Game 2-17-85: Men's Basketball vs. Syracuse (and Gameday)

This post is in two parts, the first is about College Gameday and the second is about the game.

What: College GameDay on ESPN
When: Saturday, February 25th, 10 AM
Where: Gampel Pavilion
Result: N/A

I arrived at 7:30 and worried I'd be far back on line. I wound up sitting with a friend a few rows up in the top level, but close to center. This of course, meant I would not be on TV, but I didn't mind. Anyway, this was somewhat interesting. It's kind of hard to summarize though if you didn't see the show. They had giveaways before and after, but I didn't win anything. And of course, we got to watch the show. It was awesome, but I really have nothing to say about it.

What: Men's Basketball vs. Syracuse
When: Saurday, February 25th, 9 PM
Where: Gampel Pavilion
Result: Loss, 71-69

Well, this was disappointing. We trailed by 17 points in the first half, and it looked over. Fortunately we managed to come back. You could literally feel the bleachers shaking when we hit a game-tying shot late. Alas, it was not meant to be. After the score bounced around a few times, the Orange went up 71-69. We inbounded it and called timeout. So we inbounded it again with 5.4 seconds left. But then we couldn't even get a shot off until after the buzzer went off. Truly pathetic. There is no excuse for this loss. Still, we sort of came together towards the end and just couldn't finish. Or Syracuse collapsed at the end and we almost got lucky. Take your pick. Anyway, I have a lot of family who went to SU and/or live in Syracuse, so now I'm going to have to endure them for the next year. But we'll face the Orange again next year, unless they jump to the ACC, and that won't happen yet most likely. So I'll have a couple more chances to watch the Huskies beat the Orange. For now though, I am 1-3 in UConn-Syracuse games, the one win coming in a women's basketball game on Senior Night last year. Let's look at some other teams the Huskies have struggled against when I go:

Boston University: 1-3 (Men's Soccer, Women's Ice Hockey, Softball)
Notre Dame: 1-2-2 (Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer, Women's Basketball, Men's Basketball)
Northeastern: 0-1-1 (Women's Ice Hockey)
Robert Morris: 0-2 (Men's Ice Hockey)

Of all the teams I have seen in multiple sports, the teams we have the worst winning percentage against are Syracuse and BU. We host the Orange in women's lacrosse March 24th, and I will probably be at that game. We also play three softball games against the Orange April 28-29. So there is still time for me to turn around the Orange Curse this year. But obviously, basketball is the biggest sport for 'Cuse games.

Game 2-16-84: Women's Lacrosse vs. Quinnipiac

Note: Info on College Gameday will be included in the post about the Syracuse basketball game, to be released soon


What: Women's Lacrosse vs. Quinnipiac
When: Saturday, February 25th, 2012, 1:00 PM
Where: George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex
Result: Win, 18-6

The Bobcats lost 18-6 to
the Huskies, who looked
far superior. 

I'd never been to a women's lacrosse game before Saturday. I'd always found a reason not to go to the couple game I would have been able to go to. But Saturday, I went. I got out of Gameday at noon, ate lunch at the Student Union, and walked across the street to Sherman to watch lacrosse. There were about 17 minutes until starting time when I got there.

Well, I had no idea what to expect and honestly didn't know what was going on half the time. But we won 18-6, behind six goals from M.E. Lapham, which is good. We are now 2-0 on the season. One thing about the game - it was very windy. 50 mile per hour gusts blowing from north to south appeared to fluster whichever goalie happened to be at that end. That's how we wound up 11-1at halftime. But then Quinnipiac only was outscored 7-5 in the second half. The wind.

There was also some man up in the bleachers with a microphone making sound effects. I didn't know you could do that. I believe he's a parent or something, but I'm not certain. In any case, if you happen to be reading this, post here and let us know. You're awesome. Well, at least we won this game. The same cannot be said about the Syracuse game. Watch for the post on that in a few minutes.

Tonight's the Night!

Tonight, after eight long months, one summer vacation, one medical leave, and one winter break of waiting, I attend my first UConn athletic event since April 25th. But when I walk through the doors of Gampel Pavilion at roughly 5:30 PM tonight, I will be getting ready to watch the Huskies women's basketball team take on UNC. And finally, I will be able to root for the Huskies in person again. It looks like I will attend three or four games this week. Next week I might attend my 75th game ever if things go right. Let's hope the Huskies do well while I'm here. Expect a post about the UNC game tonight or tomorrow. So Let's Go Huskies!

UConn Sports Roundup, November 3rd, 2011

Here's to great years for both of our hoops teams!

Men's Basketball: Good showing in the exhibition last night as the Huskies beat  American International by a convincing score of 78-35. Jeremy Lamb had 17 points and Shabazz Napier had 15. Ryan Boatright did not play due to eligibility issues. Let's look forward to the actual season, but first the second exhibition, Sunday vs. CW Post at XL Center. The first real game is Friday, November 11th vs. Columbia at 7:00 PM.

Women's Basketball: The women host Assumption in an exhibition at 7:30 PM at Gampel. Coverage is on UConnHuskies.com and WTIC.

Men's Soccer: The first round of the Big East Tournament will be tonight at 6:00 PM at Morrone Stadium. The Huskies will host DePaul. With a win, we will face off on Sunday afternoon at Rutgers at 1:00 PM. Currently, the Huskies are #4 in the RPI computer rankings but only 7th in the Coaches' Poll. Top four teams in the NCAA Tournament are assured of home games through the quarterfinals and then the neutral-site College Cup. If we can win the Big East Tournament, we have a good chance of being one of them.

Field Hockey: And of course, the Field Hockey Big East Tournament is this weekend. Tomorrow at 12:30, the Huskies face the Louisville Cardinals at 12:30 PM. Then, the host team Syracuse will play Villanova at 3:00 PM. The winners face off on Sunday at 1:00 and all games are free live online at Bigeast.tv.