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Kudos to Geno Auriemma

For those of you unfamiliar with women's college basketball, the name Geno Auriemma may not ring a bell. Sports fan or not, however, what I'm about to share about the man will undoubtedly win over some new admirers.

First off, Geno Auriemma has coached the UConn (Connecticut) women's basketball team for 32 years. His resumé has reached the point where it's not even debatable anymore to say this man is one of the greatest coaches in sports history. In the past 24 years, Auriemma's Huskies have won 11 national titles, gone to the Final Four 6 additional times, the Elite Eight 5 others, and a pair of Sweet Sixteens. So, in the past 2.5 decades, Auriemma's squad has fared no worse than the top 16 in the country, has been one of the four best teams near 75% of the time, and has come close to winning 50% of the national championships. So to say Geno Auriemma has been dominant as a head coach in women's college basketball and deserves praise for his long list of accomplishments would be quite the understatement. In my mind, however, what he recently said with regard to the budget battle in the state of Connecticut was even more impressive.

Auriemma, slated to make over $2 million next year, has offered to coach for free next season. As he put it:

"I'll tell you what. I'll work for free next year. I'll give up what the state pays me, what the taxpayers are paying me, but guess what? I pay my taxes and I don't care how much money it costs for me to have good schools where I live in Manchester. My [adult] kids don't go to school there. I can afford it. I want to be proud of our town's education system. Why is it that older people turn their back on education when somebody paid for their kids when they were in school? We've lost sight of what we have to do for other people."

He added:

"I do not want to come across as someone who doesn't understand what the realities are. Not unlike a lot of states, Connecticut is facing real issues of how to pay its obligations. Some people are going to get hurt. I don't know if anyone is going to get helped. This is like a family issue. Everybody is going to have to suffer a little bit.

You try to be fair to everyone, real about what your priorities are and don't let politics get in the way. Whether it's the politics of UConn lobbying for its benefit or one party or another -- one's in favor, one's against -- and then it's less about the issue and more about who's going to be right and who's going to be wrong."

Whether Auriemma's offer gets taken seriously or not, his powerful words and selfless gesture deserve just as much, if not more praise than his on-the-court feats. He's right - many people in this country lose sight of what helped them reach their current point in life, as they delusionally recite the inaccurate yet catch bumper sticker slogan of "I built that!" while completely denying all those whom helped them garner the knowledge to "build that," if not literally aided them in "building that." So, I tip my hat to Geno Auriemma. Major kudos to you, and I hope your insightful words and kind offer inspire others to think and act similarly!

http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/20784596/geno-auriemma-offers-forgo-pay-university-connecticut-coach-education-budget-battle

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