"Auriemma said Monday that UConn will once again play a regular season game at Webster Bank Arena this season. And it could be more than that by the time the schedule is finalized. The Huskies made history during an 80-36 win over Temple Jan. 11 when they drew a sellout crowd of 9,274, which matched the arena record for a sporting event that was set by the UConn men's basketball team against Eastern Washington Dec. 28.
"There's probably no more exciting thing that goes on in this arena, with all due respect to World Wrestling (Entertainment) and the circus and all of the great entertainment that happens here, than when the UConn men and women play here,'' Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said. "And it's a great feeling to be mayor of a city who graduated from the University of Connecticut and can welcome one of the people that brought us to worldwide preeminence, Geno Auriemma.''"
That stings. My hatred for UCONNvicts grows deeper.
I get that womens basketball more or less does not exist outside of Connecticut, but if they want to build their brand and awareness maybe they should play somewhere else. Good for the arena, bad for Stags.
I get that womens basketball more or less does not exist outside of Connecticut.....
Last season, Marist MAAC Women's Basketball drew more fans (1,934 average) to their McCann Center in Poughkeepsie, NY than all of the MAAC Men's Basketball programs other than Siena (5,707 average).
"With all due respect", after all that Fairfield University does for Bridgeport you would hope that Mayor Finch (UConn grad or not) would not be dissing Stag Basketball by not even mentioning it in the same sentence as the circus and the WWE.
Not only are the Huskies 10-1 all-time at the WBA venue, but they have drawn impressive crowds through the years as well. Auriemma expressed his admiration for the arena and the support his program has received during a news conference Monday at the Limerick Pub inside the arena. "We don't just at random go places and see if it'll work,'' Auriemma said. "We go places where we know it will work. I was thrilled when I heard about it and I know our players are going to love playing here. It's just an exciting place for us. We've done a lot of great things here in Bridgeport.''....
I get that womens basketball more or less does not exist outside of Connecticut.....
Last season, Marist MAAC Women's Basketball drew more fans (1,934 average) to their McCann Center in Poughkeepsie, NY than all of the MAAC Men's Basketball programs other than Siena (5,707 average).
"With all due respect", after all that Fairfield University does for Bridgeport you would hope that Mayor Finch (UConn grad or not) would not be dissing Stag Basketball by not even mentioning it in the same sentence as the circus and the WWE.
Not only are the Huskies 10-1 all-time at the WBA venue, but they have drawn impressive crowds through the years as well. Auriemma expressed his admiration for the arena and the support his program has received during a news conference Monday at the Limerick Pub inside the arena. "We don't just at random go places and see if it'll work,'' Auriemma said. "We go places where we know it will work. I was thrilled when I heard about it and I know our players are going to love playing here. It's just an exciting place for us. We've done a lot of great things here in Bridgeport.''....
Yeah, but Finch didn't even mention the prime tennant of the arena, the Sound Tigers. Looks like the mayor got carried away with the celebration of the moment at the expense of the standard bearers in Stags Basketball and the Tigers.
Stag supporters should not be envious of UConn success. They are the state university with virtually unlimited funding and want to bring their product to different parts of the state. FFld. Should find a way to build from the excitement generated by the UConn teams and compliment the success that UConn brings to Bridgeport.
