UConn in Kansas City ?

[Blueconn]

A semi-retired former bookseller, now a librarian, that suddenly got exiled in KC, MO in 2014.
Did the 2015 & 2016 seasons at a sweet neighborhood bar. And I don’t drink.

Didn’t plan to stay here and didn’t expect to be so reunited with my daughter. Or her son.
This thing with grandparenting ? Wow.

So I’m here til he starts kindergarten (turns 3 late Jan) and that’s ok. But I do miss Connecticut and Vermont. Especially in December.

Never miss a game. I’m flat screened and ipaded and Apple TV’d and celled (flip) and landlined and subscribed and paid up and it’s all quite command central-like... all because of my first game at the Field House. Dee Rowe beat John Thompson. Before Christmas 1972. Made better by knowing I’d be starting as a second semester sophomore in Storrs in January ‘73.

Being inside the Field House was, to a young player and dreamer like me, like being in a singular place. Ron Ritter, Penders, Bialosuknia, Toby Kimball...WTIC Radio and, perhaps an all-out promo event by Channel 3, to do 1 damn game per season. The best was the night Bob Lloyd and Wes Bialosuknia went head to head in a scintillating exhibition of long range jump shots. Lloyd finished with 40, Wes about 30. But it was the Poughkeepsie Popper whose form I imitated as a kid. Alas, before three-pointers.

The purpose of this post is to ask :

Are there UCONN HUSKY fans living in Kansas City, Missouri ?

If you live in KANSAS CITY and are, like me, always thinking about the next game...

Get in touch. I work at the Library. Easy to reach.

 

[BroadwayVa]

A semi-retired former bookseller, now a librarian, that suddenly got exiled in KC, MO in 2014.
Did the 2015 & 2016 seasons at a sweet neighborhood bar. And I don’t drink.

Didn’t plan to stay here and didn’t expect to be so reunited with my daughter. Or her son.
This thing with grandparenting ? Wow.

So I’m here til he starts kindergarten (turns 3 late Jan) and that’s ok. But I do miss Connecticut and Vermont. Especially in December.

Never miss a game. I’m flat screened and ipaded and Apple TV’d and celled (flip) and landlined and subscribed and paid up and it’s all quite command central-like... all because of my first game at the Field House. Dee Rowe beat John Thompson. Before Christmas 1972. Made better by knowing I’d be starting as a second semester sophomore in Storrs in January ‘73.

Being inside the Field House was, to a young player and dreamer like me, like being in a singular place. Ron Ritter, Penders, Bialosuknia, Toby Kimball...WTIC Radio and, perhaps an all-out promo event by Channel 3, to do 1 damn game per season. The best was the night Bob Lloyd and Wes Bialosuknia went head to head in a scintillating exhibition of long range jump shots. Lloyd finished with 40, Wes about 30. But it was the Poughkeepsie Popper whose form I imitated as a kid. Alas, before three-pointers.

The purpose of this post is to ask :

Are there UCONN HUSKY fans living in Kansas City, Missouri ?

If you live in KANSAS CITY and are, like me, always thinking about the next game...

Get in touch. I work at the Library. Easy to reach.

First : Be grateful for living among some very nice people. Then be grateful for the best BB Q in the planet.
You and I must have sat on those bench seats in the old Field House at the same time---My goodness --I thought I was the only one who remembers Wes, Dee Rowe,Toby, Tommy Penders, Bobby Boyd, Corley, --and Uconn playing Dr J (then a UMass player). I became a life long Uconn fan sitting on those hard seats. Then at lunch time playing pickup games on the same floor. Great memories.

I'm an malgamated American and was given the opportunity to live among, not just visit, many parts of this great nation. I found the people of your area, Ks, Mo Ark, Okla, La, Tx, mid America as some of the easiest to know. Remember Precious, Napheesa Collier is from that area..

 

[Monte]

Sounds like "Everything is up to Date" out there!

 

[Blueconn]

First : Be grateful for living among some very nice people. Then be grateful for the best BB Q in the planet.
You and I must have sat on those bench seats in the old Field House at the same time---My goodness --I thought I was the only one who remembers Wes, Dee Rowe,Toby, Tommy Penders, Bobby Boyd, Corley, --and Uconn playing Dr J (then a UMass player). I became a life long Uconn fan sitting on those hard seats. Then at lunch time playing pickup games on the same floor. Great memories.

I'm an malgamated American and was given the opportunity to live among, not just visit, many parts of this great nation. I found the people of your area, Ks, Mo Ark, Okla, La, Tx, mid America as some of the easiest to know. Remember Precious, Napheesa Collier is from that area..

For intramural hoops they used the FH (remember the green vinyl floors ?) and a couple of times...Hawley Armory ! 1909 facility ?

Thing is...Kansas City has been very kind to me and I’m grateful...but it isn’t home...I’m at the age where I have one more move left...and it’s to New England...

Proposition: Dee Rowe was the first coach to see UConn onto a national stage. 1973 NIT. UConn sold out the Garden...twice. Hugh Greer never dreamed of any such thing, And Dee kept the momentum going...Joey Wheaton, Randy LaVigne, Tony Hanson.

 

[BroadwayVa]

For intramural hoops they used the FH (remember the green vinyl floors ?) and a couple of times...Hawley Armory ! 1909 facility ?

Thing is...Kansas City has been very kind to me and I’m grateful...but it isn’t home...I’m at the age where I have one more move left...and it’s to New England...

Proposition: Dee Rowe was the first coach to see UConn onto a national stage. 1973 NIT. UConn sold out the Garden...twice. Hugh Greer never dreamed of any such thing, And Dee kept the momentum going...Joey Wheaton, Randy LaVigne, Tony Hanson.

Waterburys own Tony Hanson. Dee Rowe, a Gentleman coach..
s

 

[savoy33]

After years of lurking... this may be my first reply, lol. Blueconn, I can sympathize on several levels; I have a son stationed at Fort Leavenworth, and it's a long drive from New England! There are compensations in addition to the BBQ. If I recall, the library's facade is really awesome. Missouri is the first place I ever saw 'Buy one, get four free' on fireworks, and if you can find a hill to stand on during the July 4 celebrations you may be able to see 10 displays at one time.

However, the airport should not be counted among the compensations.

Last spring, after living in Connecticut for over 40 years, my wife and I retired to the Pacific Northwest. We have Huskies here too, only they're purple and gold (our game day UConn banner gets a lot of weird looks). Our Husky allegiance - after decades of being spoiled by CPTV and SNY - was carefully weighed before we made such a move; fortunately the Roku streaming thingie works really well and we're able to catch most of the SNY broadcasts via ESPN3.

For us the biggest adjustment has been the games' start times!

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

I'm still living in CT now but went to college at William Jewell in Liberty, MO 1965 to Jan. 1970. 30 minutes north of KC. A NYC Jew on a Southern Baptist campus.
Went into KC as often as I could, with it's small town feel and big town environment.
Loved the BBQ, Negro Leagues Museum, Jazz Museum, KC Royals, KC Chiefs ( I worked preseason with them the summer of 1969 on the Jewell campus), lights of the Plaza during the Holidays, Kearney, MO home of Jesse James, among other great attractions!
Haven't been back in a long, long, time but still have great friends out there! You've brought back many great memories!