Would you do it all over again?

[Exit 4]

That said, naming the individuals as defendants was dumb.

^^^^^^this

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

If I had a time machine to use once for UConn Athletics, I would go back and bury a dead hooker in Jeff Hathaway's back yard prior to 2010 and call in an anonymous tip to the Connecticut State Police. That should not only take care of Hathaway, but also the beginning of the death spiral known as HCPP. My guess is that Edsall doesn't leave for MD (if he had continued success at UConn, he likely would have been offered the Penn St gig after the Paterno incident) and UConn is currently in the ACC now.

Isn't some UConn professor still working on a time machine? Maybe this is our last CR strategy as a University!

 

[TKs]

Uconn ststus as a red headed stepchild misfit outsider in intercollegiate athletics, perpetually perched on the edge of downfall, began in earnest 35 years ago. The schools basketball programs managed to be included in Gavitt's vision of an urban private school basketball league. Then in 82-83, Penn State wanted in and was excluded by 5-3 vote.

The rest is history of repitition of failure and poor leadership by multiple iterations of state elected and appointed leaders at university and state level.

Multiple opportunities to find a meaningful home for athletics failed. John Rowland and Lew Perkins made it last as long as it did by the driving through1-AA upgrade.

From coaches to adminustrators to politicians, multiple iterstions of hubris, arrogance and ignorance alienated everyone that could help vote for UConn.

In thr game of survivor, we made it to the final round andthe jury selected somebody else,because we alienated everyone.

That 5-3 vote to add Penn St in 1982 was 1 vote short (needed to be 6-2). That would have changed everything, none of the football schools would have ever left.

 

[NHRich]

The stadium should have been built on campus. I’m not sure how much the acc cares, but I bet it’s a killer for the big 10. That said, yes, with the hope things will improve in my lifetime.

 

[Waquoit]

If you go back in time, convince people to listen to Lew Perkins and others a lot earlier than they did - we waited too long to make the move.

Of course, Lew also killed all the ticket buying momentum by overcharging for tickets.

 

[Stainmaster]

Keep telling yourself that. maybe someday it will be true.

You do not have the capacity required to comprehend these matters.

 

[Waquoit]

I have had so much fun at the UCONN games, it is definitely worth it.

After all is said and done, that's how I feel.

 

[Carl Spackler]

My only regret is that we waited waaaaay too long to upgrade football. That is consistent with how Connecticut does things - hem and haw over something only to make a rushed bad decision at the very last minute, then complain about the eventual negative fallout. If we had upgraded in the 80s...even the early 90s...I really believe we would be in the ACC right now. Better yet, there is a chance the old Big East (the REAL Big East) would still be in existence and a member of a true Power-6 structure. We would have competed against Boston College, Miami, and Virginia Tech for 10 years before their eventual split. That's plenty of time to develop strong partnerships. Of course, we would have needed an invite from the Big East to upgrade. It's my understanding - and I may be wrong - that we had one of those "if you upgrade, you will have a place to play" agreements similar to our Hockey East upgrade.

Our upgrade took way too long and the stadium our state finally relented to bond out was a cheap and quick construction just to get something built. The Rent became outdated in less than 5 months after it opened, offers zero on-campus flair that the majority of FBS stadiums offer, and any attempt to renovate or expand it was met with the same ridiculous "season ticket sellouts" response from our inept AD.

Best of all, we're doing the same exact thing with the new hockey venue. Somebody please wake up Albert Einstein and march him to UConn's front door to, once again, define insanity for our inept AD.

Aside: not entering that Notre Dame series was a stupid opinion back then and looks incredibly stupid now. That series slapped the entitled label on us and rightfully so. New kid on the block UConn tried to dictate decade long terms to Notre Dame. Connecticut politicians are a special kind of stupid.

I ventured around to a different board recently and saw stuff about the hockey program arena investments and facepalmed visciously. Repetition of mistakes. Same thing they did with the football venue, happening with hockey program management.

 

[Carl Spackler]

There is no athletic program (IMNSHO) professional, amateur, collegiate, youth, national, olympic whatever - where the adage that 'Winning fixes everything' applies like the University of Connecticut athletic department.

Everything that is a problem now - has been a problem for near 4 decades. But when the football program was winning, and the basketball program was winning - it didn't matter.

And like it or not, outside the state borders of Connecticut - women's basketball doesn't matter.

 

[gopher2]

For me the win at ND alone has made it all worthwhile. Yes I would do it again just for that moment.

 

[John Greene]

The lawsuit was a necessary step in the short term. BC's resistance in 2010-11 was based on fear of competition, not revenge. That said, naming the individuals as defendants was dumb.

I said then (based on conversations with two friends from the SEC office) and repeat now. Making it personal was beyond stupid.

 

[kemba]

I have had so much fun at the UCONN games, it is definitely worth it.

This.

Great memories at the Rent watching games 07-11. While since then the fun moments for football are few and far between, still enjoy the social aspect of tailgating and seeing friends at the games. While I hope we build the program back up, eventually CR works out for us, and we get back to sell out crowds against big opponents, if we end up with a ceiling of 7-5 in the american in front of 25,000-30,000, that's still better to me than not having it at all.

 

[gopher2]

That 5-3 vote to add Penn St in 1982 was 1 vote short (needed to be 6-2). That would have changed everything, none of the football schools would have ever left.

Georgetown, St. John's and Nova voted against Penn State in 1982. Nova had dropped 1-A football in 1980. They brought football back in 1984 at the 1-AA level. If Nova was still playing football when the vote occurred things might have turned out differently.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Let’s go further back and green light it in 1949

 

[baggerbob]

That 5-3 vote to add Penn St in 1982 was 1 vote short (needed to be 6-2). That would have changed everything, none of the football schools would have ever left.

St Johns, Villanova. and Georgetown were afraid of football, and responsible for the end of the Big East.

 

[DoctorWho85]

If we're going back in time, I'm convincing to Big East to Take Penn St and being the premier NE basketball AND football conference

 

[uconnbill]

This would make sense if other parties to that lawsuit weren’t extended invites...but they were.

Your political dislike of certain people isn’t license to rewrite history.

It is my dream not yours, so pissoff

He still sucked as an AG

 

[uconnbill]

The lawsuit had to be done. We wouldn't have gotten as close as we did without it.

And many of you continue to delude yourself if you really believe that ACC members held it against us and not Pitt. You're assuming that university presidents are as easily manipulated by social media discussion as you are.

That's law talk, which has nothing to do with dreams, and this is about dreams and do-overs.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We were 2-3 years too late on the upgrade. I think if UConn had upgraded in 1995 or 1996, the ACC raid would have worked out very differently.

The Big East breakup worked out well for all but 3 schools: UConn, Cincinnati and USF. There were definitely some tactical moves UConn should have made along the way, like not hiring Pasqualoni. UConn's 2009 team was its strongest, and lost a bunch of close games. That team could have easily gone 11-1 and made a major bowl, and that may have changed a lot of things too.

We will also be too late in cutting football loose. It is destroying our basketball programs in the AAC.

 

[Hamms30]

phase 1 - build time machine
phase 2 - add Penn St.
phase 3 - .... ??
phase 4 - profit

 

[John]

We had to at least try.

 

[Adios]

At the end of the day, yes.

That cliche is so overused.

 

[Adios]

phase 1 - build time machine
phase 2 - add Penn St.
phase 3 - .... ??
phase 4 - profit

Don't we have a department focused on time travel?

 

[Adios]

St Johns, Villanova. and Georgetown were afraid of football, and responsible for the end of the Big East.

Can we ban Villanova fans from here? Other two schools barely have fans left.

 

[Excalibur]

We were 2-3 years too late on the upgrade. I think if UConn had upgraded in 1995 or 1996, the ACC raid would have worked out very differently.

The Big East breakup worked out well for all but 3 schools: UConn, Cincinnati and USF. There were definitely some tactical moves UConn should have made along the way, like not hiring Pasqualoni. UConn's 2009 team was its strongest, and lost a bunch of close games. That team could have easily gone 11-1 and made a major bowl, and that may have changed a lot of things too.

We will also be too late in cutting football loose. It is destroying our basketball programs in the AAC.

An on-campus stadium was almost a done deal in 1997, until state politics ended up killing it. The upgrade would have been complete by 2000.

I still maintain that the war was lost in the years after the NBE was formed (2005-2010). That we failed to recognize that all of the original Big East football schools (along with Louisville) were actively trying to get out was a colossal failure at all levels, and it's pretty clear that Hathaway, et al were working as hard as possible to advance the NBE while Pitt, Syracuse, RU, WVU and UL were plotting their escape. Perhaps I'm wrong and they knew then that there was no chance we'd be included and that our only chance at survival was the survival of the Big East?