Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02) and host Thomas Emerick talk about how the bricks were laid for a powerhouse in Storrs, Conn., home of UConn Huskies basketball and part of Connecticut's 2nd Congressional district that Congressman Courtney represents spanning the central to eastern parts of the state. The vehicle for the episode is the 1999 NCAA tournament men's basketball final between the Connecticut Huskies and Duke Blue Devils, which also allows for traveling backwards and forwards through time.

A few of the topics covered while revisiting the UConn 77, Duke 74 finish in the '99 final:

• Early days of the Jim Calhoun era
• The excitement sparked in CT by Tate George's shot at the start of this decade, and the letdown vs. Duke days later
• UConn cutting their teeth on '90s Big East basketball
• Ray Allen and favorite UConn players or personalities of that decade on the rise
• Rising tide with ESPN, UConn, and Big East basketball
• Rip Hamilton and Khalid Al-Amin, what was most exciting about the way this duo played
• Expectations heading into the regional final and coming out of it.
• How did this simultaneous emergence of these two teams really generate the energy for the programs in Storrs, CT?
• How beatable did that juggernaut Blue Devils team seem?
• Ricky Moore defensive tour de force and supplying offense at the right moments
• Coach K vs. Calhoun chess match: Bothering Elton Brand and Trajan Langdon, denying Rip
• Jim Nantz delighting in the Moore-Avery August matchup; Late great Billy Packer on the call
• Award for bipartisanship in CT legislature, and also whether a common sports fandom can be a depolarizer
• Duke squad favored by 9.5, also had future Naismith Men's College Player of the Year Shane Battier as basically a role player in this game
• Hamilton catching fire, El-Amin crucial buckets down the stretch, and high tension in waning moments
• Pulling off the upset and the environment on the streets over that next week. Different than the reaction to the next four UConn men’s team championships?
• The foundation this win laid for the 21st century in Connecticut, both in state pride and having the basketball programs with the most titles over the past 25 years

HOST

RotoViz contributor Thomas Emerick

Guest

Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut's 2nd Congressional district (CT-02)

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