THE POWER OF A NAME

I’m not one for name-dropping. But at the same time, it’s an unfortunate part of this business that sometimes becomes necessary to get results faster.
With that said, I do find it kind of amazing how much power is attached to letting people know you cover high-level college basketball and UConn to boot. I make calls to various parts of the country every week in hopes of not only getting people on the phone, but reaching them quick enough to turn something around later in the week.
The latest example was a call to the Missouri Valley Conference trying to reach to its commissioner. When I was a college student, I also called the MVC for a story and was granted a phone interview with the associate commissioner. This time, when I introduced myself as a UConn writer, the commissioner called me back about an hour later.
Like I said before, sometimes you’ve got to take advantage of what you have and UConn is certainly an asset in a lot of people’s minds. I can’t say I love using a longwinded title for myself every time I make a call, but if it works why question it.

On the UConn front, because of us having a sister paper down there, I didn’t make the trip to Louisville, so I haven’t seen the players in a few days. But from what I’ve read and been told, frustration seems to be really setting in.
If there is a bonus for the Huskies, they play three of the next four at home and the game at DePaul is one of their more winnable dates left on the road. If ever there was a time for extreme focus, UConn is about to embark on that path.