An Open Letter to Coach Umile

[Chuck Murray]

Precarious state of UNH football

Precarious state of UNH football

That's another consideration, too. Who has the cojones to stand up to the ridiculosity that is the AD at UNH right now? Umile. We've been saying it all along, his leaving will be on his terms, but how much does that mean? Just about EVERYTHING is on his terms, and for a team that needs to breach that invisible barrier, the coach needs to be practically autonomous. Lose Umile now, and the next coach... let's hope he's bowlegged, because those are the cojones he'd need to stand up for the needs of the team against an AD who is more concerned about building up the I-AA football team and getting them a new stadium. NOTE: I am NOT saying the football stadium is good, or even adequate. I AM saying that UNH AD could ostensibly pull a lot of much-needed funding from hockey to put into football, and that's not going to help our boys of winter. Put a coach in there who has connections with Scarano, and look out.

Cowell "Stadium" (and I use that term VERY loosely) is an eyesore and an embarrassment to UNH. If I were the AD, my every waking moment on the job would be devoted to getting something done to make the venue at least at the level of a decent HS facility. I am NOT exaggerating when I say that the multipurpose HS football/soccer stadium we recently built in our school district is light years more presentable than where UNH plays their games. I'm frankly surprised UNH hasn't inquired yet about moving their home games there. At least it would be more presentable for the fans/alums anyway.

UNH found a way to build the Whittemore Center, so there's no reason they couldn't at least upgrade the stadium facility across the street. The field is actually upgraded already, and the program itself has been going great guns (albeit at the 1AA level) for the last 6+ seasons. Maybe the fact they've not had to raze any condemned sets of bleachers in the last few seasons is seen as a step forward?

But Scarano can't be blamed for trying to take advantage of an "up" period with the football program to rectify the stadium eyesore. No one expects a palace. But UNH can't allow its dump to persist either. I'm all for putting the hockey program first ... but we already have an on-campus arena that can handle hockey (and hoops, IF they ever make a serious run at respectability) and I can't help but think that if we don't get a modest stadium built for the football program, at some point when the current run of good seasons stalls, UNH football could easily go the way of the BU & NU programs. JMHO.

 

[WildKitty]

Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

I don't disagree with you at all, Chuck. I'm just chewing my nails hoping Scarano doesn't take TOO much from hockey - we still need quarters for laundry, you know!

Edit: Just recalled, ESPN supposedly refuses to come to UNH home football games because of the god-awful press box. Maybe hockey could borrow the football press box and spare us the Melrose attack???

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Cowell "Stadium" (and I use that term VERY loosely) is an eyesore and an embarrassment to UNH. .

If a high school in Texas can do this:
http://thepigskindoctors.com/2010/04/texas-high-school-gets-60-million-football-stadium/

Why can't UNH?

 

[thecomicbookguy]

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

UNH found a way to build the Whittemore Center, so there's no reason they couldn't at least upgrade the stadium facility across the street. The field is actually upgraded already, and the program itself has been going great guns (albeit at the 1AA level) for the last 6+ seasons. Maybe the fact they've not had to raze any condemned sets of bleachers in the last few seasons is seen as a step forward?

If a high school in Texas can do this:
http://thepigskindoctors.com/2010/04/texas-high-school-gets-60-million-football-stadium/

Why can't UNH?

Money.

Unless I'm mistaken, UNH is still in debt from the Whitt, and pretty seriously. The building was supposed to be even nicer, but they couldn't spend any more.

 

[mookie1995]

Re: Group hug for the alumni ... goes a long way??

Re: Group hug for the alumni ... goes a long way??

http://www.bc.edu/schools/csom/eagleeyes/newsletters/winter06/donations.html

almost

 

[theprofromdover]

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

UNH found a way to build the Whittemore Center......

They ran out of money during construction. That's why there was no scoreboard over center ice, as planned, when it opened. Several years ago they approached Suffolk Construction to see what it would cost to get the ice reduced to normal size with the idea of adding seats. They found they couldn't afford that either.

 

[JB]

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

They ran out of money during construction. That's why there was no scoreboard over center ice, as planned, when it opened. Several years ago they approached Suffolk Construction to see what it would cost to get the ice reduced to normal size with the idea of adding seats. They found they couldn't afford that either.

The Whitt was essentially a really big donation from the Whittimore family and the Towse family. The Whittimore's gave the vast majority (like $25M). This is the same Whittimore family that the business school is named after.

The state of NH would not underwrite a bond for the building and hence the University could not get bank money. The University needs the states backing to do that and the state refuses to pay for anything not directly related to education (including not paying for things like housing and dining). Maybe the school is still in "debt" but I doubt it as one of the big problems was the in ability to bond the project.

 

[Maineiak]

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

The Whitt was essentially a really big donation from the Whittimore family and the Towse family. The Whittimore's gave the vast majority (like $25M). This is the same Whittimore family that the business school is named after.

I was just going to ask about UNH alumni. Not familiar with who's out there, but could they target some of these wealthy alumni to pony up for facilities?

I know if it weren't for the likes of the Alfonds, Kings, Morses, Mahaneys, Collins, etc, UMaine's facilities would still be sub-par. I remember going to football games as a kid with my father and grandfather and the terrible condition that the stands were in at the football field.

Couldn't find a picture online quick of the old, wooden, bleachers, but I'll take our newer stadium any day.

 

[Slasher7]

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Money.

Unless I'm mistaken, UNH is still in debt from the Whitt, and pretty seriously. The building was supposed to be even nicer, but they couldn't spend any more.

The Whitt has some serious short cuts taken. That scoreboard is hideous.

 

[unhpuckfan2001]

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

The Whitt was essentially a really big donation from the Whittimore family and the Towse family. The Whittimore's gave the vast majority (like $25M). This is the same Whittimore family that the business school is named after.

The state of NH would not underwrite a bond for the building and hence the University could not get bank money. The University needs the states backing to do that and the state refuses to pay for anything not directly related to education (including not paying for things like housing and dining). Maybe the school is still in "debt" but I doubt it as one of the big problems was the in ability to bond the project.

Perhaps we go after the guy who just donated a bunch of money to the new Business school; Welcome to the Towse Rink at the Peter T Paul Arena.

Then instead of "White out the Whit" we could . . . "Party at the Paul"? Lame.

Well, I'm buying a Powerball ticket on my way home. $250 million.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Precarious state of UNH football

Precarious state of UNH football

Perhaps we go after the guy who just donated a bunch of money to the new Business school; Welcome to the Towse Rink at the Peter T Paul Arena.

For some reason - perhaps because of its stunning irony? - I seem to recall that a large waste management company was talking with UNH a few years back about transforming the current "dump" into a modest new stadium??



Hopefully this wasn't a figment of my all-too-fertile imagination ... but looking at the current state of things at Cowell, it sadly might be just that ...

 

[JB]

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

For some reason - perhaps because of its stunning irony? - I seem to recall that a large waste management company was talking with UNH a few years back about transforming the current "dump" into a modest new stadium??



Hopefully this wasn't a figment of my all-too-fertile imagination ... but looking at the current state of things at Cowell, it sadly might be just that ...

Well with Waste Management’s link to the University getting stronger it could be interesting. If you don't know the heating system on campus is now run on natural gas from the decomposition of garbage at the Turnkey land fill up in Rochester.

Is there an advertising campaign in there somewhere for WM? Turning a land fill into a working stadium...

 

[NCAA watcher]

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=15972Someone to check into, though most of his experience is on the pro side, and he comes from an NHL background.

He did talk to his dad, Larry, the general manager of the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues, after being fired.

"I talked to him quite a bit," Steve said. "He's been through it before and I've been through it with him. He's had a pretty good career after he got let go a couple of times. If I decide to stay in hockey, again he'll be my motivation and the person I look to for guidance.

"But from a family stand point, we've moved five times in the last seven years. It's not easy and that's part of the business, but that's one area I have to evaluate and then make my next decision upon that," said the 37-year-old, who will wait until his children finish the school year before moving back to New Hampshire.

Pleau, who is married with two children ages three and six, said his short-term plans include moving his family back to the Boston area, which is their home.

“I think we’ll take a step back here,” he said. “We’re pretty far from home and that comes into the equation quite a bit. We’ve moved around quite a bit so we might just head home for a while, take a step back and see what we want to do.”

One thing is for certain, though — Pleau considers himself a coach.

“Absolutely,” he said

http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/.../pleau-pays-price-for-oil-kings-16-win-season

Was Pleau just too nice a guy? And if it isn’t in his nature to be a hard-***, maybe the troops just didn’t buy it.

It’s always tough to know whether it’s the message, the messenger, or the mailbox is simply set not to receive.

It may be an “it’s not you, it’s me” kind of thing but the bottom line is it didn’t work out.

All I can say about Pleau as a coach is that he actually enjoyed a now-required aspect of the job that many coaches just grudgingly accept: Pleau loved talking to the media. And that’s simply because he loved talking about hockey. Not surprising, maybe, for a guy who grew up around the game that his old man played and has worked in all his life.

Post-game, whether he was all smiles, or steam was pouring out of his head, Pleau was there to answer questions.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/sports/hockey/2010/04/20/13659471.html

 

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Re: Some parallels out there ...

Re: Some parallels out there ...

That right there turned me right off Lucia. I admit I'm not in touch with all that is Athletics at UNH, but Scarano is universally considered a negative in my circles. There's loads of reasons, but I won't list them here. Just saying, Scarano is not a man to whom I would voluntarily give more power at UNH. Handing him a coach to keep in his pocket, especially the head coach of a sport I love and want to protect and see grow, is at the top of my list of things NOT to do, just below sticking a knife in an outlet and following my friends off bridges.

That's another consideration, too. Who has the cojones to stand up to the ridiculosity that is the AD at UNH right now? Umile. We've been saying it all along, his leaving will be on his terms, but how much does that mean? Just about EVERYTHING is on his terms, and for a team that needs to breach that invisible barrier, the coach needs to be practically autonomous. Lose Umile now, and the next coach... let's hope he's bowlegged, because those are the cojones he'd need to stand up for the needs of the team against an AD who is more concerned about building up the I-AA football team and getting them a new stadium. NOTE: I am NOT saying the football stadium is good, or even adequate. I AM saying that UNH AD could ostensibly pull a lot of much-needed funding from hockey to put into football, and that's not going to help our boys of winter. Put a coach in there who has connections with Scarano, and look out.

Yes, I have considered that Scarano could be as much in Lucia's pocket as I've been saying about the reverse. However, Scarano would never hire a coach that intimidates him or would cause him to do something other than what he deems necessary, ie. a coach with cojones.

Please document where that has ever happened or is being proposed? And where is hockey lacking? They have far and away the best facilities of any varsity program at UNH. AFAIK, they get significantly more revenue via their Friend's program than the other programs on campus. If you think things are tough with hockey, you should go examine what the other programs have to deal with.

Some of you aren't going to like this, but listen to something from a person who is a UNH fan first and foremost rather than a UNH Hockey Fan first. Ice Hockey is a niche sport in the USA. Football is a national sport. During the past six years, applications to UNH have increased as has the quality. I heard at a UNH function that UNH Football was a significant factor in those increases due to the playoff games on ESPN and the positive publicity from the exploits of Ricky Santos and David Ball. I know Sports Illustrated did a feature story when Ball broke Jerry Rice's TD reception record. I know from talking to people I'm acquainted with in Lundholm that at multiple times during the Ricky and David years that reporters from the NY Times, the Washington Post and even the San Francisco newspaper have interviewed UNH staff. When UNH beat 1-A Rutgers in Ricky's first start in 2004, the national press inundated our poor SID. Beating 1-A (now FBS) foes Northwestern, Marshall, Army and Ball State as well as Santos winning the Walter Payton Award (FCS Heisman) brought significant positive publicity to the University of New Hampshire.

I've never heard anything of that ilk reported after Frozen Four runs or after Jason Krog won the Hobey. (Pretty sure there wasn't a feature story in SI, just some mention in their usual small article about the national championship game.) And I'm not saying that to dump on hockey, rather just an example of the farther reach and influence of football, even FCS Football. Just as an example, I venture to guess that significantly more people saw former UNHer's Jerry Azumah (one Pro Bowl appearance), Dan Kreider (Super Bowl ring blocking for Jerome Bettis for the Steelers) and Corey Graham announcing their Alma Mater this past decade on NFL games than any former Wildcats on NHL games which are usually only on Versus. Does the NHL even highlight a player's Alma Mater?

A healthy UNH Athletic Department needs strong hockey, football and basketball programs at their respective levels. We are a Division One institution after all. We don't have the option of playing D-I men's ice hockey and the rest of our sports at D-II or D-III. And Marty Scarano is the Athletic Director at a school that has 17 other D-I programs in addition to men's ice hockey. His job is to administer all 18 programs and do what's best for UNH. Right now doing some things for football is imperative for UNH Athletics to keep them competitive and to garner increased gate revenue. I don't see how doing that in any way, shape or form hurts hockey. And you are totally clueless if you don't think Marty wants and needs a strong men's hockey program.

 

[Chuck Murray]

Stevie Pleau

Stevie Pleau

I mentioned Stevie Pleau back on Post #106 in my chat with Jimmy Poriveau.

 

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

I don't disagree with you at all, Chuck. I'm just chewing my nails hoping Scarano doesn't take TOO much from hockey - we still need quarters for laundry, you know!

Edit: Just recalled, ESPN supposedly refuses to come to UNH home football games because of the god-awful press box. Maybe hockey could borrow the football press box and spare us the Melrose attack???

It's not just the press box, it's everything about televising a sporting event in the 2000's! Just think about the electronics required and how well a stadium built in the 1930's handles them (NOT)!!! And then there's the only camera locations available outside building a tower or raising a bucket being on the top deck near Lundholm -- facing right into the sun for a terrible picture quality!

UNH Football has made the NCAA Playoffs the past six years. Only one year were the playoff games held at Cowell. When you're a top four seeded team, you're guaranteed a home game as long as you make the minimum bid. All remaining games (except the championship) are put out to bid. UNH has never been selected for a home game outside the year they were seeded. Even in some years where I'm pretty sure we had competitive bids. Neither the NCAA nor ESPN wants anything to do with Cowell Stadium unless they have no choice. BTW, the stories of the ridicule that ESPN staff members (when they came to set up for the Colgate playoff game in 2006) dumped on UNH are legendary.

I've attended the UNH playoff games at Georgia Southern, Hampton (VA), UMass, Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa. I've attended UNH regular season games at Hofstra, Delaware, Towson, and Villanova. I've seen the stadiums at Stony Brook, Lehigh, Lafayette, Princeton, James Madison, Yale, The Citadel, etc. Cowell compared to any of them is worse than any comparison between say Merrimack or Providence's barn with the Whitt!! It's eye opening when you travel and see how inferior the facilities are at UNH. To Coach McDonnell and the player's credit, they put a quality product on the gridiron despite this.

 

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

Re: Precarious state of UNH football

For some reason - perhaps because of its stunning irony? - I seem to recall that a large waste management company was talking with UNH a few years back about transforming the current "dump" into a modest new stadium??



Hopefully this wasn't a figment of my all-too-fertile imagination ... but looking at the current state of things at Cowell, it sadly might be just that ...

Yep, heard through the grapevine that it was a done deal, just needed to sign the papers. But it never happened and I've never heard what sank that agreement.

FWIW, this is what it was going to look like.

http://picasaweb.google.com/DFrieds...eFootballStadiumExpansion#5213599315031407810

 

[Greg Ambrose]

Re: Some parallels out there ...

Re: Some parallels out there ...

Please document where that has ever happened or is being proposed? And where is hockey lacking? They have far and away the best facilities of any varsity program at UNH. AFAIK, they get significantly more revenue via their Friend's program than the other programs on campus. If you think things are tough with hockey, you should go examine what the other programs have to deal with.

Some of you aren't going to like this, but listen to something from a person who is a UNH fan first and foremost rather than a UNH Hockey Fan first. Ice Hockey is a niche sport in the USA. Football is a national sport. During the past six years, applications to UNH have increased as has the quality. I heard at a UNH function that UNH Football was a significant factor in those increases due to the playoff games on ESPN and the positive publicity from the exploits of Ricky Santos and David Ball. I know Sports Illustrated did a feature story when Ball broke Jerry Rice's TD reception record. I know from talking to people I'm acquainted with in Lundholm that at multiple times during the Ricky and David years that reporters from the NY Times, the Washington Post and even the San Francisco newspaper have interviewed UNH staff. When UNH beat 1-A Rutgers in Ricky's first start in 2004, the national press inundated our poor SID. Beating 1-A (now FBS) foes Northwestern, Marshall, Army and Ball State as well as Santos winning the Walter Payton Award (FCS Heisman) brought significant positive publicity to the University of New Hampshire.

I've never heard anything of that ilk reported after Frozen Four runs or after Jason Krog won the Hobey. (Pretty sure there wasn't a feature story in SI, just some mention in their usual small article about the national championship game.) And I'm not saying that to dump on hockey, rather just an example of the farther reach and influence of football, even FCS Football. Just as an example, I venture to guess that significantly more people saw former UNHer's Jerry Azumah (one Pro Bowl appearance), Dan Kreider (Super Bowl ring blocking for Jerome Bettis for the Steelers) and Corey Graham announcing their Alma Mater this past decade on NFL games than any former Wildcats on NHL games which are usually only on Versus. Does the NHL even highlight a player's Alma Mater?

A healthy UNH Athletic Department needs strong hockey, football and basketball programs at their respective levels. We are a Division One institution after all. We don't have the option of playing D-I men's ice hockey and the rest of our sports at D-II or D-III. And Marty Scarano is the Athletic Director at a school that has 17 other D-I programs in addition to men's ice hockey. His job is to administer all 18 programs and do what's best for UNH. Right now doing some things for football is imperative for UNH Athletics to keep them competitive and to garner increased gate revenue. I don't see how doing that in any way, shape or form hurts hockey. And you are totally clueless if you don't think Marty wants and needs a strong men's hockey program.

I hope you are not implying that things are tough with football? The only thing the sport is lacking is a proper facility to play in. But even if they do get that, do you really think that football is every going to break even,, let alone make a profit for the University? Only a handful of 1AA (or whatever they call them now) schools turn a profit, and they are all in footballcentric locations (Appalachian State, Montana, Delaware, etc.) with long, long histories of success. I do want UNH football to succeed, it is good for the University for sure, but I highly doubt that applicants to the school have increased because Ricky Santos and Jerry Azumah played here. It probably has more to do with the tough economy, where quality state schools (and UNH is one) become more attractive because they are more affordable.

But I want to get back to one point made in your first paragraph, that other sports have it hard compared to hockey because, after all, it has an active Friends group. I'll give you and the rest reading this a little history lesson as to how this came about. The Friends were formed in 1972, five years after the sport became D1, because hockey fans at UNH felt that the team was not getting a fair shake from the athletic department. The AD back then, Andy Mooradian, was a football guy, the UNH 100 Club, which supposedly was formed to support all UNH athletics, was led by football guys. Yes, Snively Arena had been built, but as a multi-purpose facility, not just for the benefit of the hockey team. The arena had one scoreboard at the far end, chain link in the end zones rather than glass, and a pretty dismal locker room (if you could call it that). When hockey fans first approached Mooradian about a booster group he was luke warm to the idea at best but gave them the go ahead, with plenty of restrictions. The Friends first big purchase was a scoreboard for the other end of the ice (the two were used the first year at the Whit), then the purchase of glass, then renovation of the locker room (a lot of sweat equity there). It didn't make Snively a first class facility (bleacher seats remember), but it allowed the program a little bit of respectability. I guess what I am saying is, first, that football fans didn't need to start a booster group, they had one in the 100 Club. And, second, without the Friends of UNH Hockey, which raises and contributes a significant chunk of change each year, the hockey team would not continue be at the level it is today.

One word about Marty Scarano. I have been following UNH athletics for nearly 40 years and, by far, he is the most responsible and effective athletic director the school has ever had. The aforementioned Andy Mooradian? Without going into details let's just say he was ethically challenged. Gib Chapman, that fabulous basketball coach? His idea was to have hoops usurp hockey as the winter sport. Judy Ray, her solution to smaller budgets, cut programs not try to save them. Marty is doing an awful lot with very little. If he can somehow wangle a corporation to fund improvements in Cowell Stadium, more power to him I say. Those that think because he wants to do that means he will take away from hockey aren't thinking straight. Marty is for all UNH athletics and is doing his best to keep them alive.

 

[JB]

Re: Some parallels out there ...

Re: Some parallels out there ...

One word about Marty Scarano. I have been following UNH athletics for nearly 40 years and, by far, he is the most responsible and effective athletic director the school has ever had. The aforementioned Andy Mooradian? Without going into details let's just say he was ethically challenged. Gib Chapman, that fabulous basketball coach? His idea was to have hoops usurp hockey as the winter sport. Judy Ray, her solution to smaller budgets, cut programs not try to save them. Marty is doing an awful lot with very little. If he can somehow wangle a corporation to fund improvements in Cowell Stadium, more power to him I say. Those that think because he wants to do that means he will take away from hockey aren't thinking straight. Marty is for all UNH athletics and is doing his best to keep them alive.

Actually I see Marty's apparent quest to improve Football as a good thing. I think he realizes that without improved (+larger) football facilities the program is a huge drain on the entire department budget. I don't think Marty is delusional enough to think Football is going to make money at UNH like Hockey has been but I think he wants to make it less of a drain.

People forget and so I keep beating this drum, but the State will not support athletics. State funds only are allowed to go to actual instruction (no housing, no dining, no athletics, etc). That means unlike most other state schools - that get significantly more money than UNH too – some departments at UNH are in tough situations. It is not like UNH can go up on the tuition much more either, I think they already are the most expensive state school.

 

[WildKitty]

Re: An Open Letter to Coach Umile

I think I wasn't very clear.

I marched at Cowell. I held a trombone in the bleachers. I am ashamed of the press box and the visitor's stands. I am IN FAVOR of razing Cowell stadium stands and pressbox and putting up an Alfond-like structure with up-to-date technology. Except the cannon. Keep the cannon. Heck, if we have the money, I'd love to grade Boulder Field and install permanent toilets for those of us who tailgate out there!

I never said Scarano WOULD pull any money from hockey, I said the department "could ostensibly" pull money from hockey. I also failed to consider the contributions of the Friends in my musings = I didn't know you guys did so much!!! But as far as documented evidence - to back up speculation... In at least one instance in recent years, the University has taken money from one department to cover a deficit in another. Whether Scarano would do something similar, or if he has already, is only a matter of speculation on the part of this fan. It is always a possibility. I admit that ostensible was perhaps too strong a word.

If you're mostly concerned about the "much-needed" part... I will come out here. I don't know how much it costs to keep a hockey team in jerseys. I don't know what the budget is or how actual hockey spending compares. I DO know that hockey costs money. The power bill for the compressors alone...

I apologize if anyone thought I don't care about football. Or squeakyball, at least in its role as representer and promoter of the University. I do genuinely enjoy football, though.