Thursday April 30, 2009
It’s 3 p.m. and UConn’s perfect 39-0 women’s hoop team is being honored in the House of Representatives. The annual Husky day, where lawmakers pay homage to football and basketball players, far overshadows any actual business going on in the House.
Indeed, this may be as close to greatness of any kind that the chamber may see in this grim, ugly financial climate that lawmakers are essentially pretending doesn’t exist.
House Speaker Chris Donovan just reminded people that the UConn women have been inspiring kids throughout the state who might not otherwise stay in school.
Coach Geno Auriemma’s 100-percent graduation rate, unlike Jim “Not One Dime Back” Calhoun’s dismal 33 percent, is the unspoken subtext. Calhoun is not in the building as the Senate honors the men’s team.
Auriemma just hinted that he might be interested in serving in the House in a couple of years, but he was probably joking. He oozed some sarcasm: “It’s a great time for the state of Connecticut,” he said. “The economy is great.” Then he offered a lesson: “You can’t pick the times. Sometimes the times pick you.”
He said the student/athletes worked over four years to finally win another national title.
The House wasn’t jammed, like in 2004, when both the women and men basketballers won NCAA titles, but the tribute was warm.
The Blogster’s reminded of something Auriemma said during a Husky Day a few years back when they didn’t win anything and the House was no where near full. “Yeah,” he said, that sarcastic smiling pasted on his mug. “Yeah, you’ll love us when we lose too. Right.”