The Civil Conflict!

[Adios]

Just another War of Northern Aggression.

No! This is a War of Southern Aggression!

 

[CL82]

Check out all of these other rivalry games listed on wiki. They all had to start somewhere. As I have written, Diaco is hyping the program in June, getting people to talk about football. He is reminding his players that we beat the best team in the league last year, planting seeds of believe. He is making a statement that UCONN will take anyone on. I like the moxi and we have nothing to lose.

My wife is going to football 101 at Storrs Friday night. Drinking cocktails and catching screen passes with the girls and coaches. Diaco is a creative guy and demonstrating to all that college football is fun! Guys need to lighten up!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_college_football_rivalry_games

I think that Football 101 thing is genius.... the Civil Conflict not so much.

For all those portraying HCBD as Bond villain level genius with all the chatter being part of the master plan...I don't see it. I see Bob as a bright motivated guy without an internal filter who may or may not be in over his head. I agree though that winning solves all issues.

 

[uconnell]

Disco joins a list of other UConn coaches without an internal filter see Geno (not going to try to spell his last name) and Calhoun. Hopefully he has the same results in lifting a program.

 

[huskymedic]

slmandel 12:25pm via TweetDeck
Mailbag: A Tobacco Road surprise team, what to do about the Army-Navy date, UConn's fake rivalry and more.

>>Is coach Bob Diaco creating a rivalry between UCONN and Central Florida -- and even presenting a trophy -- only to be promptly rejected by UCF an embarrassment or a total embarrassment? -- Mike Jones, Hartford, Conn.

I'm glad you brought this up, because this story is not getting nearly the coverage it deserves. I have so many thoughts.

* First of all, give Diaco a little credit. He managed to not only "manufacture a rivalry" but have it be a "one-sided rivalry." That's two clichés for one.
* Presumably he coined it "Civil Conflict" because "Civil War" was taken, but if you put the word civil in front of any other word it comes off as something ... well, civil. You might as well call it the Cordial Conflict.
* Most people use countdown clocks for either the first or last game of the year (like Ohio State-Michigan). The UCF game is Oct. 10. Hope the Huskies don't look past that Sept. 19 trip to Missouri.
* I love that Diaco is all in not only on why he didn't bother looping in UCF on his plans ("They don't get to say whether they're our rival or not") but why the rivalry magically began only last year, when UConn won (because he wasn't the coach yet).
* If UCF does happen to win this year's rematch in Orlando, does it get to keep this trophy it didn't ask for? Or does it go back to Storrs?
* But even better, imagine if UConn wins and proceeds to celebrate on the Knights' home field by hoisting up a trophy it created?

There's just so much potential here. I hope Diaco comes up with one for Tulane next.<<

 

[Carl Spackler]

What are the chances this thread gets 50,000 hits by October? If we've got a winning record and so does UCF? 100,000 hits? Where is whaler11. I want odds.

 

[freescooter]

I have expressed my reservations about Diaco before and this incident did nothing to change things. But I sort of agree with Jacobs that this was probably meant more core internal than external consumption. Probably should have sent it to the team not the world. I also think he put more pressure on himself. This team quits again this season and you have to wonder if he is the guy we need. When you look at what guys like Addazio and Franklin did in their first years in arguably as bad (BC, Temple) or worse (Vandy) situations you have to be concerned, I think.

 

[Perfect Hair]

Ouch indeed. Just making sure any last shred of dignity is stripped away. Cocoa Puffs better win some games.

I guess you didn't get the memo no potential recruits, their coaches or their parents read thses sites, no big deal.

 

[Perfect Hair]

If they beat UCF, this will have been inspired genius. Even if they lose, but have a respectable season (bowl game) then this will still have worked out positively.

You can guarantee the civil conflict will get airtime on all the college football studio shows that week.

Fwiw, I don't care if he rubs anyone on campus the wrong way, or the media or the fans. He needs the players to like him, recruits to like him, their families to like him and to win games. The rest of us will like him just fine.

Is your measuring stick seriously Bowl game = resepctable season? If so, wow, I'm afraid you are setting yourself up for disappointment. If Diaco gets us to a bowl he will be up for Coach of the Year and I may ask to be the presenter!!!!

Our Vegas over/under right now is 3. So not only are you expecting 4 games better than that (which would be at the far right end of any bell curve) but you would only call that "respectable". Goodness gracious.

 

[gwhuskyfan]

slmandel 12:25pm via TweetDeck
Mailbag: A Tobacco Road surprise team, what to do about the Army-Navy date, UConn's fake rivalry and more.

>>Is coach Bob Diaco creating a rivalry between UCONN and Central Florida -- and even presenting a trophy -- only to be promptly rejected by UCF an embarrassment or a total embarrassment? -- Mike Jones, Hartford, Conn.

I'm glad you brought this up, because this story is not getting nearly the coverage it deserves. I have so many thoughts.

* First of all, give Diaco a little credit. He managed to not only "manufacture a rivalry" but have it be a "one-sided rivalry." That's two clichés for one.
* Presumably he coined it "Civil Conflict" because "Civil War" was taken, but if you put the word civil in front of any other word it comes off as something ... well, civil. You might as well call it the Cordial Conflict.
* Most people use countdown clocks for either the first or last game of the year (like Ohio State-Michigan). The UCF game is Oct. 10. Hope the Huskies don't look past that Sept. 19 trip to Missouri.
* I love that Diaco is all in not only on why he didn't bother looping in UCF on his plans ("They don't get to say whether they're our rival or not") but why the rivalry magically began only last year, when UConn won (because he wasn't the coach yet).
* If UCF does happen to win this year's rematch in Orlando, does it get to keep this trophy it didn't ask for? Or does it go back to Storrs?
* But even better, imagine if UConn wins and proceeds to celebrate on the Knights' home field by hoisting up a trophy it created?

There's just so much potential here. I hope Diaco comes up with one for Tulane next.<<

* But even better, imagine if UConn wins and proceeds to celebrate on the Knights' home field by hoisting up a trophy it created?

Now this would be great!

 

[whaler11]

What are the chances this thread gets 50,000 hits by October? If we've got a winning record and so does UCF? 100,000 hits? Where is whaler11. I want odds.

By October that everyone but 100 posters here have long forgotten all this: -10000

 

[Nostical]

Our Vegas over/under right now is 3.

I'll take the over for $1,000, Alex.

 

[SubbaBub]

Is your measuring stick seriously Bowl game = resepctable season? If so, wow, I'm afraid you are setting yourself up for disappointment. If Diaco gets us to a bowl he will be up for Coach of the Year and I may ask to be the presenter!!!!

Our Vegas over/under right now is 3. So not only are you expecting 4 games better than that (which would be at the far right end of any bell curve) but you would only call that "respectable". Goodness gracious.

The level of analysis drops precipitously once you leave the Top 25. It's flat out invisible past #100. I believe there is little difference in talent between #'s 50-70, where bowl teams reside and the bottom. There is only a difference in resources and attitude. UCONN has the resources, it's up to Bob to deliver the attitude.

If you're not expecting a bowl game in the AAC, you should just give up and go home. If this team plays better than it did against USF, Army, ECU, Tulane and SMU, then 6 wins is easier than you think.

Short version is show up committed to play smart, tough, mistake free FB, and go bowling. That's all there is to it really.

 

[Nostical]

Our Vegas over/under right now is 3.

I'll take the over for $1,000, Alex.

 

[Nostical]

Our Vegas over/under right now is 3.

I'll take the over for $1,000, Alex.

 

[subflea]

I think that Football 101 thing is genius.... the Civil Conflict not so much.

Football 101 is a great idea he took from his short stay at Cincinnati.

http://www.gobearcats.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/football-101.html

 

[freescooter]

Sadly I think 0 is way more likely than 6. And 0 is really hard to achieve. Some other craptastic team quits, some pretty good team looks ahead, you get one of those games where neither side wants or deserves to win but someone has to...0 wins is very hard. But more likely than a bowl for UConn

 

[Husky25]

Geezus, Diaco didn't have to go 1,500 miles to find a rival. All he had to do is look behind the bench. UConn is so good, they've built a rivalry with their own fans. I'm no full-on idealist, but it must take some kind of effort to be this negative.

 

[Perfect Hair]

The level of analysis drops precipitously once you leave the Top 25. It's flat out invisible past #100. I believe there is little difference in talent between #'s 50-70, where bowl teams reside and the bottom. There is only a difference in resources and attitude. UCONN has the resources, it's up to Bob to deliver the attitude.

If you're not expecting a bowl game in the AAC, you should just give up and go home. If this team plays better than it did against USF, Army, ECU, Tulane and SMU, then 6 wins is easier than you think.

Short version is show up committed to play smart, tough, mistake free FB, and go bowling. That's all there is to it really.

You truly have no idea how Vegas and oddmakers work, do you? Do some homework and go look up last year's over/unders and find out how many teams went over (or under) their number by 4 games.

 

[whaler11]

Football 101 while a good idea is like giving someone credit for having a car... the wheels were invented a while back.

And Nostical has the over....

 

[whaler11]

I'n not in the mood to do the math but they probably have a 2% chance
of winning zero and a 10% chance of winning 6.

That 50-70 are equal doesn't really apply. They are somewhere between 95-105.

 

[Perfect Hair]

I'n not in the mood to do the math but they probably have a 2% chance
of winning zero and a 10% chance of winning 6.

That 50-70 are equal doesn't really apply. They are somewhere between 95-105.

But does Nostical have the over?

 

[junglehusky]

3 games is probably right where the o/u should be. Subb's argument is more applicable to a longer term picture of where UConn should be viewed in FBS, taking into account the BE years and the program's potential to (hopefully) get back to that level. The damage from PP and possibly from Diaco's teardown year is too deep to trot out the "hey we can pull 3 wins from the games that will be tossups" line. So, probably no bowl this year, if the team manages to catch enough breaks and have enough development to go bowling it will be a truly pleasant surprise, for a change.

 

[BlueDogs]

I guess you didn't get the memo no potential recruits, their coaches or their parents read thses sites, no big deal.

??? I didn't write the article. I'm quite sure the damage is done and can be easily found by those seeking out info.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

That Jacobs is taking exception to the trophy and to Diaco tells me that we may well have the right head coach. I also like the fact that he picked out the football team that has been at the top of the totem pole from day one in this conference, not one that is dragging along in the basement.

One thing that I keep thinking is that if we tried something like this ten years ago (when it could easily have been justified with Syracuse, Pitt or even Rutgers) we'd be in a far better conference today. The press we've received from this is incredible. As goofy as the idea may seem, I really don't see why some people are getting so bent out of shape. People who didn't even know we played football have been talking about us.

Finally, there really is no reason to get worked up about the trophy. There have been a few that appeared over the past dozen seasons for no reason beyond conference realignment creating new regular pairings (Pitt started the River Rivalry with Cincinnati for example) and the realities are that a) most college football fans can't name 75% of the trophies that many of these games are played for and b) the biggest ones (Michigan-Ohio St, Army-Navy, USC-UCLA & Oklahoma-Nebraska until the creation of the B-12 ruined it) never had a trophy or a name and the rivalry that has all of the above beaten in terms of history; Yale-Harvard, has been very creatively named 'The Game'. In the big picture if a matchup does or does not have a name and/or trophy is really of little significance.

 

[BlueDogs]

3 games is probably right where the o/u should be. Subb's argument is more applicable to a longer term picture of where UConn should be viewed in FBS, taking into account the BE years and the program's potential to (hopefully) get back to that level. The damage from PP and possibly from Diaco's teardown year is too deep to trot out the "hey we can pull 3 wins from the games that will be tossups" line. So, probably no bowl this year, if the team manages to catch enough breaks and have enough development to go bowling it will be a truly pleasant surprise, for a change.

I think BD needs to get to 4 wins or the coach's seat is going to get awful hot. 3 games and under and I think the program takes another hit. We were 3-9 in the last year of the PP nightmare (mind you the 3 wins came from interim HC TJW who remains arguably the most successful coach since 2010 despite his short 8 game tenure). I keep wondering what would things have looked like with Weist. He had the right stuff to turn around the program and it was showing.