How did you become a huskie fan?

[CL82]

I became a UConn fan when I was a student there. I’ve posted about it a bunch of times, but, man, the old Field House rocked. People would file in and squeeze into the bleachers, then, when the seats were filled, people would fill in the aisles. When the stands were completely filled, people would sit on the floor in front of them one or two deep. Then every crevice in the building would get filled with people standing. As I’ve talked about how many occasions, it would get so loud that the dust would shake down from the rafters, and create a cloud around the lights at the top of the arena. It was an absolutely insane atmosphere.

This is a picture of the late Norman Bailey, who played for the men’s team and recently passed. I thought I would add it here because it shows what I was trying to explain about how densely people were packed in in the old Field House.

(And, yeah, Bailey had some hops didn’t he?)

 

[Blueconn]

9th gen Nutmegger born in ‘52. Grew up with the grownups talking UConn. Kimball and Bialosuknia sealed the deal for me.

 

[Blueconn]

This is a picture of the late Norman Bailey, who played for the men’s team and recently passed. I thought I would add it here because it shows what I was trying to explain about how densely people were packed in in the old Field House.

View attachment 83650

(And, yeah, Bailey had some hops didn’t he?)

Yes ! Norman was a shot machine. Can hear and feel the Field House rock.

 

[CL82]

9th gen Nutmegger born in ‘52. Grew up with the grownups talking UConn. Kimball and Bialosuknia sealed the deal for me.

Bothers me a little bit when people tell the narrative that Connecticut basketball didn’t exist before Jim Calhoun. Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful for Coach and he lifted the program to unimaginable heights, but the men’s team had a good fan base with great energy and love for the program before Jim got here.

Now, if you want to say that about Geno and Chris in the woman’s program, be my guest. It is 100% accurate.

 

[Zanzman]

This is a picture of the late Norman Bailey, who played for the men’s team and recently passed. I thought I would add it here because it shows what I was trying to explain about how densely people were packed in in the old Field House.

View attachment 83650

(And, yeah, Bailey had some hops didn’t he?)

RIP stormin Norman

 

[Jaml]

I am from Massachusetts and only attended colleges in MA...so never attended UConn. Like many here, caught a few games on tv during the Rebecca and Jen years and got hooked.

UConn and the New England Patriots are the only two teams in which I am actively a fan. I did like the Boston Bruins in the early '70s, but completely lost interest in hockey. Of course I was a huge Celtics fans when Larry Bird played, but not a fan of the NBA any more.

 

[JJTB]

Moved up to the Hartford area from New Haven in the late 50’s. Got hooked listening to WTIC and George Ehrlich doing the games. Great days…transistor under the pillow following the likes of Toby, Wes, Ed Slomcenski, Holowaty and my favorite, Spider Hesford. Played in high school with Melody, a wonderful playmaker. Season ticket holder from 1978 to 2018. Somehow the ticket office lost my account and I’ve never renewed.

 

[UcMiami]

Grew up as a faculty brat in Storrs and hung out on the campus in the 60's to watch free concerts and joined a 'sit-in' of the President's Office. Ran some laps at the old field house on the 'new' track, watch football games from the hill (apple orchard, now dorms and parking garage) and actually did some high school work in the first computer lab, punch cards, Fortran II and all. Did not actually follow college sports growing up - my team was the Celtics, but soon after Len Bias I sort of loss interest. My dad had some of the women's players in class and started watching them in the 1990s and when I would come for a visit we would watch together and I got hooked. 1995 was special and then when the TASSK force committed dad was so excited. Unfortunately he died that summer so I continue the tradition of watching whenever I could. The women's game continues to be played like those old 60s/70s Celtics games when the men had to rely on teamwork rather than extraordinary athleticism and I like that. And Geno is a brilliant coach who teaches a really lovely system and recruits fantastic women.

The advent of the CPTV streaming service was a godsend as I have been living all over the world so getting to see games was limited. I am back in Storrs now so all is good!

 

[Blueconn]

Bothers me a little bit when people tell the narrative that Connecticut basketball didn’t exist before Jim Calhoun. Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful for Coach and he lifted the program to unimaginable heights, but the men’s team had a good fan base with great energy and love for the program before Jim got here.

Now, if you want to say that about Geno and Chris in the woman’s program, be my guest. It is 100% accurate.

Could not agree more. The intensity was real and my memory is that every game was sold out. If you experienced those years then you weren’t shocked at how it felt when we got big-time. We knew how to cheer long before Gampel.

 

[Boreifs]

My daughter was a point guard who worshipped Jen Rizzotti. In watching the games with her, I saw women playing like the 1970 Knicks; I was hooked.
Incidentally, Nika is a modern version of UConn’s first great point guard. It brings back many precious memories.

 

[slug25]

While working on my PhD at UConn in the 70’s, I was Joe Morrone’s assistant on the soccer team. To pick up a few bucks I worked security for men’s bball in the field house. Once Geno came along I was in Maryland but my wife and I have followed the women loyally since the ‘94 team. We attended games at Georgetown, Villanova, Temple, Seton Hall and Maryland whenever possible. We even went to St Thomas for the holiday tournament one year.

 

[CL82]

While working on my PhD at UConn in the 70’s, I was Joe Morrone’s assistant on the soccer team. To pick up a few bucks I worked security for men’s bball in the field house. Once Geno came along I was in Maryland but my wife and I have followed the women loyally since the ‘94 team. We attended games at Georgetown, Villanova, Temple, Seton Hall and Maryland whenever possible. We even went to St Thomas for the holiday tournament one year.

People forget that Joe Marrone was UConn’s first superstar coach. Are running joke about what we were going do over the weekend was “watch the soccer team win, and the football team lose. I was there for the championship in 81. It was a crazy run and the stadium was packed for the games.

 

[Blueconn]

While working on my PhD at UConn in the 70’s, I was Joe Morrone’s assistant on the soccer team. To pick up a few bucks I worked security for men’s bball in the field house. Once Geno came along I was in Maryland but my wife and I have followed the women loyally since the ‘94 team. We attended games at Georgetown, Villanova, Temple, Seton Hall and Maryland whenever possible. We even went to St Thomas for the holiday tournament one year.

At same time Franz Innocent (All-American) and Len Santiris (sp) were leading the soccer team to big things. Great guys and it was just “the soccer field” with open bleachers…fabulous to be stomping in the cold and cheering on a late November morning. Every seat filled. After soccer we warmed up for an hour before heading to Memorial Stadium to see the football game. Every seat filled. Homecoming and UMass. We win (Yogi Berra there to see his kid play for UMass) and in the evening it was Judy Collins at Jorgensen. Every seat filled. And friends for life to share Storrs in the Fall. And we haven’t gotten to basketball season yet.

 

[Blueconn]

Yay for you. Right decision. The whole team’s fan. Yes.

 

[Gabbyfan]

I was a fan of the men's team in the 1980's, but I became hooked on the women's team after watching the Martin Luther King day game against Tennessee in 1995. I remember hunting around for the Sports Illustrated edition with Jen Rizzotti on the cover when they won their first national championship. I still have the cover framed in my closet. I started going to games at Gambel and vividly remember the roar of the crowd even as the team entered the court for warm ups. It was an exciting time to be a fan.

 

[Majic Hands]

While channel surfing many years ago I happened to stop on a women's Basketball game.

To my surprise one team was playing and executing a beautiful game of basketball. The other team was playing "women's basketball".

From that point on when channel surfing I always looked for Connecticut.

A few years ago with advancements in technology I discovered I could watch the team on a more consistent basis. I even started manually adding game day and times in my appointment calendar so I could scheduled my clients around game times.

I think this is my third or fourth year that I have UConn's schedule URL linked to in my calendar. When UConn post their calendar it appears on mine. UConn makes changes, my calendar chang's. I now have streaming and other capabilities so I can record the games when I'm unable to schedule around game times.

January 2019 we attended our first game at the Yum Center in Louisville.

2022 I missed the Butler game at Hinkle Fieldhouse due to having covid. Attended the game this year.

Day before yesterday my granddaughter invited me to go to the DePaul vs UConn game in Chicago next month. 305 miles one way. . .

yep. I consider myself a fan.

 

[Larry 7237]

North Carolina game in 1994. Been following them since then. Got to see them whenever they came to South Florida to play.

 

[dbmill]

People forget that Joe Marrone was UConn’s first superstar coach. Are running joke about what we were going do over the weekend was “watch the soccer team win, and the football team lose. I was there for the championship in 81. It was a crazy run and the stadium was packed for the games.

No question Joe Morrone was UConn's first big superstar coach. He is someone who had a big aura around him. Not too many schools had soccer crowds at games like they did at Storrs at the time. I recall back in the 1970's and the early 1980's UConn more than once at the time was referred to as a soccer school. This despite the obvious popularity of the men's basketball team on campus. Men's basketball games at the old field house were certainly a packed event at the time as well, I certainly remember going to those games as a student at the time.

 

[dbmill]

Bothers me a little bit when people tell the narrative that Connecticut basketball didn’t exist before Jim Calhoun. Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful for Coach and he lifted the program to unimaginable heights, but the men’s team had a good fan base with great energy and love for the program before Jim got here.

Now, if you want to say that about Geno and Chris in the woman’s program, be my guest. It is 100% accurate.

I went to a number of UConn women's basketball home games in the early 1980's when I was a student at Storrs. Geno arrived on the scene the year after I graduated from grad school at UConn. The games were free at the time when I was at UConn, and for the most part it was a friends and family crowd at the games, and their were not too many people in the stands at all.

 

[dbmill]

Well, not quite….

National Championships

National Championships

uconnhuskies.com

Yes, in 1981, I recall sitting in my dorm room tuned into WHUS and listening to the UConn men's soccer game where they won the national championship that season. And a couple weeks earlier, as I have mentioned before on these threads, I remember walking past the old football stadium on the Storrs campus where UConn field hockey beat UMass for the national championship. I remember ending up watching a big chunk of that game up on the hill across the street from the stadium.

 

[CL82]

Yes, in 1981, I recall sitting in my dorm room tuned into WHUS and listening to the UConn men's soccer game where they won the national championship that season. And a couple weeks earlier, as I have mentioned before on these threads, I remember walking past the old football stadium on the Storrs campus where UConn field hockey beat UMass for the national championship. I remember ending up watching a big chunk of that game up on the hill across the street from the stadium.

We’ve talked about this from time to time, but I was there as well. My roommate and I had just walked out of the gym and saw the crowd so we watched for a few minutes at what was the end of the game. The final buzzer went off and the the team charged out on the field, he and I looked at each other, and by silent mutual agreement, ran out on the field and started jumping up and down, pumping our arms, picking up players, and generally celebrating. After a minute, we walked back up to our dorm and only found out that it was the first woman’s NCAA championship in any sport the next day in the daily campus. Someone posted the picture online a while back. Sure enough, we were in it along with one other yarder if I recall correctly.

 

[dbmill]

We’ve talked about this from time to time, but I was there as well. My roommate and I had just walked out of the gym and saw the crowd so we watched for a few minutes at what was the end of the game. The final buzzer went off and the the team charged out on the field, he and I looked at each other, and by silent mutual agreement, ran out on the field and started jumping up and down, pumping our arms, picking up players, and generally celebrating. After a minute, we walked back up to our dorm and only found out that it was the first woman’s NCAA championship in any sport the next day in the daily campus. Someone posted the picture online a while back. Sure enough, we were in it along with one other yarder if I recall correctly.

Yup, I certainly remember you posting about this before, and we figured out I wasn't your roommate or someone you knew at the time. I do recall that picture of you being posted online at some point.

 

[slug25]

People forget that Joe Marrone was UConn’s first superstar coach. Are running joke about what we were going do over the weekend was “watch the soccer team win, and the football team lose. I was there for the championship in 81. It was a crazy run and the stadium was packed for the games.

Joe coached at Middlebury where I played in the late 60’s Before moving to UConn in 1969. Joe Jr and Bill were ballboys at our games. My time at UConn was 72-76, when Sunday soccer got its start. Highlights include the rivalry with Brown, New England championships, and playing St. Louis in the football stadium. I don’t know how Joe ever got John Toner to approve the use of that hallowed ground.

 

[CTinLA]

I am a longtime lurker on the BY and am happy to finally come out of hiding so I can comment and ask questions. I grew up as a fan of the UCLA men’s team, but I needed a local team to root for when I moved to CT for grad school in 1997. I was aware of the 1995 team, so one of the first things I asked the department admin was how to get tickets for women’s basketball. Fortunately, one of the professors bought season tickets for the department to share so I was able to get tickets for 4-6 games a year. With every other game on CPTV, I was set! I loved watching Svet play and then Sue B., but it was DT who turned me into a lifelong fan (my favorite Geno quote is “we have Diana and you don’t”). I haven’t seen a game in-person since moving home to the west coast 20 years ago, but I watched every game that was on ESPN then every game on ESPN3 and now Fox Sports. And I am very grateful that the BY has such great commentary and provides links to replays and to so many great stories. Glad to officially be here.