Date: Fri 02-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

UConn-celebrations

Full Text:

A Newtown Notebook Of UConn Celebrations

B STEVE BIGHAM

Elaine Borelli could not figure out why there were so many cars parked along

the side of Interstate 84 Tuesday afternoon. As she made her way back from

Worcester, Mass, she watched in disbelief and hundreds of people began jumping

up and down, and waving.

Then the Newtown resident realized what was going on. She was driving in the

middle of the motorcade for the University of Connecticut men's basketball

team. The Huskies, fresh off their national championship victory the night

before, had landed at Bradley International Airport just minutes earlier and

were headed back to Storrs. And Mrs Borelli was along for the ride -- at least

part of the way.

Sandy Hook School Principal Donna Page was a UConn cheerleader back in the

1970s, so when Connecticut won the title she headed straight for the attic.

Moments later she came down with pom poms, skirt and sweater, which she wore

to school on Tuesday.

Newtown High School boys' basketball coach John Quinn didn't get to see the

game. He and his wife, Leslie, were at the Rolling Stones concert at the

Hartford Civic Center Monday night.

"There were thousands of hand-held TVs," the coach recalled Thursday morning.

"We had our own Billy Packer at the end of our row who kept giving us the

score."

According to Coach Quinn, Mick Jagger was just taking his final bow when

people all over the arena jumped to their feet shouting, "they won, they won."

Jagger returned to the stage for an encore and fans tossed UConn hats onto the

stage.

Outside the Civic Center, UConn fans joined Rolling Stones fans in the street

to celebrate a memorable night.

Kevin MacKnight was among a handful of Newtown residents who made the trip up

to Storrs Tuesday to join in the celebration.

Middle school teacher Gino LoRicco's two sons, Nick and Nolan, ages 7 and 8,

had followed the tournament closely since it first started two weeks ago. They

made charts and kept statistics on each of the UConn games, so you can imagine

their disappointment when they heard the game did not start until 9:15 pm.

Gino has his rules about bed time, but this was one that deserved to be

broken. Right after school, Nick and Nolan did their homework, then it was off

to bed for three hours. Just before tip-off, Gino awoke his two boys for the

game. And what a game it was.

Lisa Pollard, an administrative assistant in the town's building department,

was into the game. She was a classmate of UConn guard EJ Harrison at Danbury

High School.

Those who tuned in to Monday's game heard Jim Calhoun thank his former players

-- guys like Ray Allen, Travis Knight, Scott Burrell and Newtown resident

Cliff Robinson. Cliff, a forward for the Phoenix Suns, moved to town about

five years ago.