As we age we usually change in ways good and bad. As Auriemma has aged I think he became an even better coach. His insatiable thirst for new and better ways of doing things translated into better efficiencies and fewer mistakes from his teams over the years.
However, he doesn't check off many of the boxes for maintaining emotional, brain and physical health as we age. He checks off two of what recent research indicates are the most important to be sure, being social and being active. He also embraces his altruism, a healthy but scarce condition in a society where we are convinced we are supposed to be self-interested. But he lives a life of high stress, low exercise and low positivity in his approach. I don't know how much he smokes, drinks or what his diet looks like, but if not atrocious I suspect these factors are not superlative either.
On the one hand he has "mellowed." That may be a euphemism for he has "tired." Meanwhile, I do think his outlook has become more negative, what Rocky perceives as "whining." Actually, I think this has become an affliction of baby boomers as a whole; I'll hold back on the theories why I think this might be so.
Frankly, I'm a little concerned. As a person who has brought me great entertainment and even joy I wish the best for him. This may get me tarred and feathered with this crowd, but I suspect the best for Auriemma is to find a less stressful, less time consuming social activity to pursue, sooner rather than later, rather than coach the program with the greatest expectations in basketball, men, women or pros.
Both can get you in trouble. But relax tonight, there are no fiddles in Geno's Rome.
