Oh and while we're at it nice time to try and put a spotlight on the Uconn (hoops) program ....the players responded well
...er the SMU players that is !
Full read: Courant: UConn Hopes For Texas-Sized Return On Its Investment
" C'mon. You know why UConn paid $11,000 for the ad. I know why. We all know why. UConn cannot indefinitely run with the big boys without breaking into the Power Five cartel. That's where the overwhelming revenue is. That's where the future is. Eventually, UConn will break into "The Club" or it will have to drop big-time football and beg to get back into
Big East basketball. "
So if UConn's message was, "Howdy, Texas! Here are our 14 trophies, 10 women, four men, all since 1995. And, guess what? The men won three of the four in Texas, the last one in 2014 just down the road in Arlington. We love playing in Texas." … if that's the message, I'm thinking Texans and folks in Big 12 country, men like
Oklahoma President David Boren, probably appreciate the chest-beating and certainly appreciate the effort.
"But that's me. That's not Kevin Ollie. I have been told by a number of people that the men's basketball coach was very upset about the ad. For one, Ollie hadn't known it was coming. There clearly was a failure to communicate by the communications office to the athletic department. It was a mistake." "Am I buying into that the ad fired up SMU? C'mon. Because of various NCAA violations, the Mustangs aren't eligible for the NCAA or AAC tournaments. This was their last home game. It was Senior Night for Nic Moore, Jordan Tolbert and Markus Kennedy ....SMU is playing for the AAC regular season title, the only title SMU can play for — this was their entire season......Beyond being kept in the dark, what upset Ollie evidently is that he perceived the ad as disrespectful of Larry Brown. The SMU coach is a mentor for Ollie. He holds Brown in the highest regard. ......To throw all those postseason trophies in his face when he can play for no postseason trophies this year is a bitter pill for Brown to swallow.."
" Yet if you are pushing for a Power Five acceptance and think it's all going to magically arrive for free and tickets to games should all cost $10, well, I've got a bus ticket to a Yankee Conference game in Orono for you. That bus left decades ago. When new athletic director David Benedict, who arrives from SEC
Auburn, gets an earful from people moaning about the $11,000, he'll surely grimace at his first spoonful of Yankee frugality.............Once the hard feelings subside, once the 11-grand grumblers have made their comments, the investment in pushing UConn in Texas and Big 12 country should be seen as calculated investment. The payoff could be huge."
Well at least we have a Football team that has been trending up ! And maybe "Reggie" had it right:
TheUConnBlog @TheUConnBlog Feb 23
We talked to @UConnFootball alum Robert McClain about his time at #UConn & playing in #SB50 http://www.theuconnblog.com/2016/2/22/11092302/robert-mcclain-uconn-huskies-super-bowl-carolina-panthers…
