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January 6, 2009
Mixed Memories at the Dome
The last time the Huskies’ Road Show invaded the Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla. Feb. 20, 2007 it proved to be a magical night for then-freshman Tina Charles. She dropped a career-high 34 points and 17 rebounds on the Bulls as UConn clinched its first outright Big East regular season championship since 2004. What also was memorable from that night was the insensitivity of the student section for the majority of the game.
They repeatedly showered Kaili McLaren with insults. It got so bad that Geno Auriemma took the time to lay into the fans himself in an effort to stand up for his player.
The incident is not one that Geno has forgotten on the eve of tonight’s Big East opener.
``It makes you wonder why they sell alcohol on college campuses,’’ he said. ``Two knuckleheads with these yellow horns sticking out of their heads were yelling at Kaili. Can you imagine that? Like you’re making fun of Kaili while you’re sitting there with two horns on your head. What do people think? But they did. The guy who was the general manager of the building came over and apologized and he said, `We have problems with those guys all the time.’ But I think it was his son and his nephew. So I’m sure they’ll be back (tonight).’’
All signs point to these fans returning or many like them. Students returned to campus yesterday. And it’s a ``White-Out’’ event with the first 500 fans receiving white South Florida t-shirts.
``They’ll be raring to go,’’ Geno said.
As ornery as some sections might be tonight, there should be plenty of love for the Huskies too. Freshman Tiffany Hayes went to high school in Winter Haven, which is about 50 miles from Tampa. She is expecting quite a contingent of family and friends to be in attendance.
Rich
Posted by Elliott on January 6, 2009 12:06 PM
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