Drew
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The Bristol Press - Made-up UConn football rivalry with UCF over, but trophy still missing
It likely wasn’t akin to a scene from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” where a lonely worker wheels a crate containing a priceless artifact through a giant maze of identical boxes full of perhaps just as valuable treasures.
No, the final resting place of the Civil Conflict Trophy - former UConn head coach Bob Diaco’s odd, poorly planned moniker for his team’s game with Central Florida - probably isn’t as dramatic.
But it’s a mystery nonetheless.
Diaco envisioned the hardware being a much sought-after spoil for the victors of the annual meeting between two geographically dissimilar opponents thrust together by the vagaries of conference realignment. And, indeed, in the first year of the concocted rivalry, Diaco’s Huskies did dance around Bright House Networks Stadium with the trophy after beating UCF 40-13.
The problem was, of course, that the Knights weren’t exactly in on the joke. Former UCF head coach George O’Leary had given something akin to tacit approval of Diaco’s plan - after the first trophy Diaco created was fixed to include a missing score from the series, and amended to include the Knights’ correct logo - but neither UCF officials nor its players exactly embraced the idea.
What happened to the trophy following the game remains in doubt. Numerous UConn officials claim they have no knowledge of its final resting place.
“I honestly don’t know,” UConn Athletic Director David Benedict said Tuesday. “That trophy was there before I got there. I believe that trophy was commissioned and paid for by coach Diaco. And therefore if it left with him, I don’t know that, but if it did that’s fine.”
It likely wasn’t akin to a scene from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” where a lonely worker wheels a crate containing a priceless artifact through a giant maze of identical boxes full of perhaps just as valuable treasures.
No, the final resting place of the Civil Conflict Trophy - former UConn head coach Bob Diaco’s odd, poorly planned moniker for his team’s game with Central Florida - probably isn’t as dramatic.
But it’s a mystery nonetheless.
Diaco envisioned the hardware being a much sought-after spoil for the victors of the annual meeting between two geographically dissimilar opponents thrust together by the vagaries of conference realignment. And, indeed, in the first year of the concocted rivalry, Diaco’s Huskies did dance around Bright House Networks Stadium with the trophy after beating UCF 40-13.
The problem was, of course, that the Knights weren’t exactly in on the joke. Former UCF head coach George O’Leary had given something akin to tacit approval of Diaco’s plan - after the first trophy Diaco created was fixed to include a missing score from the series, and amended to include the Knights’ correct logo - but neither UCF officials nor its players exactly embraced the idea.
What happened to the trophy following the game remains in doubt. Numerous UConn officials claim they have no knowledge of its final resting place.
“I honestly don’t know,” UConn Athletic Director David Benedict said Tuesday. “That trophy was there before I got there. I believe that trophy was commissioned and paid for by coach Diaco. And therefore if it left with him, I don’t know that, but if it did that’s fine.”
