Uconn

[coasterville95]

Andy Mac said something interesting today in talking hoops. Of course I may be a bit behind on the news, but he said the there is an open invitation to the big east extended to U-Conn. the coaches and ADs have already agreed to a 20 game round robin season if U-Conn accepts.

That said Andy Mac himself said it was unlikely due to, in part, the recent investments UConn has made in football facilities as well as buying out the contracts of the football coaching staff


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[D-West & PO-Z]

I can't imagine the Big East taking Uconn while they still have division 1 football. Uconn would bail if given the chance to go to a power 5 conference.

I wouldnt be surprised if there was an open invite given Uconn drops football to a lower division or FCS or whatever.

[coasterville95]

I think that is exactly the rub. And why Andy Mac cited walking away from their facilities and buying out coaching contracts.

The big east would demand they give up football to join.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[XUGRAD80]

Can’t imagine the American allowing them to remain just a football presence in that league, and I can’t imagine them finding another home for their football program, or going independent. But I also think that there would be a huge hit to their alumni athletic support if they dropped football. Why I don’t know because they really don’t have any history of sustained football success to be proud of. I can’t see them leaving the AAC any time soon.

But IF there is another round of conference expansion, and IF UConn doesn’t make it into the ACC at that time....who knows?

[JTG]

They have to be losing a fortune on football. Their crowds are strictly friends and family.

[waggy]

Would be awesome to have UConn but doubt it happens.

[bleedXblue]

Andy Mac also said X would be going back to Maui in 2022/2023. He said it was a done deal. He was incorrect.

[xudash]

If the BE has extended an OPEN INVITATION to UCONN, then it has most likely done so on an unconditional basis. In other words, "if you can solve for your football program and still join us, then come on over when you're ready".

Would that be a bad way to go at this point? Actually, not at all. Why? Because the UCONN football program is so totally neutered that the BE leadership believes there is < 1% chance of UCONN ever landing in P5 money, whatever "P5 Money" will come to be after the next major media contracts reset.

UCONN's position in all this would almost be unimaginable were it not in fact reality. Over-investment in facilities. Historically poor location for collegiate football support. Located in a beautiful state, but one which has terrible financial pressures presently, and no to little prospects on the horizon for improving that problem any time soon. And then there are the annual operating deficits. Well, damn they're not good.

All of that is about the internal look - those things which UCONN could conceivably control. The external look for UCONN is worse, because it is all about who is perceived to be in front of them in the G5 pecking order. It's like being 20 planes deep for the runway at LaGuardia on a Friday evening. And all this presumes there will come a day where there will be room at the inn for a couple of G5 teams to move up. That is not a certainty. Nonetheless, were it to take place, Houston and UCF most likely are in the gold and silver positions, and there may not even be a bronze position (sorry Bearkittens).

UCONN for the BE is a no brainer. The same extraordinary financial pressures and burdens that cause UCONN to still make a football go of it should ultimately force UCONN to put up its white flag and join us.

In the meantime, we enjoy our membership in a highly successful BE and continue to reset our own table for the future under Travis Steele.

[paulxu]

If there is an open invitation, it would not come from the AD's/coaches.
Easy for them to agree to a round robin 20 game...the other big conferences are going to it, and Fox probably would like it for content.
The real stumbling block I would think is the public/private situation. The presidents of the BE would have to be willing to waive the consequences of open record requests.

[GIMMFD]

If the BE has extended an OPEN INVITATION to UCONN, then it has most likely done so on an unconditional basis. In other words, "if you can solve for your football program and still join us, then come on over when you're ready".

Would that be a bad way to go at this point? Actually, not at all. Why? Because the UCONN football program is so totally neutered that the BE leadership believes there is < 1% chance of UCONN ever landing in P5 money, whatever "P5 Money" will come to be after the next major media contracts reset.

UCONN's position in all this would almost be unimaginable were it not in fact reality. Over-investment in facilities. Historically poor location for collegiate football support. Located in a beautiful state, but one which has terrible financial pressures presently, and no to little prospects on the horizon for improving that problem any time soon. And then there are the annual operating deficits. Well, damn they're not good.

All of that is about the internal look - those things which UCONN could conceivably control. The external look for UCONN is worse, because it is all about who is perceived to be in front of them in the G5 pecking order. It's like being 20 planes deep for the runway at LaGuardia on a Friday evening. And all this presumes there will come a day where there will be room at the inn for a couple of G5 teams to move up. That is not a certainty. Nonetheless, were it to take place, Houston and UCF most likely are in the gold and silver positions, and there may not even be a bronze position (sorry Bearkittens).

UCONN for the BE is a no brainer. The same extraordinary financial pressures and burdens that cause UCONN to still make a football go of it should ultimately force UCONN to put up its white flag and join us.

In the meantime, we enjoy our membership in a highly successful BE and continue to reset our own table for the future under Travis Steele.

Just curious, why is going independent not an option for UCONN football wise if they wanted to keep their Division I - FBS status?

[surfxu]

I'm guessing that whatever football TV money they are getting from the likes of ESPN and CBS Sports from a conference stand point would go away. It's not like they can negotiate their own TV contract like Notre Dame. BYU has their own channel plus they are on ESPN every now and then. Also, I would think that scheduling would be problematic. Who is going to want to go to UConn to play a road game in October and November when they are in the middle of their own conference season? Plus any home game would probably be a "buy" game unless they are going to start doing home and home games with Appallacian State and the likes. Granted they'd be in a better contract w/ Fox from a basketball standpoint to offset the lack in TV money for football but going independent is basically a death wish for their football program. IDK... not sure there's a decent option for them if they want to keep that financial anchor around their neck.

[Juice]

I'm guessing that whatever football TV money they are getting from the likes of ESPN and CBS Sports from a conference stand point would go away. It's not like they can negotiate their own TV contract like Notre Dame. BYU has their own channel plus they are on ESPN every now and then. Also, I would think that scheduling would be problematic. Who is going to want to go to UConn to play a road game in October and November when they are in the middle of their own conference season? Plus any home game would probably be a "buy" game unless they are going to start doing home and home games with Appallacian State and the likes. Granted they'd be in a better contract w/ Fox from a basketball standpoint to offset the lack in TV money for football but going independent is basically a death wish for their football program. IDK... not sure there's a decent option for them if they want to keep that financial anchor around their neck.

No bowl tie ins either which are done via conference.

The only solution I could maybe see is a hybrid situation like Temple did for a bit. They were in the A-10 for everything and the MAC in football. UConn could beg some lesser conference to take their football team and put all the other sports in the Big East. But I don't think the Big East would like that.

[xu koop scoop]

Would be awesome to have UConn but doubt it happens.

I'm probably in the minority, but I don't want to see UConn or any other expansion. 18 game round robin is great. 20 game round robin robs everybody of 2 OOC games. If we ever expand, via TV pressure,etc...., I'd rather see 2 new similar minded schools (St Louis or UMass or Duquesne - all because of TV markets) which might cause 2 Divisions of 6 schools each . Mentioning Duquesne as the league can use a new whipping post & DePaul could get out of that category. Play each in Div twice, each out of Div once. 16 league games. Opens up 2 more OOC matchups. I ACTUALLY PREFER IT JUST THE WAY IT IS, BUT CHANGE MAY BE MEDIA DICTATED AT SOME POINT. Any "media employees" out there with a Media Dictates view.

[GIMMFD]

No bowl tie ins either which are done via conference.

The only solution I could maybe see is a hybrid situation like Temple did for a bit. They were in the A-10 for everything and the MAC in football. UConn could beg some lesser conference to take their football team and put all the other sports in the Big East. But I don't think the Big East would like that.

Ahhh okay all this makes sense now, thanks guys, yeah I agree, I don't think the Big East would let them do that either, but a team with UCONN's pedigree wouldn't be a bad addition to the Big East, I wonder if the name holds enough weight in order to have the Big East to think about it, considering they're basically guaranteed a woman's national championship majority of the years with the addition too.

[X-band '01]

UConn is a bad fit but UMass would be a good one? Do. Not. Want.

Saint Louis would be the best of the three that you mentioned, but they don't have nearly the upside that UConn does if they ever get their shit together.

[D-West & PO-Z]

I'm probably in the minority, but I don't want to see UConn or any other expansion. 18 game round robin is great. 20 game round robin robs everybody of 2 OOC games. If we ever expand, via TV pressure,etc...., I'd rather see 2 new similar minded schools (St Louis or UMass or Duquesne - all because of TV markets) which might cause 2 Divisions of 6 schools each . Mentioning Duquesne as the league can use a new whipping post & DePaul could get out of that category. Play each in Div twice, each out of Div once. 16 league games. Opens up 2 more OOC matchups. I ACTUALLY PREFER IT JUST THE WAY IT IS, BUT CHANGE MAY BE MEDIA DICTATED AT SOME POINT. Any "media employees" out there with a Media Dictates view.

From what I have read, it seems like conferences either have started or are thinking about starting to go towards 20 conference games. So if that holds true there would be less opportunities for OOC opponents. I am good with how the Big East is now at the moment but I do believe there will come a time when it is the right time to expand and it will, whether that is adding one more team and doing 20 game round robin or adding more than one and going to divisions.

[JTG]

Not that I would lose any sleep over it, but, the womens bball teams in the league would love getting beat 110-35, twice a season.

[WCWIII]

My understanding is that a positive for UConn is that they would be well represented at MSG and make the BE tournament even stronger.

[XUGRAD80]

The idea that there are schools out there that would love to get a BE invite indicates that the BE has done something right, and that it was a good decision on the part of the "Catholic 7" and the other 3 schools to bind together. I'm certainly not hearing of any schools standing in line to join the AAC, but instead am hearing that most of them would love to get scooped up by one of the Power 5 conferences. I do feel that of all of the schools mentioned, UConn is certainly the one with the highest profile. Even if there is the football problem, and the question about it being a state school v a private school, they still offer the most as far as a basketball program.

It does seem to me that most often when conferences expand they bring in at least 2 schools, and try to keep it an even number. From that standpoint, adding an eastern school and a midwestern school at the same time would seem to make sense. Dividing into 2 divisions of 6 schools each, and then playing 18 total conference games makes sense with that structure. UConn and St. Louis? Could be.
/

[Xville]

The idea that there are schools out there that would love to get a BE invite indicates that the BE has done something right, and that it was a good decision on the part of the "Catholic 7" and the other 3 schools to bind together. I'm certainly not hearing of any schools standing in line to join the AAC, but instead am hearing that most of them would love to get scooped up by one of the Power 5 conferences. I do feel that of all of the schools mentioned, UConn is certainly the one with the highest profile. Even if there is the football problem, and the question about it being a state school v a private school, they still offer the most as far as a basketball program.

It does seem to me that most often when conferences expand they bring in at least 2 schools, and try to keep it an even number. From that standpoint, adding an eastern school and a midwestern school at the same time would seem to make sense. Dividing into 2 divisions of 6 schools each, and then playing 18 total conference games makes sense with that structure. UConn and St. Louis? Could be.
/

This is where I am at. If BE decides to add one, go with UConn if they decide football is no longer an option. If we add two, go with SLU. No other programs make any sense in my opinion. UConn only helps the BE profile and the MSG tie-in from a basketball perspective, and SLU adds another Mid-western team with similar values and a decent sized tv market.

I don't see the need to split up into divisions if we add two teams. In football it kind of makes sense because there are only so many conference games and there is the conference championship game, but in this case I don't see the need. None of the Power 5 conferences do it in basketball.

[muskienick]

This is where I am at. If BE decides to add one, go with UConn if they decide football is no longer an option. If we add two, go with SLU. No other programs make any sense in my opinion. UConn only helps the BE profile and the MSG tie-in from a basketball perspective, and SLU adds another Mid-western team with similar values and a decent sized tv market.

I don't see the need to split up into divisions if we add two teams. In football it kind of makes sense because there are only so many conference games and there is the conference championship game, but in this case I don't see the need. None of the Power 5 conferences do it in basketball.

Each team would NOT play an 18-game Conference season. You'd play each of the other 5 teams in your own Division home and away (that's 10 games) and you'd play each team in the other Division once, 3 of them at home and 3 of them away (that's 6 games). That totals a 16-game Conference schedule for each of the 12 teams. That produces a total of 192 Conference games that would be potential TV fodder for Fox's many channels (FOX network, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, and all the Regional Fox channels).

However, if we limit the membership to 11, it will provide a LOT more opportunity for television coverage for Big East Conference games'. Each of the 11 teams could still play a round-robin Big East Conference schedule of 20 games (10 home and 10 away). That would provide us two big improvements in our Conference appeal: 1) we maintain the Round robin and, 2) we get to provide a lot more programming for the FOX brand (220 Conference games!!!). In the meantime, we'd have a balanced (and more fair) schedule for each of our Conference members than the 12-member plan.

[SM#24]

I think adding UConn in for all sports is a slam dunk if they're willing. Not sure why the Big East would care what they do with football, whether it be drop down a class, go indy or find a football only membership. I'm also against any more than 11 teams in the Big East to keep the round robin. I think it's more important for football conferences that have divisions to want an even number. It's a non-issue in basketball. Plus, I would never want divisions again (I believe the MAC is the only conference left that uses divisions in basketball).
I'm of the opinion of UConn or no one.
Problem is that while not Power 5, I think (and I'm just speculating) AAC money is better than any combo of Big East money plus something else for football.

[scoscox]

https://www.courant.com/sports/hc-sp-uconn-sports-athletic-department-finances-revenue-expenses-20190117-2wdp5gimnvhlliwykl6npcmy7u-story.html

this should force UConn's hand one way or the other. IMO, their best option would be to drop football and rejoin the Big East. That could be a bitter pill to swallow, but they're genuinely looking at the collapse of their entire athletic department

[Masterofreality]

https://www.courant.com/sports/hc-sp-uconn-sports-athletic-department-finances-revenue-expenses-20190117-2wdp5gimnvhlliwykl6npcmy7u-story.html

this should force UConn's hand one way or the other. IMO, their best option would be to drop football and rejoin the Big East. That could be a bitter pill to swallow, but they're genuinely looking at the collapse of their entire athletic department

Whoa!!:
"Though the vast majority of Division I athletic departments operate at a loss, UConn’s deficit has become particularly extreme. A USA Today analysis of data from 2016-17 found that the school’s athletic department received the highest university subsidy (about $42 million) of any Division I public institution and that its allocation as a percentage of total reported revenue (just under 51 percent) was higher than that of any other public school in one of college sports' six biggest conferences."

The AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAC. Power Six in Money LOST

[Juice]

Whoa!!:
"Though the vast majority of Division I athletic departments operate at a loss, UConn’s deficit has become particularly extreme. A USA Today analysis of data from 2016-17 found that the school’s athletic department received the highest university subsidy (about $42 million) of any Division I public institution and that its allocation as a percentage of total reported revenue (just under 51 percent) was higher than that of any other public school in one of college sports' six biggest conferences."

The AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAC. Power Six in Money LOST

In 2017, UConn students paid $1,784 each to help "fund" their athletic department. UC is not far behind with $1,238 per student.

http://www.newsrecord.org/news/soaring-subsidies-uc-s-four-year-athletic-deficit-up-to/article_46de67b6-37a5-11e8-97ee-f740bda06336.html

[paulxu]

I hope X students are being dinged that way.
UC would have been better to drop football and pick up MLS in their stadium. Might have made some money.

[DART87]

Paul,
Honestly I think everyone in Cincinnati would prefer MLS at Nippert. The downtown stadium was forced by MLS and although I think it will work, Nippert would be more profitable for the club and the league.

[bleedXblue]

Paul,
Honestly I think everyone in Cincinnati would prefer MLS at Nippert. The downtown stadium was forced by MLS and although I think it will work, Nippert would be more profitable for the club and the league.

How so? Sharing profits with UC? Do professional sports teams in general "share" their attendance revenue and profit with the leagues they are in? My understanding is that television rights are where a huge majority of the revenues come from.

Once that stadium gets built and they have a place of their own, Nippert will be long forgotten.

[JTG]

TV revenue from soccer ? Ha, ha,

[paulxu]

Yikes. I screwed up my post. I meant to say "I hope X students are 'not' being dinged" by student fees in the same way.

As for MLS, it might not have been as profitable at Nippert, but if they shared even $1 with UC, UC would be ahead of where they are now.

[bleedXblue]

TV revenue from soccer ? Ha, ha,

Whats so funny? I think I saw where the average team generated 40MM last year from television. Yes, not on the scale of NFL, NBA etc. But they are growing.

[XUGRAD80]

As for MLS, it might not have been as profitable at Nippert, but if they shared even $1 with UC, UC would be ahead of where they are now.

I think the agreement with FC Cincinnati and UC was to split the parking and concessions, and FC was to pay for some of the stadium changes. For example, there is new turf going in that meets MSL specifications and that is being paid for by FC. I believe that FC kept the gate.

I know it’s popular to bash UC football here, but I think that if you take a look at the actual numbers, and compare them to other non-power 5 conference schools, they don’t look so bad. Need to compare apples to apples. Besides, it is the only real game in town when it comes to college football. If X still had a football team, I am sure I would be a big fan and supporter. But they don’t.

[paulxu]

That's probably true. But $1,238/season ticket for all 43,691 students seems a little steep.

[XUGRAD80]

That's probably true. But $1,238/season ticket for all 43,691 students seems a little steep.

I agree.....but how much of that goes to support other sports that bring in no revenue? At least 1/2 of that is going to sports mandated by Title IX legislation, and quite possibly the majority of it is going there. It’s free to attend almost every contest in the other sports, besides MENS football and basketball. Yet it’s certainly not free to have them. Since the Title IX legislation requires that equal amount of dollars be spent on women’s programs as is spent on men’s, yet certainly doesn’t take into account the amount of money those sports actually earn in ticket sales and other revenue sources, there are millions of dollars that MUST be spent just to adhere to that legislation. That money has to come from somewhere. I wonder just how many of those students and parents understand that they are each spending thousands of dollars of their tuition money from every student to support “equality”?

[D-West & PO-Z]

I agree.....but how much of that goes to support other sports that bring in no revenue? At least 1/2 of that is going to sports mandated by Title IX legislation, and quite possibly the majority of it is going there. It’s free to attend almost every contest in the other sports, besides MENS football and basketball. Yet it’s certainly not free to have them. Since the Title IX legislation requires that equal amount of dollars be spent on women’s programs as is spent on men’s, yet certainly doesn’t take into account the amount of money those sports actually earn in ticket sales and other revenue sources, there are millions of dollars that MUST be spent just to adhere to that legislation. That money has to come from somewhere. I wonder just how many of those students and parents understand that they are each spending thousands of dollars of their tuition money from every student to support “equality”?

From everything I have read Title IX does not require equal spending on mens and womens sports. From what I read that is a common misconception though.

Here is one thing I read:

"The law allows for a school to spend differently on sports, but those differences can't be discriminatory. If a college has football, men's lacrosse and baseball, those sports are much more expensive to run and outfit. "And that's OK, because there are reasonable differences in sports," Morrison says. "But if you're outfitting your women's programs in substandard equipment, that would not be OK.""

[DART87]

How so? Sharing profits with UC? Do professional sports teams in general "share" their attendance revenue and profit with the leagues they are in? My understanding is that television rights are where a huge majority of the revenues come from.

Once that stadium gets built and they have a place of their own, Nippert will be long forgotten.

It would save the ownership $200 million they are spending on the new stadium (on top of the improvements to Nippert they are paying for to use the facility while the new stadium is built). Nippert also holds 33,800 fans vs the 26,500 at the new stadium (7,300 tickets not available for sale). Will FC be getting any parking revenue at the new site?

[bleedXblue]

It would save the ownership $200 million they are spending on the new stadium (on top of the improvements to Nippert they are paying for to use the facility while the new stadium is built). Nippert also holds 33,800 fans vs the 26,500 at the new stadium (7,300 tickets not available for sale). Will FC be getting any parking revenue at the new site?

I get it.......but the real value here is 20 years from now when the franchise could be worth 2-3 times what it is now. You don't get that playing at Nippert. Table stakes are to build a soccer old/stand alone facility. The Linder's are in this thing to make HUGE money. Its a gamble, but you cant think small.

[MHettel]

Each team would NOT play an 18-game Conference season. You'd play each of the other 5 teams in your own Division home and away (that's 10 games) and you'd play each team in the other Division once, 3 of them at home and 3 of them away (that's 6 games). That totals a 16-game Conference schedule for each of the 12 teams. That produces a total of 192 Conference games that would be potential TV fodder for Fox's many channels (FOX network, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, and all the Regional Fox channels).

However, if we limit the membership to 11, it will provide a LOT more opportunity for television coverage for Big East Conference games'. Each of the 11 teams could still play a round-robin Big East Conference schedule of 20 games (10 home and 10 away). That would provide us two big improvements in our Conference appeal: 1) we maintain the Round robin and, 2) we get to provide a lot more programming for the FOX brand (220 Conference games!!!). In the meantime, we'd have a balanced (and more fair) schedule for each of our Conference members than the 12-member plan.

You should check your math, Nick...
it's not 192 games, it's half of that, since each "game" is really "2 games" one for each team....right?

Put me in the camp that would support expansion. i'd prefer 12 teams (UConn & SLU) or even 14 teams (UD and Richmond) before we just go to 11.

11 teams results in 20 conference games. 2 more than we have today, meaning 2 less non-con games.
14 teams would result in divisions, and 19 conference games.
12 teams results in divisions with 16 conference games.

I think it's important to play alot of non-con games. If you ONLY played conference games, then the cumulative W-L% of all the teams in the conference would be .500%, right? You WANT the conference to have a MUCH better cumulative win%, and they only way to do that is to win alot more non-con games than you lose. If your schedule is made up non-con games being a much smaller portion of the total games, then it's much harder to move the winning % up.

Simple example assuming 34 games for each opponent, and a 70% non-con winning %.

20 conference games @ .500 + 14 non-con games at .700= .582% combined win %
18 16 = .594%
16 18 = .606%

The perception of the conference is formed, in part, by the collective winning % of the conference. why not keep this in mind?

[paulxu]

Or have 11 teams, keep the round robin, and have everybody schedule for good OOC results. We're at 75% this year.

[GIMMFD]

Whats so funny? I think I saw where the average team generated 40MM last year from television. Yes, not on the scale of NFL, NBA etc. But they are growing.

Yup, it's growing like crazy, here's a pretty fun fact: Toronto FC in the MLS' payroll is $26,559,206; that payroll would rank:
2nd in the Scottish Premiership
8th in Ligue 1 (France)
12th in La Liga (Spain)
13th in Bundesliga (Germany)
15th in Serie A (Italy)

MLS is growing as a brand as well, won't ever catch the English Premiership, but the talent levels are getting a lot better, it's not only old washed up athletes these days playing for these clubs, there's some decent young talent now too.

[GoMuskies]

The current popularity of soccer in the US is another reason to hate young people. :)

[bjf123]

Or have 11 teams, keep the round robin, and have everybody schedule for good OOC results. We're at 75% this year.

Sounds like a plan.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[GoMuskies]

Sounds like a plan.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

+1.

[waggy]

Win percentage might not be that big a of a thing anymore. Winning is still very necessary of course, but a conference will no longer get a cumulative effect by simply having a high OOC win percentage.

[XUGRAD80]

The current popularity of soccer in the US is another reason to hate young people. :)

I know that you are being sarcastic here, but......

You are aware that Xavier has had a men’s team for almost 50 years now? And a women’s team for almost as long? That some of us that played the sport back in those dark ages now have grandchildren playing it? That the women’s National team has sold out major professional football stadiums around the US? Now I LOVE football, I played it in grade school and high school, and am a huge fan of it on the college level. But I also played soccer, coached HS soccer, and have had a daughter play it through HS and have a granddaughter playing it in rec leagues now. It is very possible to love BOTH and to support BOTH. The fact that soccer has become more popular over the last 50 years does not mean that it wasn’t popular before. It’s become more nationwide, but in areas like Cincinnati, St. Louis, NY, etc, that have larger populations of people from Europe and South America, it has been popular for decades. Hugely popular in fact. That’s one of the real basic reasons that FC Cincinnati has taken off like it has. People here didn’t have to learn to love soccer, or they don’t have to be young to love soccer. The love of the sport here, and in many other parts of the country, is multi-generational.

[GoMuskies]

I'm sure there have been people playing soccer in Cincinnati for years. And I am sure there were some nerds who used to follow European soccer even. And i know Xavier has had a soccer team for a lot of years that no one has really cared about (like the volleyball, tennis, swimming and baseball teams no one really cares about).

But I didn't have to hear about soccer if I didn't want to before. And now it's harder to avoid. Not a big deal, really. Just a minor annoyance.

[XUGRAD80]

I'm sure there have been people playing soccer in Cincinnati for years. And I am sure there were some nerds who used to follow European soccer even. And i know Xavier has had a soccer team for a lot of years that no one has really cared about (like the volleyball, tennis, swimming and baseball teams no one really cares about).

But I didn't have to hear about soccer if I didn't want to before. And now it's harder to avoid. Not a big deal, really. Just a minor annoyance.


Guess everyone has things that they care about, but that don’t necessarily have appeal to everyone.

Always with the negative vibes...

[GoMuskies]

Agree that different strokes for different folks. I'm just old manning about how it affects me. And my vibes are perfectly fine. Far from negative.

[bjf123]

I’ve never played soccer but for some reason, 4 or 5 years ago, I got into English Premier League. If I’m home on Saturday or Sunday mornings during that season, I’ll watch whatever games are on. As a result, I’m now a fan of FC Cincinnati. I’m also getting up there in years (early 60s), so I’m not really the target demographic for soccer in the US.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[paulxu]

They may cut "some" sports. Maybe football? (that's a joke there)

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/25802369/uconn-huskies-athletic-director-rule-cutting-some-sports

[GIMMFD]

I'm sure there have been people playing soccer in Cincinnati for years. And I am sure there were some nerds who used to follow European soccer even. And i know Xavier has had a soccer team for a lot of years that no one has really cared about (like the volleyball, tennis, swimming and baseball teams no one really cares about).

But I didn't have to hear about soccer if I didn't want to before. And now it's harder to avoid. Not a big deal, really. Just a minor annoyance.

To be fair, the student section for the Xavier Men's Soccer program was pretty solid from around 2011-2015, just kind of died down after that, there's some pretty cool pictures I could dig up where it was a pretty fun atmosphere. But I definitely understand it's different strokes for different folks, it's just really hard to keep interest in sports outside of the two big ones (football and basketball) for students/fan wise. Sports like baseball, you don't really need a crowd, it can be exciting but the experience is far different than being in the student section at Cintas obviously.

[Xavgrad08]

UConn athletics faces a 40.5 million dollar shortfall. Not sure if this has been posted yet. https://www.apnews.com/5bf6e16950ec4de89117c206fff8786a