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November 6, 2008
Huskies Like Obama
Every day that you are around the Huskies it seems that you learn more and more about them and what makes them tick. They are far from your ordinary elite student-athletes. Sure, they have their sights set on winning a national championship. But they also want to be winners in the classroom and in the community.
And Wednesday we learned that this group of Huskies is more in tune with politics than any other team Geno Auriemma has coached at UConn. It’s not that Geno discusses politics with them during team meetings. He’ll stick to X’s and O’s and what they are or are not doing on the court.
So when his wife Kathy and his daughter Alysa arranged a get-together with the team over their house to watch the election results unfold Tuesday night, Geno looked on as the players rejoiced and even shed a few tears when Senator Barack Obama became the first African-American president in the history of the United States.
``I try not to talk politics and religion with my team,’’ Geno said. ``I’ve got enough problems with those guys with other stuff. If I already have a problem with somebody because they’re not rebounding or making layups the last thing I want to find out is they’re voting for a guy that I don’t like. So I try to stay out of that. But Kathy and Alyssa were really hopped up on this whole election. They were pretty gung-ho and they were pretty involved. So they got the team together and it was kind of a celebration. They stayed there till midnight. It was like dancing in the streets, man. It was like Mardi Gras. Not me. I stood and watched. I was a political observer. I wasn’t necessarily part of the celebration. I was happy for them.’’
Kalana Greene, who is from St. Stephen, S.C, was one of the Huskies who was considerably moved by the results. This was first time she has voted in a presidential election. And Obama’s election was of utmost significance to her family.
``The presidential election is something that’s big every four years and we should never take it for granted,’’ Kalana said. ``I’m just happy to see my grandparents and my parents who fought so hard. I spoke with my grandma and she talked about how she didn’t have the right to vote growing up and drinking from separate water fountains. So for me it’s a big thing. But I’m even happier to see her be alive and actually see something like this happen. And her vote actually meaning something and her actually being proud to vote and seeing the changes she saw in the last couple years.
``I’m proud. Not to say that I’m not proud of the last president, but I’m proud that somebody I voted for and wanted to win has won. I don’t think everything’s going to change miraculously, but I definitely see him taking things in the right direction in the next term.’’
Who was the party leader on the team, you ask? That’s easy. It was senior three-year captain Renee Montgomery.
``I think she was the one breaking legs if people didn’t vote,’’ Geno said. ``She was twisting arms. What was the first number they put up when everybody celebrated? 284? She was convinced she would wake up (Wednesday) morning and that they would’ve found some glitch and he would’ve lost. She was trying to come up with every scenario that could possibly involve him losing after he had won.’’
Ultimately, of course, Geno molded the election into a lesson for his players. Come on, now. You know that he couldn’t not find something about it that somehow did not relate to basketball. A president’s tenure spans four years. So does a player’s career in college. There you have it.
``He’s got four years to prove that he’s as good as he says he is,’’ Geno said. ``They do too. They come to school here. They’ve got four years to prove they’re as good as they think they are and to leave some kind of mark. So I gave them some similarities. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s ironic that they get four years to get it done.’’
Rich
Posted by Elliott on November 6, 2008 5:14 PM
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