This photograph was taken the morning of October 6, 2012, a Saturday. Soon thereafter, the University of Connecticut football team would face Rutgers University. The night before its star running back, Lyle McCombs, was arrested for second degree breach of peace. He was accused in the police report of yelling, pushing and spitting at his girlfriend.
As punishment he was forced to sit out the first quarter of that day's game. He returned in the second quarter, and ended the game with 12 carries for 32 yards.
There is no truth to the rumor that Warde Manuel and Paul Pasqualoni were having a light-hearted, pre-game discussion about the iconic online comic strip, "Tone Deaf" which follows the adventures of two high school band directors. Nor is it true that they were discussing Emerson's Essay on Self-Reliance and the meaning of "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."