What is it about this team?

[Adios]

Ill add one more thing, the drunken culture at The Rent is wearing thin on me.

Losing certainly doesn't help. F Diaco. I better go elsewhere for gridiron football. Been clean for 2+ years, don't want the Diaco demons attacking me while there.

Thanks, Bob. You .

 

[pepband99]

Let me start off with I feel the frustration as well. UConn has played a brand of football that has sucked for far too long. It is unacceptable. Makes the blood boil.

But what is it about this particular program that makes it so easy for people to jump ship? We've all seen the posts of people who are #done with UConn football. And if you are anything like me, you've heard it in other ways from people who don't spend an inordinate amount of time on the Boneyard (we can refer to this demographic as "sane"). "UConn should downgrade their program." "I will never renew my season tickets." "UConn should just fold up shop altogether."

It just feels to me that nobody does this with any other local club. Some of you folks I'm sure are Jets fans. Some Knicks. A huge portion of CT sports fans pre-2004 rooted for decades of inept Red Sox teams. I personally have sat through Giants games in the Meadowlands where I wasn't even sure if the game I was watching was football. But we always come back. We like particular sports. And we like our particular teams, so we just do it.

But UConn football seems different. It's not the part about getting down on the team. I get that. But an overwhelming segment of the fan base seems to effortlessly make the decision that they are casting the team aside forever. When you say you're "done" .... are you? Do you not like college football anymore? Do you like a different team now? It boggles my mind.

I can't help but love college football. Ours might not be a fun or exciting version of the game, but its ours. I admit to turning off the TV during blowouts and sometimes skipping the last few games of the season, but in my heart of hearts I know that: (i) come next August I won't have it in me to feel anything but hope springing eternal; and (ii) there is zero chance I am picking a different team to root for. It would be like telling the tiger to change his stripes. It would be like telling the Mets fan to root for the Yankees.

Just kinda seems like UConn football gets held to a different standard. Namaste or something. Everybody grab a beer and relax.

Conference realignment permeates everything.

No matter how bad the Giants/Jets/Knicks/Sawx get, the next year, they still play the Cowboys/Pats/whoever/Yanks the following year. It still matters.

We spent a generation waiting to play the Big East football programs, and now we play Tulane. It's not rocket science.

 

[FDNY99]

Conference realignment permeates everything.

No matter how bad the Giants/Jets/Knicks/Sawx get, the next year, they still play the Cowboys/Pats/whoever/Yanks the following year. It still matters.

We spent a generation waiting to play the Big East football programs, and now we play Tulane. It's not rocket science.

But here is where the difference lies...to me as a diehard college football fan the AAC is actually a better conference top to bottom than the Big East that UConn played in was. Teams like RU, Pitt and Syracuse while "big names" were under achiever's and frankly not that good. WVU was the top dog and the BE got respect because they smacked UGA in the Sugar Bowl. Not as bad as Houston smacked FSU though. The issue with the football fan base is more about being left behind in CR than anything else. The diehard's who know college football or former players who are now season ticket holders will tell you this isn't such a bad league competition wise.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

I do think that conference realignment plays a part in it. The rivalries and schools we used to play were part of the fun of going to games or watching them on TV. That's all been removed and doesnt look like it is coming back anytime soon. Add that on top of a losing team for multiple years and you can see why people are frustrated.

I've always been a Uconn bball fan before I became a football fan as well. But the conference realignment nonsense and the NCAA being a joke organization who fails to properly give out equal and just punishments to school has made me jaded to college sports and has certainly taken some fun out of the games for me.

 

[CTMike]

But here is where the difference lies...to me as a diehard college football fan the AAC is actually a better conference top to bottom than the Big East that UConn played in was. Teams like RU, Pitt and Syracuse while "big names" were under achiever's and frankly not that good. WVU was the top dog and the BE got respect because they smacked UGA in the Sugar Bowl. Not as bad as Houston smacked FSU though. The issue with the football fan base is more about being left behind in CR than anything else. The diehard's who know college football or former players who are now season ticket holders will tell you this isn't such a bad league competition wise.

I think it's both.

Being demoted sucks, and constantly being passed over is a complete drag.

Concurrent with that we're thrown in with this island of misfit toys that fans have no emotional connection to. Competition may be better (not really arguing either way) but we just don't care about these teams. We cared about playing Cuse, Pitt, Rutgers et al... I hated them. The teams we play now? Emotionless apathy. I want us to win simply because they are our opponent.

We don't have a ton of control over this (which is why I think the focus should be on winning/putting out a fun product)... but all this CR stuff takes a toll too.

 

[HuskyHawk]

.....
Again...I'm not going anywhere. But i don't have a problem with anyone who wants to do something non soul-crushing on a Saturday afternoon for a while. I will continue to have my soul crushed....but i'm starting to see fewer and fewer people alongside me. And maybe that's the only real way to initiate the change that needs to happen right now. Because we all know it can't stay the same.

This is where I come out. For years I coached my daughter's basketball team each fall, and watched these games mostly on DVR. Now I can watch live, but since I'll be watching every Patriots game on Saturday, that means sacrificing both days each weekend. If they team was showing me something, if I still had hope...as I still did coming in to the UCF game, I'd be there. I watched the whole debacle Saturday, but that's it for now. It's back to DVR.

Hope springs eternal, and I'll be back. I'll always be back. And I can root for a team that loses, and plays just comes out on the losing side. Games like @ Missouri last year, and even Navy this year are good entertainment. Against ECU I saw a team and a staff that stopped trying, against a lousy opponent.

 

[HuskiesFan1014]

Conference realignment permeates everything.

No matter how bad the Giants/Jets/Knicks/Sawx get, the next year, they still play the Cowboys/Pats/whoever/Yanks the following year. It still matters.

We spent a generation waiting to play the Big East football programs, and now we play Tulane. It's not rocket science.

THIS.

Plus the fact that we cry and whine about playing Tulane et al. Lots of complaining about playing inferior schools.

And then they beat us, too. Donkey-fist. (I'll steal that.)

I'm only done with Diaco. I'll support the team, but Bob has to go. The energy needs to come from the players on the field, not just the crazy guy in the clown suit. When you have a guy fist-pumping after every field goal that should have been a touchdown, or doing cartwheels after our opponent's missed field goal when we're being crushed, and that's the ONLY energy on the field, something's wrong. And a guy who can admit that everything's wrong after every crushing defeat but can't put his finger on just what that is...very telling.

This coaching staff is the reason many feel the need to announce they are jumping ship. It's no different than it was before the DeuscheBagg twins exited. Same sentiment by many of the same people.

CR has come and gone for now, but BD (and bad football) is still here. That is what needs to change. A coach with a plan instead of cartwheels and fancy pants is a step in the right direction. And say what you may in his defense about talent gaps and RKG's, but I saw this team come back and almost beat a good Navy team. There is talent; it just needs to be properly coached to a competitive level. We don't need to win them all, but it would be nice to compete and not be embarrassed.

 

[HuskiesFan1014]

Ill add one more thing, the drunken culture at The Rent is wearing thin on me.

I'd assume that for many, it's the only way to numb the pain of the football being played there. (Of course the students can't suffer much past halftime, but they're all tuned up by the time they even get to the student lot...)