HARTFORD HOOPS

Despite dire weather reports that “the worst storm of winter 2025 will pound New England on Saturday afternoon and evening,” off we went — son-in-law Tim at the wheel of his GMC Yukon Denali, daughter Alex in shotgun, and Grandma in the back, knitting. Our destination: Chase Family Arena, athletic home of the University of Hartford (Connecticut) Hawks where granddaughter Maddie’s basketball team was hosting the Endicott College Gulls for a noon bout. (Game time was moved up from 2 PM because of impending snowstorm.)

Each of us was dressed head-to-toe in red and black — the Hawks’ signature colors. The sky grew darker and grayer, even at 8:30 AM, as we slipped out of New Hampshire and avoided potholes along I-84 to West Hartford, the entire trip listening to Tim’s favorite podcast (“Armchair Expert”) which that morning focused on owls. (Factoid: snowy owls can live in negative 40 degree temperatures and they have fluffy slipper-like feet. I’m happy for them.)

I’d not attended a home game this season (fyi: Hartford is 2 1/2 hours from the Wells woods) but had cheered the Hawks when they played in venues closer to Maine and watched other games that were streamed. So I was unfamiliar (shocked, to be honest) with the size and magnificence of their home arena which is significantly more grandiose than the Portsmouth High School gym where I sat on backless and unforgiving wooden benches over four years cheering Maddie and her Clipper teammates.

I walked into the bright bustling arena with its gleaming parquet floors, cushioned crimson seats with backs, NCAA banners hanging from the ceiling, red-black-and-sequined-clad cheerleaders waving frothy pompoms, plus a friendly Hawk mascot named Howie, and I thought WOW. Only thing missing was a Jumbotron. (Gotta admit: I got teary-eyed. It’s an impressive facility.) 

We spotted Maddie and her beautiful teammates warming up, practicing 3’s, free throws and bounce passes. Coach Polly Thomason stood on the sidelines, clipboard in hand, eyeballing her young players — one junior, nine sophomores and seven freshman form the team. (“We’re growing, it’s been a challenging season, but we’re working hard and coming together,” Coach Polly said after a recent game.)

Before tip-off, I had a chance to meet the announcers who sit court-side at a table topped with computers and stats sheets. (Of course I introduced myself as Maddie’s grandma. “We love Maddie!” they said. Me too!) Then, after singing the National Anthem, the house lights dimmed and the starting lineups were introduced. (Loud cheers from our cushioned seats for #44, plus a home-made GO MADDIE sign sketched by Sydney Pettis, a former Portsmouth H.S. teammate who was visiting the university that day.) 

The game was tough … for the Hawks. Endicott couldn’t miss, seamlessly dropping 3’s and free throws while simultaneously stealing the ball and forcing multiple turnovers, all resulting in an “L” for Hartford. After a 4 PM “slupper” at a nearby restaurant with Maddie and her roommate Katrina and family, we hopped back in the Yukon, now smothered in snow and ice. The drive home was slow, treacherous and nail-biting, with traffic moving about 40 MPH. Fortunately no accidents. 

Was it worth the agony of that slippery drive home through a tsunami of snow?  Absolutely. What grandma doesn’t want to see her special girl on the court giving heart and soul to her team — any day of the year, rain, sunshine or snow. 

And here’s the best news: yesterday, the Hawks played the Suffolk (Boston) Rams, a team that had annihilated them in mid-January. Retribution time! The Hawks won by 15 points. 

Which, incidentally, secures their entry next week into the playoffs of the NCAA Division 3 Commonwealth Coast Conference. Go Hartford Hawks! 

Will I be there? What do YOU think?