jackson left because he wouldn’t start here... LMAO. Have you seen our power forwards?

We know why he left. It was in some article awhile ago. He met with Ollie after the season, and Ollie had no plans for him. And he’s at a smaller school because he wanted to be the man, and the high maintenance dad didn’t help. But he was looked at by Baylor I remember that.

 

[JMick]

I’m fine bro. Having fun exposing your hypocrisy

You haven't exposed anything. You just pulled a strawmaster.

 

[August_West]

You haven't exposed anything. You just pulled a strawmaster.

No I didnt.

You are a bridge too far with your Black Mark on the university bit.

You want to hold KO's feet to the fire for On court performance. Fine. No problem there.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That doesn't really mean anything though. You can be a fan of whoever you want but that doesn't mean it's not different when you're actually a graduate from that school. These are college sports. You can't tell me it's not a different experience when you actually see players in your classes or see them at a house party or bar.

That argument works for students. Not alumni. Yes, it was "different" when I played foosball at Ted's with Cliff Robinson and Jeff King. But that's pretty short lived.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Yeah that's kind of the nature of fan forums. I'm not sure why that is personally insulting to you. Perhaps dictating what other posters wrote is why your tenure on your prior board was cut short?

Relax.

Ahhh, speculation....I removed myself from the other board. Telling people to stop making things up is dictating what people post....cause if you are making it up, you are lying. So your hypothetical question is off the mark.

 

[Penfield]

I think we should all keep in mind that most people posting their opinion on the Boneyard have absolutely no influence over how this will play out.

If you decide to stop supporting UConn Basketball depending on which way this goes, that is your prerogative, but don't blame the fans who had a different opinion than you. They didn't sign the contracts, they didn't recruit the players, and they don't have the influence to make a difference.

No one here wants the program to fail (except maybe that lonely PC fan). If you think someone else's opinion is going to lead to the demise of UConn Basketball you need to get your head checked.

 

[JMick]

No I didnt.

You are a bridge too far with your Black Mark on the university bit.

You want to hold KO's feet to the fire for On court performance. Fine. No problem there.

It's a reason. Not the only one.

 

[JMick]

That argument works for students. Not alumni. Yes, it was "different" when I played foosball at Ted's with Cliff Robinson and Jeff King. But that's pretty short lived.

It still happened though. And the fact that your degree is tied with you for your career. There are connections to the university that non-alum just don't have. It doesn't mean they're not real fans but it's apples and oranges

 

[CL82]

Ahhh, speculation....I removed myself from the other board. Telling people to stop making things up is dictating what people post....cause if you are making it up, you are lying. So your hypothetical question is off the mark.

So let me be less circumspect. New posters telling others what to post or what not post is neither productive nor interesting. Don't read threads you don't like. You can use the ignore feature if you don't like particular posters, if that works for you. But don't be the new guy who tries to tell the rest of the board what to post or not. It rarely ends well.

 

[the Q]

That doesn't really mean anything though. You can be a fan of whoever you want but that doesn't mean it's not different when you're actually a graduate from that school. These are college sports. You can't tell me it's not a different experience when you actually see players in your classes or see them at a house party or bar.

What about when you graduated 10 years ago? Even that is very different from what you’re describing.

 

[Penfield]

It still happened though. And the fact that your degree is tied with you for your career. There are connections to the university that non-alum just don't have. It doesn't mean they're not real fans but it's apples and oranges

Luckily the basketball team's W/L % has no impact on the value of your degree, at least not for sane people

 

[JMick]

What about when you graduated 10 years ago? Even that is very different from what you’re describing.

 

[HuskyHawk]

What about when you graduated 10 years ago? Even that is very different from what you’re describing.

Or in my case, almost 30 years ago. My UConn degree is irrelevant to me at this point.

 

[Huskybass]

Or in my case, almost 30 years ago. My UConn degree is irrelevant to me at this point.

I have to disagree with that. I graduated 30 years ago and my UConn degree is tremendously relevant to me. My experience at UConn was a fantastic one, both academically and socially. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[the Q]

No I get that.

But what you said was about specifically seeing students in class or at parties.

Also, what about the ones who only went to grad school at UConn?