Impress your friends and co-workers: Some little-known facts about Irish-American Heritage

Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick's Day dish.

The U.S. Census Bureau has compiled some mind-bending facts related to the upcoming celebration of Irish-American Heritage Month (March) and St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. They could prove useful at your next get-together – or if you happen to land a spot on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? or Jeopardy.

Originally a religious holiday to honor St. Patrick, who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into a celebration for all things Irish.

The world’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held on March 17, 1762 in New York City and featuring Irish soldiers serving in the English military.

President Truman attended the parade in 1948.

Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1995, and the President issues a proclamation each year.

More Irish here than in Ireland

36.5 million: the number of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2007… more than 8 times the population of Ireland itself (which is about 4 million). Irish was the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German. [Sources: 2007 American Community Survey and Ireland Central Statistical Office ]

24 percent: Percentage of Massachusetts residents of Irish ancestry reported in 2007… compared with a rate of 12 percent for the nation as a whole. [Source: 2007 American Community Survey ]

Education, income, labor force

32 percent: Percentage of people of Irish ancestry, 25 or older, who had earned a bachelor’s degree or more education (92 percent of Irish-Americans in this age group had at least a high school diploma). For the nation as a whole, the corresponding rates were 28 percent and 85 percent. [Source: 2007 American Community Survey]

$56,966 : the median income for households headed by an Irish-American, higher than the $50,740 median income for all households in the U.S. (And, 8 percent of people of Irish ancestry were in poverty, which is a lower rate than 13 percent for all Americans.) [Source: 2007 American Community Survey]

39 percent: Percentage of employed civilian Irish-Americans 16 or older who worked in management, professional and related occupations. 27 percent worked in sales and office occupations; 15 percent in service occupations; 10 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations; and 9 percent in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations. [Source: 2007 American Community Survey]

72 percent: Percentage of householders of Irish ancestry who owned the home in which they live, with the remainder renting. For the nation as a whole, the homeownership rate was 67 percent. [Source: 2007 American Community Survey]

U.S. trade with the ‘Old Sod’

$26.2 billion: The value of U.S. imports from Ireland for January to October 2008. Meanwhile, the United States exported $7.4 billion worth of goods to Ireland. [Source: Foreign Trade Statistics ]

Where to hang out on St. Patrick’s Day

Four: Number of places in the United States named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland. Mount Gay-Shamrock, W.Va., and Shamrock, Texas were the most populous, with 2,623 and 1,830 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind. had 154 residents and Shamrock, Okla. 123. (Statistic for MountGay-Shamrock is from Census 2000; the other statistics are 2007 estimates.) [Sources: American FactFinder and Population Estimates ]

Nine: Number of places in the United States that share the name of Ireland’s capital, Dublin. Since Census 2000, Dublin, Calif. has surpassed Dublin, Ohio as the most populous of these places (43,960 compared with 37,954 respectively, as of July 1, 2007).

You might also consider paying a visit to Emerald Isle, N.C. with 3,651 residents. Other appropriate places in which to spend St. Patrick’s Day – the township of Irishtown, Ill., several places or townships named “Clover” (in South Carolina, Illinois, Minnesota and Pennsylvania) and the township of Cloverleaf, Minn. [Sources: American FactFinder and Population Estimates ]

And what to eat

41.5 billion and 2.6 billion: U.S. beef and cabbage production, respectively, in pounds, in 2007. Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick’s Day dish. The corned beef that celebrants dined on in 2007 may very well have originated in Texas – which produced 6.8 billion pounds of beef, while the cabbage most likely came from California – which produced 581 million pounds, or New York – which produced 580 million pounds. [Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service ]

Don’t forget those green flowers

$40 million: Value of potted florist chrysanthemum sales at wholesale in 2007 for operations with $100,000 or more in sales. Lime green chrysanthemums are often requested for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. [Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service ]

Posted Feb. 28, 2009

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COMMENTS

Disclaimer: Comments posted by readers do not represent the opinions of HTNP.com. They may be edited for content (i.e. abusive language, obscenity) or length, at the Editor’s discretion. While your comments are an important part of this publication, we ask that you please make your comments relevant to the story, keep them civil — and refrain from name-calling or profanity, either of which may result in your comment being deleted. Thank you – The Editor

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Mayor on Monday, March 02, 2009

Thanks for mentioning Emerald Isle, NC as a place to spend St Patrick’s Day. We have a festival that is the start to our summer season. This year it is March 14. We are a beach town, if you didn’t already know. How did you learn about our St. Pat’s Festival?

Art Schools

Emerald Isle Mayor

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N. Cosgrove on Monday, March 02, 2009

How about these facts, which are a bit more “relevant” than how many pounds of corn beef are eaten:

12 Signers of the Declaration of Independence were Irish Americans.

The same Declaration was transcribed (Congressional secretary Charles Thomson), published (John Dunlop) and for the first time read in public (Colonel John Nixon) by Irish Americans

25% of Washington’s Army and Twenty of his Generals were Irish Americans.

The first woman to command the space shuttle, walk in space and the first Teacher in space (and sadly to die in space) were all Irish Americans.

The White House was designed by Irish American James Hoban

The first recorded instance of a person speaking out unequivocally against slavery was St. Patrick.

The first Flag Officer of the United States Navy was Commodore John Barry.

The most decorated soldier of World War II was Audie Murphy

etc etc. How about some real facts about the very real contributions of Irish Americans rather than trivializing their contribution to just the number of dyed chrysanthemum

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Brenda Sullivan on Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Hi — while corned beef and cabbage and flowers are trivia-bits, the majority of the statistics — which are supplied by the US Census Bureau — that are quoted in this story are highly complimentary to Irish Americans in terms of their level of education, income, home-ownership, and professions… Your additional facts also are complimentary. Thank you for sharing them – Brenda Sullivan

IRS says most workers will take home more of their pay this Spring

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says millions of American workers will take home more of their pay this spring.

Tax tables have been sent out that incorporate the new Making Work Pay Credit, one of the key tax provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that became law earlier this month.

Taxpayers will not get a separate, special check mailed to them from the IRS like last year’s economic stimulus payment. Instead, the additional take-home dollars are the result of smaller payroll deductions.

For most, no need for new W-4 Form

“For most taxpayers, the additional credit will automatically start showing up in their paychecks this spring… Since employers and payroll companies will handle this change, people typically won’t need to take any additional action,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “The IRS will continue working to implement this and other provisions of the new law as quickly as possible.”

The new withholding tables along with other instructions related to the new tax law will be incorporated in new Publication 15-T, which will be posted to this Web site http://www.irs.gov/ next week and mailed to more than 9 million employers in mid-March.

The IRS asks that employers start using these new tables as soon as possible, but not later than April 1.

Eligible workers don’t need to fill out a new W-4 withholding form to get the Making Work Pay credit. However, the IRS advises that individuals and couples with multiple jobs may want to submit revised Form W-4 forms to make sure they select enough withholding to cover the tax for the combined income. (Publication 919 provides additional guidance for tax withholding.)

What is the Making Work Pay Credit?

Available for tax years 2009 and 2010, the Making Work Pay credit is 6.2 percent of a taxpayer’s earned income, with a maximum credit of $800 for a married couple filing a joint return and $400 for other taxpayers – but it is phased out for higher income taxpayers, says the IRS.

And the IRS says most workers will qualify for the maximum credit. And because people can get it even if they owe no tax, most low-income workers will also qualify for the full credit.

All eligible taxpayers will need to claim the credit when they file their 2009 income tax return next year.

Many higher-income taxpayers will see little or no change in their take-home pay. The Making Work Pay Credit is phased out for a married couple filing a joint return whose modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is between $150,000 and $190,000 and for other taxpayers whose modified AGI is between $75,000 and $95,000.

Press conference to announce Underage Drinking Prevention contest

On Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 9:30 a.m., Lt Gov. Michael Fedele will host a press conference in his office at the State Capitol to announce the kick-off of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut (WSWC) Annual Public Service Announcement Contest to prevent underage drinking.

The WSWC is working in collaboration with the Governor’s Prevention Partnership to achieve the common goal of reducing underage drinking.

The contest calls for creating a 30-second TV commercial about underage drinking and how Connecticut ’s “House Party Law” protects children.

Students enrolled at any Connecticut college or university – or any Connecticut resident – may enter the contest.

Quinnipiac University, the University of New Haven and both Eastern and Western Connecticut State Universities have committed to the contest.

At Wednesday’s press conference, speakers and guests will include Edyta Orzel one of the ECSU team members who won the 2008 WSWC PSA Contest [To see the video, click this link ] ; Connecticut State University Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic & Student Affairs Dr. Louise Feroe; The Governor’s Prevention Partnership President Jill Spineti; Lieutenant J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police; Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell; and Chief Douglas Fuchs of the Redding Police Department.

U.S. farming is growing in numbers but shrinking in size of farms

The number of farms in the United States has grown 4 percent – and the operators of those farms have become more diverse in the past 5 years – according to results of the 2007 Census of Agriculture released earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

The 2007 Census counted 2,204,792 farms in the U.S., a net increase of 75,810 farms.

Nearly 300,000 new farms have begun operation since the last census in 2002.

Compared to all farms nationwide, these new farms tend to have more diversified production, fewer acres, lower sales and younger operators – who also work off-farm.

In the past five years, U.S. farm operators have become more demographically diverse.

The 2007 Census counted nearly 30 percent more women as principal farm operators.

The count of Hispanic operators grew by 10 percent. The number of Native American, Asian and Black farm operators increased, as well.

Fewer mid-sized farms

The latest census figures show a continuation in the trend towards either small or very large farms and fewer mid-sized operations.

The number of farms with sales of more than $500,000 grew by 46,000 between 2002 and 2007.

But the Census results show that the majority of U.S. farms are smaller operations. More than 36 percent are classified as residential/lifestyle farms, with sales of less than $250,000 and operators with a primary occupation other than farming.

Another 21 percent are retirement farms, which have sales of less than $250,000 and operators who reported they are retired.

The Census of Agriculture also delves into other areas, such as organic, value-added and specialty production, all of which are on the rise.

More farmers on-line

In 2007, the Census looked at high-speed Internet access for the first time.

While 57 percent of all farmers have Internet access (up from 50 percent in 2002) of those, 58 percent reported having a high-speed connection.

Other “firsts” in the 2007 Census include questions about on-farm energy generation, Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) arrangements, and historic barns.

This census updated every five years

The Census of Agriculture, conducted every five years, is a complete count of the nation’s farms and ranches and the people who operate them.

It provides the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the nation.

Census results are available online at www.agcensus.usda.gov .

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack notes, “The Census of Agriculture is a valuable tool that provides the general public with an accurate and comprehensive view of American agriculture. It’s also a set of benchmarks against which this department must measure and demonstrate its performance to agriculture and the taxpayer.”

National media chimes in on UConn Coach Calhoun's salary debate

The UConn men’s basketball team may no longer be ranked No. 1 in the
national polls, but head coach Jim Calhoun’s $1.6 million salary was
the number-one topic being discussed on the national sports talk shows
today.

“That basketball program has put UConn on the map. That program is a walking
advertisement for that school. Does it mean better students go there?
Yes it does, yes it does,” said highly popular New York City pundit
Mike Francesca on his WFAN afternoon show.

Calhoun would be “cheap at twice the salary for what he’s done there,” he said.

What prompted this defense of Coach Calhoun? Practicing the ambush
journalism popularized by “60 Minutes” in the 1980s, a political
activist, Ken Krayeske, wangled his way into Calhoun’s post-game
interview after the Huskies beat South Florida at the XL Center on
Saturday and confronted the coach about being the highest-paid state
employee during a time of fiscal uncertainty.

According to the Associated Press, the state’s deficit for this fiscal year is $944 million.

So, what began as an amiable enough Q&A, quickly deteriorated to the
point where Calhoun told Krayeske to “shut up,” and then came down on
this erstwhile sportswriter and told him – three times, as a matter of
fact – to “get some facts and come back and see me.”

Calhoun then made the point that his seven-figure salary is a small percentage
of the eight-figure revenue provided by the men’s hoops program, although it is unclear if that figure is gross or net and how much actually accrues to academic programs.

“We turn over more than $12 million to the University of Connecticut -
which is state run,” said the obviously irate coach, who restrained
himself from dumping on his inquisitor as though the questioner had
been a ref who’d fouled out Hasheem Thabeet on a questionable call late
in a tight game.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3925051 for the one-minute exchange.

More Calhoun defenders

“Mike” of the former talk show “Mike & The Mad Dog” (which changed names
when the longtime twosome split up a few months ago) also came to
Calhoun’s defense, saying the coach is “a guy who has taken a program
that was nothing and has built it into one of the three or four top
basketball programs in the United States. I don’t think there’s any
coach that has meant more to a university in the past 20 years than he
has.”

“And don’t forget what he’s done in terms of giving money back through the
charities he runs, and how he’s put UConn on the national level and
brand(ed)” the Huskies as a major player in the NCAA, he said.

Francesca wasn’t the only “Mike” defending Calhoun on the national mic’s Monday.
Mike Greenberg of ESPN’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning” – referring
to Krayeske’s line of questioning – said the “idiot reporter put two
and two together and came up with five. The big basketball programs,
especially the successful ones, make a lot of money and that doesn’t
even include the billions CBS pays for the rights to the NCAA
tournament.”

How does Calhoun’s salary compare?

Calhoun’s salary is only slightly more than the annual amounts paid to women’s
basketball coach Geno Auriemma, and football coach Randy Edsall.

Mike and Mike discussed how some college football coaches in high profile
programs are said to have annual salaries in excess of $4 million, and
how it’s more common than not for coaches to make twice as much as
their college’s president.

“They don’t pay these guys all this money because they seem like nice people;
they pay them the big money because it makes sense for the university
to do it,” Greenberg said.

Most observers of the NCAA agree that a successful sports program will
enhance a school’s visibility nationwide, attracting academically
gifted students from near and far – while also serving as a magnet for
successful alums wishing to share their financial good fortune in
exchange for the opportunity to partake in the university’s athletic
success.

On the other hand…

Krayeske may or may not have been out-of-line in his questioning, but he was
apparently emboldened by a creeping (some say even creepy) fiscal
philosophy in this country which the Democrats have come to call
“sharing the wealth” and the Republicans deem to be Socialism with a
capital S.

If you make too much money – and the problem here is, who is the
determiner of “too much” ? – you are fast becoming a persona non grata
in those circles where some believe that people are entitled to buy
houses they can’t afford.

But unless Krayeske or anyone else can prove differently, it seems UConn can afford to pay more than a million a year to Calhoun – and to Auriemma – and to Edsall.

On the other hand, Krayeske isn’t alone in questioning UConn’s salary
scales. In a recent op-ed piece in UConn’s student newspaper, The Daily
Campus, writer Brian Carroll urged UConn President Michael Hogan to
take a pay cut in his $550,000 salary, given the $23.8 million that has
been cut from UConn’s budget through 2010.

It’s doubtful Carroll’s plea will bear any more fruit than Krayeske’s
taunting, but if the the 36-year-old blogger from Hartford wasn’t
successful in getting Calhoun to voluntarily take a pay cut, he
certainly got the country talking about the high cost of college
coaches.

Here’s another question – Will some critics now come to believe that
high-priced college coaches should be grouped with that recently
designated “national pariah” – the corporate executive?

2009 CT Flower & Garden Show: a spring break in full bloom

Hillside Landscaping – inspired by a trip to Pikes Peak in 1893 when Katharine Bates penned the lyrics to “America the Beautiful” – display of natural stone and rock outcroppings. Photo © Cheryl Pedemonti.

The Connecticut Flower and Garden Show, which ran from Feb. 19-22,  couldn’t have arrived at a better time. The month of January was icy and bitterly cold, and February hasn’t been much better, with the groundhog predicting six more weeks of winter.

This year’s 28^th annual flower show was a breath of fresh spring air. The minute I walked through the doors of the Convention Center in Hartford, I felt the weight of winter lift from my shoulders. Visions of spring lay out in front of me with daffodils, tulips and rhododendrons in full bloom! With my camera in hand, I took off to discover the wonderful landscape exhibits that welcomed my weary soul.

‘America the Beautiful’

In keeping with the “America the Beautiful” theme for this year’s show, many of the landscape exhibits included the American flag or used red, white and blue in their designs.

Supreme Landscapes – a colonial New England setting with a rustic dwelling. Photo © Cheryl Pedemonti.

The variety of landscapes represented America’s heritage throughout the years. A log cabin reminiscent of Abe Lincoln was included in one display. The Old Glory flag from 1776 was included in an urban garden exhibit. Earth friendly exhibits mingled with the historic displays.

The Connecticut Horticultural Society’s display demonstrated the contrast between a neglected city building and one that had been renewed with earth-friendly materials and flowers.

Federated Garden Club – herb garden display for the “Happy Days” division Photo © Cheryl Pedemonti.

Many exhibiters were keen to educate the homeowner about the importance of using native plants but also avoiding the use of invasive species that harm our wetlands and forests.

The secondary theme represented in the landscape exhibits demonstrated how important it is to make the landscape an extension of the home.

Most exhibits included a stone or paver patio with a fire pit or outdoor fireplace and a water feature placed nearby. A pergola or gazebo created an area to take cover from the sun. Retaining walls or boulder-strewn berms were used to show off landscaping or to create terraced areas for structures within the exhibits.

StoneBridge Craftsmen – recreation of an 18th century farmhouse with herb garden. Photo © Cheryl Pedemonti.

From a behind-the-scenes observation as a landscaper myself, I could also appreciate the physical work that went into building these incredible exhibits; most of the landscapers I spoke with said it took them four to five days to build their exhibits.

And as a designer, I can tell you that many hours of planning took place before these gardens were built under the roof of the Convention Center. Let’s not forget the time it took to force the trees, shrubs, and flowers into bloom and add unseasonable color to these displays.

Award-winning landscape exhibits

Although every landscape exhibit included in the garden show was amazing, I did have two favorite displays.

One exhibit was inspired by Katharine Bates’ trip to Pike’s Peak and featured natural stone retaining walls and rock outcroppings. The large display also featured a white pergola on a raised stone patio. Rocking chairs placed on the patio underneath the pergola offered a place to sit and relax while looking down onto a secondary bluestone patio with a fire pit and dining area.

Shoreline Stone Supply – exhibit of pavers and retaining wall – a really nice design with a large patio as an outdoor dining area. Photo © Cheryl Pedemonti.

The exhibit included large trees and evergreen specimens, rhododendrons, azaleas and winterberry placed among rock outcroppings on large berms.

A Dawn Redwood tree caught my attention, due to its bright green emerging foliage that glowed beneath the spotlights. White and red tulips were planted along the edge of the exhibit and echoed the colors of the pergola and winterberry. This display was clearly a favorite of the judges and its awards included “Best Horticulture,” “Best Cultural Perfection” and “Best Outdoor Living Space.”

My second favorite exhibit was a recreation of an 18^th Century farmhouse depicting life during simple times.

This patriotic display included a white clapboard home with a blue door and red curtains in the windows. The house was set atop a stone retaining wall with a brick sidewalk and granite steps leading up to the brightly colored door where the American flag was proudly displayed. An herb garden was located to the left side of the cottage, and it included a star pattern created with cut bluestone in the center of the herbs. White wicker furniture was set up on the lawn for enjoying the sights and scents of the herb garden.

Dietters Water Gardens – 100% native plant material in their display – koi fish were in the pond and the patio and bench looked over the pond. Photo © Cheryl Pedemonti

Information available for gardeners

Seminars are one of the reasons that gardeners pay the $14 admission to enter the doors of the flower show. Well-known presenters this year included Tovah Martin, Roger Swain [of the PBS Victory Garden], Heather Poire, Virginia Small and Sydney Eddison.

There were many other knowledgeable presenters who spoke on a wide variety of topics such as garden design and maintenance, plant choices and landscape construction techniques.

The Connecticut Green Industries display included a stepping stone path leading between our native trees, shrubs and flowers. A representative handed out the CT Garden & Landscape Trail brochure that maps directions to nurseries, garden centers, greenhouses and landscapers found in our state. If you would like more information, call 800-562-0610 or visit www.CTGardenTrail.com for a copy of the brochure.

Pondering Creations – exhibit featured natural stone including custom mosaics built from stone, pond, fountain, stone patio, and naturalistic plantings to attract birds Photo © Cheryl Pedemonti.

Right next door, was a native plant display by Pride’s Corner, a wholesale nursery located in Lebanon. I shared an interesting chat with Ben Zotter and Len Giddix about the organic pre-emergent herbicides available to gardeners.

I had known that corn gluten was an earth-friendly weed preventative, but Len educated me about the fact that the mixture must include the proper ratio of nitrogen. It is the bacterial by-product that creates the pre-emergent herbicide and I was told the product should be applied to the garden bed while the forsythia is in bloom. It can even be applied at this time of year, if your garden bed is not hidden by snow!

They recommend using a product by Jonathan’s Green Organics, if you want to give it a try. Preen also has an organic product, if you have used this product in the past. By the way, Len is one of the speakers on the WTIC 1080 radio show called “Garden Talk with Len and Lisa.”

Advanced-Standard Flower Show

The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut is an integral part of the flower and garden show each year. Members from garden clubs across Connecticut display their creative talents in the form of floral arrangements, from large displays using unusual material to miniature displays within a box.

Beautiful table settings are on display; mailboxes and birdhouses are decorated; bulbs are forced into bloom; and every type of horticulture is exhibited including cacti, herbs, flowers and evergreens.

CT Horticulture Society – Make America Beautiful – neglect vs. renewal in the cityscape. Photo © Cheryl Pedemonti.

“Of Thee I Sing” was this year’s flower show theme, as a celebration of our great country and its horticultural diversity.

The garden club members also volunteer their time as judges and hostesses, and sell books during the show.

Something for everyone

The garden show offers something of interest for everyone. There are numerous small vendors and artists who sell plants, birdhouses, paintings, jewelry, tools, and anything else related to gardening or horticulture.

UConn's Thabeet took a beating in Pittsburgh game

No doubt, even fans of the Big Ten and ACC have circled March 7 on their TV calendar to see how Thabeet performs when he’s Pitt-ed against Blair in the rematch in the Panthers’ lair.

STORRS – After losing Jerome Dyson for the season a week ago, and then losing to Pittsburgh Monday night, Coach Jim Calhoun’s troops return to the winter war that is the Big East this season when they host South Florida on Saturday afternoon.

“All the [post-season] goals we set for ourselves before the season are all still viable,” Calhoun said Friday as his team prepared for the USF game.

Against Pittsburgh, the Huskies lost their most recent battle in a game that at times resembled armed combat – especially when Pittsburgh’s resident hulk, DeJuan Blair, somehow became entangled with Hasheem Thabeet’s right arm and flipped the lanky center over his back while both players were fighting for a rebound.

That has to be the one most astonishingly memorable, non-scoring basketball play this writer has seen in five decades of hoop watching – an over-the-back body slam that would make even the most seasoned professional wrestling choreographer proud. (If you haven’t seen it, Google “Thabeet’s arm” on YouTube.)

Talk about getting penalized for a reaching-in foul. I’m sure the UConn center will be wary in the future about getting his right hand sandwiched between the ball and the opposing rebounder, even though most opposing rebounders don’t have 265 pounds of mostly muscle firmly packed onto a 6-foot-7 frame.

No doubt, even fans of the Big Ten and ACC have circled March 7 on their TV calendar to see how Thabeet performs when he’s Pitt-ed against Blair in the rematch in the Panthers’ lair.

“Hasheem gets a pass for Monday’s game to some degree, because of the foul situation he was in,” Calhoun said.

But despite a consensus bad fourth-foul call, Thabeet must get off the floor – literally and figuratively – and rebound from what had to be an embarrassing situation witnessed by a packed house in the XL Center and a national TV audience on ESPN.

Against Pittsburgh, “we didn’t have our best game,” Thabeet said after Friday’s practice back at UConn’s Gampel Pavilion, during which his floor time was about a third less than usual. “The next game, we’ll go out there and do all those little things we didn’t do” in Monday’s game.

In fact, the entire squad has to rebound from that Pitt loss, and a good way to start would be to start rebounding, something UConn didn’t do that well, as they were out-rebounded 48 to 31 en route to their second loss of the season.

“I thought the key to the game was, simply put, rebounding,” Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon said as he prepared to leave Hartford tied with UConn in the Big East loss column with two. “I never thought we could win by that many [76-68], but Thabeet being in foul trouble was key.”

Thabeet shouldn’t have any trouble – foul or otherwise – against a South Florida team that’s playing sub-.500 ball, although they did manage to beat another Top Ten team earlier this month, upending Marquette, 57-56, in Tampa.

That upset was just about as bullish as the Bulls are going to get this season. Don’t think coach Calhoun is going to let his team lose back-to-back league games. Look for USF to leave Connecticut Saturday night still looking for their first-ever win against the Huskies, having lost all six previous meetings between the two teams.

“This team is 24 and two and I think somewhere (pause) in Husky mania, hysteria, whatever you want to call it, we lose sight of the fact we’re having a pretty good season,” Calhoun said Friday after practice, filing away the Pitt loss for future use as a means of motivating his squad.

“When the season’s over, that’s when you decide who the great players are,” he said.

The Feb. 21 game at 2 p.m. at the XL Center in Hartford is scheduled to be televised on MyTV9 and SNYT.

[Editor's note: Vito Leo joins us as the new UConn basketball writer for HTNP.com]

for more details: http://mansfield.htnp.com/sports/02202009_uconn_mens_b-ball_vs_

pittsburgh.html

Husky-Thon dance marathon is part of National Recreation And Fitness Day

The weekend also includes a Kayak Water Polo Tournament and a Four-on-Four Co-Recreational Wallyball Tournament

[Editor's Note: while the activities are for students, spectators are welcome.]

National Recreation Sports and Fitness Day will be celebrated on Sunday, Feb. 22.

Leading up to the day is the annual Husky-Thon 24-Hour Dance Marathon at the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs/Mansfield. This event begins on Friday, Feb. 20 and continues into Feb. 21 at UConn’s Greer Field House.

The Husky-Thon is organized by the UConn Division of Athletics and its Department of Recreational Services. It’s been held every spring since 2000 and brings hundreds of UConn students together to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

The ideas is to generate campus involvement and have fun, while raising money to help children.

The weekend also includes a Kayak Water Polo Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and a Four-on-Four Co-Recreational Wallyball Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m.

For more information about these events, call the Department of Recreational Services at (860) 486-2837 or email patricia.bostic@uconn.edu

For more about UConn Recreation programs open to the public, click here.

National Recreation Sports and Fitness Day is sponsored by the National Intramural and Recreation Sports Association and is an annual national celebration of its founding date – Feb. 22, 1950.

This celebration promotes the benefits of participation in recreational sports, and honors the representatives of 11 Historically Black Colleges and Universities that first met at Dillard University in New Orleans to form the National Intramural Association – NIRSA’s predecessor.

for more details:

http://mansfield.htnp.com/sports/02192009_natl_rec_sports_fitness_day.html