I went to school during the Don Perno years. Believe me, I speak from first-hand experience that the old field house was, quite literally, stuffed full with people. I’ve talked about it here before, but first people would come in and sit in the bleachers. Then, ushers would stuff people together so that there was no space and everyone was as squeezed in as possible. Then, people would be allowed to fill the aisles. Then, a row of people would sit cross legged on the floor in front of the bleachers, then, a second row, then a third row all sitting on the floor. Then, people would squeeze into every nook and cranny in the field house, including a big crowd looking in from the doors. That wasn’t an isolated event, that was every single game.
During the same period of time I can remember working out in the old field house. Wow women’s basketball games were being played in the gym with a curtain wrapped around the court. Between sets, I would walk over and peek and see if anything interesting was happening. To be honest, the crowd didn’t even rival what you would see at a modern high school girls basketball game.
Jim and Geno not getting along really didn’t set the tone for the way fans appreciated the teams. As I noted in my earlier post, according to Chris Dailey, the woman’s team built up a Fanbase from people who could not get into the men’s games, which were in significant demand. We see vestiges of that today. There is a big percentage of seniors that remain fans of the woman’s program and not the men’s program.
For what it’s worth, the “thing” between Jim and Geno is more a Geno thing than a Jim thing? I’ve heard Calhoun complement Auriemma on a number of occasions, including saying, correctly in my belief, that Auriemma has a brilliant basketball mind. I’ve never heard Geno compliment Jim. In fact, when a reporter asked both Auriemma and Calhoun, separately, whether they would take a picture together with Hurley, Calhoun said “sure” and Geno said “ maybe if I was in the room, but not if I had to drive anywhere to do it. I mean, I guess if the school wants me to do it, I’ll do it.” Just for what it’s worth.
I agree completely that for too long, all the programs lived in their own separate fiefdoms and that currently there seems to be a real esprit de corps among all the program coaches, as it should be. Jim Mora in particular has made a habit of attending other university sports games, including, to my knowledge, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball, and hockey. I’m sure they’ve been more. Geno has had a good relationship with the baseball team and address them before the last post season run. He was, obviously, also at the men’s final four.
For my part, I support all things UConn, so I freely admit, I can’t watch a field hockey game. For whatever reason, I find it unwatchable.
