Uconn Versus Yale

At the beginning of this year, we enjoyed traveling to Phoenix to support UConn's losing effort in the Fiesta Bowl. Being honored with a bowl berth turned out to be an expensive proposition for UConn, as the Fiesta Bowl forced expensive tickets and travel costs down their throats for resale, and they weren't able to unload them all, primarily because Arizona is a long, inconvenient trek from Storrs, Connecticut.

After reading a series of articles about the financial debacle that bowl games can be, I came up with my own solution. The problem, as I see it, is that northeastern and other far-flung teams are at a considerable disadvantage to more centrally located colleges like Oklahoma when it comes to transportation costs for the teams and enticing fans to come support their teams. Most bowl games gravitate to relatively warm southern locales (although it was in the 40s in Phoenix last January which felt cold to Californians). Instead, promoters should hold regional bowls at neutral stadiums located no more than a few hours drive from any given campus. While the games would have less national hype, I think most of us enjoy the drama of a battle between teams from our home region. UCLA vs. USC is always of interest in Southern California regardless of the team records going in. Fans including students could more easily justify three digit ticket prices if they didn't have to fly across the country.

However, as Arlo Guthrie sang long ago, "that's not what I came to tell you about." UConn Versus Yale is not the matchup of New England football titans in the First Annual Sam Adams Micro-Bowl.



It is simply a quick comparison of the two schools. I know her love of Gilmore Girls plus the prevalent attitude among her high school friends about how cool it would be to attend college on the east coast made New England sound enticing, but I'd guess the fact that her boyfriend Jordan enterred Yale during Amy's senior year of high school really sealed the deal. Despite earning straight A's with a challenging academic load that included enough Advanced Placement Courses to allow her to enter college as a sophomore and having extra-curricular activities that kept her at school from 7 AM until 10 PM on a regular basis, Amy was not accepted into Yale. She was, however, accepted into the UConn Honors Program, which at orientation they described as a small liberal arts college embedded in a major research institution.

Jordan and Amy in Mystic, CT

I dragged my feet more than anyone about Amy going out of state rather than attending either UC Santa Barbara or UC Irvine, both of which accepted her into their Honors Programs. When I visited UConn myself, I was extremely impressed by the state of the art institution I saw, and it has proven to be a great college filled with amazing fellow students and faculty.

On the other hand, Yale certainly has a rich history, and the buildings have great architectural integrity. Certainly, many of their graduates went on to hold high government offices and prestigious positions in financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, as well as impacting many other areas. The library's collection, including two copies of the first printed book, the Gutenberg Bible, is impressive, a treasure-filled vault of wisdom.

I also give Yale a nod for the little city around it, which includes some very walkable areas with nice restaurants, like Kelly's Gastropub where we enjoyed some great hamburgers and fries for lunch on the Friday we visited there before attending the UConn vs Iowa game in Hartford. By comparison, Uconn has a little strip mall with Subway Sandwiches and Husky Pizza: certainly tasty but nowhere near the variety available in New Haven. Then again, Storrs doesn't have a bad neighborhood nearby, either.

Overall, however, I personally like UConn better, and I'm happy Amy has attended college there. She's done very well and made lots of great friends for life. I am a bit concerned that the connections she's made will stop her from ever returning to California permanently, but that's how life is. Her older sister went to UCLA first, then Seattle for grad schoool and the landing in New York to begin her career. We want our baby birds to find their wings, and sometimes that means ending up on the other side of the country. I'm happy my son isn't too far away, but he on the other hand made his college connections in California and works in the music and entertainment industry, which of course is spearheaded in California, so he's not making a sacrifice to be here.

Oh, and I'm happy we didn't have to pay for four years of Yale, which would have strained our finances. Go Huskies!!