I've told this before here but worth repeating. Never cheered for the Huskies when they were rolling (broke my heart with the 04 Gophers!) but always had incredible respect and awe for the program and loved many of their players individually. The 2018 Wright Thompson piece on Geno really made me appreciate the level of greatness (I know, dumb to not have that true appreciation before) and I've pulled for them since.
But it truly went to the next level when Paige came. Being a Minnesota native, feel like I've been hearing about her since she was in elementary school though her 8th grade performance in state was first exposure to her. She got the one state title but had other disappointments there and then the day before she would have likely won a second one the season was canceled with Covid.
Have so enjoyed watching her play for UConn and reading this board these long, hard, rewarding five years. So many knowledgeable folks here. Lot of heartbreak and disappointment and the day I saw on Twitter she tore her ACL is seared in my head.
The Final Four losses to Arizona (agh), South Carolina in the title game, Iowa (AGH!). Honestly I had started thinking she wouldn't get one, too snakebitten. And felt bad for Geno too. Weird to say for someone with 11 titles but all those tight losses and I wanted him to get at least one more (not that he's done now). And now to end it like this is just storybook. Yeah I probably would have loved seeing Paige get 37 to seal it but this was an amazing victory (and she did have the region games that will live forever). And so glad it was a blowout so she could get the hug.
Man.
And weirdly, the way sports works, it's more satisfying now having Paige get the one as a senior. If she'd won as a freshman and then lost three Final Fours it would somehow feel disappointing.
So thanks for welcoming an outsider for this Paige ride and now that I've truly been exposed to all aspects of the Huskies fandom...think I'll be sticking around even as she leaves campus.