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a12jay · Junior Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 256 Location: Tampa Bay

I think we should try to build a football rivalry with the Buffalo Bulls. Now that Temple is leaving they are the next closest school. If possible we should try to piggy back the UMass-Buffalo game with the Patriots-Bills making it a Saturday/Sunday double header either in Buffalo or Foxboro.

Marty Peretz · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:05 am Post subject:

Sounds sexy...I'm sure the national TV folks will be just clamoring to get the rights to the annual UMass UB match-up.

Let's be real, folks: losing Temple friggin sucks.
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a12jay · Junior Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 256 Location: Tampa Bay

This has nothing to do with the national TV media. It's about building a regional rival and getting the fan base interested and a decent opportunity to attract the casual fan.

photoman · Senior Joined: 26 Apr 2003 Posts: 919 Location: Attleboro

Calling Buffalo a regional rival is a huge stretch. Yes, we're both in the United States, but that's about as regional as it gets.

InnervisionsUMASS · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:18 am Post subject:

photoman · Senior Joined: 26 Apr 2003 Posts: 919 Location: Attleboro

I love the Niagara Falls area myself. Have had to drag the kids out of there on vacations they loved it so much. That being said it was a heck of a long drive. As the MAC was the only conference that would have us, I was for the move for the sake of the FBS upgrade. The geographical makeup of the conference was never going to be the selling point.

LS71 · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:03 pm Post subject:

Buffalo...great steaks, burgers and wings. Wink

No interest in a road trip there. The ride on the Thruway is among the most boring EVER.
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InnervisionsUMASS · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:05 pm Post subject:

The ride is only fun if you have fun people in the car. A great game of silo counting will get you through!

Buffalo can be fun, but it really is a depressed city.
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UMass87 · Hall of Fame Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 7333

Once you have lived in other parts of the country it becomes abundantly clear how different NY/NE are from the rest of the country in the area of sports fandom. NY/NE is, quite simply, a professional sports region. Professional sports drown out college and high school sports to a far greater extent in the NY/NE region than anywhere else I've been in the country (Midwest, West, South and mid-atlantic). We may think we had a rivalry with Temple but there are innumerable high school rivalries around the country whose attendance dwarfs the attendance we'd get at a Temple-UMass football game. This is just one more reason why UMass' only real hope of athletic relevance lies in the ACC.

Right now, BC is the only school in New England that has cemented it's place in the future college athletics environment. UConn is a bad hire replacing Calhoun from being only marginally better placed than UMass. The Big East will not be a BCS conference in five years and if UConn hasn't got into the ACC (which they will) then they will be in almost as bad of a position as UMass. Both UConn and BC would benefit from having UMass in their conference for the simple reason that the only long-term hope of changing the attitude of sports fans in NY/NE towards college sports is to build serious local rivalries among the three teams at the highest level of college athletics. Without those rivalries BC (and UConn and UMass) will continue to struggle to get 20,000 fans to football. BC sees that now and so will UConn in the joke that the Big East has become.

photoman · Senior Joined: 26 Apr 2003 Posts: 919 Location: Attleboro

^^
I think that your point about this being a "pro sports" area is far more relevant than a college program's league affiliation. As you said, BC's in the ACC and still struggles to fill their (relatively small compared to other ACC schools) stadium. We'll have a pretty good test in our OOC games with UConn, and BC to see if there's any real fan interest.

Doc Moonlight · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:32 pm Post subject:

UMass87 · Hall of Fame Joined: 02 Apr 2003 Posts: 7333

Chris20 · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:51 pm Post subject:

87, you are exactly right......and we're not in the club. I am not optimistic about what we'll be left with when the music stops.

photoman · Senior Joined: 26 Apr 2003 Posts: 919 Location: Attleboro

Guess I'm just a little baffled at the negativity before we've played our first FBS game. You didn't really think we were going to be immediately admitted to the ACC, did you? I just want a little time to enjoy some MAC football before worrying about the next problem. As for the NE area becoming a hotbed of college sports, probably not going to happen....ever.

Chris20 · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:05 pm Post subject:

I plan on enjoying the move to the MAC. It was absolutely necessary. But I don't like the way things are going overall in college sports, or our overall longterm position to remain relevant.