Blumenthal, Murphy indulge in some Husky gloating

Sen. Richard Blumenthal adjusts his Husky-logo UConn tie _ on Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, who lost a bet on the NCAA men's basketball championship game and had to don the tie on the Capitol's Senate steps. (Photo by Will Brown)

Sen. Richard Blumenthal adjusts his Husky-logo UConn tie _ on Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, who lost a bet on the NCAA men’s basketball championship game and had to don the tie on the Capitol’s Senate steps. (Photo by Will Brown)

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.,  and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took time out from politics Wednesday  afternoon to settle more important matters – their bet on the outcome of the men’s NCAA basketball championship.

Blumenthal’s challenge to Paul on Twitter read:

@Team_Mitch@SenRandPaul: want to add to the bet? If @UConnHuskies win tonight, you wear my #Huskies tie for a day. pic.twitter.com/2e4PYXuzOL

Blumenthal and Paul met on the Senate steps and Paul, in accordance with the bet, donned Blumenthal’s tie, emblazoned with Huskies.

“Go UConn!” Blumenthal said.

“My official position is, I demand a recount,” Paul joked to onlookers.

When asked how long he would wear the tie, Paul said “Senator Blumenthal didn’t think I’d wear it very much in Kentucky so he actually wants it back.”

Blumenthal also Tweeted afterward:  “Happy to help SenRandPaul straighten his new #Huskies tie—thanks for being a good sport, Senator.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.,  in a Senate floor speech Wednesday morning, bled some Husky blue of his own.

“I’m here to congratulate my UConnn Huskies on their double national championships,” he said.

Murphy told senators that when “our new men’s coach, Kevin Ollie, took the job … our longtime Hall of Fame coach had just left, and we had sanctions that didn’t allow our team to play for a year in the post-season. People thought it just wasn’t possible that UConn was ever going to be able to return to the greatness we’d seen over the past 20 years. But Coach Ollie, in his first tournament, led his team to victory.”

Murphy said the UConn women’s team “managed to win their national championship by going undefeated and beating another undefeated team in the national championship game in a rout.” He pointed out that “It’s the third time they’ve gone undefeated in the past six years. It’s their fourth title in six years, and Coach Geno Auriemma’s ninth overall.”

 

William T. Brown