Why did uconn wait so long to join Div1 football?

[Waquoit]

Rowland was in on it. The fake paper signing and all.

Not a finger was lifted to prepare for any of the work that south end stadium site would have required in the 24 month time frame being thrown around.

What did CT get out of it?

 

[BoatShow]

This is a fair argument and something a lot of people elsewhere in the NCAA hold against us still. We found ourselves in a BCS conference without having to prove a whole lot on the field. How would we feel if Stony Brook got an invited to the B1G tomorrow?

 

[Carl Spackler]

This is a fair argument and something a lot of people elsewhere in the NCAA hold against us still. We found ourselves in a BCS conference without having to prove a whole lot on the field. How would we feel if Stony Brook got an invited to the B1G tomorrow?

I don't think it was the invite itself that bothered people. GIven the structure of the Big East conference, adn all the stuff that went down between 1984-1996 in college football across the country, as well as with the Big EAst specifically, it was pretty much inevitable that the Big EAst leadership would extend offers to the schools in the conference that played football at 1-AA to upgrade to 1-A. And that was us and VIllanova, and it was well known, and the offer came to both - in 1996. THere were studies done about it by important people in the landscape, and it was all taken very serious - at least by UCONN. That's fact.

VIllanova - I firmly believe that had Villanova actually committed to upgrade in 2010 (they had the standing offer since 1996) rather than drag ass and produce that embarrassing proposal a year late - the leadership at Syracuse and Pitt, doesn't leave the conference. But that's just may opinion. BAsed on feedback and conversation I've had over the years, the problem was not with the offer, but in the perception of how the offer was handled by UCONN, as I've described. THe offer was the gold cased silver spoon, and UCONN couldn't move on it. It took backdoor politics to squeeze it through at the last second.

On top of that, came Blumenthal's grandstanding act, naming actual people in the lawsuit and claiming that UCONN was being damaged having upgraded into a BCS conference. He had all the backing of the basketball community and all the outrage against BC, Miami, etc..... THe few people that really knew football...well - I can't speak for anyone else - I wasn't happy to say the least.

We are now on the outside looking in again, with USF, Cincinatti - Louisville - being the only school that was cut out of the big picture back in the mid 1990's to have found a way back in now that the BCS is gone.

THe sooner that the majority of UCONN people understand all of this, the easier it will be to move on through this new conference, and work to reach the highest levels we can reach......and our leadership earn the respect of those that actually vote about such matters as conference alignments when such votes come up again, and they inevitably will.

Because - Captain Obvious speaking, the only reason we are not included among the ESPN chosen 5 tribes right now, is because we did not get enough votes, from the small handful of people that actually vote. THat needs to be changed, and it's slow and steady progress that eventually changes it.

 

[NickyNewark]

Hey guys, we get a lot of traffic here on the BY from fans of other P5 conferences!! Why is that? Because they all know UConn will soon be one of them(in a P5 soon) and there curious to see how our(UConn) FanBase is dealing with what we all know is a wrong. If a VT could in short order go from a "mid-major to BE to ACC in a heartbeat practically think what a state flagbearing school like UConn can do!Everyone knows it but its the waiting thats killing us.I figure no more than 2 yrs from my objective(to a small degree) viewpoint. I spend most of my free time checking out whats happening until UConn is in.....how many thousands of others are?

 

[Palatine]

What was the reasoning back in the 90s as to why uconn didn't join the newly formed big east football conference. I am more then positive we were asked to upgrade, what was the sad reasoning not to at that time? Easy to point fingers now obviously but what was the excuse?

Because this is Connecticut. We don't want to do anything rash.

Look we'll all for progress as long as nothing changes.

 

[ktuck911]

Because this is Connecticut. We don't want to do anything rash.

Look we'll all for progress as long as nothing changes.

And that's the worst part of it all.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I don't think the Rent ever would have been built if UCONN had gone 1A in the mid or early 90's. There was a big push to build a huge stadium right in downtown Hartford which would have been home to both the Patriots and the Huskies and if that had happened UCONN would have been one of the first teams taken in the first conference raid, maybe even before BC. What killed that deal was the CT legislature not giving Kraft everything he wanted, despite Gov Rowland doing everything he could to urge them to do so. I liked John Rowland, yeah he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but I liked him as a Governor.

The Pats were never coming to Hartford (or Providence). Kraft was leveraging both cities to get what he wanted in Foxborough. He’s still doing the same today trying to pit various cities around Boston (Revere, Somerville, Boston, etc.) to get someone to pay for a soccer only, 20K stadium for the Revs, which is desperately needed. The fact that no one has offered enough money is why there is no stadium to date.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

It is what it is. The stadium was designed to built on campus, and was very close to ground breaking construction on campus before local politics got is shut down, and if not for John Rowland's activism to get the East Hartford site back to life in the state legislature...the upgrade goes dead as of 2001, and we most likely playing football in the CAA now.

I vaguely recall talk of a stadium being built behind the Jungle with a direct access road off of Route 44 at some point while I was in Storrs in the mid 1990’s when the rumors of the upgrade got serious.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Kraft used CT as leverage to get the Razor built for just about nothing.

As far as UConn being one of the first teams snatched up during the first raid if we played in a downtown stadium shared by the Patriots...that is Boneyard Fantasy at its finest.

Actually he paid for Gillette himself. All he wanted was some infrastructure work done on RT1 and other access roads. MA was too cheap for even that. He also considered putting a stadium in South Boston. The state did pony up 17% of the total cost, but it was all road and infrastructure work, not the stadium itself.

 

[Waquoit]

Toner wanted to move up from basically the day that division one split into A & AA but met far too much resistance (keep in mind what a struggle it was to get Gampel built) and wasn't skilled enough at working politicians.

But mostly the fact that he was an absentee AD. He spent more time out of the office than in it while the BB program was going to .

 

[uconnfan68]

I don't think the Rent ever would have been built if UCONN had gone 1A in the mid or early 90's. There was a big push to build a huge stadium right in downtown Hartford which would have been home to both the Patriots and the Huskies and if that had happened UCONN would have been one of the first teams taken in the first conference raid, maybe even before BC. What killed that deal was the CT legislature not giving Kraft everything he wanted, despite Gov Rowland doing everything he could to urge them to do so. I liked John Rowland, yeah he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but I liked him as a Governor.

Why are you blaming anyone but Kraft? He knew he couldn't leave Boston/Mass for CT. He was only trying to get Mass to foot the bill for a new stadium, and when they didn't, he paid for it. He could have had state money from CT.

 

[Glastonhusky]

I vaguely recall talk of a stadium being built behind the Jungle with a direct access road off of Route 44 at some point while I was in Storrs in the mid 1990’s when the rumors of the upgrade got serious.

I also remember that. There were objections by the people of Mansfield over traffic etc, but the main reason it died was because it was proposed in an election year. As I recall one of the candidates, Barbara Kennelly I believe, railed against the cost and how much it would hurt education and other state services. The other candidate(not sure, but it may have been Rowland) backed down and that was the end of it.

 

[hexlub]

Interesting read on where an on-campus stadium would have been on North Campus. I for one still think it was a big mistake not having the stadium in Storrs. Would have changed the whole campus.

http://articles.courant.com/1997-10...-storrs-campus-demolition-of-memorial-stadium

Love these two bullets:

* The football program, operating at a deficit of $2.1 million a year at I-AA, is expected to lose about $3 million by 2000 -- but should produce positive financial results as soon as 2005.

* The salary of the head coach is projected to increase from $110,000 to $200,000 by 2003, when the team would be playing a partial Big East schedule.

 

[Waquoit]

Thanks for the rundown. I knew that there were plans to build a highway, I didn't have any idea why it never was completed.

Rhode Island didn't want it. That's why the project stalled and died.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I was also really disappointed when the Patriots didn't come here (same thing when the Six Flags rumor was going around). Although it would be nice to share a stadium with a pro team, I don't think it would work out too well for attendance. Look at Pitt, Temple and USF. THey all play in pro stadiums and most of the time it looks like there are more empty seats than are fans. I know it isn't ideal, but I love The Rent and have many good memories in that stadium and hope to have a lot more this year, starting with BYU!

 

[Waquoit]

Because this is Connecticut. We don't want to do anything rash.

What about the deal for The Rent? The whole process was completed in just a few weeks, if not days.

 

[Carl Spackler]

This. I was at a breakfast in '88 where Turner told a group of us that within the next 4-5 years UConn would be playing the likes of Pitt, BC, and Penn St on a regular basis.

I wasn't recruited by the UCONN staff, but I am familiar with a few that were in that time. I could be entirely wrong about this, but I think that contrary to what has been stated here, Toner was a big time proponent of 1-AA football, and wanted UCONN at 1-AA. I could be wrong about that, and I"m sure there are those around here that can correct me if I am.

Jackson most definitely did promise scheduling with those kinds of programs though, as he planned to do it out of conference, and we did play some division 1As such as North Carolina in the late 80s. I think that the plan was that as 1-AA football progressed, there would regular out of conference scheduling with the 1A's regularly, including home and home (a lot more than the one time away cash money deals that it turned out to be between 1A /1-AA scheduling). At least that was the plan as I understood it for 1-AA football.

Edit: also - as far as playing those programs regularly, from the mid 80s on, it seemed as though it was inevitable that the Big East would be playing football, and the natural progression would have been to include UCONN and Villanova. I don't know if it was ever discussed that scheduling the 1A's for UCONN would have been in conference or out, but I do know that Jackson did promise scheduling with 1A programs in the 1980s.

 

[06029]

Actually he paid for Gillette himself. All he wanted was some infrastructure work done on RT1 and other access roads. MA was too cheap for even that. He also considered putting a stadium in South Boston. The state did pony up 17% of the total cost, but it was all road and infrastructure work, not the stadium itself.

The Route 1 infrastructiure was huge for him. Enabled him to get Patriot Place built. Also, he got full control of the track behind the old stadium for nothing, got the back road in for fire, emergency and his family and he also got the right to develop the site as he saw fit beyond the just the stadium. So instead of just a stadium that is used maybe 20 times a year (football, concerts and the Revs) he has a year round destination place that generates some very high rents to him an his family. I believe he has some long term tax breaks on that development too. Owning the stadium and the land, he also gets all of the concessions, parking, naming rights income and advertising income. No split with the state. The CT deal, he had none of that.

 

[06029]

What did CT get out of it?

An approved bond issue that developed the convention center, the Rent and Uconn's upgrade to D1. That and the debt service on all of those things.

 

[John]

I was also really disappointed when the Patriots didn't come here (same thing when the Six Flags rumor was going around). Although it would be nice to share a stadium with a pro team, I don't think it would work out too well for attendance. Look at Pitt, Temple and USF. THey all play in pro stadiums and most of the time it looks like there are more empty seats than are fans. I know it isn't ideal, but I love The Rent and have many good memories in that stadium and hope to have a lot more this year, starting with BYU!

what was the Six Flags rumor, I don't recall ever hearing about them coming to CT.

 

[huskyrob1]

Why are you blaming anyone but Kraft? He knew he couldn't leave Boston/Mass for CT. He was only trying to get Mass to foot the bill for a new stadium, and when they didn't, he paid for it. He could have had state money from CT.

I'm not saying he never did try to play Rowland to get Mass to pony up, he very well might had that angle in mind, but at the same time it was well known that Barbara Kennelly campaigned in the legislature to not give Kraft one cent of state money, also IIRC wasn't there a lot of negative press directed at Kraft at the time? He may have just said screw you and took his team elsewhere.

 

[Buzzyboy]

You don't know what you are talking about, plain and simple. Yes he broke the law and paid his debt to society, but he did do a lot for the state while Governor.

During the years that Rowland was in office, the state enjoyed record-breaking surpluses, state spending increased only modestly, with real spending growth rates of just over 2 percent annually between 1995 and 2003. For the first time in state history, tax rebate checks were sent to taxpayers in 1998 and again in 1999. He adhered to a spending cap voters added to the state constitution in 1992.

During those years, the state invested more than $2 billion to rebuild the University of Connecticut. Major investments were also made in the Connecticut State University andCommunity Technical College systems; enrollments as of 2004 were at an all-time high.

As of 2004, Connecticut students led the nation in performance, and the number of spaces in pre-school programs more than doubled during his term in office.

During his term, more than 455,000 acres (1,840 km2) (700+ sq. miles) of open space were preserved for future generations and state parks were revitalized. Rowland also led an aggressive clean-up and protection effort for Long Island Sound.

The Adriaen’s Landing project, the most ambitious capital city development project in decades in the state, continued to progress during Rowland's time in office. College campuses were moved, which brought thousands downtown in Hartford, Stamford, Bridgeport and Waterbury. New London's waterfront was thriving as of 2004, with a new global research facility and rebuilt pier. Theaters and museums in all major cities were revitalized, from the Palace Theater in Waterbury to the New Britain's Museum of American Art.

In 1998, Rowland implemented the HUSKY Plan (Healthcare for UninSured Kids and Youth) to provide health insurance to uninsured Connecticut children. During his tenure, the budget for the Department of Children and Families more than doubled. Rowland supported addition to government of the state’s first Child Advocate.

Rowland was a strong proponent of a tough stance against violent crime as Governor. The prison population grew rapidly during his term, which caused the state to send inmates to prisons in Virginia to deal with overcrowding. Legislative opponents of this policy such as Representative Michael Lawlor urged more rapid release of nonviolent offenders. After Rowland left office the Virginia inmates were returned to Connecticut and more criminals were paroled. This approach was criticized after the 2007 Cheshire home invasionmurders committed by two "nonviolent" inmates paroled from Connecticut prison.

Before investigation into his conduct as governor started, Rowland was viewed as a rising star in the Republican Party, and was mentioned as a future presidential or vice-presidential candidate.

Shortly after being released from prison, he was offered a job as the city of Waterbury's economic development coordinator. Rowland was appointed to this office by long time friend and associate, Mayor Michael Jarjura.

I don't have a clear remembrance of all the things that transpired during the years he was governor but it's obvious that anything that occurred during the years of his administration that were of a positive nature you want to give him credit for. I particularly like that you want to cite the fact that "Adrian's Landing project continued under him". Is that to suggest that because he didn't make any efforts to undermine it, that's one of the many stellar accomplishments of his administration????? I lived there during his time as governor and though I concede that he wasn't a horrible governor, he surely wasn't anything like you choose to portray him. Meanwhile, others have pointed out that there seems to be some current issues of a less than stellar nature that he is being accused of. You chose not to remark about any current investigation pertaining to Rowland. I'm not quite sure why you seem to be such an advocate of his. Is he your Uncle or your cousin or what? The topic is really supposed to be why was UConn so late to the Division 1 table, isn't it? There are a few people who have a completely different impression of Rowlands role in any of this because as you should know, there are so many things that go on behind the scenes that it can be a cloudy subject. Politics is a hell of a thing where people sometimes publicly favor something while doing everything in their power to sabotage it in private.

 

[Waquoit]

what was the Six Flags rumor, I don't recall ever hearing about them coming to CT.

There were rumblings back then that a Six Flags was being considered for the space where the Rent sits now.

 

[John]

There were rumblings back then that a Six Flags was being considered for the space where the Rent sits now.

Lake Compounce must have loved that.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Love these two bullets:

The football program, operating at a deficit of $2.1 million a year at I-AA, is expected to lose about $3 million by 2000 -- but should produce positive financial results as soon as 2005.

The salary of the head coach is projected to increase from $110,000 to $200,000 by 2003, when the team would be playing a partial Big East schedule.

“A suggested site at the junction of I-84 and Route 195 was ruled unacceptable because of space and environmental considerations.”
Well, at least Electric Blue was saved

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I also remember that. There were objections by the people of Mansfield over traffic etc, but the main reason it died was because it was proposed in an election year. As I recall one of the candidates, Barbara Kennelly I believe, railed against the cost and how much it would hurt education and other state services. The other candidate(not sure, but it may have been Rowland) backed down and that was the end of it.

Likely the same locals who complained that UConn students were walking in the road in between campus and Celeron and Hunting Lodge; but, refused to approve sidewalks being built between the two areas so students had a choice of walking in the road or taking the ‘rape’ trail behind the sewage treatment plant.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

The Route 1 infrastructiure was huge for him. Enabled him to get Patriot Place built. Also, he got full control of the track behind the old stadium for nothing, got the back road in for fire, emergency and his family and he also got the right to develop the site as he saw fit beyond the just the stadium. So instead of just a stadium that is used maybe 20 times a year (football, concerts and the Revs) he has a year round destination place that generates some very high rents to him an his family. I believe he has some long term tax breaks on that development too. Owning the stadium and the land, he also gets all of the concessions, parking, naming rights income and advertising income. No split with the state. The CT deal, he had none of that.

More recently during the downturn and the development of Federal ‘Tiger Funds’ to build ‘shovel ready’ infrastructure projects under Obama back in 2009, Kraft trird to sneak in a bill in Beacon Hill to build a $9 million dollar pedestrian bridge over route 1 connecting patriot’s Pace to land he owned on the other side of Route 1. The press eventually got wind of it and it died a bad death.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/kraft-bridge-carried-red-flag/article_34bcb5c4-e67e-59a6-b9e7-017ba40cd4a0.html?mode=story

More recently, the town of Foxborough shot down the proposed Wynn Casino, also across from Patriot’s Place.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/05/07/casino-opponents-gain-foxborough/Rwdj3cX6NzcB8a8qLL14fN/story.html

Some people believe that Kraft is furious over both and that is why he has been dragging his feet on the soccer only stadium that MLS is demanding for the Revs because he wants to draw blood.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Route 1 infrastructiure was huge for him. Enabled him to get Patriot Place built. Also, he got full control of the track behind the old stadium for nothing, got the back road in for fire, emergency and his family and he also got the right to develop the site as he saw fit beyond the just the stadium. So instead of just a stadium that is used maybe 20 times a year (football, concerts and the Revs) he has a year round destination place that generates some very high rents to him an his family. I believe he has some long term tax breaks on that development too. Owning the stadium and the land, he also gets all of the concessions, parking, naming rights income and advertising income. No split with the state. The CT deal, he had none of that.

And since I live 15 minutes away, it's all good for me.

 

[huskyrob1]

I don't have a clear remembrance of all the things that transpired during the years he was governor but it's obvious that anything that occurred during the years of his administration that were of a positive nature you want to give him credit for. I particularly like that you want to cite the fact that "Adrian's Landing project continued under him". Is that to suggest that because he didn't make any efforts to undermine it, that's one of the many stellar accomplishments of his administration????? I lived there during his time as governor and though I concede that he wasn't a horrible governor, he surely wasn't anything like you choose to portray him. Meanwhile, others have pointed out that there seems to be some current issues of a less than stellar nature that he is being accused of. You chose not to remark about any current investigation pertaining to Rowland. I'm not quite sure why you seem to be such an advocate of his. Is he your Uncle or your cousin or what? The topic is really supposed to be why was UConn so late to the Division 1 table, isn't it? There are a few people who have a completely different impression of Rowlands role in any of this because as you should know, there are so many things that go on behind the scenes that it can be a cloudy subject. Politics is a hell of a thing where people sometimes publicly favor something while doing everything in their power to sabotage it in private.

I didn't write that stuff. I took it word for word from Rowlands bio on Wikpedia, so if you disagree with it I suggest you go on there, hack into Wikpedia, and set the record straight according to "Buzzyboy". My original post that you attacked as "wrong, wrong, wrong" was liked by several posters, I guess they remember like myself the good things he did for the state, especially UCONN, and his HUSKY insurance program for poor kids statewide. Your attack on that post got no likes. As I've already stated several times in response to your attacks, he went to jail and paid his dept to society and freely admits his wrongdoing as a CT governor, unlike many in politics who got caught but never admitted anything. I'm not an advocate of his, just remember his years as gov were good years for the state, before his Governorship went down the tubes. You certainly seem to have an axe to grind though with respect to Rowland, did you lose an election to him or something. Give it a rest.

 

[FDNY99]

There was supposed to be a research park near Celeron that the residents of Mansfield were able to shut down (what a difference that would have made)...the stretch of 384 between Columbia and Bolton was done in when Fed permits were not renewed on time with Army Corps of Engineer's...and someone with contacts with-in Army Corps of Engineer's was able to get them to not renew the permits (this info came from a friend of mine who learned it in class while getting a bachelor's degree of soil science at UCONN)....I was never a Rowland fan what so ever...but what he did for UCONN from UCONN 2000 to the football upgrade can't be pushed to the side. He was the Gov that helped the school emerge from the dark ages academic facilities wise!