Death of The "Casual Fan"

[intlzncster]

We need each other. My sister and I have not once txted each other during a fame this year. All I have is the game threads. It saddens me, except when I'm laughing. Oregon, Tulane, and SMU aren't enough. Somehow, I still expect UCF, but after last night...

Now that's what I'm talking about Hans! hahaha

 

[intlzncster]

Yesterday I was watching the first half. We had a lead!!!!!!!!!!

Then I drifted off to Starz Extreme to watch Miracle and got sucked in as we beat Russia. I was so stoked!!!!!!

Then went back to the Men's game. Pin meet balloon.

So it was your fault. Thanks Dove.

 

[imno1]

This thread is like an AA meeting but for recovering UConn fans.

 

[nomar]

You know UConn has hit rock bottom when a story breaks about potential recruiting violations AND NOBODY EVEN BOTHERS TO BUST YOUR BALLS.

Seriously, not a single person has sent me an obnoxious email or text. And I have multiple friends who are Cuse fans!

Sigh.

 

[BlueMAB]

You know UConn has hit rock bottom when a story breaks about potential recruiting violations AND NOBODY EVEN BOTHERS TO BUST YOUR BALLS.

Seriously, not a single person has sent me an obnoxious email or text. And I have multiple friends who are Cuse fans!

Sigh.

Same here

 

[UConnNick]

Well said, Fairfield!

A loss still ruins my entire week. If my wife is out shopping and comes home after I've watched a game and sees me moping around, she immediately says, "They lost, didn't they?" A rational friend would probably tell someone like me to get a grip or re-evaluate what's important in life. They'd be correct, of course. But I'd probably reply something silly like, "Bro, do you even Boneyard???"

I'll continue to share your pain while I rifle through my clothes drawer to figure out which UConn shirt is appropriate for a Monday...

UCONN athletics is life.

 

[EBonz30]

Reading this is quite embarrassing, pity party about being Uconn fans....

I love Uconn, let’s rock & roll!!

Just imagine being a Mets/Jets/Knicks fan?

Uconn is the easiest team to root for, lol, get up off the mats people!!

 

[Chief00]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Chief respects all levels of fans and good times will come again. In the meantime, the short term will be difficult, there is no sugar coating that. We all need to encourage both the diehards and the casual fans to hang in there.
In particular, Chief always has had an affinity for the casual fan.

 

[Bryan Lord]

The casual fans not dead, he's just tied up in chiefs basement.

 

[intlzncster]

The casual fans not dead, he's just tied up in chiefs basement briefs.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

UConn Basketball can be successful in the AAC and most if not all of our wounds in this league are self inflicted.

That issue with the fanbase? That's a lot harder to say. I was lucky enough to be in Storrs pre-realignment and had a group text fired up for most games (football too).

These days the only person that even texts UConn sports is my old man (also an alum). Nobody cares anymore about these league games. It's sad but it's the reality my interest isn't the same either.

.
I can't bring myself to like this, but I acknowledge its reality.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

UCONN used to be a big talking point at my company. Now the only thing I hear are snarky remarks like, "Great game last night.....", "Did you watch the game last night? What a joke." "At least we have the women's team." etc. Mostly it's apathy. People just don't care anymore. They've become accepting that this is our reality now. No one gets upset anymore.

I can't bring myself to Like this, but I acknowledge its reality.

 

[Durks07]

The casual fans not dead, he's just tied up in chiefs basement.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

This thread is like an AA meeting but for recovering UConn fans.

Pretty apt, actually. And that's a good thing.

For those who monitor such things, it wouldn't require big data analysis to see how much intersection and overlap there is within this thread between what has often showed up a factions passionately thin-slicing who's a better or worse fan. The consensus is unmistakable and shouldn't be ignored.
We want to come together.
It really is about connecting.
And we have to acknowledge reality.

 

[whaler11]

It’s more than just the recent poor play. This is part of a trend that started a while back.

1. As the school has gotten academically better you have fewer kids who pick it because they grew up fans locally or who focus on sports
2. The student body is more national and international than ever and we ship them and our in-state kids out of town post grad.
3. If you were an adult when the Big East came into being you are either near or past retirement age - so many of those people retire elsewhere.
4. The last 10 years or so of college kids everywhere are less interested in college sports. I think that’s a combination of technology, competition and taste.
5. A lot of the fans who are left are spoiled. We really haven’t had a bad period since they won the NIT. Even when the team was down they still were competitive and in the best league in the country.
6. There are some fans we’ve lost to women’s basketball. They just don’t want to be bothered with something that doesn’t guarantee them 2 national championships every 3 years or so.
7. The NBA is destroying college basketball. That league blew up.
8. College basketball is now only about March. I think people see the small
sample size of games on TV where there are still loud and engaged crowds and ignore the 330 schools where disinterest is in vogue.
9. Everywhere frontruns - but Connecticut is the most frontrunning place I’ve seen. When teams are bad they cease to exist. People just drop them - and that goes for all the professional teams as well. Wait until Brady and Bill move on - it will be hilarious the first Patriots 7-9 season with some below avg QB.

I work for a big company and sit in Hartford. UConn is not a topic and other than fantasy football I don’t hear much sports talk at all from the employees in their 20’s. 15-20 years ago my generation that was all we talked about. We had an 8 hour a day email chain on sports with a huge distribution. The only thing any of my friends who are fans of other teams ask me now about UConn is when is Ollie gone.

 

[Chief00]

The casual fans not dead, he's just tied up in chiefs basement.

Chief has always been a fan, advocate and supporter of the “casual fan”! I really don’t know where that narrative comes from?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

@whaler11 Fantasy Sports (especially football) is a two edged sword. It gets way more people involved in the game, but also ruins some of the integrity (that's too strong of a word, but whatever) of following the sport. Nowadays people would rather their NFL team lose and root for rival players in fantasy over real life.

The NFL product sucks, so I know it's great for the league, but fantasy football in general jumped the shark for me years ago.

As it pertains to UConn, look no further than cell phones and the proliferation of social media. People are buried in their phones even in live events. It's more important to show people that you were there, than actually being there. It's quite deranged. People need their dopamine shot from checking instagram rather than the ballgame. Sad but true.

So, even if we were in the Big East I think you'd still see near empty buildings for Rutgers, USF, Depaul, etc.

 

[whaler11]

@whaler11 Fantasy Sports (especially football) is a two edged sword. It gets way more people involved in the game, but also ruins some of the integrity (that's too strong of a word, but whatever) of following the sport. Nowadays people would rather their NFL team lose and root for rival players in fantasy over real life.

The NFL product sucks, so I know it's great for the league, but fantasy football in general jumped the shark for me years ago.

As it pertains to UConn, look no further than cell phones and the proliferation of social media. People are buried in their phones even in live events. It's more important to show people that you were there, than actually being there. It's quite deranged. People need their dopamine shot from checking instagram rather than the ballgame. Sad but true.

So, even if we were in the Big East I think you'd still see near empty buildings for Rutgers, USF, Depaul, etc.

Someone asked me yesterday who I want to win the Super Bowl. I told them I’d them know when I made my bet. I can’t imagine caring about the NFL outside the context of gambling.

The NCAA tourney is the same thing for 80% of the population. They care about their brackets not who wins.

Concerts are amazing - I have no idea what people do with those cellphone videos.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Concerts are amazing - I have no idea what people do with those cellphone videos.

I swear every morning/night my ear drums are going to get blown out when my fiance plays a snap chat / instagram of a friend at a concert. Always recorded and played at maximum volume (of course).

I actually had been to less than maybe 2 shows up until a few years ago, but since then I've seen Springsteen, Tom Petty, Steely Dan, J. Geils, ZZ Top, Brit Floyd (Pink Floyd cover band), and then taken my fiance to Zac Brown at Fenway and Kenney Chessney at Gillette. Even the country shows, which I don't like, we're fun to attend.

 

[Dove]

can't.stop.watching.

 

[Huskybass]

can't.stop.watching.

Creeper.

 

[8893]

 

[Dove]

During the prime of our prime, you missed a game because you raked leaves.

The Boneyard doesn’t forget.

No bunnies were killed that day @Deepster

 

[Fairfield_1st]

I thought that was Fred Blassi?

I thought that too. But when I fact checked before putting it out there, the first bunch of links gave it to Jesse.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The casual fans not dead, he's just tied up in chiefs basement.

Say no to the lotion casual fans!