Connecticut's women's basketball coach, Geno Auriemma was not happy about the turnout at his team's game last night against Purdue, which sent the Huskies to their 18th straight Sweet 16.
Auriemma called the UConn fans spoiled in that they can expect the Huskies to win all of the time and that they assumed his team would make the Sweet 16 again and beyond. Geno proposed, "We probably have to win more games. You know everybody loves a winner." My favorite suggestion was, "Letting some of the fans participate in coaching the team, since they always volunteer to do that. Guest coach every quarter might help." I hope you all know while most of his time is spent sitting on the bench spectating the game, which everyone thinks they can do, I guarantee those people have no idea what it's like to run his practices or draw up the game winning play like at Notre Dame earlier this year or any of the other things he does that makes UConn the best. Just having the best players isn't enough, you have to know what to do with them, which is what Geno has done so well his entire coaching career.
The one thing Geno was serious about was his recommendation that UConn doesn't bid on the NCAA Tournament for the next 5 years. He sees how games between the XL Center and Gampel during the regular season and the Big East Tournament is costly for fans, which is understandable.
However, I don't see how only 5,729 people showed up in a venue that fits 10,027. Honestly, that's pathetic. I was on Facebook earlier today and UConn Country posted a status about how there were still plenty of tickets left that could be purchased at the box office before the game. They also commented that tickets were only $25 for non-students. That's nothing for an NCAA Tournament game, especially in such a great environment that Gampel Pavilion offers.
On another note, Geno is not addressing the students. He loves us. The students have been loyal all season and most of them stay until the end and would do so even if there wasn't a giveaway during every regular season game, while the rest of the fans walk out the door. Plus, you can't expect college kids to consistently buy tickets for the Big East Tournament or NCAA Tournament games such as this. It's simply not in the college budget when paying $21,198 for in-state students to live on campus and $37,662 for out-of-state students, especially with a 2.5% tuition increase for next year. Geno understands our situation, not the rest of the fans.
UConn is on the verge of a 3-peat and they need all the support they can get. Despite what some of you think, it's not always easy for them to win all the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo22gyGPxO8
i dont know man i think he was also referring to the students too
ReplyDeleteI know, I'm going out on a limb, but I didn't see the student section while watching the game. I did see how the rest of Gampel was lacking though. I'm sure pink hat was there as well as the rest of the usual front row so he was satisfied with that, since he didn't complain about that one game we went to at the XL Center where only 3 rows or so of students showed up during exams week
ReplyDeletei know your going out of a limb but if geno says all fans are spoiled then the students are included in the fans they should have been out there to support their team
ReplyDeleteWell they might have been there, but he's coached in college long enough to know that he can't expect students to always dish out the cash for these extra games, it just wouldn't be fair to expect that, especially when games were 2 dollars each during the regular season.
ReplyDeletei know he has coached long enough to know the prices but im just saying they should have gotten more students their to see maya moore's last game at gampel ever
ReplyDelete