Practically Idealistic
blog The title for this blog originated with use of the term “practical idealist”
in this 1996 opinion piece, which asked: “To what kind of work should a practical idealist aspire?” A century and a half earlier, Emerson,
in his 1841 essay Circles, wrote: “There are degrees in idealism. We learn first to play with it academically.
. . . Then we see in the heyday of youth and poetry that it may be true, that it is true in gleams and fragments.
Then, its countenance waxes stern and grand, and we see that it must be true. It now shows itself ethical and practical.” John
Dewey and Mahatma Gandhi embraced practical idealism in the 20th century, as did UN Secretary General U Thant. Al Gore
invoked it in a 1998 speech. In the context of this blog, the term is meant to convey idealism tempered but not overwhelmed
by realism: a search for the ideal on a path guided by common sense.
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Friday, April 26, 2024
Great Giving Opportunity, and Media CoverageConnecticut CASA is participating in the April 26-May 2 online “Great Give”; it includes matching incentives, so please consider donating, and circulating information about this online philanthrophy
event, including our profile. In
recent weeks the New Haven Register cited several committed volunteer advocates in discussing Connecticut CASA's statewide growth. Also, the Arts Paper covered our April 17 Benefit, held at the Yale Child Study Center with a musical performance
by the Shades of Yale. Lead sponsors included Yale University and Claire's Corner Copia, with sponsorship also from Yale
New Haven Children's Hospital, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the NewAlliance Foundation, and Better Rhodes.
The Wine Thief donated wine. Thanks to everyone who attended/contributed, as well as to all who support our child advocacy
work year-round! In previewing the event earlier, a shoreline outlet noted two local neighbors among our new Board members. (We also have Advisors and Ambassadors.)
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Another Title for the UConn MenThis blog has periodically reflected on UConn men's basketball, for example in
April 2011, April 2014, and April 2023. Each of those years produced titles, as in 1999 and 2004. Now, the Huskies have done it again. One pre-season ESPN collection of predictions had excluded UConn altogether from the predicted final four for 2023-24; one pundit (M. Medcalf)'s forecast was that a
"title hangover" from 2023 would doom the Huskies to an early exit from the tournament in 2024. Yet UConn has shown that, with what is now a 12-1 record across 7 final fours in the last
25 NCAA men's tournaments, and a 6-0 record in title games, it isn't hyperbole to call Storrs the "basketball capital
of the world"--at least the college world, particularly with the UConn women as holders of 11 championships and a remarkable
23 final four appearances during the past three decades or so. (The UConn women are 11-1 in title games, making the
men and women a combined 17-1 in those games.)
"How can this possibly be put in context? UConn’s back-to-back national titles have come at a time
when mass parity is flattening the landscape of college basketball. That the place was dormant only a few years ago is impressive, but also typical. While so many awaited the Huskies’
demise in recent years, they somehow only grow stronger. The
real feat here? Six titles won by six radically different teams by three different coaches playing out of two different
leagues in 25 years. Six titles that come on top of the women’s program’s 11 national titles since 1995. Connecticut’s six-pack of men’s banners has passed Duke
and Indiana and now stands even with North Carolina. The only remaining programs with more titles are Kentucky with eight
and UCLA with 11. The difference? Kentucky has won one in the time that UConn has piled up its entire share and UCLA has
zero. The Bruins’ last title came in 1995, when Dan Hurley was a junior guard at Seton Hall.... The only place that’s fully proven it most belongs is Connecticut,
a one-time regional program with some marginal success back in the day, one that also went from 1968 to 1989 with only two
NCAA Tournament appearances." Quinn underscored the distinction
in Storrs:
"UConn is in a club of
its own.... All this history comes as a means of answering the question everyone remains perpetually stuck with.
UConn? Why? How? Of all places, this program has played in roughly a quarter of the national title games since 1999 and
is 6-0 in those appearances. 6-0!..." "...UConn finished this tournament winning its six games by an average of 23.3 points.
The 140 combined points they won those six games by blows away the next most dominant title winner, which was North Carolina winning by a total
of 125 in 2009....
Despite different personnel and different eras, UConn displayed
unprecedented dominance. No other team in NCAA history has won all six NCAA tournament games by 13 or more. UConn did it back-to-back." As noted in one
of my Connecticut opinion pieces, back in 2015, I've been a fan of UConn basketball since the 1970s and in the 1980s myself attended basketball camps run by Jim Calhoun's
predecessor (Dom Perno, a graduate of New Haven's Wilbur Cross H.S. as well as of UConn). Never could I then have imagined
the success that Coach Calhoun in particular, then briefly Kevin Ollie and now Dan Hurley, have brought to this sport, this
state, and this university. As
the Huskies' 2024 pre-NCAA tournament hype video suggests, Coach Hurley inspired his team by invoking the legacy of prior UConn teams' success while driving this year's
squad to play as hard and as together as possible, offensively and defensively. Tenacious effort, unity, and talent
combined to fuel a 2-year run of what Coach John Wooden surely would have called "competitive greatness."
The result was yet another "shining moment."
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