Where does blame fall in latest snubbing of UConn... Don Amore

[jdb50]

We've been put on an island football wise. I can see the strategy behind getting L-Ville now before the Bid 12 moves and keeping UConn on ice. I hope we are still able to move if we ever get thawed out. Recruiting will be much more difficult in the future for football especially. Hebst's statement makes me think she was outworked on this. Having her AD on the trip didn't make it seem like the importance of this decision long term really sunk in. Very poor impression to have both away during this.

 

[freescooter]

Meskill? Man you are old

Yes...but there was also a discussion of that event somewhere during Hurricane Sandy. It is the reason why governors are always in Hartford if there is a hint of flurries...

 

[ZooCougar]

Presidents should have to do much in a fast paced development like this, this is why you have an AD.

 

[RS9999X]

We went out and hired a re-tred who hadn't been near the college game for years. A guy no one else really wanted. That said we weren't serious about football. It's not even really about our win/loss record.

That doesn't change the Louisvillr sold 35,000 tickets to the Orange Bowl factoid. Or that their budget is larger than anyone in the ACC.

It does confirm that academics do not matter to the ACC. They can end that elitist crap right now.

 

[CL82]

From a Dave Borges column: :According to a UConn source, the program “worked really hard (to state its case to the ACC),” and that president Susan Herbst talked “to a ton of presidents” and athletic director Warde Manuel “talked to just about every AD." http://borgesblognhr.blogspot.com/

Vague unquantifiable language always gives me pause. "Did you call the client on this?" "Sure, I called him a ton of times." "How about the creditors did you contact them?" "I talked to just about every one." That's a conversation that sets off warning bells in my head.

 

[Waquoit]

Nothing in your post explains why Aresco thought we were gone when he gave his presser in New Orleans yesterday. Please try a theory that doesn't ignore that.

I think we've sunk so low that Aresco forgot about UConn. Simple as that.

 

[freescooter]

Other than that I've heard the same "athletics is the front porch" speech that many others have, I don't know. But the facts are not consistent with her wanting to stay in the Big East for any reason.

to me it is time to have a serious discussion about where UConn is planning to go athletically and how best to get there. If it is the New Big East and everyone is good with that, or concedes it is the best we can do, what does it take to be the best program in the New Big East in every sport. How do we do it? How do we fund it? Be aggressive and follow through. if it is to ultimately be in the ACC, go that route, aggressively pursue it and lobby for it so that next time there is an opportunity there is no chance that Cincinnati or South Florida or Memphis gets the call over us. Or if it is the Big 10, do what is necessary, invest in programs, lobby, go to B-10 meetings whatever it takes to go there. But lay out for the various constituencies what needs to be done to get to where the administration wants us to be. Enough platitudes about the front porch and happy memories...What is the goal for UConn Athletics and how do we get there?

 

[businesslawyer]

to me it is time to have a serious discussion about where UConn is planning to go athletically and how best to get there. If it is the New Big East and everyone is good with that, or concedes it is the best we can do, what does it take to be the best program in the New Big East in every sport. How do we do it? How do we fund it? Be aggressive and follow through. if it is to ultimately be in the ACC, go that route, aggressively pursue it and lobby for it so that next time there is an opportunity there is no chance that Cincinnati or South Florida or Memphis gets the call over us. Or if it is the Big 10, do what is necessary, invest in programs, lobby, go to B-10 meetings whatever it takes to go there. But lay out for the various constituencies what needs to be done to get to where the administration wants us to be. Enough platitudes about the front porch and happy memories...What is the goal for UConn Athletics and how do we get there?

That's fine. But I don't think it's relevant to the story here. I think our leader got bamboozled (and whether morally that was someone else's fault because there were flat out lies told or hers, she gets paid not to be fooled by her peers).

 

[HuskyHawk]

We've been put on an island football wise. I can see the strategy behind getting L-Ville now before the Bid 12 moves and keeping UConn on ice. I hope we are still able to move if we ever get thawed out. Recruiting will be much more difficult in the future for football especially. Hebst's statement makes me think she was outworked on this. Having her AD on the trip didn't make it seem like the importance of this decision long term really sunk in. Very poor impression to have both away during this.

Football? Forget football....I'm wondering how we save the basketball program. The Big East just lost Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, Notre Dame and WVU. We've replaced them with a bag of rocks. Memphis has collapsed. Temple is mediocre. Houston is nothing special. Tulane, SMU and the Florida schools suck. Nova has fallen down with SH and St. Johns. It's UConn, Marquette, Georgetown and nobody else. As of next season, the basketball league sucks too.

 

[noeynox]

That's fine. But I don't think it's relevant to the story here. I think our leader got bamboozled (and whether morally that was someone else's fault because there were flat out lies told or hers, she gets paid not to be fooled by her peers).

That would be the worse part of this. She was basically an expansion New Jack as a college president, and actually believed what people said. She sat back and told her minions to say nothing as this unfolded. She thought nothing of the fact that Louisville and West Virginia had a public squabble over the Big 12 invite, that would have made the WWE proud? When we are announced as the next in line for the ACC Louisville began extolling their virtues and she stood by like "pfft we got this".

This is all very bad news. All we seem to have left is that RU poster post saying UConn/UVA to the Big Ten is a done deal, but as we've all seen with conference realignment, nothing is a done deal until the press conference to announce your inclusion into said conference.

 

[businesslawyer]

1. The basketball schools, or some of them, "suck" because they've been outmatched against all the departing schools you listed. Some of the St. Johns and Seton Halls will capitalize on this as an opportunity and move forward. For basketball, we have time.

2. If the current alignment were to stick for a while (and I have no reason to think it will by the way), I would no longer rule out asking the ACC if we cap pair up with Notre Dame as a non-football school (and no, they won't promise us five games), protect everything but football and see if football can't play in the NNNNNBE as a football only.

 

[IMind]

That doesn't change the Louisvillr sold 35,000 tickets to the Orange Bowl factoid. Or that their budget is larger than anyone in the ACC.

It does confirm that academics do not matter to the ACC. They can end that elitist crap right now.

Yup. We've also had a crap load of bad luck. If we go to the Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech instead of the Fiesta against Oklahoma... or the Fiesta doesn't force Insight Bowl tickets and Fiesta Bowl tickets on national title game buyers... maybe we sell 20k plus tickets to the Fiesta Bowl. I don't know.

It's not any one thing though.. All these things add up though and certainly don't help...

I still think long term we're okay, because expansion isn't done... but it certainly sucks right now.

 

[freescooter]

Football? Forget football....I'm wondering how we save the basketball program. The Big East just lost Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, Notre Dame and WVU. We've replaced them with a bag of rocks. Memphis has collapsed. Temple is mediocre. Houston is nothing special. Tulane, SMU and the Florida schools suck. Nova has fallen down with SH and St. Johns. It's UConn, Marquette, Georgetown and nobody else. As of next season, the basketball league sucks too.

That's why I posted earlier that UConn is now a mid-major in basketball. Well will be as of next season.

 

[businesslawyer]

That would be the worse part of this. She was basically an expansion New Jack as a college president, and actually believed what people said. She sat back and told her minions to say nothing as this unfolded. She thought nothing of the fact that Louisville and West Virginia had a public squabble over the Big 12 invite, that would have made the WWE proud? When we are announced as the next in line for the ACC Louisville began extolling their virtues and she stood by like "pfft we got this".

This is all very bad news. All we seem to have left is that RU poster post saying UConn/UVA to the Big Ten is a done deal, but as we've all seen with conference realignment, nothing is a done deal until the press conference to announce your inclusion into said conference.

Best I can tell is that this is exactly what happened. Now, would she have won against LV if she fought hard? We will never know. So it's possible that her f###up didn't change anything. But (again, unless she knows something about the Ten) it was nonetheless a duck*up, and we lost a chance to compete against LV in the marketplace because she thought she had already won.

If that is what happened (and by all means she deserves a chance to explain what happened and we need to wait to see if the Ten being imminent was part of this), if I were on the BofT she would be gone. Not because we're not in the ACC, but because you can not have a President of a State University who is so easily played in such a public forum. And that would be notwithstanding the many good initiatives she has underway.

 

[IMind]

That's why I posted earlier that UConn is now a mid-major in basketball. Well will be as of next season.

I know things seem pretty bleak... but there's still a looong way to go before I worry to much about basketball... outside of the obvious hall of fame coach retiring 'transitional' coach thing. The Big East is still a top basketball conference and will be even when/if UConn and Cinnci leave. There's just too many solid basketball programs out there that the Big East could continue to add.

 

[freescooter]

Best I can tell is that this is exactly what happened. Now, would she have won against LV if she fought hard? We will never know. So it's possible that her f###up didn't change anything. But (again, unless she knows something about the Ten) it was nonetheless a duck*up, and we lost a chance to compete against LV in the marketplace because she thought she had already won.

If that is what happened (and by all means she deserves a chance to explain what happened and we need to wait to see if the Ten being imminent was part of this), if I were on the BofT she would be gone. Not because we're not in the ACC, but because you can not have a President of a State University who is so easily played in such a public forum. And that would be notwithstanding the many good initiatives she has underway.

Frankly, I agree with that, but I suspect that the one who will take the fall will be Manuel. My guess is that despite getting played, Herbst will figure out how to survive. And part of that will involve throwing Manual to the sharks.

 

[Jimdish255]

Even if our invisible lobbying wasn't a factor (it probably was), and staying on an island retreat didn't look so bad (it did), one of the major goals and responsibilities of the President and the AD was to build relationships that could be leveraged into support when it mattered. To the extend that they could have made a difference by building those relationships with other universities, or even getting the support of key legislators or the Governor to actively lobby on our behalf, it's an open question as to why this was not effectively or aggressively pursued.

We shouldn't have to wait for some coherent statement about what was or wasn't done. In time we may get the story from ACC sources anyway. A little more forthcoming explanation isn't necessary for entertainment purposes. People who have supported the teams and the university deserve to know whether these factors were given the priority that was required to succeed. This was a chance to show how much personal pride they had in the university and in that sense it is another disappointment if you bleed blue.

 

[jdb50]

To get the $ needed to keep pace with all the "haves" we will need to keep our football program performing at a high level. All this State budget deficit pain is going to hit the University too. If we drop off the map football wise we will not be looked at the next time realignment occurs and this will impact all areas of the school. The financial impact of being left behind is going to be huge. We sued last time because of the possible financial damages. Being left behind now is a much larger problem. We are being sent to the minor leagues with huge financial fallout. The only way to avoid this is to have alot of success in football. Hoops and and hoping for ESPN to step in aren't going to a help much.

 

[UConn990411]

That's why I posted earlier that UConn is now a mid-major in basketball. Well will be as of next season.

Today must be like a wet dream for you.

 

[jdb50]

Best I can tell is that this is exactly what happened. Now, would she have won against LV if she fought hard? We will never know. So it's possible that her f###up didn't change anything. But (again, unless she knows something about the Ten) it was nonetheless a duck*up, and we lost a chance to compete against LV in the marketplace because she thought she had already won.

If that is what happened (and by all means she deserves a chance to explain what happened and we need to wait to see if the Ten being imminent was part of this), if I were on the BofT she would be gone. Not because we're not in the ACC, but because you can not have a President of a State University who is so easily played in such a public forum. And that would be notwithstanding the many good initiatives she has underway.

Yep we just had a huge pail of cold water thrown on us in public. The Bof T's needs to demand some answers.

 

[huskymedic]

Yep we just had a huge pail of cold water thrown on us in public. The Bof T's needs to demand some answers.

BOT need to look in the mirror... what did they do during this period to further the cause??

 

[freescooter]

Today must be like a wet dream for you.

It is a nightmare. I've been a UConn fan since the 1970s and was active in lobbying for the upgrade of the football program. I put blue & white Christmas lights on my house the night of the 1999 national championship, and do you know how hard it is to find Christmas lights in April? turned them on when the final buzzer sounded and left them on all night and the next day. This was totally mis-managed by Herbst and Manual, but Herbst in the main I suspect. But Manuel will be the one who gets to walk the plank. Bu t if this situation proves anything, it proves what I've been saying all along. Having great basketball is nice but its meaningless.

 

[Skiblets]

From a Dave Borges column: :According to a UConn source, the program “worked really hard (to state its case to the ACC),” and that president Susan Herbst talked “to a ton of presidents” and athletic director Warde Manuel “talked to just about every AD." http://borgesblognhr.blogspot.com/

This is the difference between actions and results. They got played

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Yesterday.. I would have said it's got nothing to do with who our head football coach is. Today... I think it's 100% about who our head football coach is. It's about perception. We went out and hired a re-tred who hadn't been near the college game for years. A guy no one else really wanted. That said we weren't serious about football. It's not even really about our win/loss record.

If they don't fire PP at the end of this season it's basically confirming everything they already think about UConn. That we aren't a serious football program.

That and our marketing sucks. It's always sucked. We have a top tier products and we get passed over by 2nd rate competition because of this. Others put up banners in time square and get the Empire State's building lit up. We have a couple of radio ads on 1080 and a billboard or two on I-95. It just sucks.

I don't put this entirely on Herbst and Manuel... yet.

Well put. This had a lot to do with the state of affairs, IMO.

 

[freescooter]

Well put. This had a lot to do with the state of affairs, IMO.

Hogwash. Jeez, our "retread" just beat Louisville's hot shot next big thing. this was about our President and to a lesser degree our Ad getting played and mis-managing the situation. Jeez, did you guys read some of the stuff that Louisville pushed as demonstrating their "great athletic department?" Getting to NCAA final fours in mens and womens basketball? And apparently we just assumed everyone would say "but UConn won titles!!!" We should have been ridiculing them and the ACC for their foolishness in even trying to compare the two.