DISREGARD: We're Moving (IMPORTANT)

We are now back. Ignore this post.

__________

 

In order to gain additional exposure, I have decided to move this blog to BleacherReport.com. You can view me at http://bleacherreport.com/users/414163-gregory-koch. This blog will remain open for the purpose of viewing old posts.

Keep in mind that the BR Profile will contain posts about other sports as well, although I expect to have lots of commentary about UConn. Go Huskies!

Notes

• It has been brought to my attention that I have not posted a review for the Women's game vs. Baylor. I am currently about to finish packing, before going to bed and heading home tomorrow morning for Thanksgiving. I should post at some time while I am there.


• Also, apparently SUBOG is not selling bus tickets for the football game vs. Cincinnati. Therefore, I will not be attending. I have been unable to sell my ticket, and am quite desperate at this point. If anyone is still on campus and is reading this blog, I will give you the ticket for FREE. Email me at gregory.koch@uconn.edu ASAP and we will arrange to meet tomorrow morning. I also recommend texting me. I am not giving out my phone on this blog, but send a text (from your phone, or if that doesn't work, use vtext.com) to gregorycellphone@gmail.com (which should then forward it to my cell phone). (I am leaving at around 11 or whenever my dad gets here. I would like to conduct the exchange at 10 AM at the latest, because I'm not waiting for you if my dad arrives to pick me up.)  I'll probably be asleep unless you do this within the next half hour (dead campus = no incentive to stay up late) so I'll get back to you in the morning. Specify a time you want to meet me (my alarm is set for 8 AM so don't expect me to get your message before then). Unless you specify otherwise, meet me in front of Whitney Hall (East Campus). I am not going to go very far, but I do plan on heading to Starbucks for breakfast (much closer than Putnam + better food = fine by me), so keep that in mind. I would be willing to meet you there.


• That is all. This will probably be my final post before Thanksgiving (except for the Baylor review and possibly a report on the football game vs. Syracuse) so Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Updated Schedule for Next two Weeks

Now that it seems more likely for us to have a playoff soccer game on this Thursday, here is the updated schedule for the next two weeks, with the post reinserted and modified. Note that I will unable attend Vermont BB game due to class.

With Thanksgiving the week after next, here is the next two weeks of schedule for games I will be at, through Sunday November 28th, beginning Monday, November 15th (games this weekend are already noted.

Key:

(Y)= Definitely Attending

(P) = Probably Attending

(M) = Might Attend

(D) = Doubtful to Attend

Tuesday, November 16:

Women’s Basketball vs. Baylor 6:00 PM (Y)

Thursday, November 18th:

Men's Soccer NCAA Tournament vs. TBD, TBD (P)

Note: If this game is on Thursday, and it is at 7:30 (or similar time) I will attend.

Saturday, November 20th – Thursday, November 25th:

Thanksgiving Break, Will Be Off Campus

Friday, November 26th:

Women’s Basketball vs. Howard ~7:30 PM (Y)

Note: This game begins 30 minutes after Lehigh/LSU, which starts at 4. I will likely be returning to campus around 2:00 PM, so I should be at Lehigh/LSU around tipoff, but only the UConn game will be included in the ratings. Ditto for the next two nights.

Saturday, November 27th, 2010:

Football vs. Cincinnati, TBD (Y)

Women’s Basketball vs. Lehigh, ~7:30 PM (P)

Note: Will attend if no conflict with football

Sunday, November 28th:

Women’s Basketball, ~4:30 PM vs. LSU

November 14th, 2010: Women's Basketball vs. Holy Cross

What: Women's Basketball vs. Holy Cross

When: Sunday, November 14th, 2010, 2:00 PM

Result: Win 117-37

Summary: Wow, my first Regular Season UConn Women's Basketball Game, and we win by 80. Only bad part is we will probably never have such a blowout again during my tenure here. But it was amazing. Tiffany Hayes got 30 points in the first half, which was as many as Holy Cross did. And HC only got 7 in the second half (Tiffany got 2, before we took her out). But it was fantastic. And they had the first student prize giveaway of the season, even though I didn't win. Just as well. I don't want Usher Jingle Jam tickets anyway. I'd rather have PC Richard Gift Card.

Ratings:

Environment:

Fan Friendliness: No issues to report here. Fans were very good, very respectful, overall a good atmosphere. Rating: 10/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Pretty enthusiastic, though many left when we got up by 50+ points. But still a good job cheering even when it was over. Rating: 14/15

Event Atmosphere: Good atmosphere. Prize giveaway at the end, Dance Cam (I got on) and much more. Pretty fun. Rating: 13/15

Atmosphere Total: 37/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Holy Cross looked terrible out there. We looked dominant. But it's ok. This is an interesting one to rate because we dominated so much. Rating: 11/20

Excitement: Not much. It was over before halftime. Heck, it was over before tipoff. Nevertheless, we wanted to see how much we could win by. Rating: 3/10

Quality of UConn Play: Utter Domination. Need I say more? Rating: 10/10

Result: Win 10/10

On-field total: 34/40

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: No issues: Rating 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Opening day, but it's just another game. Baylor on Tuesday will be huge, but this one really is a game we knew we'd win and we did. Rating: 8/15

Size of Crowd: Half full or so. I expected better, for such a good team. Rating: 8/15

Other total: 21/35

Overall total: 92/125

Schedule through November 28th (includes Thanksgiving Break)

With Thanksgiving the week after next, here is the next two weeks of schedule for games I will be at, through Sunday November 28th, beginning Monday, November 15th (games this weekend are already noted.

Key:

(Y)= Definitely Attending

(P) = Probably Attending

(M) = Might Attend

(D) = Doubtful to Attend

Tuesday, November 16:

Women's Basketball vs. Baylor 6:00 PM (Y)

Saturday, November 20th - Thursday, November 25th:

Thanksgiving Break, Will Be Off Campus

Friday, November 26th:

Women's Basketball vs. Howard ~7:30 PM (Y)

Note: This game begins 30 minutes after Lehigh/LSU, which starts at 4. I will likely be returning to campus around 2:00 PM, so I should be at Lehigh/LSU around tipoff, but only the UConn game will be included in the ratings. Ditto for the next two nights.

Saturday, November 27th, 2010:

Football vs. Cincinnati, TBD (Y)

Women's Basketball vs. Lehigh, ~7:30 PM (P)

Note: Will attend if no conflict with football

Sunday, November 28th:

Women's Basketball, ~4:30 PM vs. LSU

November 7, 2010: Field Hockey BE Tournament vs. Syracuse

What: Field Hockey Big East Tournament Final vs. Syracuse

When: Sunday, November 7, 2010, 1:00 PM

Result: Loss 1-0

Summary: Sorry for being so late in posting this. I've been busy. Anyway, final of the Big East Tournament, probable #1 seed in NCAA Tournament on the line. And while we lost 1-0, it was still fun. The refs were awful though. That really didn't matter much, nor put a damper on the game. But now we probably won't get a #1 seed (Selection Show is tonight.) Oh well. So this will have been my last Field Hockey game of the season. Oh well. It's been nice. And there's next year. Now for the ratings, and remember these will not be included in the composite.

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Pretty good crowd. Nothing out of the ordinary except a few criticisms of the refs, which were entirely justifiable quite frankly. Not much of an issue. Rating: 9/10

Fan Enthusiasm: A good crowd, really getting into it here. It was fun and there was cheers. Rating: 12/15

Event Atmosphere: It had the flair of a conference championship, which really meant a lot. It was pretty nice, but not overly impressive. Rating: 11/15

Atmosphere total: 32/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Both teams played very well. High marks here. Rating: 18/20

Excitement: 1 goal game down to the very end. We had a lot of chances to equalize but couldn't capitalize. Rating: 9/10

Quality of UConn Play: We played well, but not well enough to win. Good job by Sarah Mansfield in goal, allowing just the one score. Rating: 8/10

Result: Loss 0/10

Overall on-field: 35/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: No issues. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Conference Championship, #1 seed and home field for two rounds in NCAA on the line. I'd say that's pretty big. Rating: 14/15

Size of Crowd: About 3/4 full, though some were Syracuse fans. Rating: 11/15

Overall other: 30/35

Overall total composite: 97/125

November 6th, 2010: Men's Ice Hockey vs. Canisius

What: Men's Ice Hockey vs, Canisius

When: Saturday, November 6th, 2010, 7:05 PM

What: Men's Ice Hockey vs. Canisius

Result: Tie 1-1

 

Summary: Got to Frietas around 6:30. I knew the student fan group Blue Liners was meeting Friday, but I wasn't there because of soccer, and was unaware that they were meeting Saturday as well. But I got there, got my ticket, and went into the Arena. It was smaller than I expected. But anyway, game ended in an OT tie, and things got a big chippy towards the end, with several penalties for fighting or cheap shots. I thought college wasn't like that. Well maybe normally it isn't. Anyway, my first hockey game attended of any kind (I watched Olympics and a little bit of NHL on TV) and it was impressive. Well played, close to the action, nice.

Ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Really no problems to report here. Not much beyond "Suck". There was a few humorous remarks about the ref, but other than that nothing. Rating: 9.5/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Somewhat enthusiastic. Student section was a little enthusiastic, though not really. Rest of the crowd was basically almost silent. Not too good. Rating: 7/15

Event Atmosphere: Jonathan the Husky (costumed, not live) was there in a hockey uniform, and as usual there was the Goal of the Game and also Chuck the Puck (where you have to get your puck closest to the target). I won neither. Oh well. Maybe next time. Women's Ice Hockey may give me a better chance since there's less people. We will see. Anyway, somewhat good. Rating: 8/15

Overall Atmosphere: 24.5/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Pretty good from both teams, aside from the near-fights and the somewhat small actual fight. Good action. Rating: 17/20

Excitement: Pretty good. Canisius got a goal in the second period, we equalized in the third, and OT. Unfortunately, NCAA doesn't do 4-on-4 OT. That's a shame. 4-on-4 is pretty exciting. Nonetheless, it was pretty exciting. Rating: 9/10

Quality of UConn Play: Pretty good, not excellent, but still pretty good. Rating: 8/10

Result: Draw 5/10

On-field total: 39/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: No issues at all. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Just another home regular season game. Nothing special. Rating: 7/15

Size of Crowd: I'd say the place was about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Rating: 11/15

Other total: 23/35

Overall: 86.5/125

Atmosphere Total: 38/40

November 6th, 2010: Field Hockey vs. Louisville (BE Semifinal)

What: Big East Field Hockey Semifinal vs. Louisville

When: November 6th, 2010 1:30 PM

Result: Win 2-1

Summary: Second game of a Big East Tournament Doubleheader. I was at part of the opener, #4 Rutgers vs. #1 Syracuse, which the Orange won in a blowout. This will not be reviewed. For this contest, although it was played on campus, the Huskies were the "away" team, and hence were announced first, wore their blue uniforms, etc. This is because they had a lower seed. Anyway, it was a packed house, about as packed as I've ever seen it, including a large Louisville contingent. Admission was free for me as a student, but others had to pay (unlike normal Field Hockey matches). And Louisville's best player, who won BE Offensive Player of the Year, was ejected towards the end of the first half, her team already down 2-0. Nicole Youman will be suspended for the first game of the NCAA Tournament should her team qualify, but if not, as a Senior, there's really nothing else to suspend her for. I don't know how that would work exactly. I remember when Zinedine Zidane was suspended 3 games for his headbutt in the 2006 World Cup, but had planned on retiring immediately after and as such couldn't serve it, he did three days of community service through FIFA's program instead. Perhaps NCAA has a similar route? I don't know. Anyway, just as a reminder, this game, and today's final vs. Syracuse, will be reviewed but will not be included in the ratings as it is not a "home" game or a "Campus sites" postseason game.

Ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: A pretty friendly crowd all around. Some heckling of calls, but not much. Rating: 9/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Very boisterous crowd. They were getting into it on both sides. Excellent. Rating: 13/15

Event Atmosphere: Tournament atmosphere, great job all around. Didn't have the "fun" that regular UConn matches do (Goal of the Game, etc.) but since UConn Athletics wasn't running it that shouldn't be surprising. Rating: 12/15

Total atmosphere: 34/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Great job from both sides. Really good play, except for the Youman red for stick to the head. But Louisville managed to play decently with a man down (woman? is it sexist to say "man down"? Or would "woman down" be more sexist? I'm going with man down since that seems to be what everyone uses. You don't say Maya Moore was playing "good woman-to-woman defense" so that's what I'm going with.) Rating: 16/20

Excitement: Very exciting. One goal game for most of the second half, with a berth in the Big East Finals on the line. The winner of the Final has a good chance of getting a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosting the first two rounds. UConn or Syracuse definitely will with a win, and Louisville, by virtue of wins over the #6 and #4 teams in the country on consecutive days, might have an outside chance if they had won. Rating: 9/10

Quality of UConn Play: Very well played all around. Excellent job by the Huskies. Rating: 9/10

Result: Win 10/10

Overall on-field: 46/50

Other:


Clarity of Fan Communication: No issues, all announcements made obvious. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Big East Semifinal, as I said berth in the final on the line for a chance at maybe getting a #1 seed. And Louisville with the loss is a probable "bubble" team in the Field of 16, though UConn should certainly get in no matter what happens. It just will change whether they get a #1 or #2. Rating: 13/15

Size of Crowd: Near full house. Rating: 14/15

Schedule for Week Ending 11/14

This is a relatively uneventful week. I'm missing the Pitt game because of an Econ exam. So not much. Possibly one or two NCAA Field Hockey Games. I'll know for sure come Tuesday.

Key:

Y- Definitely Attending

P- Probably Attending

M- Might attend

D- Doubtful to attend

Friday, November 12th:

7:00 PM: Men's Basketball vs. Stony Brook (Y)

Saturday, November 13th:

TBD: Women's Field Hockey vs. TBD (M)

Note: If we have a home game for this, I will be attending. I don't know for sure if this will happen yet. We will see.

Sunday, November 14th:

2:00 PM: Women's Basketball vs. Holy Cross (Y)

TBD: Women's Field Hockey vs. TBD (D)

Note: In all likelihood if this game is home, it will be at Noon or 1 PM, in which case I will not attend due to Women's Basketball. If it is at 11, I may but leave early. If it is a night game, I definitely will.

November 5th, 2010: Men's Soccer vs. Depaul

What: Men's Soccer Big East Tournament vs. DePaul

When: November 5th, 2010, 7:30 PM

Summary: Well, the game was delayed until Friday, after it was scheduled to start on Thursday, a day after the other Big East first round games. But that didn't matter. It got off, and went well. We won 2-0. And I was cheering incredibly enthusiastically. So now I have no voice almost. Oh well. And a bunch of people thought I was drunk. I have not drank any alcohol in my entire life. Just putting that out there. And I have a feeling I am going to end up on Youtube now. We will see. If so, I'll be sure to post the footage, however hilarious/embarrassing it may be. And one guy (who looked about 45, and I believe was the father of one of the high schoolers who were basically cheering me for cheering) first pointed to a cup of hot chocolate that had been stuck in the fence, and said "did you drink from that?". I told him no. He told me "What did you drink?" I told him the only think I drank was a bottle of water. He said "Well whatever that is, I want some." It was water, not alcohol. Why must everyone assume I am drunk just because I am cheering incredibly rowdily and enthusiastically? Anyway, just some of the quotes I threw out there were referring to the chubby DePaul goalkeeper as "a Teletubby", "A pumpkin Teletubby", and "Tinky Winky's Husband". (It is a well-known fact that the purple Tellitubby is gay, see this article from BBC) I also hollered random names of foods, like "Look, cake. Go eat it!" and screamed "GO UCONN!" repeatedly. And there was that routine where I said "Hey Goalie, I have to take a Mamadou", then proceeded to pantomine going to the bathroom, before mock wiping my (clothed) buttocks with a glove as if it were toilet paper and pretending to throw it on the field. Never before has "Mamadou" been used as a euphemism for a bowel movement. Boy, it was fun. But I have no voice. It was worth it all though. Completely and absolutely. GO HUSKIES! Now for the ratings. (And these will count because although it was a conference tournament, it was designated as a "campus sites" game rather than us hosting the entire tournament.)

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Great crowd, although at times the people around me were more focused on me than on the field. But how could they not be (I don't mean to brag)? Still pretty cool. Rating: 9/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Quite frankly, if I were the only fan there I'd have probably earned at least 8 points here. And the rest of the crowd was great too. Excellent job. Loud, rowdy, amazing. Rating: 15/15

Event Atmosphere: Crazy. Just crazy. Would have been more crazy if many students hadn't gone home for the weekend as they had planned months ago (weekend after Halloween, of course they will.) Still pretty good. Oh, and it's the conference tournament. Need I say more? Rating: 14/15

Atmosphere Total: 38/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Great job. Both teams played well (except for DePaul's Own Goal. Wonder what would have happened if this was a regular season game with the Goal of the Game contest. Would they have had to specify the DePaul player or would "Own Goal" suffice? And who would pick "Own Goal" anyway?) Rating: 18/20

Excitement: Very exciting. Conference tournament and cool. Rating: 10/10

Quality of UConn Play: We played very well. Not many mistakes at all. Rating: 10/10

Result: Win 10/10

Overall on-field: 48/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: Great. No issues. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Playoff conference game. Big one on the line. Oh boy. Rating: 14/15

Size of Crowd: Near sell-out. Good job UConn Country. Rating: 14/15

Other total: 33/35

Overall total: 119/125

November 4th, 2010: Women's Basketball vs. Franklin Pierce

What: Women's Basketball Exhibition vs. Franklin Pierce

When: Thursday, November 4th 2010, 7:30 PM

Result: Win 112-41

Summary: Exhibition game and a blowout. Just a large win. Hopefully we can play like this when it matters. But we've got games that are a lot tougher than this one so we shall see. For now though, emotions are high but it doesn't count in the end, and you've got to remember that.

Ratings:


Environment:

Fan Friendliness: No issues here. A good crowd, clean crowd, fun crowd. Rating: 9.5/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Some fans weren't cheering for an exhibition, but oh well. Still impressive. Rating: 10/15

Event Atmosphere: Geno Auriema came out at the end and spoke to us about how great a season it's going to be and prizes/giveaways that they'll have at the end of each game. Looking forward to it. For now, should still be fun. Rating: 11/15

Total Environment: 30.5/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Quite Frankly, Franklin Pierce was terrible. We were pretty good but they were horrible. Not very good. Rating: 11/20

Excitement: Blowout. The only excitement was how many points could we score. Rating: 3/10

Quality of UConn Play: Got to give full credit here. We dominated. Rating: 10/10

Result: win 10/10

Overall On-field: 34/50

Other:

Clarity of fan communication: Good job, no issues. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Exhibition, not too fun. Rating: 2/15

Size of Crowd: Somewhat packed, but not really. Only half full or so. Rating: 8/15

Overall other: 15/35

Total Score: 79.5/125

Update on Soccer Game

I have received word that the Men's Soccer game will be at Morrone at 7:30 PM. So, I will be attending that, and will not be at the hockey game. Tomorrow and Sunday's schedule remains unchanged. A review and rating for last night's women's basketball game is coming shortly.

Blog Update: Men's Soccer Postponed, Where We Go From Here

I just got word that tonight's Men's Soccer game has been postponed. According to a source in Goal Patrol, the game will be made up at 7:30 tomorrow evening. We don't know where yet though. An announcement will be made by 11 AM tomorrow, and if the field is playable the game will be at Morrone, and if not, it will be in Bridgeport. I will not be making the trip to Bridgeport, but if it's at Morrone, I'm going. Here's what happens as a result:

• I will be in attendance at the Women's Basketball game tonight vs. Franklin Pierce. As this is an exhibition game, it will be reviewed and rated but not counted in the overall ratings.


• If Morrone is playable and the game is there tomorrow night, I will be attending that in place of the Men's Ice Hockey Game vs. Canisius. Saturday events (Field Hockey and Ice Hockey) remain as normal.


• If the game is moved to Bridgeport, I will not be attending the soccer game and will attend Ice Hockey as originally planned.

As always, I will keep you posted and look for another announcement in the late morning tomorrow, as well as a review of the Women's BB game.

Schedule for Week November 1 - November 7 (Updated x2)

Here is the updated schedule for this week, including the Big East Soccer Tournament. It has been updated again to reflect that the Men's Soccer Tournament game is on Thursday, not Wednesday, and therefore I will be attending that instead of the Women's Basketball exhibition, but will be attending the Men's Basketball Exhibition Wednesday Night.

Key:

Y - Definitely Attending

P - Probably attending

M - Might attend

D- Doubtful To Attend

Wednesday, November 3rd:

Men's Basketball Exh. vs. American International 7:30 PM (Y)

Note: Game will be scored but will not be included in ratings.

Thursday November 4th:

Men's Soccer Big East Tournament vs. Depaul 7:30 PM (Y)

Friday November 5th:

Men's Ice Hockey vs. Canisius, 7:05 PM (P)

Women's Volleyball vs. Georgetown, 7:00 PM (D)

Saturday November 6th:

Women's Field Hockey Big East Tournament vs. Louisville 1:30 PM (Y)

Note: This game will be scored, but as it is considered to be hosted by the Big East Conference as opposed to a "home" game, it will not be included in the rankings.

Men's Ice Hockey vs. Canisius, 7:05 PM (Y)

Sunday, November 7th:

Women's Field Hockey Final vs. TBD 1:00 PM (Y)

Note: This assumes UConn is involved in the final. If they lose the semifinal, I will not attend the Final.

Men's Basketball exh vs. Bridgeport 1:00 PM (D)

Note: This game is at XL Center which means I'd need a bus ticket. I will attend the Field Hockey meaningful game over an exhibition, but I would need to buy the bus ticket several days early. And if I don't know if I'm going, it's not worth it. So unless I manage to get the ticket from a student on short notice, it's not going to happen.

Women's Volleyball vs. USF 2:00 PM (M)

Note: I will probably attend this game if UConn is not in the field hockey final and I do not manage to obtain a roadshow ticket to basketball.

Blog Update

• Unfortunately I was not able to go to either event yesterday (Women's Ice Hockey or Field Hockey).


• Next weekend is huge, and I will post a tentative schedule in a few minutes, but that will be updated after we know what the deal is with men's soccer and the Big East Tournament.


• Also, with one or two basketball exhibitions next week, keep in mind these will be scored but will not count in the ratings.

Football - October 29th vs. West Virginia

What: Football vs. West Virginia

When: October 29th, 2010, 8:00 PM

Result: Win 16-13, OT

Summary: First home football game in almost a month. Going in, we hadn't scored since a Dave Teggart field goal as time ran out in the first half against Rutgers, 3 weeks prior. And we didn't wind up scoring here until Teggart booted one through with 1 second left in the first half. So almost 8 quarters without a score. Yet remarkably, despite giving up several long drives, we only went into halftime down 10-3. Todman than got a touchdown to cap a long drive in the third quarter, and we traded field goals to ultimately force OT. West Virginia drove down to the 1 on the first posession, but fumbled and we recovered, so we just needed a field goal to win. Teggart booted a chip shot from 31, and that was that. Storm the field time. No, I did not participate, because I am not particularly fond of crazy mobs, but it looked fun, that is if you like crazy mobs. And it was the first win over WVU in program history. On a side note, a lot of interesting costumed characters including 2 gorillas and a banana. (Banana guy stole my costume idea - I was planning to wear the exact same costume to the Whitney Dance Thursday until it was cancelled.)

Ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Not always the most clean, but usually nothing bad. The people next to me making out for the entire first half (literally) before leaving because the concession stands stopped serving alcohol wasn't nice, but aside from that not too many issues, except for a few profanities. Rating: 7/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Loud,  rocking, and amazing. Fans (except for the ones who just came to get drunk and left after Last Call) stayed for the whole game and went crazy when we won. Rating: 15/15

Event Atmosphere: Some of us may remember watching the "Pandemonium in Piscataway" game in which Rutgers got the biggest win in school history (although some could argue winning the first game ever in the history of college football was bigger) at which point the RU radio uttered that famous line. Well we need something like that for this game. I'll be taking suggestions. Post them in the comments or email me at gregory.koch@uconn.edu. I'll post some of the better ones. And keep in mind, Piscataway is where the football stadium was, and RU is actually in New Brunswick, so preferably it should involve "East Hartford" (or "Rentschler or something like that") over "Storrs" though I will accept anything on those lines (even "Connecticut"). Rating: 15/15

Overall Atmosphere: 37/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Best game at Rentschler all season. Both teams really played well, and in the end UConn emerged victorious. Rating: 19/20

Excitement: What a thriller. Overtime and a game-winning field goal. Amazing. Rating: 10/10

Quality of UConn Play: Also amazing. Played very well. Struggled a bit in the first half, so this won't get a perfect score, but we did very well. Rating: 9/10

Result: Win 10/10

On-field total: 48/50

Other:
Clarity of Fan Communication: A couple times when you couldn't hear the refs over the crowd, but other than that very good. Rating: 4.5/5

Magnitude of Event: Could be the biggest win in program history. We were struggling, and if we lost we'd have been 3-5 and lost 3 straight heading into the Pitt game. In all likelihood, we wouldn't even make a bowl. Now we're back to .500, and beat a team we were 0-8 against, and given the terrible state of the Big East, we have an outside chance of winning the conference if we win out (and since we'd have wins against WVU and Pitt, that would help us with the tiebreakers.) So a huge win for us. Rating: 13/15

Size of Crowd: Sellout, stayed for whole game. Rating: 15/15

Other total: 32.5/35

Overall total: 117.5/125


 

Update for October 27th

Some news points

• Sorry I haven't been on lately.... I've been extremely busy.


• I was unable to attend the Women's Volleyball game this past Sunday, so no review will be posted.


• I also will not be in attendance at the women soccer game tomorrow because I have a class at 4:00 PM. So no commentary for that.

Stay tuned over the weekend for commentary and review of the West Virginia football game, as well as most likely the Field Hockey game vs. Rutgers (although there is a chance I will be at the Women's Ice Hockey Game vs. Boston College.)

Schedule for Week ending October 31st

Below is the schedule for the week ending October 31st, 2010.

Key:

(Y) = Definitely Attending

(P) = Probably Attending

(M) = Might Attend

(D) = Doubtful to Attend

Thursday, October 28th:

Women's Soccer vs. TBD First Round Big East Tournament (M)

* Stay tuned - I will update this once we know when they are playing, not to mention there is no guarantee this will be a home game, although most likely it will be

Friday, October 29th:

Football vs. West Virginia, 8:00 PM (Y)

Saturday, October 30th:

Women's Field Hockey vs. Rutgers, 1:00 PM (M)

Women's Ice Hockey vs. Boston College 1:00 PM (M)

Note: I will almost definitely be attending one of these events. Which one remains to be seen.

All in all, not a very exciting week. But come November, we'll have an Exhibition Men's Basketball game and/or a Men's Soccer Big East Tournament Game on Wednesday, a women's exhibiton game on Thursday, Men's Hockey Friday, and potentially four (yes, 4!) games Saturday. And either Volleyball or Field Hockey on Sunday. It's doubtful I'll go to the Men's Basketball Exhibition game against Bridgeport since I'd have to buy a bus ticket before Friday, and for an exhibiton game, I'm not sure I want to commit $4 for that with a potential for other events.

Update on Swimming and Diving Meet

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the S&D meet today. So there will be no review for it. Sorry.

More Blog News October 23rd

here is another update on blog news:

• First, just for clarification as we approach the championship season: Conference or NCAA Tournament Games hosted by UConn and designated as to be played at "campus sites" such as the first round/quarterfinals of the Big East Soccer Tournament will be counted as UConn sporting events if they are played at UConn. However, tournaments which are hosted by UConn specifically (such as the Big East Field Hockey Championship this year) will also be rated and reviewed if I am in attendance but will not be used in the overall ratings for the sport.


• Just clarification for Swimming and Diving (and any other meet that involves more than two schools): The "result" rating for these will be used with 10 representing first place, 0 representing last, and every other place spaced evenly in between. In the event of a tie for a ranking, the score will be equal to the average of the two (or more) ranking scores that they are tied for. For example, today's meet includes 5 schools. A first place finish earns 10 points, a second place earns 7.5, third place 5, fourth place 2.5 and 5th place (last) 0 points. Note that all scores will be rounded to no more than 2 decimal places. If UConn ties for second with one other team, their score for result will be equal to the average of 7.5 and 5, which is (7.5+5)/2 = 12.5/2=6.25. Also note that for meets where Men and Women compete simultaneously but are scored and ranked separately, there will be two separate ratings for the event. These ratings will be identical in all categories with the exception of the on-the-field ratings (Quality of Play, Excitement, Quality of UConn Play, and Result). This ensures two things. First, it makes the ratings more accurate. Second, on the rare occasions when it is either just men or just women competing (which I believe happens only once this season) it allows us to rate them alone.

Men's Soccer October 19th vs. West Virginia

What: Men's Soccer vs. West Virginia

When: Tuesday, October 19th, 7:30 PM

Result: Win 2-0

Summary: Ok, I must have forgotten to input this game so I am now. But I don't have time to write at length so I'm just doing ratings. Maybe I'll put more in later.

Fan Friendliness: 9/10

Fan Enthusiasm: 15/15

Event Atmosphere: 14/15

Atmosphere Total: 38/40

Quality of Play: 18/20

Excitement: 9/10

Quality of UConn play: 9/10

Result: 10/10

On-field total: 46/50

Clarity of Fan Communication: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: 11/15

Size of Crowd: 10/15

Other total: 26/35

Rating total: 110/125

Men's Soccer October 22nd vs. Notre Dame

What: Men's Soccer vs. Notre Dame (Senior Night)

When: October 22nd, 2010, 8:00 PM

Result: 0-0 draw, 2OT

Summary: Goal Patrol meeting before, as usual. And it was Senior Night. Senior ceremony was brief, and I swiped a copy of the PA Notes from the customer marketing booth when nobody was looking. That's good because I couldn't really hear most of the ceremony. Oh, and somewhere between my dorm (in East) and Gampel, the hood fell off my coat. So if anyone finds a dark blue hood from a winter coat on the path (possibly near the construction site, but definitely either on the bath between Whitney and the circle, or between the circle and Gampel) let me know. Anyway, it was COLD. Temperature was posted as 41 degrees, and it felt colder. I had a sweatshirt (fortunately one with a hood) on and a winter coat (sans hood) and I was still freezing. And there were 20 extra minutes, which didn't help either. As for the game itself, not much to report. Both teams had a few chances, and we had a few good ones late, but nobody could convert. So now we need to beat Georgetown on the road (tough, they're #1 in the division) and Pitt on the road (pretty easy, but if we beat GU could be a potential "trap" game) to get the #1 seed (we would be tied with the Hoyas, but I believe we would own the tiebreaker by virtue of having beaten them.) This would be the case even if we had beaten the Irish, but now the Irish could pass us by winning out. But keep in mind, the Irish face GU at home in the final game. Assuming Georgetown beats Marquette at home (they should) they will be 3 points ahead of us and 4 ahead of ND. With a win against Georgetown, we would be tied for first and Notre Dame would be one back. We would then win the division for the regular season with a win vs. Pitt, and would get a bye with anything other than a loss and a draw in ND-GU (this assumes both teams win their next game). If we draw to Georgetown, we would be 3 points behind GU, and 1 behind Notre Dame. We could not win the division, but with a win vs. Pitt we would get the bye regardless of the result in GU-ND. A loss vs. GU would put us 6 points behind GU and 3 behind ND. With a draw or ND win, we would not get a bye no matter what, but with a GU win it would come down to the next tiebreak, and I'm not sure what that is. Bottom line, we need to beat or draw GU (preferably beat) then not get trapped vs. Pitt. We'll see how that goes. Now for the ratings.

 

Ratings:

Atmosphere rating:

Fan Friendliness: Decent crowd. Some interesting language, but not much obscenity. It's a bunch of college students, so you can't expect much better. Rating: 7/10

Fan Enthusiasm: As always, amazing. Rowdy crowd, though many left after regulation due to the weather. The ones that stayed were very enthusiastic, however. Rating: 14/15

Event Atmosphere: Senior Night, truly spectacular. Giveaways, though I didn't win. Rating: 14/15

Atmosphere total: 35/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Both teams struggled to get going, and in this case it wasn't due to good defense. Just bad missed plays. Rating: 14/20

Excitement: Not very exciting. Only a few breakaways, and those failed. Bad reffing too. Rating: 6/10

Quality of UConn Play: We did not play the greatest. We were lucky they didn't either. Rating: 6/10

result: Draw 5/10

On-field total: 31/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: No issues. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Senior Night, big regular season game. Rating: 12/15

Size of Crowd: Near sell-out Rating: 15/15

Other total: 32/35

Rating total: 98/125

Blog News Update for Saturday 10/23

Some blog news updates for today

• First of all, I mentioned tags in an earlier post. We will be using categories instead. This should make things easier for everyone.


• I will not be live-blogging during the UConn football game today. However, expect a post after the game.


• Soccer review from last night is forthcoming.


• In an addition to my schedule for this week, I may be attending the swim/dive meet against Providence, Central Connecticut, Fordham and Fairfield. That is today at noon.

That just about wraps it up. Go Huskies! Oh, and with all the "Too Damn High" jokes floating around, here's one more: Cody Endres is TOO DAMN HIGH!!!!!!! (YOU CON!)

Ironic twinge update: As I hit "publish" after the last a pop-up popped up for a "drug and alcohol addiction cure" Sorry, I'm not Cody.

Regarding the Quarterback Situation

So you've probably heard by now that Quarterback Cody Endres is suspended for the rest of the academic year, which according to several sources is due to a third failed drug test. I have heard many people (students and fans) complain that our program is going downhill and that Edsall has lost control of the team. In fact, it is almost the exact opposite. When you look at schools like the University of Florida, which has had about 30 felonies committed by football players over the last 5 years. Our program has been pretty clean except for Cody and Erik Kuraczea. (And we don't even know what the deal is with Erik - he was suspended with Cody earlier, but we don't even know if that was for the same reason, and if so, whether they were connected or just two failed drug tests, and now he's withdrawn and we don't know if that's because he failed again and withdrew before he got caught or what.) But anyway, Edsall's running a clean ship for the most part. We're not on probation, nobody's been convicted of a felony, nothing like that. And more importantly, when a player does do something wrong, they are disciplined appropriately. If John Brantley had a positive drug test, you think Urban Meyer would suspend him for 8 months? Of course not. And they have had players caught drunk driving, underage drinking (often together), marijuana, etc. And they've either gotten off the hook or been suspended for a game or two. And every team has one or two players who break rules. At least we're doing something about it. And the fact is, some schools (like the Gators) may have more players who fail drug tests then we know about, because the school lets it fly if the player is a star of the team. So contrary to what people think, we are not going downhill, and kudos to Coach Edsall for actually disciplining players.

National Anthem Tryouts

Last night, I tried out to sing the national anthem at a UConn sporting event (tryouts were held at Gampel). According to the email, I could sing at a UConn basketball, hockey, or soccer game. But since there's only one soccer game left (plus postseason) I'm not quite sure how that will work out. But I'd love to sing at basketball or hockey. Given my singing voice, I doubt I'll get a callback, but if I do, stay tuned. And watch out, for Gregory Koch, the amazing UConn National Anthem Singer (I wish).

We Have Tags!!!!

In a short while, you will see tags on new posts. This will group it by sport, as well as by content (game review, commentary, etc.) Blog news (such as this) will also be noted. Note that old posts (those before now) will not be tagged, but there will be a Tag Cloud added on the right shortly as well. So look for that.

In other news, there is a small chance I may live blog the football game Saturday from the TV Lounge in the Student Union. Stay tuned!

Schedule for Week through October 24th

Below is the schedule for events through Sunday, October 24th.

Key:

Y- Definitely Attending

P - Probably attending

M - might attend

D- Doubtful to attend

Tonight (Tuesday October 19th):

Men's Soccer vs. West Virginia 7:30 PM (Y)

Friday October 22nd:

Men's Soccer vs. Notre Dame 8:00 PM (Y)

Sunday October 24th:

Women's Volleyball vs. Rutgers 2:00 PM (M)

October 17th: Field Hockey vs. Princeton

What: Field Hockey vs. Princeton

When: October 17th, 2:00 PM

Result: Win 4-2

Summary: At first I was planning to go to the Women's Soccer game vs. DePaul for the first half before this one, but due to Senior Day ceremonies that didn't start until 1:30, so I stayed for about 5 minutes before heading to Sherman. So that doesn't get a review. But this does. We won 4-2, were up 2-0. They tied 2-2 but then we won. So good job Huskies.

Ratings:

Environment:

Fan Friendliness: Crowd was very friendly. But there were a lot of Princeton fans screaming "GO TIGERS!" Rating: 9/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Princeton and UConn fans were all somewhat enthusiastic. But not that much. Rating: 8/15

Event Atmosphere: Once again, I missed the trivia question (in restroom during halftime). But someone won this time. And they had free pizza and t-shirts (the latter I missed since I was at women's soccer.) Rating: 9/15

Atmosphere rating: 26/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Overall well-competing. Princeton is a good team and so are we. And it was 3-2 until we got a goal with 4 seconds left. Very competitive. Rating: 18/20

Excitement: Very exciting. Close at least until 4 second left goal when we knew it was over. Rating: 8/10

Quality of Uconn Play: Very good too. We played well. Rating: 9/10

Result: Win 10/10

On-field Overall: 45/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: No issues here. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Matchup of 2 top-5 teams. Pretty big. Rating: 11/15

Size of Crowd: Much better than last time. About 2/3 full, although many were Princeton fans. Rating: 9/15

Other total: 25/35

Final: 96/125

October 15th: Women's Soccer vs. Notre Dame

What: Women's Soccer vs. Notre Dame

When: Friday, October 15th, 4:30 PM

Result: Tie 1-1, 2OT

Note: I was in attendance for the first half only due to First Night

Summary: There was heavy rain and wind for much of the game, but that didn't stop UConn from drawing. Unfortunately, the first half was goalless and that's all I saw because I went over to Gampel for First Night, but oh well. Nasty weather. But I loved how the man behind me tried to convince his children that the sun was coming out once they turned the light on (it did get brighter). Anyway, here we go. Note that ratings only apply to what I saw, with the exception of end result (which was a draw anyway.)

Ratings:

Environment:

Fan Friendliness: Very friendly crowd. Children and fans and students and free gloves for the first 200 fans (I needed mine. Between the game and the line for First Night, it was freezing.) Anyway, good crowd. Rating: 9/10

Fan Enthusiasm: They were active, for the most part, although not very knowledgeable. At one point when the ball went out of play, a girl a few rows behind me said "Goal kick.... I mean corner kick". It was a Notre Dame throw-in. But still enthusiastic, cheering the team on. Rating: 12/15

Event Atmosphere: Bad weather, but free gloves. And a good crowd.I don't know if anyone won the Goal of the Game contest because it came in the 88th minute by which point I was gone. But it wasn't me. I didn't pick Ruutu. I picked her last time (three weeks ago against Penn State before I had this blog.) But oh well. I wasn't there anyway when the goal game so it doesn't matter. But still fun. Rating: 12/15

Environment total: 33/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Not a good game played. In soccer, a 0-0 game can mean great defense or that the offense struggled. Here it was the latter. Defense was unremarkable, but the offense missed a lot. Bad crosses, poor shots from way out that went wide, some of which just missed despite no effort by the goalie thinking it was way out. Rating: 10/20

Excitement: Not much. I was only into it because I wanted Shufelt to score the first goal so I could win the prize pack. I'll be there tomorrow for most of the first half before heading over to Field Hockey most likely. Hopefully the person I pick scores then. But the intern said she "couldn't say" what the pack was. Ooh, a secret. But anyway, not very exciting. Partly the weather and partially the poor play. Rating: 5/10


Quality of UConn play: Ditto to Quality of Play. Offense struggled, defense really didn't get many chances. Rating: 5/10


Result: Draw 5/10

On-field total: 25/50

Other:

Clarity of fan communication: Not much here, but no problems. Announced "Goal Kick" "Corner" etc. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Notre Dame is the best team in the Big East. So pretty big. Rating: 11/15

Size of Crowd: Pretty crowded given the weather. It was about 2/3 full. Which is more than they usually get. I don't know how many of those people were using it as a "warm-up" for First Night, but still pretty good. Rating: 11/15

Other total: 27/35

Final Rating: 85/135

October 10th: Men's Soccer vs. Seton Hall

What: Men's Soccer vs. Seton Hall

Result: Win 2-0

When: Saturday October 10th, 7:30 PM

Summary: I almost didn't go since it was Family Weekend here at Uconn, but I managed to get away to go. I got to Gampel just before Goal Patrol left and got a ticket. I wasn't disappointed. Nearly sold out, crazy crowd, and we won (again.) Freezing cold, but oh well. It was fine.

Ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: All the youngers in the stands for Family Weekend mellowed the crowd a bit. We still had the "YOU SUCK" but really nothing much nastier than that. And they were friendly to eachother. Rating: 9/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Always a good crowd at Morrone Stadium and this was no exception. Loud and raucos, and lots of them. Rating: 15/15

Event Atmosphere: It almost had the feel of a party with all the families there. And it was nice. Rating: 14/15

Atmosphere total: 38/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: Both sides played well, we dominated in the first half but they played well in the second half holding us goalless. Overall a nice job. Rating: 17/20

Excitement: With us up 2-0 early, it was pretty much over. We knew we weren't letting in 2 goals. We've let in 4 all season up to this point (1 each vs. Yale, Harvard, Marquette, and Maryland). We weren't about to let in 2 in 60 minutes. But it was still fun. Rating: 7/10

Quality of UConn Play: Strong outing from the Huskies. 2 goals, and dominant defense and goalkeeping. Rating: 13/15

Result: Win 10/10

On-field: 47/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: No complaints, other than the pronunciation of sophomore (the second "o" is silent - it should be said "sof-more" not "sof-o-more". But that gives it character. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: A regular season conference game. No biggie, yet no smallie either. Rating: 10/15

Size of Crowd: After the dismal showing in our last game against BC due to the weather, I promised this rating would go up. And it did. Sold out house. Rating: 15/15

Other: 30/35

Overall rating: 115/135

October 6th: Women's Field Hockey vs. Yale

What: Women's Field Hockey vs. Yale

When: Wednesday October 6th, 7:00 PM

Result: Win 7-1

Note: I was only present for the first 10 minutes or so of the first half and all of the second half except the first 5 minutes or so. The rest was spent watching the conclusion of Roy Halladay's no-hitter.

Summary: I got to Sherman about 15 minutes before game time and it was deserted. Then a few Yale fans came in. I thought it would get better. 10 minutes in I got a text update from ESPN saying Roy Halladay had thrown a no-hitter through 7 innings. I ran over to the Student Union to try to catch it. I did. Then I headed over back to Sherman for the second half (I got there about 3 minutes in) and it was still almost deserted except for about 20 girls who had come from Hilltop and were hanging with eachother and paying no attention to the game. That being said it was my first Field Hockey game of any kind, and it took me until there were about 15 minutes left to realize that penalty corners are like corner kicks in soccer, not like penalty kicks. But then I learned that they sometimes are given for penalties. So who knew? Anyway, we dominated Yale much to the chagrin of the 5 or so Yale fans in the bleachers. And say what you want about our Goalie Sarah Mansfield but she's so good they named the town after her.

Ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Since pretty much everyone there was either Yale fans or Hilltoppers who came down or were on their way up and stopped in, this is hard to classify. But there really are no complaints except a Yale fan yelling "come on ref" when a few bad calls went against them (or he said they were bad; I really wouldn't know.) Rating: 8/10

Fan Enthusiasm: I am going to make an executive decision here and say that visiting fans don't count. And neither do I. So the only people who would count were the Hilltop girls who just chatted with eachother and payed no attention to the game. They probably just wanted some benches to sit on and the bleachers worked for them. So therefore, if I could give this a negative score I would. Unfortunately by executive decision (me again) that is not allowed. Rating: 0/15

Event Atmosphere: There was a Goal of the Game contest, which nobody won. Probably because I think I was the only one who entered, and I picked someone who wasn't even starting. But I'll win eventually. And they had a trivia question. I missed the question (Halladay) but heard the answer. And that was it. Other than the music that played after each goal. Rating: 2/15

Overall Atmosphere total: 10/40

On-field:

Quality of play: From what I heard, both teams played well. But of course that was the Yale fans praising their players while trying to not piss off any UConn fans (what? did they think I would beat them up? Let's think - there's 1 UConn Fan, and there's 5 event staff and a cop. I couldn't try if I wanted to.) So those fans may be biased, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt (if only to boost the score.) Rating: 15/20

Excitement: It's field hockey. It's empty. All I need is an ipod with audio of William Henry Harrison's inaugural address and it'll be the best sleep I got in weeks. Just kidding. I slept well last night. Almost too well. I slept an hour after my alarm went off and got to class 1 minute late. Fortunately the instructor did too. But anyway.... Not too much excitement. Especially since we won by 6 goals. Which is a lot.... I think. Rating: 3/10

Quality of UConn play: Pretty good, I assume. We dominated them, and since we're believing Yale guy when he says they played well, we must have played really well. Rating: 7/10

Result: Win 10/10

Overall on-field: 35/50

Other:

Clarity of fan Communication: PA announcer was good. Even though his voice echoed eerily. Oh well. That's the acoustics people fault. Half a point off for having to ask how to pronounce some Yale player's names. Rating: 4.5/5

Magnitude of Event: In-state "rival" (so they claim, presumably to get fans. What do we get when it isn't a rivalry?) But a regular season game against a mediocre team. Rating: 5/15

Size of Crowd: Once again, if I could give this negative I would. I was the only UConn fan paying attention to the game (unless you count Event Staff when they weren't chatting with eachother.) And there were the 5-10 Yale fans. Bad. Rating: 0/10

Other: 9.5/35

Overall: 54.5/35

Blog Note: Men's Soccer vs. Seton Hall from Saturday should be up tonight or tomorrow. I'm off to the Union for dinner and a Young Americans for Liberty meeting. Catcha later!

Schedule Through Sunday October 17

as promised (yesterday) here is the schedule through October 17th (Sunday)

By the way, I am selling a ticket to the Away Soccer game at St. John's this Saturday. Ticket includes admission and bus. Cost is face value of $4 (because I want as many people as possible to go, but at the same time I am not a charity.) Must be a UConn Student. (I will not make you show ID but the bus will.) Contact me for info.

Key:

(Y) = Definitely Attending

(P) = Probably Attending

(M) = Maybe Attending

(D) = Doubtful Attending

Friday October 15th:

Women's Soccer vs. Notre Dame 4:30 PM (D)

First Night Men's and Women's Basketball 7:00 PM (Y) Note: While commentary will be provided for this, no rating will be made

Saturday October 16th:

Women's Volleyball vs. St. John's 2:00 PM (M)

Sunday October 17th:

Women's Soccer vs. DePaul 1:00 PM (M)

Women's Field Hockey vs. Princeton 2:00 PM (M)

Note: I will almost certainly be attending one of these. Which one is TBD. I may also go to the first half of soccer before heading to Field Hockey. We will see.

 

October 2: Football vs. Vanderbilt

What: Football vs. Vanderbilt

When: October 2, 2010 12:00 PM

Result: Win 40-21

Summary: Homecoming here at Rentschler Field. Sold out crowd to witness a win. We got down 21-14 but came back to score 26 unanswered points. And I won 2 tickets to the Beef O'Brady's Bowl (in St. Petersburg, Florida). Their website held a contest to predict the score of the game (they have a different one each week). I guessed UConn 28-17. Didn't happen. But nobody got it exactly, so they randomly picked a winner from those who had the correct team winning. And it was me. But unfortunately, since I didn't get it exactly, I don't get lodging or airfare included. So I'm not going unless UConn makes it, and even then I might not. I'll post more info on these tickets in December once I have them and we know who is playing there. Stay tuned! Anyway, here's the ratings. And I also have reports for Men's Soccer on last Saturday vs. Seton Hall and Field Hockey last Wednesday against Yale. Those will be up here tomorrow probably. And after this gets up, I will be posting a list of events through Sunday.

Ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Solid crowd cheering UConn on. Weren't getting too dirty, and were having fun. Rating: 9/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Very enthusiastic crowd, chanting and cheering. Got very exciting. A lot of people left when it was another home blowout, but oh well. Rating: 13/15

Event Atmosphere: Loud, rowdy, awesome. And it was homecoming, which meant the singing of the Alma Matter, and a ton of people being honored in timeouts. Very fun. Rating: 13/15

Atmosphere total: 35/40

On-field:

Quality of play: Vandy gave us a run for our money in the first half, before we pulled away. Every game it seems we play well for some stretch and horrendously for the rest. You saw what we did on ESPN Friday Night at Rutgers. Outscored them 17-0 in about 5 minutes there in the end of the first half, and they outscored us 27-7 for the rest of the game. But enough on that. Anyway, we struggled for a stretch in the first half, trailing at home 21-14 first time this year we were losing at home, but other than that we played excellently. And Vandy played well too for most of the game. Rating: 16/20

Excitement: First half was exciting. Then we ran away with it and people started leaving. So it's a bit ok. Rating: 7/10

Quality of Uconn Play: Overall a good showing except that little blip in the first half. Rating: 8/10

Result: Win 10/10

On-field overall: 41/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: PA announcer was good. No problems. Ref was good with saying what penalties were. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: It was homecoming. Big game therefore. But still a non-conference game. But we could beat Vandy, unlike our next home game West Virginia. And September 25th (our previous game against Buffalo) was way too early to have it. Rating: 12/15

Size of Crowd: Sold out. So perfect. Rating: 15/15

Other total: 32/35

Overall: 108/125

October 1: Women’s Volleyball vs. Louisville

What: Women's Volleyball vs. Louisville

When: Friday, October 1 7:00 PM

Result: Loss 3-0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-12)

Write-up: Hello, again. Sorry for the absence, I haven't had time to do this. But I have gone to events, so here we go again. I got to the Gampel before the game started for once. And stayed for the whole thing before heading over to late night at Union. It was pretty fun. And a lot of the Louisville players are from Russia or other former Soviet countries (like Uzbekistan.) At one point one of them yelled something, and I couldn't tell if she said "Net!" or "Nyet!". They should name their fan club something along those lines. Like "Nyet Fans". On second thought, probably not that. "Nyet Fans" could better be applied to us.

Ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Overall a good atmosphere. Pretty fun. Some creepy guy kept swinging his wife beater over his head while in the meantime having no top on, but other than that it was fine. Still, creepy guy detracts from the rating a bit. Rating: 7/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Guys behind the Louisville side screaming "Oh-o-o-o-" every time they served. And overall, the crowd cheered when we scored and were still good sports when we didn't. But they weren't that loud. Nice. Rating: 9/15

Event Atmosphere: On-field contest featuring some guy trying to serve a volleyball over the net and hit some t-shirts which were lined up. And what he hit, he won. But he didn't win anything after 3 tries and a second (fourth?) chance try. Oh well. He was fun. Rating: 11/15

Overall Atmosphere rating: 27/40

On-field:

Quality of Play: First set was pretty competitive, but then we just fell apart and made stupid errors. Overall, somewhat decent. Rating: 15/20

Excitement: First set was pretty exciting, but then it fell off. And we knew it was over basically by the time the 3rd set started, and maybe even before. Rating: 4/10

Quality of UConn Play: We played decently in the first set, then struggled. But it was a good fight for a little while. Rating: 6/10

Result Loss 0/10

On-field rating: 25/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: No complaints here. Announcer was fine. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Louisville is a major team, and to beat them would have been huge. We didn't, but it was still exciting. Rating: 10/15

Size of Crowd: Volleyball Exemption (which states that since Gampel is designed for Basketball, we can't penalize Volleyball for being 90% empty) prevents this from failing. It was about 15% full, which for volleyball is good. Rating: 7/15

Other total: 22/35

Total Rating: 74/125

Ratings Page is Here!

The overall ratings page is here! Click on the bar at the top for it. And before you all bite my head off: I know men's soccer is down in the ranks on crowd size. I do not expect it to stay that way. However, there is 1 men's soccer game there and it was Tuesday's game in the rain, which naturally was poorly attended. That should come up.

Tuesday September 28th: Men's Soccer vs. Boston College

What: Men's Soccer vs. Boston College

Result: Win 2-0 (report)

When: Tuesday September 28th, 7:30 PM

Summary: Sorry for the delayed post, I've been busy. I'll try to post these shortly after, but since we don't have many readers yet since I'm starting to post this places when I'm done with this post, it shouldn't matter. Anyway, I went here with Goal Patrol (UConn student section). The weather was a bit nasty, pouring rain at times, and drizzling throughout most of the game. The stands were pretty empty. We got 2 goals, by Carlos Alvarez and Stephan Diop. Overall a good time, and another shutout.

Ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Student section was a very good with eachother. What they were saying was not necessarily family-friendly but for college students it was about what you would expect. Overall, I wouldn't want my 8-year-old (if I had one) sitting there, but it wasn't too big a deal. Rating: 8/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Those who came out despite the weather were very into it. It's the Goal Patrol, the best student section in college soccer. That makes it amazing. And it was loud and raucous. Rating: 15/15

Event Atmosphere: The weather made this a bit nasty, but it was a good nonetheless. Fans were into it, there was stuff going on, and free pizza for students! Rating: 12/15

Atmosphere total: 35/40

On-field:

Quality of play: Good Game. BC Goalie seemed good in the first half before we got 2 in the second. Still a very competitive game. Our goalie and defense were spectacular as usual. And BC played well also. Rating: 18/20

Excitement: First half was scoreless, second half got exciting with Alvarez scoring, but once Diop made it 2-0 with a bit over 20 minutes left, it was basically over. Our goalie has let in 1 goal all year, he wasn't about to let in 2 in 2o minutes. But it was still exciting. Rating: 9/10

Quality of UConn Play: We played excellently. We won, we dominated, great. Rating: 10/10

Result: We won: Rating: 10/10

On-field total: 47/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: There was a PA announcer, and he made everything clear including Corner Kicks, who scored goals, etc. Good job. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: Boston College was ranked #14, we were ranked #3. It was a pretty big non-conference showdown. Unfortunately, we're probably not moving up in the ranks unless UNC or Akron (#1 and #2) loses but we won't move down, that's for sure. BC's ranking should now fall a couple of spots. Rating: 10/15

Size of Crowd: Official Attendance was 1,484. We normally get about 3,000-4,000. It was the weather that did it, but nonetheless it was still detrimental. Rating: 5/15

Other total: 20/35

Rating total: 102/125

Schedule Week of 9/28-10/3 2010

Here is my schedule of events I may attend this week. I will post all the ones until Sunday here, then over the weekend, I will do from next Monday. Here we go

Key:

Y= definitely (or near-definitely) attending'

P= Probably attending

M= Maybe attending

D= Doubtful to attend

If I am certainly not attending, I won't post it. If things change and I do wind up attending one of these, I will post again.

Tuesday September 28th:

Men's Soccer vs. Boston College 7:30 PM (Y)

Friday October 1st:

Women's Volleyball vs. Louisville 7:00 PM (M)

Saturday October 2nd:

Football vs. Vanderbilt 12:00 PM (Y)

Sunday October 3rd:

Softball vs. Bryant 11:00 AM (M)
Women's Volleyball vs. Cincinnati 2:00 PM (P)
Softball vs. Southern Connecticut State 3:00 PM (D)

September 26th, 2010: Women's Volleyball vs. Villanova

What: Women's Volleyball vs. Villanova (Gampel Pavillion)
When: September 26th, 2010 2:00 PM
What I saw: Most of second set and all of third
Result: Villanova 3-0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-21) Report


Summary: I arrived at Gampel a little ways into the second set, UConn down one set. There were some students there, but the crowd appeared to move in and out throughout the course of the match. The Huskies played somewhat well, keeping the second and third sets close, but lost. It was a somewhat interesting match.

Ratings:
Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Fans kept it clean but really didn't have that same chemistry feel you get in the crowd at a lot of other events. During the third set, there were a few students sitting right behind the 'Nova side of the court screaming "AAAAAAAHHHH" every time they served. That got a bit annoying. Rating: 8/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Fans seemed somewhat into it, but not much. A few younger kids with their parents got a bit excited, as did the annoying students from behind the Villanova courtside. But overall, not a very raucous crowd. Rating: 7/15

Event Atmosphere: It was in Gampel, which helped, and there was music during timeouts and between sets. There were also signs telling me to join the "Block Party" which I believe is the fan group for volleyball, but I found no place where I could do so. It's clear they're trying, but not very well. Rating: 6/15

Atmosphere total: 21/40

On-the-field:

Quality of play: We played well (sort of) and Nova played well. There were some good, long rallies. A lot of hits sometimes. Some of these points, it's too bad someone had to lose it. Rating: 14/20


Excitement: Second set was somewhat exciting, but once we went down 2-0 everyone knew it was over. We weren't going to win 3 straight sets. Still, it deserves some credit. Rating: 5/10

Quality of UConn play: The first set (which I did not see) we apparently struggled. The second and third we kept it close, leading for a while in the second, but we lost in straight sets anyway. Overall, a good job, and far better than the scoreline looks. Rating: 6/10

Result: We lost. Rating 0/10

Overall on-field: 25/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: Awesome PA announcer "pooooooooint UConn!". Announced the names of the players who won the point. Don't know his name, but that's usually the case with PA guys. I'm just spoiled since I'm a Yankees fan and had the legendary Bob Sheppard PA the games for over 50 years. And before you ask, nobody, at UConn or otherwise, is as good a PA announcer as he was. But I digress. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: The first Big East game of the season. Not that bad. But it didn't appear to mean much. Rating: 9/15

Size of Crowd: Like I said, since this is in Gampel, which is designed for basketball crowds, volleyball won't be penalized for only filling 10% of the seats. That being said, we didn't. That may be due to homecoming events happening at the same time. It was still a decent crowd though. Rating: 6/15

Overall other: 20/35

Total score: 66/125

September 26th: Softball vs. Rhode Island

Event: Women's Softball vs. Rhode Island Rams
Date: Sunday September 26th, 11 AM
What I saw: I came in the top of the 6th, with UConn down 5-1. I left in the top of the 9th, with URI up 10-6 and about to get more.
Result: I don't know. I assume UConn lost, but I couldn't find a score anywhere, or a summary, or anything. Strange.

Summary: I was on Uconn's athletic website this morning around 11:50 to see what time the volleyball game (which will have a review in a minute) was. I saw we had a softball game going on then. At first I thought it was an error because it was the fall, but I confirmed that there is in fact a brief fall softball season. I got to Softball Field (no name) around 12:15, and the game was in the Top of the 6th, URI up 5-1 having gotten 5 runs in the 5th. We hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-4, and took a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the 8th. URI went up 10-6, and had runners on second and third with one out, when I left to go get some lunch because it was already after 1 and the game was basically over. I cannot find a summary or score anywhere, but I assume the Rams won. If anyone knows what happened, please comment. There was also no PA announcer, so I have no idea who any of the players were. They didn't distribute programs (in fact there was nobody even watching who was coming in; bin Laden could have waltzed in there unnoticed). It was an interesting stadium. No restrooms; even the girls had to use the Port-a-Pottys. And they wound up hopping over the chain fence in left field to do so because the gate to get out of the field and onto the grass where the outhouse stood was locked. Anyway, here are the ratings:

Atmosphere:

Fan friendliness: Most of the fans were parents or other family members of the Players. They seemed to know eachother pretty well. They kept the language clean, and not offensive at all. One of the moms even baked cookies for the other families. She was sitting right behind me and offered all of them cookies, but not me. They all were commenting on how good and amazing they were. But I let them have them. I'm not related to any of the players; she didn't know me and I didn't know her. So that's ok. Other than that, they were all very nice. Rating: 10/10

Fan Enthusiasm: The fans seemed to get excited at times, yelling encouragement such as "Come on girls, everyone get on" and "Rally!". They really didn't seem to say much of anything when we were in the field other than a golf clap of sorts when we got an out. They clapped when someone got on for us, and "good try" when an out was made. They seemed to be cheering very casually, but not apathetically by any means. Rating: 10/15

Event Atmosphere: Few if any students there other than me. Nothing going on other than the game and conversations in the stands (and the cookies). No PA announcer either. Players didn't seem to be ignoring the fans, but they were focused on the game. While there wasn't much going on, it wasn't boring either. Rating: 6/15

Overall Atmosphere Rating: 26/40

On-field:

Quality of play: No mistakes that I saw. Both teams played hard and well. But given that UConn gave up 5 runs in two separate innings (5 and also 9 where they may have allowed more) it wasn't perfect by any means. Rating: 16/20

Excitement: We rallied from 4 down to get runs in the 6th and 8th, then URI rallied. So it was somewhat exciting until they kept scoring after they'd pretty much sealed it. Rating: 8/10

Quality of UConn play: We played hard, then fell apart in the 9th. We did a good job overall though. Rating: 7/10

Result: Assuming we lost (if not I'll update later) this will be handled accordingly. Rating: 0/10

Overall On-field rating: 31/50

Other:

Clarity of fan Communication: No PA announcer, so I didn't really know who the players were. But the umps were good about communicating ball/strike, safe/out etc and there really were no unclear calls. Rating: 4/5

Magnitude of Event: Not a big game, but one of the first of the year, and one of only a few fall games before we go to spring. It counts like any other regular season game, and it's against a former football rival of ours. Rating: 5/15

Size of Crowd: Fans were somewhat full, mostly with parents and family. Not really any locals or students. Rating: 5/15

Other total rating: 14/30

Welcome

Hello. This is a new blog I figured I'd make describing the quality of UConn Sporting Events. I will be attending and chronicling various UConn Sporting Events in as many sports as possible. I will start with the two I attended today. These will be up in a few minutes. I will summarize the game, as well as rate each and give a summary. If you want to know our rating system, go to Rating System (click there or above.) I will usually upload pictures if I can, but for the two that will be up in a few minutes, I have none.

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