UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

[Dan]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

As I've made well known, I'm so tired of the excuses of academics and facilities leading to the demise of the hockey program. UNH is in a tough spot financially, the academic elitism is bogus and the athletic department as a whole does very little to market, support or raise money for its programs. But it is what it is. So work through it. There have always been two types of coaches at UNH...

When hockey excelled it was because they had an invested young coach in DU and assistants who made the most of everything they had, while making ZERO excuses. Now they have a distant head coach and we continue to hear excuse after excuse about being blindsided by admission (again and again!) and a lack of facilities by people connected to the program. Those excuses can only generate from one place and that speaks loudly to why this program is where it is now.

Quite frankly, in my opinion, UNH did nothing for football. Sean MacDonald is an AMAZING coach, with determination and vision, who has built an incredible program by embracing the program's limitations and lack of funding. He has eliminated excuses and worked for everything that his program has become. Not only has he far exceeded any realistic expectation one could have ever had for football but he is successful on a national scale in the FCS. The same can be said of any of the successful programs at UNH. Those coaches also have very little to work with, but they don't whine - they get it done. Just like hockey used to be when they had similar leadership and belief...

Meanwhile, basketball at UNH has always been an excuse factory - citing reason after reason why they can't compete (or in most year's even be relevant) in the worst DI conference in NCAA basketball. Are we really excited to finally be over .500, a mark that includes a pair of wins over DII/III clubs and a best win of who...? That program has always been a joke because it has always accepted its 'lot in life'.

Right now, we have a hockey head coach and administration that is thinking (and feeling sorry for itself) way too much like UNH basketball and not nearly enough like UNH football (and certainly gymnastics, as well.). UNH hockey needs to get back to an attention to detail, a refusal to accept excuses and steadfast belief in its mission and ability to compete with anyone. Right now there is a loser attitude permeating the program, a loser attitude holding them accountable from the administration above and as a result, they're losing...

[Dan]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

If basketball really wants to be worth while - they should play 14 non-conference buy games and raise 7-10 million dollars for the rest of the athletic department. Maybe then, they'd even attract enough recruits who want to challenge themselves against major schools (instead of the Lydon States and Suffolks of the world!) to actually be a player in America East...

OR maybe they could have higher expectations than a coach who is 117-191 in 11 years playing the step-children of DI basketball (with probably 10-20% of those wins coming against non-DIs mind you)...

[zoofer]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Nicely written and said UNH1932 but the one thing you omitted was the biggest reason for the shift to football's prominence.....first off I have to say that we'd all like all our sports to do well, and yes our women's sports have great season's for most of their sports, but given the budget, booster's and sponsors pool that we have, only so much money is available, and can be spread only so thin. So which sport's ROI is the best? I believe UNH earned somewhere near $400,000 for making the finals in football.....what do you think it costs to bring Michigan and Notre Dame to the Whitt, even if the league helps defer costs? Unfortunately the women's sports do not bring in anything, but even so I bet combining all their sport's rosters might total the same number of players on the football team.....
And while it's true HockeyRef that HE has 5 teams in the top 10 nationally and is very competitive, if Admissions would get off it's high horse, we'd be right back in the conversation.....

[Dan]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

if Admissions would get off it's high horse, we'd be right back in the conversation.....

Or if the coaching staff would learn its lesson and start recruiting the multitudes of talented players out there who are still admissible or if they would bother to pay attention to the recruits after they commit and ensure they're taking the necessary classes. These consistent academic issues and screw-ups are 100% on Umile and his staff and they need to get their heads out of their rear-ends and do their jobs...

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

We have the talent to play with BU, BC, Providence and Lowell

So does AIC.

[Dan]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

So does AIC.

Right, just cause they're not getting run off the ice - and have stolen a couple games - doesn't mean they're any where near those programs or that we can 'play with them' consistently. Any DI program - just like any DI goalie - can turn in a good performance once in a while. They're DI athletes. You know what separates the good teams from the bad teams and the good goalies from the bad goalies? Consistency.

BTW, UNH accepts 80% of students who apply - according to this link. With a two-part SAT score of 1000. Golly, how do Umile and company even field a team with such rigid standards...!!

http://collegeapps.about.com/od/coll...-hampshire.htm

Pay attention to the simple requirements and make sure the kids take the right classes. Don't continuously fail to monitor your recruits and ***** about admissions...

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

As I've made well known, I'm so tired of the excuses of academics and facilities leading to the demise of the hockey program. UNH is in a tough spot financially, the academic elitism is bogus and the athletic department as a whole does very little to market, support or raise money for its programs. But it is what it is. So work through it. There have always been two types of coaches at UNH...

When hockey excelled it was because they had an invested young coach in DU and assistants who made the most of everything they had, while making ZERO excuses. Now they have a distant head coach and we continue to hear excuse after excuse about being blindsided by admission (again and again!) and a lack of facilities by people connected to the program. Those excuses can only generate from one place and that speaks loudly to why this program is where it is now.

Quite frankly, in my opinion, UNH did nothing for football. Sean MacDonald is an AMAZING coach, with determination and vision, who has built an incredible program by embracing the program's limitations and lack of funding. He has eliminated excuses and worked for everything that his program has become. Not only has he far exceeded any realistic expectation one could have ever had for football but he is successful on a national scale in the FCS. The same can be said of any of the successful programs at UNH. Those coaches also have very little to work with, but they don't whine - they get it done. (Not to mention they shamed the U into building them a new facility!!) Just like hockey used to be when they had similar leadership and belief...

Meanwhile, basketball at UNH has always been an excuse factory - citing reason after reason why they can't compete (or in most year's even be relevant) in the worst DI conference in NCAA basketball. Are we really excited to finally be over .500, a mark that includes a pair of wins over DII/III clubs and a best win of who...? (Gotta start somewhere. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt to see if they push the program further up the competitive ladder) That program has always been a joke because it has always accepted its 'lot in life'.

Right now, we have a hockey head coach and administration that is thinking (and feeling sorry for itself) way too much like UNH basketball and not nearly enough like UNH football (and certainly gymnastics, as well.). UNH hockey needs to get back to an attention to detail, a refusal to accept excuses and steadfast belief in its mission and ability to compete with anyone. Right now there is a loser attitude permeating the program, a loser attitude holding them accountable from the administration above and as a result, they're losing...

Oh and BTW I'm watching WMUR News right now, and just saw my first ever Men's Hoops commercial hawking AE Playoff home game tickets ...

[NCAA watcher]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

I am sure it will be a brutal offseason on the boards. Rest assured that there is talent on the way.

It's only brutal until you hit bottom. Then it's going up. From what I understand about the team, the lockerroom suffers from the lack of direction.

As to the last sentence, is there knowledge behind this, or just a throw away line? Nothing about the team or the new coach allows me to "rest assured" though I am not dismissing the notion out of hand. A year into this, and it seems they're aiming for singles. Would be nice to see a double, or even a triple.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Just read that the Bruins very own Rene Rancourt will sing the anthem at Friday night's game....

[Snively65]

Just read that the Bruins very own Rene Rancourt will sing the anthem at Friday night's game....

Trivia Quiz: What do Rene Rancourt and Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, have in common?

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Trivia Quiz: What do Rene Rancourt and Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, have in common?

I dunno; they are both from Lewiston, Me??? (of course I looked that up)

[Snively65]

I dunno; they are both from Lewiston, Me??? (of course I looked that up)

Bingo, eh!

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

As I've made well known, I'm so tired of the excuses of academics and facilities leading to the demise of the hockey program. UNH is in a tough spot financially, the academic elitism is bogus and the athletic department as a whole does very little to market, support or raise money for its programs. But it is what it is. So work through it. There have always been two types of coaches at UNH...

When hockey excelled it was because they had an invested young coach in DU and assistants who made the most of everything they had, while making ZERO excuses. Now they have a distant head coach and we continue to hear excuse after excuse about being blindsided by admission (again and again!) and a lack of facilities by people connected to the program. Those excuses can only generate from one place and that speaks loudly to why this program is where it is now.

Quite frankly, in my opinion, UNH did nothing for football. Sean MacDonald is an AMAZING coach, with determination and vision, who has built an incredible program by embracing the program's limitations and lack of funding. He has eliminated excuses and worked for everything that his program has become. Not only has he far exceeded any realistic expectation one could have ever had for football but he is successful on a national scale in the FCS. The same can be said of any of the successful programs at UNH. Those coaches also have very little to work with, but they don't whine - they get it done. Just like hockey used to be when they had similar leadership and belief...

Meanwhile, basketball at UNH has always been an excuse factory - citing reason after reason why they can't compete (or in most year's even be relevant) in the worst DI conference in NCAA basketball. Are we really excited to finally be over .500, a mark that includes a pair of wins over DII/III clubs and a best win of who...? That program has always been a joke because it has always accepted its 'lot in life'.

Right now, we have a hockey head coach and administration that is thinking (and feeling sorry for itself) way too much like UNH basketball and not nearly enough like UNH football (and certainly gymnastics, as well.). UNH hockey needs to get back to an attention to detail, a refusal to accept excuses and steadfast belief in its mission and ability to compete with anyone. Right now there is a loser attitude permeating the program, a loser attitude holding them accountable from the administration above and as a result, they're losing...

Not sure what you feel is bogus? From everything I've heard athletes needing academic credentials that fall within those of the general student body is the current reality for admissions. Nobody is trying to paint UNH as an Ivy League school. At the same time I'm going to venture a guess that for over 90% of the D-I schools that admission standard is not the norm for hoop and football. Syracuse has already had sanctions dropped on them and North Carolina has to be on the verge of getting hammered for their transgressions.

Why wouldn't people be excited about a 17-11 record and a second consecutive winning season with the horrid history of UNH MBB? And for the record the best win is over Albany who has won America East multiple times in the past years. And for the OP UNH took BC to overtime this year, missing a shot at the buzzer in regulation. I have no illusions of grandeur for UNH in hoop because you can't win big nationally without going into the cesspool of big time collegiate sports. That is never happening in Durham. They've become a player in AE and should be a leading contender next season.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

Honestly very happy for Hoops. I enjoyed the Drapeau/Alosa/Montanari (sp?) teams from 20+ years ago immensely. It's been too few good seasons, and too far between them overall.

It would be terrific if UNH Hoops became a consistent competitor at their level, just as Football has at theirs.

I only said seeing Hockey fall behind the other two programs' results was unprecedented, at least in my lifetime.

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2015-2016 (Part Three) - Living in Interesting Times

If basketball really wants to be worth while - they should play 14 non-conference buy games and raise 7-10 million dollars for the rest of the athletic department. Maybe then, they'd even attract enough recruits who want to challenge themselves against major schools (instead of the Lydon States and Suffolks of the world!) to actually be a player in America East...

OR maybe they could have higher expectations than a coach who is 117-191 in 11 years playing the step-children of DI basketball (with probably 10-20% of those wins coming against non-DIs mind you)...

From what I know about the pay days in D-I basketball, UNH would be lucky to obtain $1.5 million for 14 OOC games! And a chunk of that would get eaten up with the travel expenses going all over the country. Not to mention how the time traveling would impact the player's academics. Basketball plays on week nights unlike hockey with the primarily weekend scheduling.

And please one or two non D-I games in a season of 28-30 games isn't even 10% let alone 20%. For the record, I absolutely detest the non D-I games and try to boycott them. Most of the basketball fans I know don't like them but playing one has become the norm in the Northeast. The second one is just inexcusable IMHO. At any rate, you need to stop with the hyperbole.

To play devil's advocate, with all the claims about hockey playing with the big boys and being the most important program at UNH, why isn't hockey playing high level games and bringing in your 7-10 million to fund the rest of the athletic program? That's what premier programs at other D-I schools do. BTW, from what I've been told, football is currently bringing in more money to the Athletic Dept than hockey and as my source told me "it isn't even close". I figured many responses would be to denigrate other programs at UNH instead of focusing on what hockey needs to do to improve.

How does anything accomplished by other programs negatively affect ice hockey??????? Why the need to denigrate them because they don't play at the highest level of D-I? Sure hockey does, but there are only what 60 D-I schools and many of them aren't D-I in all other sports. I love that UNH can win a national championship in ice hockey, but I understand it is a niche sport that the majority of America doesn't care about. And I'm also smart enough to know that if more of the big boys decided to play D-I hockey, the more difficult it would be for UNH to remain a true national contender. Shoot, right now we're not a contender in Hockey East. Nationally, football is significantly more popular than ice hockey so why wouldn't people care about UNH Football. I get to watch a quality product and have a great tailgating experience for far less than I would at a P5 school. I've been to a big time rivalry game at a P5 school and it was an incredible experience but I left saying I got a better value at UNH. And I don't have to ignore the semi-professional, academic charade at the majority of P5 schools. And I get to watch UNH compete for a national championship against around 125 peer D-I schools. That's great for me.