UConn adding 2000 seats for Michigan game
March 26th, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^
Obligatory tailgating advice from our hosts in Connecticut goes here:
http://westport.patch.com/blog_posts/the-backyard-family-tailgater-thro…
March 26th, 2013 at 12:52 PM ^
How many bloggers were there in 1991?
Not that I wouldn't have been upset about playing in a tiny stadium...
Was at that game and as far as I can recall there were no complaints. Things were different then - we routinely played out of conference road games. We were also pulling a fair number of players from the New England area at that time (e.g. McMurtry) which may have been an influence.
I think Desmond Howard returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown to turn that game - he was running right towards me.
Memories like that are what get me pumped about going to this game in East Hartford.
I live in Southern CT and have been to all the stadiums in the area many times. Putting aside the issue of who gets what revenue, for anyone going to the game the preference by far should be UConn's stadium in East Hartford - it isn't even close. Why anyone would prefer to fight their way to the Meadowlands or Foxboro is beyond comprehension. Rentschler has easy access by both car and plane, is a relatively new, nice facility, and at 40,000 a great place to see a game.
The reason they put it there was for the access - I can't understand wanting to see this game anyplace else. Anyone going that hasn't been there before is going to love it.
Besides, I'm not convinced they could sell 70-80,000 seats. For starters a lot of people in CT would stay home and watch on TV rather than endure the nightmare travel.
It's easier for you. It's far less easy than the Meadowlands for people who live in New York (I don't know from Foxboro, I've heard that's a mess even if you live in Boston). But in general, a lot of people wish this game was played at either of those places because a lot of people live a lot closer to those places than East Hartford.
I'd prefer to fight my way to the Meadowlands. Of course, it's like 7 miles away from where I'm sitting right now vs. 120 miles to East Hartford.
That said, I think UConn should do what it wants to do to accomodate its fans and its own political needs, which is to play it in East Hartford.
too few.
2,000 additional seats sounds way lame.
I like "NOW WITH 5% MOAR SEATS!!"
March 26th, 2013 at 10:03 PM ^
I live in CT and have been to a number of games there. There are a number of things UCONN has going against them. First, college football is not big in the NY/NJ/CT/MA area. Everyone follows the Patriots, Jets, and Giants. No one pays any attention to college football. I am originally from Ann Arbor, so I am obviously a fan of UM sports, football in particular, but no one else gets it in the Northeast. There just aren't any programs here like a UM here. The closest thing is PSU which is pretty far away. State college is probably a 6 hour drive from UCONN. Second, the stadium is a good 45 minutes off campus. It's not like it's right on campus. So, there isn't a ton of student or school pride in that stadium. It's a nice stadium and new, but it's not a part of campus, it's more correlated with Hartford than UCONN. Next, football is still pretty new to UCONN in being Division IA/FBS. It just hasn't grown the fanbase of a powerhouse. Also, UCONN doesn't really have any rivals for football. I've seen them play Louisville, WVU, and Pitt there and people just don't show up to see UCONN. I expect a good turnout for UM, but because it's UM not because of UCONN. Also, this stadium is already pretty new. I don't know if there are regulations or anything, but they have to really build a program and be a little more estabilished I'd think before they expand an already new stadium. Anyways, college football is just not a part of the culture of this part of the country. I've 6 tickets and I'm going with some friends and will be rocking my MGoBlue shirt and rooting on the good guys.