STORRS -- "I don't really understand why it was a bad idea, I really don't."
UConn head football coach Bob Diaco got heated Tuesday when he was asked to address Saturday's game against University of Central Florida (UCF). Last year, Diaco orchestrated a new rivalry between UConn and UCF and called it the "Civil ConFLiCT." He even bought a trophy and a countdown clock. But, when UCF won 24-16, the spoils of a conflict that no one seemed to want was left behind.
No one from UCF picked up the trophy at the end of the game and the situation was quickly mocked on social media. When asked about the rivalry, Diaco was anything but brief. Here's just a portion of what he had to say:
"I had an idea. What's your idea? How do we make these games relevant to our fans and followers. How do we add and make sure America understands that the American Conference is every bit as good as all these other leagues. What's your idea?
"So yeah. They didn't go get it. Very disappointing to me, it seemed like a fun thing. For kids, young people, young men. It just seemed like a fun intercollegiate piece to a game. But apparently not. So I'm good on it, it's gone.
"I've got other ideas too. Send me my agenda, they want to talk about networks. I've got all kinds of ideas on networks.
"Let's target 6 year olds to 16 year olds. How bout that? Eventually they're going to be 18 to 35. Let's broadcast our games on Nickelodeon!
"Let's create some real intrigue. Let's create some real followership. That's all i was trying to do. With love and respect and energy and thoughtfulness.
"I didn't make this up. I didn't create this thing out of nowhere.
"Did I think of the idea? Yeah, I did. But this wasn't one sided, until they decided that it should be, and you know why that happened. I'm sure everybody can connect the dots on that one."
