Geno on WTIC this afternoon

[pap49cba]

Bob Joyce @bobjoyce27 · 5h
Today for 3-6pm on @WTIC1080 ...UCWbb HC @genoauriemma hosts pm drive...Tune in and call in !

 

[ChicagoGG]

I heard a radio promo on ESPN 97.9 FM that Geno would be on the Rob Dibble and Paul Nanos show for an interview this afternoon as well. They are on 3-7 PM, but I do not know what time Geno will be on.

 

[Fiftyish]

I've been listening for the last 10 minutes. He's doing great and sounds like a natural. He dealt with a caller that tried to nail Geno on his opinion of the 2nd amendment. The guy kept talking over Geno when he tried to give his opinion. Pretty different format than talking about BB.

 

[pap49cba]

This show is unlistenable... traffic reports, weather reports, news reports, ads, ads, promos, ads, etc. Geno is on for about 5 minutes every half hour. Giving up now. He's doing great but the format is ridiculous.

 

[j66kicker]

I've been listening for the last 10 minutes. He's doing great and sounds like a natural. He dealt with a caller that tried to nail Geno on his opinion of the 2nd amendment. The guy kept talking over Geno when he tried to give his opinion. Pretty different format than talking about BB.

Agree - it took me 20 minutes just to verify Geno was actually on, ugh

 

[UConnCat]

This show is unlistenable... traffic reports, weather reports, news reports, ads, ads, promos, ads, etc. Geno is on for about 5 minutes every half hour. Giving up now. He's doing great but the format is ridiculous.

John Altavilla @jaltavilla · 8m
Well, @WTIC1080 must be out of timeouts by now, don't you think?

John Altavilla @jaltavilla · 7m
Geno has noticed all the breaks. He's trying to run his offense and all of a sudden its Villanova all over again #uconnwomen

 

[UConnCat]

The final caller of the show asked Geno about UConn and conference realignment. Geno's answer from John A: http://courantblogs.com/uconn-women/geno-auriemma-on-wtic-traffic-weather-opinions/

And then he ended the three hours with this response to a question about the future of UConn athletics.

“We have already been affected by it [conference realignment]. We used to be a part of the best basketball league that ever existed [the Big East]. Go back two or three years and the Big East provided the best [college] basketball ever played, men and women.

“But football has taken the lead and the big five power conferences want to do their own things, separate from the NCAA, if possible, and have their own rules to do whatever they want, whenever they want and how ever they want. UConn had a choice. We could have moved forward without football and end up where the Big East is now, which I don’t know where that is. Or we could go with football and try to maximize it and create enough interest [in the school] that the [power] conferences might include us.

How do you do that? Well, just winning at football isn’t enough. It’s the interest level [in the program that's important]. How many fans or viewers can you bring to the conference. If [admission] was just based on the success of a universities athletic department, how do you take Rutgers over Connecticut in the Big Ten if it was just about success?

“They tell you its academics, this and that. It’s about nothing but how many people in that area will watch the conference on television and are you [the school] in an area a conference wishes to expand. We had some issues that prevented us from getting into the ACC; there were some things we did back in the day, like suing the conference. We did a lot of dumb things that are still haunting us.

“But the only thing we can do now is this – be the best athletic program we can be, the best university we can be and win the most games we can in every sport while selling out every stadium and venue we have. That will let everyone else in the country know that whether you like us or don’t like us, you are going to have to compete against us. That is the only thing we have control over.”

 

[HGN]

I love Geno's answer here. He hit the nail on the head.

 

[pap49cba]

Great answer. +++++

 

[jsloanjr]

Money talks and nobody walks............Geno knows more they what he said today. Look for an announcement after football season when RU and MD cannot sell Ad space on the BIG 10 Network............AD buyers know the power of UCONN in NYC, NJ and New England markets.............

 

[buddy]

The final caller of the show asked Geno about UConn and conference realignment. Geno's answer from John A: http://courantblogs.com/uconn-women/geno-auriemma-on-wtic-traffic-weather-opinions/

And then he ended the three hours with this response to a question about the future of UConn athletics.

“We have already been affected by it [conference realignment]. We used to be a part of the best basketball league that ever existed [the Big East]. Go back two or three years and the Big East provided the best [college] basketball ever played, men and women.

“But football has taken the lead and the big five power conferences want to do their own things, separate from the NCAA, if possible, and have their own rules to do whatever they want, whenever they want and how ever they want. UConn had a choice. We could have moved forward without football and end up where the Big East is now, which I don’t know where that is. Or we could go with football and try to maximize it and create enough interest [in the school] that the [power] conferences might include us.

How do you do that? Well, just winning at football isn’t enough. It’s the interest level [in the program that's important]. How many fans or viewers can you bring to the conference. If [admission] was just based on the success of a universities athletic department, how do you take Rutgers over Connecticut in the Big Ten if it was just about success?

“They tell you its academics, this and that. It’s about nothing but how many people in that area will watch the conference on television and are you [the school] in an area a conference wishes to expand. We had some issues that prevented us from getting into the ACC; there were some things we did back in the day, like suing the conference. We did a lot of dumb things that are still haunting us.

“But the only thing we can do now is this – be the best athletic program we can be, the best university we can be and win the most games we can in every sport while selling out every stadium and venue we have. That will let everyone else in the country know that whether you like us or don’t like us, you are going to have to compete against us. That is the only thing we have control over.”

UConn fans have been overwhelmingly supportive for the past 2-3 decades. The outpouring of support for men's basketball at MSG this year has been phenomenal. His women's games away from CT draw record crowds. The fans can't really do anything more. The UConn administration over the past 10-20 years has been blind and deaf to the requirements of conference realignment and thus UConn finds itself in this predicament. The current UConn AD was in the VI while the Louisville AD was courting the ACC. I think Geno spoke the party line. I also think Geno basically ended any speculation that UConn may be invited to a major conference in the near future. His honesty was unfortunately deflating. The truth hurts, as they say.