OT: Where you from? How'd ya get here (CT or BY, take your pick)?

[huskyharry]

Yawn Alert-do not read this is you are getting ready to operate heavy machinery!

Born (1963), raised and stayed Mystic CT. Grew up on the hardwoods as my father, Walter Brown was a 35+ year basketball ref in SECT (as well as baseball umpire). Despite the good bloodlines (Dad and his Stonington Bears won the state title in 56' and supposedly Dad never saw a shot he didn't like), the closest I got to basketball greatness was playing alongside Harold Pressley for 4 years

Obviously, you must have gone to St. Bernard. I am also class of '81 and we ran cross country against St. B but I don't think we ever met in track or basketball...what event did you do in track?

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Chapette, I’m hoping that I won’t loss a grade point for iness but in any event, here goes….

My favorite team women’s bball team at the time was Rutgers. I became my favorite with the hiring of Coach Grentz… she was a great hire and a real character. She’s a hard person not to like.

I admit that I may have education addiction but it is a pretty harmless addiction don’tcha think?

Your Ol’ Pal Boo

Although I was in school when TG was hired, I only started watching WBB her last year at RU, by which point she was "tired" to be polite. Not all her fault, she wanted to move into athletics administration and admin was still a bit of a boys club. Never-the-less, I agree that she was very likable - a star center on the old Immaculata teams that are so famous, as you probably know. The last year we were in NJ they did a fund-raising fan club function honoring both her and CVS, and her speech was entertaining and very "fund raising" worthy (something she actually does professionally for Immaculata). My wife and I were at her WBB HOF induction, not specifically for her as Viv went in the same year, but we were there none-the-less. Our friends donated banners for both coaches for the RAC.

I couldn't afford - timewise or financially - an education addiction, but I have to admit that I regret that. Of course, my educational interests were not really in line with any career interests, more of a desire just to know. Part of the attraction of various trivia books, not because I really care about a lot of the facts, but because of what they often say about what folks believe and how they behave.

 

[HuskyPhan]

Obviously, you must have gone to St. Bernard. I am also class of '81 and we ran cross country against St. B but I don't think we ever met in track or basketball...what event did you do in track?

Harold and I were class of 82, but I left after freshman year and played ball and ran track-all jumping events, at East Lyme HS where my mother taught.

 

[huskyharry]

Well, I went to E. O. Smith, so we were both were in the ECC when you switched to East Lyme. I ran distances, but also sat on the bench for bball. In the 1980 to 1981 season, I recall beating East Lyme at your place pretty handly despite East Lyme having a huge height advantage...kind of like UCONN vs. Ky this year LOL.

 

[BooRadley]

Although I was in school when TG was hired, I only started watching WBB her last year at RU, by which point she was "tired" to be polite. Not all her fault, she wanted to move into athletics administration and admin was still a bit of a boys club. Never-the-less, I agree that she was very likable - a star center on the old Immaculata teams that are so famous, as you probably know. The last year we were in NJ they did a fund-raising fan club function honoring both her and CVS, and her speech was entertaining and very "fund raising" worthy (something she actually does professionally for Immaculata). My wife and I were at her WBB HOF induction, not specifically for her as Viv went in the same year, but we were there none-the-less. Our friends donated banners for both coaches for the RAC.

I couldn't afford - timewise or financially - an education addiction, but I have to admit that I regret that. Of course, my educational interests were not really in line with any career interests, more of a desire just to know. Part of the attraction of various trivia books, not because I really care about a lot of the facts, but because of what they often say about what folks believe and how they behave.

The first two degrees were partially covered by my GI benefits... the rest was paid for by working as a landscaper, painter, sculptor, dishwasher, cook, and boat captain. But the bulk of my education has been funded by the companies I chose to work for...

One early decision was to go the route of pay as you go rather than to use student loans. I may have been able to 'purchase' more education more quickly using student loans but I just didn't want the debt and figured that I had a lifetime to win the race.

When I'd choose a company to work for, one of the key criteria was subsidized education. B or better freebies... gotta love 'em. Sometimes it was company policy and other times I negotiated the benefit. The library of text books that I've accumulated over the years is another story... That cost me a kings ransom. Rather than just buying the book the course required(which was usually also paid for by my company), I bought several text/reference books that covered the material... Thankfully, they have served me and my projects well over the years.

Another part of this came with the choice my wife & I made with respect to our 'Date Nights.' She had a BA from Smith and BS from MIT and was as addicted as I before I met her... We set aside 2 - 3 nights a week to work on either a degree program or on onesie courses of interest. That left us several nights a week for the rest of the world's guilty pleasures... It precluded Doctorates but it also meant that we could live a fuller/richer life... We did this fall, spring, and summer semesters... and we loved it..

Finally, there was the environment we lived in... We lived in Newburyport Ma. most years and Cambridge/Watertown for a few years.... Our work was centered in the tech area defined by the Rt 128 to the north and the Charles river to the south. Harvard, MIT and several of the best schools in our nation were within our range. BTW, the Harvard night school is a tremendously valuable resource.

An unexpected benefit has been the folks I've been privileged to meet. My wife was involved early on with the MIT robotics lab and eventually I was drawn into its web as a mentor on language processing. It also was the catalyst for a friendship with one of my brother's pals... Dr. John Grotziner... He is currently project scientist for the Mars rover program... Interesting guy. Education brought me time with interesting experiences and people, so for me, whatever the costs, , it was worth it. Over a 35+ year period it all adds up nicely.

YOPB

 

[arty155]

...My wife was involved early on with the MIT robotics lab and eventually I was drawn into its web as a mentor on language processing. It also was the catalyst for a friendship with one of my brother's pals... Dr. John Grotziner... He is currently project scientist for the Mars rover program...

Thanks for posting on the 'Yard; enjoying watching the impact you make here, from afar…
It seems quite subtle when the situation permits, but one way or another, invariably effective…
S/F, Arty

 

[TBIF54]

I have no Connecticut connection except my brief consideration of Wesleyan University as a college choice. I settled on the U. S. Air Force Academy and after graduation, spent ten years as a helicopter pilot while on active duty and served twenty more years as a reserve staff officer, retiring as a colonel.

My wife and I are from West Virginia but currently live in Georgia. For some reason, I always chose to pull for UConn those few times I could catch them on TV. I become more invested during Maya's first year. I always appreciated the effort displayed by the Husky teams but when the best player on the floor (Maya) is also the hardest worker, that speaks volumes. The program built by GA, CD, and the rest of the staff and apparently well-supported by the university is easy to admire. The effort and mental toughness that this program demands has made it easy to become a fan. Now that I've retired from my military and civilian careers, I have the time to be a more involved fan. At the same time, my wife has also become a serious fan. Once she joins me in retirement, we plan to spend a part of at least one season in Connecticut. We spent two winters in Montana so the cold weather won't be a complete shock.

 

[uconnfan68]

Grew up around UConn...my father was a Sociology Prof. Played basketball at E.O. Smith and then went to UConn myself (ran track for one year and played a little intramural ball).
Joined the Navy in 1985 and still have about 4 years left. We have lived in San Diego for the last 11, although I spent most of two of those years in Afghanistan. Currently, taking care of Marines at Camp Pendleton.
Started on the Boneyard circa 1996.

Spent 4 years in San Diego courtesy of the Navy also. Some of the best times of my life. Came back to CT for a family visit and never got back.

 

[delawarehusky]

Born in Waterbury Ct and graduated UCONN in 1977 (lived in the old Crawford C dorm on South Campus). Went to law school at Villanova and then moved to Delaware. Watched EDD in high school and was thrilled when she chose UCONN. Well, that didn't last too long. Get to as many games as I am able and had a great time in Nashville at the NC. Enjoy the Boneyard and learn a lot from you. Thanks to the people who make it happen

 

[prebivalka]

I'm from small European country, Slovenia. Not sure you all even heard of it! It's a country with 2 million people, right there between Julian Alps, Adriatic sea, Dinaric Alps and Pannonian basin. Due to the time difference, most of the games are in the middle of the night (that's why I like those early games, that start early in the afternoon CT time) here, but that's not a problem... I just take one for the team.

Of course, there is no coverage of women's college basketball whatsoever, but as huge basketball fan as I am, it was only a matter of time for me to discover all the beauties of it.

The way I found UConn Women is actually pretty funny and unusual - a friend of mine sent me a Youtube video of Caroline shooting some trick shots and I liked it, but had no idea who she is and where she plays. But again, as a huge basketball fan, I dug into it, came across UConn team and liked it in a second. Been a hardcore fan since then!

I got to Boneyard via ESPN women's college basketball forum.

 

[stormsurge]

South Florida. During the year 1994-1995 I did an internship in CT and fell in love with UConn WCBB during that amazing run. Never stopped being a fan. I used to love Mens CBB but for years I have found the women's game to be more interesting.

 

[semper]

Taught at Yale for quite a while; then got wooed away to the mid-west, cough, cough. Several of us in my dept. at Yale were/are huge UConn WBB fans!

 

[CTyankee]

Wow!! Very impressive to see new new 'Yarders bringing their stories to us... Great new recruits to the best WBB forum on the internet. (I really feel my 26280+ days now!!!)

 

[Zorro]

My favorite answer to this question is from Vonnegut's "The Sirens of Titan". When the Space Traveller is asked "How came you here?", he answers (and I paraphrase loosely from memory) "I came here through a series of accidents, as did we all". Which, except to a predestinationist, is indisputably true. My precipitating accident was Mrs. Z's getting hired onto the Languages faculty of UConn, back in nineteen-ought-ninety-eight, the same year I retired from my job in Houston. As the new kid on the block, as it were, she was put in charge of the TAs in the Language Dept. (something like 21 of them.) One of her functions was to deal with any problems that came up. A lot of them did, and one of them involved a young lady named Swin Cash, who had a problem with her Spanish TA. Mrs. Z straightened it out, as a result of which she got acquainted with Swin and as a result of that we spent the next couple of years being given tickets to sit in the Relatives Section (or whatever it is called.) It would almost always turn out that someone on the team would have tickets that they were not using, and we were, of course, happy to fill the void. We had heard of wcbb in a vague sort of way before this; Rebecca Lobo, Chamique Holdsclaw and the UConn-UT rivalry (remember that?), but one game of actually watching the Sveta/Shea/Sue/Swin/Tamika/Asjha/DT gang and we were hooked for life. Not the first game we attended, but he first game I vividly remember, was the Bird at the Buzzer game, when Shea went down for the last time.

As so frequently happens in the Ed Biz, we moved on, but have remained and will remain enthusiastic fans.

 

[Tidepool]

Moved with family to CT in 2001, just a month before 9/11, to escape the unaffordability of San Francisco for families with kids. Miss it a lot, sometimes wish we would have moved up to Mendocino, but if we had, would never have discovered the UConn WCBB team, which my daughter, now almost halfway through her college career at U of Pittsburgh and a rabid Panther in all other respects, adopted and still lives and dies for (well, there hasn't been much need to die these last couple of years ... okay, there were those three unpleasant hiccups involving that team in green in 2012-2103, but who had the last laugh?), and now we watch together from 450 miles apart, she the eternal optimist and me pretty much the opposite, except, really, what was there to be pessimistic about this past year, not even I really believed that being 8 points down once or twice would matter in the end, as indeed it didn't, and my wife, who feels so attached to the team that she couldn't bear to watch the championship game, was able to come to the TV with 4 minutes to go because I assured her that we had the game in the bag, and if I could make that assurance, she knew it was safe to emerge from under the covers. But do miss SF, as I said, except don't miss those so-called "summer" months, which out in the Inner Richmond -- and even South of Market -- were damned unpleasant too much of the time. On the other hand, these Connecticut winters are not warming the cockles of my heart, either, whatever cockles are....

 

[UcMiami]

This is the best OT thread ever!!!
Just love the stories and the passion.
Tidepool - I had some friends visiting and having watched the men's NC with them (I am not that invested in the team so my heart could take it live) I insisted we go out to dinner during the women's game with the DVR taping away. I sat with my back to the bar area where the game was on the TV and depended on an occasional thumbs up signal from my friends to know that we were OK. We got home with about 10 minutes left and with a high teens lead I watched the last part live and then went back and enjoyed the whole thing again. So ... I understand your wife completely!

 

[UConnChapette]

One of the "novelties" of my cross country journey through life is I have experienced nearly every "natural disaster" known to man, either first hand or in the nearby vacinity.

Earth movement - not exactly a landslide or mud slide, more akin in a strange kind of way to a sink hole. My parents had a new home built in a new housing development. My father, being a professional photographer, took pictures all through the building process from before construction began up until the very end. Shortly after moving in, walls started having cracks appear. Walls were seperating from the foundation. Cracks in the walk way. Very subtle but over time became obvious something was wrong. Eventually, the house was so bad and walls tilted so significantly that the house was condemned. Two days after we moved out, the living room ceiling came down. They ended up tearing down the house and it made national news. I faked sick the day they tore down the house thinking it would be cool. Instead, it was traumatic as the chimney crashed onto my room. My grandparents in Omaha saw me on the NBC Nightly News which covered the story. When my father started looking over the pictures, it was clear that the instability of the hillside was present even before construction began. They sued, and won enough to pay off the remaining mortgage plus a little more. The land remains contruction free to this day, even though the lot has been for sale for decades.

Flood - Yup, but not directly. The washes in Southern California overflowed in the general area where I lived, and came very close to one of my best friend's house. I remember my family driving over to watch as the water raged outside the concrete boundaries, filling fields and rushing under the roadway bridges.

Brush fire - Yup. One came within 500 yards of my house and our housing development was saved largely by the heroics of the farmer who owned the land across the highway from my street. I can still see him on his tracter, with his shirt off and dangling from the back of his pants, driving THROUGH the flames and smoke. Hero doesn't even begin to cover it! And this was on the eve of my 12th birthday. While my parents were putting the silver, insurance papers, treasured photos in the car, all I cared about was my stupid birthday presents. I still remember one was a purple rug in the shape of a foot that I wanted in the worst way!

Earthquake? Yup a magnitude 6.6er on February 9, 1971. We lived about 5 miles from the epicenter. No structural damage, but OY! The mess when the contents of the refrigerator and pantry (that were opposite each other) met in the middle in a big stinking pile on the carpeting in the kitchen. (Never did understand why there was carpeting in the kitchen in the first place.) Wine bottles fell out of the closet, I walked over broken glass to get to my mother and sister in the doorway of my parents bed room. While much was damaged contents-wise, my mother's darn treasured ceramic rooster that was the surving one of a pair (the first of which my sister and I broke while horsing around) did not move an inch. Not a single centimeter. It remained in the exact area where there was a small dust outline. My sister and I found this funny because my mother had been so angry with us for breaking the mate and told us if we broke the other one we would surely be sorry. My most vivid memories were of watching the water slosh out of the toilet, the swinging lamp in the corner of my parents bedroom hitting the walls as it swung, and sleeping for WEEKS afterward in the old Rambler station wagon in the driveway.

Then we moved to Nebraska:

Blizzards - Yup, many of them. And bone numbing cold. But that is not all that special

Tornadoes you ask? Yes...was in my high school when it was hit by a tornado. That tornado eventually grew to be an F4, but my high school sat very near where it initially touched down so it hadn't grown to monster size yet. Still, I was never so terrified as I had just called my mother to come pick me up from track practice and was sure she was caught in it. My mother was stopped from leaving the house by my sister who saw the twin tails drop out of the sky in the area of the high school and start throwing up debris. They joined into one funnel just about where the high school sits. She thought I was dead in the high school, I thought she was surely dead. It was hours before a neighbor who happened to work at the school was able to get me home after going miles out of the way due to the damage around the high school. Still remember the barn that was across from the high school flattened, with horses in the trees and the house build on slab (no basement) that was flattened - almost. The only thing left standing was the interior closet. Yes indeedy, it is the safest place to be if you don't have a basement.

Then, on to Connecticut:

More blizzards and a couple of hurricanes and tropical storms. But, really, those pale in comparison to the earthquake and tornado.

What have I missed? Volcano? Nope, nada. Meteorite strike? Nope. But I am a survivor! Just call me the catastrophe queen!