Husky Life

Above: my cell phone footage of UConn fans rushing the court

Today I feel like I have witnessed something epic: the UConn vs. Texas game.

My dormmates and I walked to Gampel at around noon. We waited in line for the much anticipated game about two hours before the doors opened. However, many people had already waited by the doors for hours by the time we arrived. I saw tents and chairs on the sidewalks. Those people who slept overnight received a just reward. The athletic department gave them wristbands that allowed them to enter the stadium before everyone else. We had spent the night in a nice heated dorm. It was only fair that we got seats far from the court.

However, the view was good enough to see UConn win a game against Texas, the highest ranked college men’s basketball team in the nation.

I watched the game with Nabeel Kurji, one of my friends from GHS (Class of 07’), a UConn Stamford student and Greenwich resident, who traveled to and from town today to see the game. I also sat with John Dearborn, one of my new friends at UConn, who is from Ansonia. John went crazy in the school spirit department. He painted his face in blue and white and sported a blue and white wig. That’s some serious Husky Pride! And I just wore my Jim Calhoun portrait t-shirt…

The game truly became exciting when UConn began to pull ahead of Texas.  “Who Let The Dogs Out” blared from the speakers. That song seriously energized the crowd. And I have a feeling that Jonathan, The Husky, our mascot, enjoyed the song too. He is a dog, of course!

The student section seemed crazier than usual. Random fans gave each other high fives. Students shook blue and white pom poms that SUBOG, the Student Union Board of Governors, had handed out earlier in the game. Late in the second quarter, the student section began shouting the famous “Stand Up Gampel” cheer. Most of the spectators in the stadium stood up in response. Why not? Spectating is not a spectator sport.

Two minutes before the end of the game, many fans vacated their seats. They moved towards the center of the stadium. When the buzzer sounded, they rushed the court. Kevin Rudolf’s “Let It Rock” blasted from the speakers as a large crowd circled around the UConn players.

I ran towards the court and joined the madness.

I passed the marching band on the way to the court. The event staff held me (and some of the crowd) back so that some people (team officials?) could leave the court. Once I stepped onto the wooden floor, I couldn’t believe that I actually was standing in the middle of Gampel Pavilion.  Surrounded by bright lights, loud music and smiling fans, I felt a sense of euphoria. This was real, right? Husky Life : Unscripted?

As I write this blog post back in my dorm, one of my friends, Jon Bock , walks into the room and says with a smile,  “I can’t believe that they won.”

Neither can I. But I do believe that I will probably remember this game for years to come.

I must now sign off so that I can play a pick-up game of basketball. Somehow, I think that it won’t compare to today’s game at Gampel.

Question: Did anybody else see the game on television or in-person today? What was your reaction?

I woke up before 10 a.m. this morning for the first time in a month. It wasn’t easy! Between the noise from roommate and my cell phone, I managed to saunter out of the dorm for a 9:30 a.m. class. Pass the caffeine, please.
This second semester may prove more challenging than the first semester. And I know that waking up early won’t be the hardest part. My first semester on campus I studied the humanities, my “strong area”. I took three history courses: Thoreau’s Walden, A History; The Press In America (journalism history); and Western Civ. I also took econ and two freshman seminars, one on journalism and the other on law. This semester, I plan on leaving my academic comfort area. I will study bio and stats in addition to classes in english, music and globalization. (Despite the fact that I probably will pursue a liberal arts degree, I need to dabble in the math-science sphere in order to meet general education requirements). I’m not particularly worried about biology considering I took it back in high school but I have never taken stats. I assume that I’ll face a steeper learning curve for that class. Anybody want to calculate the odds that I’ll be a statistics whiz by the end of May?
To make my introduction to Stats more interesting, I decided to run to class. It was not a planned event. I had switched into stats from another math class in the afternoon and I needed to get to class in an expedient manner. One of the advantages of college life is the ability to switch classes. I can simply login to the scheduling website and instantly add or drop courses, space permitting. I had added stats fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled start of class.  Not wanting to miss the first class, I had to run across campus to make it in time. I even raced a bus down the Mansfield Busway. The bus won by about a minute.
By the end of the day, I felt hungry and tired. My dormmates and I had dinner at the union. That way we could spend some discretionary dining points at the union’s market. Last semester, I had saved too many points. I had to spend 200 of my allotted 500 points (1 point = $1) in the last three weeks of school, if I did not want them to expire. I ended up leaving campus with 50 points left in my account. Such a first semester mistake. That is not going to happen this spring. I intend to eat more union food and perhaps try the union’s new UConn dairy ice cream shop.
On a more serious note, while we were walking to the union we passed by two news trucks parked on Fairfield Way. While we were eating dinner and watching the union’s flat-panel televisions we found out why: Coach Calhoun is taking a medical leave. That came as a bit of a surprise and disappointment as we were looking forward to seeing him coach the team at the Texas game, one of the more anticipated games of the season. My floormates and I hope that he gets well soon.