UConn Will Not Play in Bridgeport in 2015-16

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I was raised and spent most of my life in Fairfield County up until age 36, so this is very disappointing news. According to this, logistics and scheduling got in the the way. I happened to attend a Bridgeport Bluefish game this past weekend and heard some people talking about the news:

http://www.ctpost.com/sports/article/Brian-Koonz-UConn-needs-a-greater-commitment-to-6459962.php

I went to the UConn-Columbia game in Bridgeport last season, as well as a few in Storrs. Me and some buddies rented one of the suites for the Columbia game, and we had a blast!!!!! We had booze and pizza and chicken wings and a great time was had by all. I am just very disappointed that there is no Bridgeport game this year. Bridgeport is a much closer game for me than Hartford or Storrs.

I also saw a UConn hockey game in Bridgeport last year (vs. Union, which UConn beat). It was a memorable and very competitive game. Union was the better team but lost the game due to a series of inexplicably stupid penalties which basically put UConn on a power play for the last 10 minutes of the game.

 

[the Blades]

Bridgeport was a dud for hockey with tix sales... XL (around 5,900) to Bridgeport (2,800), I'm glad they ended that miss quick enough .....But I thought for hoops it looked like a winner with the jacked up ticket prices they charged and 9,000 + or so close to sell outs...even though the building is smaller (obviously by far) than the XL and Gampel.........But I get it from a players perspective...the travel is tough enough in the AAC.......then add that they already lose a true home court advantage at the XL which is only a 25-30 minute drive...forcing the kids to do around a 3 hour round trip for a home game seems a little much. And how many major hoop schools have to play home games at even 1 venue off campus, let alone 2 ?

 

[jbergs87]

Bridgeport was a dud for hockey with tix sales... XL (around 5,900) to Bridgeport (2,800), I'm glad they ended that miss quick enough .....But I thought for hoops it looked like a winner with the jacked up ticket prices they charged and 9,000 + or so close to sell outs...even though the building is smaller (obviously by far) than the XL and Gampel.........But I get it from a players perspective...the travel is tough enough in the AAC.......then add that they lose a true home court advantage at the XL which is only a 25-30 minute drive...forcing the kids to do around a 3 hour round trip for a home game seems a little much. And how many major hoop schools have to play home games at even 1 venue off campus, let alone 2 ?

Well these games have always been during winter break and before conference play, not really the heart of the schedule.

 

[the Blades]

Well these games have always been during winter break and before conference play, not really the heart of the schedule.

I can see that angle on the plus side for hoops ...and wasn't Mohegan discussed too ? But I guess they'll never keep everyone happy...it looks like MSG or bust this year for the lower Fairfield county/ NYC metro crowd.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Hey Blades Fairfield County is part of Connecticut too.....it's also the wealthiest county in the State by far with many UConn grads including the Barton family of Greenwich which donated shitloads of money to the football program and its facilities. It's kind of dumb not to want to romance the alumni base down there. UConn also has a campus in Stamford (I actually attended a summer class there while at UConn, although all my other credits were earned in Storrs).

There are a lot of people down there that are unhappy, including the alumnus I had season tickets with for 17 years, who lives in Bridgeport.

 

[the Blades]

KSTW, I actually sent Warde a letter regarding moving Uconn out of Storrs and Hartford for the first time in about 30 years. Especially since I've been part of the AD backbone as a donor & season ticket holder for almost as long... even though with a few businesses, it hasn't always been easy to get to every game. I think you and me discussed when they played Cuse back in the 80's at the New Haven Coliseum which is probably the last time Uconn played in southern CT (as a home game), until recently.

Tough time$ called for changes, so I get it, they threw Bridgeport a bone for a couple of seasons, which was the exception not the norm. They were also negotiating with the XL at the time over $$$. Uconn has always been used to fill dates at the Civic Center, being a facility that the State picks up the tab for, which probably isn't fair either. But seeing it's a state funded venue and state funded flagship school... it is what it is. Plus with it's seating capacity the CC's been a winner to the AD forever in that regards, even though as I said above Gampel is the only true home court advantage for the players and students.

But I wrote Warde vehemently opposed to the AD using Uconn hoops as a pawn to market a bunch of underaged college students and it's fans by the Mohegans( which was also being considered) for it's gambling industry. I also wrote being 100% behind spreading the brand to Bridgeport for all the reasons you mentioned above. And I'd be more than happy to give up paying for a couple of cupcakes or even the 2 exhibition games every year to keep Bridgeport happy. Games which you know as a longtime season ticket holder that we're forced to buy.....for the same price as teams like Texas, Cuse, Louisville etc. or Georgetown and Ohio St. this year...... whether we want them or not...

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Blades,

I think Warde Manuel needs to figure out where his bread gets buttered. However that article leaves open the return to Bridgeport in the future. I think they should play annual games there during the break as in past years.

Regarding hockey, I think that they overscheduled in Bridgeport. They should have done a game or two and waited for UConn hockey to establish itself in their new power conference. I can tell you unequivocally that the best youth hockey in Connecticut exists in Fairfield County. I am a graduate of Fairfield Prep which won the state championship in hockey all 4 years I was there, is a perennial hockey power and has produced recent NHL players in Chris and Ted Drury and Mark Arcobello. Max Pacioretty of New Canaan plays for the Montréal Canadians, and is one of the better two-way players in the NHL, and Jonathan Quick of Milford, starting goalie of the LA Kings, is one of the better goaltenders in the NHL. There are tremendous youth hockey programs in Fairfield County. As someone who took the train from Fairfield to New York City on many occasions in the past, I can tell you its full of kids wearing Rangers jerseys on Rangers game nights.

Regarding Mark Arcobello, I saw him win a state championship for Fairfield Prep at Ingalls Rink (I think Prep won 2 titles when he was there), and he went on to play for Yale and now the Toronto Maple Leafs. Honestly I thought he was too small to play in the NHL despite his great skills, but the kid has made it:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8476062

Bottom line, if the UConn hockey programs develops, there is a deep potential fan base in Fairfield County, that can be tapped, notwithstanding the poor attendance figures for the 5 games that were scheduled in Bridgeport this year. I think they saw that when they scheduled 5 games, but it was too much, too soon. Now they are going to give up after one year? Makes no sense to me. I know the attendance figures are what they are, but hockey should not give up on Bridgeport. Once the hockey team is a winner schedule a game or two and see what happens.

 

[the Blades]

Blades,

I think Warde Manuel needs to figure out where his bread gets buttered. However that article leaves open the return to Bridgeport in the future. I think they should play annual games there during the break as in past years. .

Even though this is a 2 year new jack develpoment with Uconn and Bridgeport I agree..., but the XL and the Rent, with millions in state funds going to both these venues, are really where the buttering is done. Remember the 8 game Notre Dame FB series that the state and politicians forced Uconn to turn down because the Irish wanted some games outside of Hartford county at the Meadowlands which could have gotten great support from Fairfield County and the NYC alumni ? I was for it too.... to spread the brand. I even argued with the Courant's Des Connor about this and how it helps to expand the fanbase.

So it isn't always easy moving games away from these venues and Gampel, especially now that the Connecticut State Legislature set aside $35 million for an XL reface last year, that they need to re-coop. I just don't know if the guys behind the curtains have the same interest in helping a venue run by the city of Bridgeport, which is part of the problem, but enlighten me if I'm wrong

 

[the Blades]

Regarding Hockey, no way, Uconn hockey is an outsider to way to many fans in Fairfield county and it may never change... Regarding Mark Arcobello I saw him Brian O'Neill, and
Broc Little play quite a few times because a friend of mine was coaching at Yale when they were there. Talk about speed and a power play unit....Wow !

But Yale and Quinnipiac have a cult following in southern CT that siphons off D-1 hockey interest. I've heard straight up from the president of one of those schools that even he has no interest in Webster Bank Arena and the area itself. It was one of the reasons they both opted out of the Frozen Holiday Classic and he also said he would be more than open to a CT hockey classic at the XL. Which would have all CT's D-1 hockey teams including Sacred Heart like a mini-Beanpot classic in Boston.

Uconn needs to stick with Hartford/ Storrs (eventually) and the combination of Uconn and old Whaler fans who I talked to at the donor dinner before the BC game which had a sellout of over 8,000. What a buzz there is for Uconn hockey up here ! There's a ton of hockey fans who never became enemy( Rangers) Wolfpack fans, but came back to the XL in droves with over a 2000% increase in season tickets to fill their hockey void. Plus you have the barn on campus that Hockey East is requiring Uconn to put a shovel in the ground for by the 2016-2017 academic year, that will make it even that much tougher to head south.

And again don't forget the student angle who already have a 30 minute drive on the #IceBus to the XL

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Blades,

I am not looking for 5 hockey games in Bridgeport, just 1. Throw Bridgeport a freaking bone, at least! By the way I actually went to the UConn-Union hockey game in Bridgeport last year, and I had a great time. Granted, it was not a big crowd and there were probably as many or more Union fans that travelled from upstate NY, but I had a good time, and even ordered and ate a few slices of pizza from their pizza vendor. Which was well above average arena pizza (and this comes from someone who managed a pizzeria in Bridgeport for 3 years between college and law school, currently lives in the New Haven area and eats pizza at Pepe's and Sally's in New Haven regularly). I know good arena pizza when I taste it. That was the most pleasant surprise, other than the fact that UConn won the hockey game. If Warde decides to throw Bridgeport its much needed bone, you can sign me up for that hockey game every year and I am good to bring 2-3 buddies as well.

If I had to choose between a basketball game bone or a hockey game bone in Bridgeport, however, I go with the hoops. We had a full suite for UConn-Columbia last year, with chicken wings and pizza and Grey Goose Vodka. I invited a bunch of friends, some of whom were UConn grads and some who were not. I even invited a buddy of mine who went to Columbia (he has an MBA from Columbia), who declined because he will not attend any college basketball games because it's his belief that college basketball is morally repugnant and equivalent to modern day slavery (had many arguments with him about this, but he clings very tenaciously to that belief). Any way we all had a great time and planned to do it again this year til we found out Warde pulled the plug. Very, very disappointed is how I feel personally and as an alumnus.

 

[the Blades]

KSTW, I like your writing style and one you bring from the total fan/ alumni experience. I guess part of my fault when discussing this stuff is I tend talk from the numbers and marketing angles which probably makes me seem like a heartless F#CK ! Being a onetime Whaler employee and then owning my own entertainment company( I've rented some CT venues) it's hard to put on the patron hat. I just want what's best for the school and the state with out them selling their soul( do they have one ?, LOL !) along the way. But I can see both sides and hope Uconn gets back down there for you and those other "southern CT" die-hard Husky fans !