dannykuconn
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What a day, what a day, what a day!
But I am ahead of myself, so I have to back up a day or two. On Monday. My friend Phil arrived at my house in the evening, and we set alarms for 4:40 in the morning. After too short a night, we headed west to Ohio. We arrived in Toledo mid-afternoon, but just relaxed, grabbed some dinner, and started thinking about what might happen on the next day.
Yes, you know what I'm talking about, the day we visit the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Art Museum.
Both the glass exhibits and the remainder of the art museum were interesting, but you probably aren't reading this because you are interested in my views on the juxtaposition of light and dark shadows in 18th century paintings. So let's fast-forward a few hours to our arrival in South Bend, home of the basketball team picked by many coaches and several writers as the best team in the nation. We headed to JP's (Huskie78) apartment, probably the only UConn fan in the South Bend area. The apartments were in a building which obviously had been used for some other purpose earlier, but we were focusing on saying hello and getting settled, and didn't think too much about the history of the building. After dropping off our luggage, we headed out to grab some lunch.
On the way to lunch, we saw a street called “John Wooden Way”. JP explained that John Wooden had been a high school basketball coach in South Bend from 1934 to 1943, and not only that, the school where he coached, South Bend Central High, was the very building where we were staying. After lunch, we returned to the apartments, and noticed they had left up the signs for the old classrooms. JP's place used to be the library, but we could see the sign for the gymnasium where John Wooden started his incredible career. We had come to South Bend for a special day of basketball, but we had goosebumps thinking about the special, unexpected surprise of crossing paths with John Wooden.
We were told the gates would open at 5:30 for the game, so we arrived at 5, expecting to wait a half hour. We were among the first, but people starting arriving soon after. We briefly stopped in a large shop, which had all kinds of shirts and hoodies and hats and scarves and steins and assorted paraphernalia. Well, I said “all kinds” but it wasn't really all kinds. Everything seemed to be green or green and gold, or with the letter ND on it. Nothing blue to be found.
We returned to the line only to learn that the gates did not open until six. So we started talking to some people around us. There were some Notre Dame employees who were friends of friends of Phil, who saw the UConn gear and came over for a nice chat. Then friends of theirs also joined us. A man and his young daughter were behind us; they had driven four hours from Traverse City Michigan to see the game. The girl was in fourth grade, but she was the starting point guard for her sixth grade team. Someone to keep and eye on. A boneyarder, who is a coach saw me and came over to chat. He was wearing a ring for the Ohio State Championship, one of two state championship teams he had coached, He rattled off the names of players like Clark Kellogg and other he had coached who had gone on to NBA careers.
I've been to many arenas (57 and counting) and in many cases, UConn are either the majority, or a significant presence, but not so in South Bend. Green was omnipresent, and we saw fewer than a dozen people wearing UConn gear.
The UConn player introductions were over in a flash, so quick there was barely time to cheer or boo. Notre Dame did their video presentation and dimmed the lights. Many of the fans had green glow sticks which they waved around while the introductions were made.
The opening tip-off went out of bounds with possession to Notre Dame. Briana Turner scored, to the delighted roar of the crowd. Kate Lou responded with a three, which quieted the crowd, and then the game slowed down for UConn and almost ground to a halt for the Irish. Gabby hit a couple free throws, then assisted on a Collier jumper, then made a layup. If you get the sense that Gabby was actively involved, you are right. Collier hit a couple more free throws and the crowd was getting audibly antsy.
Finally, with five and a half minutes to go in the quarter, Westbeld made a basket, giving the crowd a chance to explode. The game was almost even for the rest of the quarter, almost a layup by Gabby with five seconds to go gave us a 23-14 lead at the end of the quarter. A great start for the Huskies, especially following the relatively slow starts against Baylor and Texas, but we knew the Irsh had the potential for a comeback.
We didn't have long to wait. After opening with a Gabby score in the second quarter, Notre Dame scored the next nine points in under three minutes, cutting the lead to just two points. Notre Dame took a brief lead, and the house roared, but the Huskies came back. Fittingly, for a match-up between #1 and #2, it was tied at 34 points apiece at halftime.
The second half started oddly. UConn scored, and scored again and again. There wasn't much scoring, but it was all Huskies. The media timeout occurred after five minutes of play and UConn had scored 8 while the Irish had not scored. The crowd grew restless again, but following the timeout, the Irish, scored, then ran off eight points, six of which came in about a minute, to tie the score again. However, UConn would take the lead again, and never relinquish it. The margin reached double digits, but it wasn't until 2:45 left that I thought the game was over. People started leaving and UConn ran out the clock with a 72-61 victory over Notre Dame.
We knew the team would be headed to the airport, so probably wouldn't be available after the game, but we walked down to the small UConn section, had a nice chat with Bob Ralph (Shea's father) her uncle and her grandfather. Then Kelly Farris came by and I got a photo with her. Debbie Baer Fiske walked over and said hello, and I got a photo with her.
We left with JP and stopped for a drink – at a place that serves great hot chocolate. Back at the apartment, we cracked open a bottle of Geno's wine and toasted the victory.
The following day, we shifted back to our history theme, stopping at Lincoln's home in Springfield Illinois, the current state Capitol and one of the prior state Capitols, then Headed to Hannibal Missouri to check out Mark Twain's location for Tom Sawyer. UConn ND Trip | Facebook
But I am ahead of myself, so I have to back up a day or two. On Monday. My friend Phil arrived at my house in the evening, and we set alarms for 4:40 in the morning. After too short a night, we headed west to Ohio. We arrived in Toledo mid-afternoon, but just relaxed, grabbed some dinner, and started thinking about what might happen on the next day.
Yes, you know what I'm talking about, the day we visit the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Art Museum.
Both the glass exhibits and the remainder of the art museum were interesting, but you probably aren't reading this because you are interested in my views on the juxtaposition of light and dark shadows in 18th century paintings. So let's fast-forward a few hours to our arrival in South Bend, home of the basketball team picked by many coaches and several writers as the best team in the nation. We headed to JP's (Huskie78) apartment, probably the only UConn fan in the South Bend area. The apartments were in a building which obviously had been used for some other purpose earlier, but we were focusing on saying hello and getting settled, and didn't think too much about the history of the building. After dropping off our luggage, we headed out to grab some lunch.
On the way to lunch, we saw a street called “John Wooden Way”. JP explained that John Wooden had been a high school basketball coach in South Bend from 1934 to 1943, and not only that, the school where he coached, South Bend Central High, was the very building where we were staying. After lunch, we returned to the apartments, and noticed they had left up the signs for the old classrooms. JP's place used to be the library, but we could see the sign for the gymnasium where John Wooden started his incredible career. We had come to South Bend for a special day of basketball, but we had goosebumps thinking about the special, unexpected surprise of crossing paths with John Wooden.
We were told the gates would open at 5:30 for the game, so we arrived at 5, expecting to wait a half hour. We were among the first, but people starting arriving soon after. We briefly stopped in a large shop, which had all kinds of shirts and hoodies and hats and scarves and steins and assorted paraphernalia. Well, I said “all kinds” but it wasn't really all kinds. Everything seemed to be green or green and gold, or with the letter ND on it. Nothing blue to be found.
We returned to the line only to learn that the gates did not open until six. So we started talking to some people around us. There were some Notre Dame employees who were friends of friends of Phil, who saw the UConn gear and came over for a nice chat. Then friends of theirs also joined us. A man and his young daughter were behind us; they had driven four hours from Traverse City Michigan to see the game. The girl was in fourth grade, but she was the starting point guard for her sixth grade team. Someone to keep and eye on. A boneyarder, who is a coach saw me and came over to chat. He was wearing a ring for the Ohio State Championship, one of two state championship teams he had coached, He rattled off the names of players like Clark Kellogg and other he had coached who had gone on to NBA careers.
I've been to many arenas (57 and counting) and in many cases, UConn are either the majority, or a significant presence, but not so in South Bend. Green was omnipresent, and we saw fewer than a dozen people wearing UConn gear.
The UConn player introductions were over in a flash, so quick there was barely time to cheer or boo. Notre Dame did their video presentation and dimmed the lights. Many of the fans had green glow sticks which they waved around while the introductions were made.
The opening tip-off went out of bounds with possession to Notre Dame. Briana Turner scored, to the delighted roar of the crowd. Kate Lou responded with a three, which quieted the crowd, and then the game slowed down for UConn and almost ground to a halt for the Irish. Gabby hit a couple free throws, then assisted on a Collier jumper, then made a layup. If you get the sense that Gabby was actively involved, you are right. Collier hit a couple more free throws and the crowd was getting audibly antsy.
Finally, with five and a half minutes to go in the quarter, Westbeld made a basket, giving the crowd a chance to explode. The game was almost even for the rest of the quarter, almost a layup by Gabby with five seconds to go gave us a 23-14 lead at the end of the quarter. A great start for the Huskies, especially following the relatively slow starts against Baylor and Texas, but we knew the Irsh had the potential for a comeback.
We didn't have long to wait. After opening with a Gabby score in the second quarter, Notre Dame scored the next nine points in under three minutes, cutting the lead to just two points. Notre Dame took a brief lead, and the house roared, but the Huskies came back. Fittingly, for a match-up between #1 and #2, it was tied at 34 points apiece at halftime.
The second half started oddly. UConn scored, and scored again and again. There wasn't much scoring, but it was all Huskies. The media timeout occurred after five minutes of play and UConn had scored 8 while the Irish had not scored. The crowd grew restless again, but following the timeout, the Irish, scored, then ran off eight points, six of which came in about a minute, to tie the score again. However, UConn would take the lead again, and never relinquish it. The margin reached double digits, but it wasn't until 2:45 left that I thought the game was over. People started leaving and UConn ran out the clock with a 72-61 victory over Notre Dame.
We knew the team would be headed to the airport, so probably wouldn't be available after the game, but we walked down to the small UConn section, had a nice chat with Bob Ralph (Shea's father) her uncle and her grandfather. Then Kelly Farris came by and I got a photo with her. Debbie Baer Fiske walked over and said hello, and I got a photo with her.
We left with JP and stopped for a drink – at a place that serves great hot chocolate. Back at the apartment, we cracked open a bottle of Geno's wine and toasted the victory.
The following day, we shifted back to our history theme, stopping at Lincoln's home in Springfield Illinois, the current state Capitol and one of the prior state Capitols, then Headed to Hannibal Missouri to check out Mark Twain's location for Tom Sawyer. UConn ND Trip | Facebook
