What does being a Husky Forever mean to you? | The Boneyard

What does being a Husky Forever mean to you?

Dream Jobbed 2.0

“Most definitely”
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As I posted in a thread earlier this Spring I am officially becoming a UConn student for the first time next week at the age 31 as I pursue my 2nd Masters en route to my School Administrator license. I grew up in a household of UConn fans in Vernon in throws of “Husky Mania” in the 90s. My first vivid memory of UConn hoops is my dad mimicking Dicky V yelling “Ray Allen Baby!” after the shot vs Georgetown. In March of ‘98 I was on a Cub Scout camping trip freezing my ass off as I watched my friends’ dads flip their lids as we lost to UNC in the Elite 8 listening on a boom box around a camp fire. I jumped as high as I could trying to touch the ceiling in my living as an 11 year old as Khalid let everyone know we had shocked the world. I wore my 99 National Champions tee with the palm trees on it for a week. Fast forward 5 years and I’m sneaking Mike’s Hard Lemonade into my friend’s parent’s basement as Okafor tells his teammates “I only need to hit one...” Sandwich in my first two in person UConn games. One was vs. Troy Murphy and Notre Dame at the Civic Center. My brother was a junior at UConn and lived down the hall from Doug Wrenn. Unrelatedly, he worked in the footware department at Dicks. Somehow we sat in the parents section that game. My brother also snuck me into a half full student section for the NIT loss to Detroit Mercy.

I followed my high school girlfriend to WCSU and made my way to ECSU eventually. I spent almost every weekend on futons in Storrs some of my fondest memories involve storming the field at The Rent, stirring the pot vs Georgetown fans during our last conference game vs them, and trying to pour Four Loko into my buddy’s headwound “to clean it” after he got hit by a stray bottle in X Lot at one of the last Spring Weekends.

Reading about Mamadou hanging them up made me contemplate my own personal fiber in the tapestry of UConn nation. As much as we bemoan our conference affiliation and struggles since 2014 I owe so many monuments to this University and program. I’ve been as negative as anyone else but this truly such a special place and we need to appreciate how blessed we have been.

Although I won’t be a student until next week I am beyond honored to be a husky forever.
 
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As I posted in a thread earlier this Spring I am officially becoming a UConn student for the first time next week at the age 31 as I pursue my 2nd Masters en route to my School Administrator license. I grew up in a household of UConn fans in Vernon in throws of “Husky Mania” in the 90s. My first vivid memory of UConn hoops is my dad mimicking Dicky V yelling “Ray Allen Baby!” after the shot vs Georgetown. In March of ‘98 I was on a Cub Scout camping trip freezing my ass off as I watched my friends’ dads flip their lids as we lost to UNC in the Elite 8 listening on a boom box around a camp fire. I jumped as high as I could trying to touch the ceiling in my living as an 11 year old as Khalid let everyone know we had shocked the world. I wore my 99 National Champions tee with the palm trees on it for a week. Fast forward 5 years and I’m sneaking Mike’s Hard Lemonade into my friend’s parent’s basement as Okafor tells his teammates “I only need to hit one...” Sandwich in my first two in person UConn games. One was vs. Troy Murphy and Notre Dame at the Civic Center. My brother was a junior at UConn and lived down the hall from Doug Wrenn. Unrelatedly, he worked in the footware department at Dicks. Somehow we sat in the parents section that game. My brother also snuck me into a half full student section for the NIT loss to Detroit Mercy.

I followed my high school girlfriend to WCSU and made my way to ECSU eventually. I spent almost every weekend on futons in Storrs some of my fondest memories involve storming the field at The Rent, stirring the pot vs Georgetown fans during our last conference game vs them, and trying to pour Four Loko into my buddy’s headwound “to clean it” after he got hit by a stray bottle in X Lot at one of the last Spring Weekends.

Reading about Mamadou hanging them up made me contemplate my own personal fiber in the tapestry of UConn nation. As much as we bemoan our conference affiliation and struggles since 2014 I owe so many monuments to this University and program. I’ve been as negative as anyone else but this truly such a special place and we need to appreciate how blessed we have been.

Although I won’t be a student until next week I am beyond honored to be a husky forever.

No matter the score on the field or the record in the standings, it is ALWAYS great to be a Connecticut Husky.
 

whaler11

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As I posted in a thread earlier this Spring I am officially becoming a UConn student for the first time next week at the age 31 as I pursue my 2nd Masters en route to my School Administrator license. I grew up in a household of UConn fans in Vernon in throws of “Husky Mania” in the 90s. My first vivid memory of UConn hoops is my dad mimicking Dicky V yelling “Ray Allen Baby!” after the shot vs Georgetown. In March of ‘98 I was on a Cub Scout camping trip freezing my ass off as I watched my friends’ dads flip their lids as we lost to UNC in the Elite 8 listening on a boom box around a camp fire. I jumped as high as I could trying to touch the ceiling in my living as an 11 year old as Khalid let everyone know we had shocked the world. I wore my 99 National Champions tee with the palm trees on it for a week. Fast forward 5 years and I’m sneaking Mike’s Hard Lemonade into my friend’s parent’s basement as Okafor tells his teammates “I only need to hit one...” Sandwich in my first two in person UConn games. One was vs. Troy Murphy and Notre Dame at the Civic Center. My brother was a junior at UConn and lived down the hall from Doug Wrenn. Unrelatedly, he worked in the footware department at Dicks. Somehow we sat in the parents section that game. My brother also snuck me into a half full student section for the NIT loss to Detroit Mercy.

I followed my high school girlfriend to WCSU and made my way to ECSU eventually. I spent almost every weekend on futons in Storrs some of my fondest memories involve storming the field at The Rent, stirring the pot vs Georgetown fans during our last conference game vs them, and trying to pour Four Loko into my buddy’s headwound “to clean it” after he got hit by a stray bottle in X Lot at one of the last Spring Weekends.

Reading about Mamadou hanging them up made me contemplate my own personal fiber in the tapestry of UConn nation. As much as we bemoan our conference affiliation and struggles since 2014 I owe so many monuments to this University and program. I’ve been as negative as anyone else but this truly such a special place and we need to appreciate how blessed we have been.

Although I won’t be a student until next week I am beyond honored to be a husky forever.

#travelman

why did you waste the four loko?
 
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As I posted in a thread earlier this Spring I am officially becoming a UConn student for the first time next week at the age 31 as I pursue my 2nd Masters en route to my School Administrator license. I grew up in a household of UConn fans in Vernon in throws of “Husky Mania” in the 90s. My first vivid memory of UConn hoops is my dad mimicking Dicky V yelling “Ray Allen Baby!” after the shot vs Georgetown. In March of ‘98 I was on a Cub Scout camping trip freezing my ass off as I watched my friends’ dads flip their lids as we lost to UNC in the Elite 8 listening on a boom box around a camp fire. I jumped as high as I could trying to touch the ceiling in my living as an 11 year old as Khalid let everyone know we had shocked the world. I wore my 99 National Champions tee with the palm trees on it for a week. Fast forward 5 years and I’m sneaking Mike’s Hard Lemonade into my friend’s parent’s basement as Okafor tells his teammates “I only need to hit one...” Sandwich in my first two in person UConn games. One was vs. Troy Murphy and Notre Dame at the Civic Center. My brother was a junior at UConn and lived down the hall from Doug Wrenn. Unrelatedly, he worked in the footware department at Dicks. Somehow we sat in the parents section that game. My brother also snuck me into a half full student section for the NIT loss to Detroit Mercy.

I followed my high school girlfriend to WCSU and made my way to ECSU eventually. I spent almost every weekend on futons in Storrs some of my fondest memories involve storming the field at The Rent, stirring the pot vs Georgetown fans during our last conference game vs them, and trying to pour Four Loko into my buddy’s headwound “to clean it” after he got hit by a stray bottle in X Lot at one of the last Spring Weekends.

Reading about Mamadou hanging them up made me contemplate my own personal fiber in the tapestry of UConn nation. As much as we bemoan our conference affiliation and struggles since 2014 I owe so many monuments to this University and program. I’ve been as negative as anyone else but this truly such a special place and we need to appreciate how blessed we have been.

Although I won’t be a student until next week I am beyond honored to be a husky forever.
Congrats on going back for your school administrator degree! I think you'll have Dr. Ullman who's great - she actually got me interested in pursuing my teaching degree - and earlier this month I finally started the accelerated master's program at the Hartford campus.

We're the same age as well, so all of your major UConn highlights ring very true to me. I remember doing one of those "story in a shoebox" projects in 3rd grade based on Ray's shot against Georgetown. You've already been a member, but congrats on finally getting the student ID to prove it!
 
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Being a Husky forever pretty much means you are a regular on this board. Everyone else is a casual. That’s kind of sad, but if you are a true Husky, you use the google to find every tidbit of info. When you do that, you find the Boneyard. When you find the Boneyard, you run your whole day around it.
 
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UConnNick

from Vince Lombardi's home town
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Being a Husky forever pretty much means you are a regular on this board. Everyone else is a casual. That’s kind of sad, but if you are a true Husky, you use the google to find every tidbit of info. When you do that, you find the Boneyard. When you find the Boneyard, you run your all day around it.

Wait just a minute. Chief claims there are some casual fans, even on the Boneyard! ;)
 

Horatio

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3BF848B4-CF77-434A-9E56-62C574538945.jpeg
 

UConnNick

from Vince Lombardi's home town
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Being a Husky forever...let's see:

Listening to George Ehrlich announcing Husky games on WTIC from the frozen winter tundra of remote outposts like Burlington, VT, Orono, ME, Durham, NH, and Manley Field House at Syracuse, NY, among others;

Watching Dick Galiette and "Tiny" Markle announce Husky games from the Field House on grainy B&W telecasts by Channel 8 in New Haven;

Sitting in the Yale Bowl in Sept. 1965 when Gene Campbell intercepted a Yale pass late in the fourth quarter and returned it for a touchdown, with most of the crowd of 40,000 going absolutely wild during our first win over Yale in 16 tries;

Attending the St. Patrick's Day 1974 win in the NIT over St. John's at MSG, with my father and several friends from school;

Watching us beat Phil Seller's Rutgers team by one point at the Field House;

Attending the ECAC New England Championship game in 1976 at the Springfield Civic Center, where we beat Joey Hassett's Providence team 87-73 to win the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament;

Watching us beat Hofstra by two points after a furious comeback led by freshman Jeff Carr, to erase a 19 point second half deficit in the first round of the 1976 NCAAs at the Providence Civic Center;

Traveling to Greensboro, NC to watch the 1976 NCAA Eastern Regionals, where we lost to Phil Seller's Rutgers team;

Attending all of our Final Fours and partying with crazy Husky fans after all but one of them;

After that one, leaving the shitpit known as Detroit, MI (F/U Spartan fans!) and driving to St. Louis, MO to watch our women's team win the 2009 Final Four over Louisville;

Partying with the team at a pregame BBQ at Jake Voskuhl's house before the Houston game in 1999;

Being at Rentschler Field for the inaugural game in 2003 when Dan Orlovsky led our football team to a big win over Indiana.

Traveling to Detroit to see our football team win its first bowl game ever over Toledo in the 2004
Motor City Bowl;

Traveling to San Antonio in 2002 and 2010 to see our women's team win two Final Fours;

Traveling to Birmingham, AL to see our football team beat South Carolina in the 2010 PapaJohn's Pizza Bowl; and

Sitting with my dad on his death bed, when just before he died, he asked me what the score of the UCONN game was from the night before.
 
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It means you can't go back and redo your college years. Like it or lump it. It's a permanent tattoo.
 

HuskyHawk

The triumphant return of the Blues Brothers.
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I graduated in 1988. Don’t make me regret it.
 
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Being a Husky forever...let's see:

Listening to George Ehrlich announcing Husky games on WTIC from the frozen winter tundra of remote outposts like Burlington, VT, Orono, ME, Durham, NH, and Manley Field House at Syracuse, NY, among others;

Watching Dick Galiette and "Tiny" Markle announce Husky games from the Field House on grainy B&W telecasts by Channel 8 in New Haven;

Sitting in the Yale Bowl in Sept. 1965 when Gene Campbell intercepted a Yale pass late in the fourth quarter and returned it for a touchdown, with most of the crowd of 40,000 going absolutely wild during our first win over Yale in 16 tries;

Attending the St. Patrick's Day 1974 win in the NIT over St. John's at MSG, with my father and several friends from school;

Watching us beat Phil Seller's Rutgers team by one point at the Field House;

Attending the ECAC New England Championship game in 1976 at the Springfield Civic Center, where we beat Joey Hassett's Providence team 87-73 to win the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament;

Watching us beat Hofstra by two points after a furious comeback led by freshman Jeff Carr, to erase a 19 point second half deficit in the first round of the 1976 NCAAs at the Providence Civic Center;

Traveling to Greensboro, NC to watch the 1976 NCAA Eastern Regionals, where we lost to Phil Seller's Rutgers team;

Attending all of our Final Fours and partying with crazy Husky fans after all but one of them;

After that one, leaving the shitpit known as Detroit, MI (F/U Spartan fans!) and driving to St. Louis, MO to watch our women's team win the 2009 Final Four over Louisville;

Partying with the team at a pregame BBQ at Jake Voskuhl's house before the Houston game in 1999;

Being at Rentschler Field for the inaugural game in 2003 when Dan Orlovsky led our football team to a big win over Indiana.

Traveling to Detroit to see our football team win its first bowl game ever over Toledo in the 2004
Motor City Bowl;

Traveling to San Antonio in 2002 and 2010 to see our women's team win two Final Fours;

Traveling to Birmingham, AL to see our football team beat South Carolina in the 2010 PapaJohn's Pizza Bowl; and

Sitting with my dad on his death bed, when just before he died, he asked me what the score of the UCONN game was from the night before.

So many similar thoughts UCNick cool stuff. We did beat Sellers RU team? Flying Dutchmen great memory. Wins in ECAC at PCC and SCC. Whelton, LaVigne, Abro, Carr years and Hanson before them. VCU at the Field House on our way to the NIT champ, front row seating my butt off in that loud arena.

So many great memories for this old guy. Good to be a Husky fan but admittedly want a % back.
 
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Being a Husky forever...let's see:

Listening to George Ehrlich announcing Husky games on WTIC from the frozen winter tundra of remote outposts like Burlington, VT, Orono, ME, Durham, NH, and Manley Field House at Syracuse, NY, among others;

Watching Dick Galiette and "Tiny" Markle announce Husky games from the Field House on grainy B&W telecasts by Channel 8 in New Haven;

Sitting in the Yale Bowl in Sept. 1965 when Gene Campbell intercepted a Yale pass late in the fourth quarter and returned it for a touchdown, with most of the crowd of 40,000 going absolutely wild during our first win over Yale in 16 tries;

Attending the St. Patrick's Day 1974 win in the NIT over St. John's at MSG, with my father and several friends from school;
Our little guard Jimmy Foster was unstoppable in that game on Network TV no less.
He later played in the ABA
Watching us beat Phil Seller's Rutgers team by one point at the Field House;


Attending the ECAC New England Championship game in 1976 at the Springfield Civic Center, where we beat Joey Hassett's Providence team 87-73 to win the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament;
That was the PC team that also had Soupy Campbell from New Haven a very big and important win which helped us get into the Big East.
Watching us beat Hofstra by two points after a furious comeback led by freshman Jeff Carr, to erase a 19 point second half deficit in the first round of the 1976 NCAAs at the Providence Civic Center;

Traveling to Greensboro, NC to watch the 1976 NCAA Eastern Regionals, where we lost to Phil Seller's Rutgers team;
Attending all of our Final Fours and partying with crazy Husky fans after all but one of them;

After that one, leaving the shitpit known as Detroit, MI (F/U Spartan fans!) and driving to St. Louis, MO to watch our women's team win the 2009 Final Four over Louisville;

Partying with the team at a pregame BBQ at Jake Voskuhl's house before the Houston game in 1999;

Being at Rentschler Field for the inaugural game in 2003 when Dan Orlovsky led our football team to a big win over Indiana.
Traveling to Detroit to see our football team win its first bowl game ever over Toledo in the 2004
Motor City Bowl;

Traveling to San Antonio in 2002 and 2010 to see our women's team win two Final Fours;

Traveling to Birmingham, AL to see our football team beat South Carolina in the 2010 PapaJohn's Pizza Bowl; and

Sitting with my dad on his death bed, when just before he died, he asked me what the score of the UCONN game was from the night before.
Side note on the Channel 8 broadcasts
In the 70’s I worked with a guy who was the cameraman on some of those Broadcasts. According to him they used WWII surplus cameras.I didn’t know the Army even had TV cameras in the 1942-46.
I believe channel 8 jhad a total of three but were lucky if they could keep one working at any given time. He claimed it was a chaos doing those games.
But us UConn fans looked forward to rare opportunity to see their Huskies live,regardless of the broadcast quality.
 

UConnNick

from Vince Lombardi's home town
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Got a little dust in my eyes reading this.

He was a greater Husky fan than I ever will be.

The funny thing is he despised the ACC passionately. It was almost as if he could sense that they were someday going to destroy the Big East and later snub us. He used to listen to ACC basketball on WBT in Charlotte. He was so happy when the East Regional in 1976 had no ACC teams and it was being played in Greensboro. It was us, Rutgers, DePaul, when they had Dave Corzine, and VMI. Then again in 1979 he was elated when Penn knocked UNC out in the second round, so again there were no ACC teams in the East Regional. Penn went on to the Final Four...last Ivy League team to make it.
 
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One small memory: The 2011 season and hanging out with three good friends I had not seen in two years or more (because I was living in China) to watch that season was the only ray of light in an otherwise very difficult year where I had to abruptly leave my job and China, get chemo and my fiancée left me because of how sick I got.

I watched the Maui Invt., I believe it was from Monday to Wednesday the 22nd to 24th and I had gotten my first chemo that previous Friday, the 19th but despite that I felt nothing but joy watching those games. When I really think about it, I think 2011 will always be my favorite team ever because it was one of the few things that consistently kept me going.
 

CL82

2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champions
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He was a greater Husky fan than I ever will be.

The funny thing is he despised the ACC passionately. It was almost as if he could sense that they were someday going to destroy the Big East and later snub us. He used to listen to ACC basketball on WBT in Charlotte. He was so happy when the East Regional in 1976 had no ACC teams and it was being played in Greensboro. It was us, Rutgers, DePaul, when they had Dave Corzine, and VMI. Then again in 1979 he was elated when Penn knocked UNC out in the second round, so again there were no ACC teams in the East Regional. Penn went on to the Final Four...last Ivy League team to make it.
Back in the days before the internet, and yes I am that old, my dad would cut out and send m the local UConn articles along with his insights and commentary. It was kind of like a paper version the Boneyard (only decidedly more sane.) Unbeknownst to me, my wife saved everyone of those letters. After my dad passed, she put them all inside a wooden box and gave them to me. Probably the most kind and thoughtful gift I've ever gotten. I still haven't been able to sit down and reread them all, but I will someday.
 

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