Hey, everyone!!!

Based on my trip the last two days, this is actually a postcard from Hartford-Washington-Pittsburgh-Cleveland. Our flight from Hartford was delayed FOR FOUR HOURS last night due to weather. We certainly weren’t the only ones and the employees from United were very nice about it. But they dropped us off in Washington, D.C., at 1:30 a.m. with no connecting flight anywhere in sight.

My friend Lori Riley from the Hartford Courant (I have her permission to use her name, image and likeness) and I found that we could fly to Pittsburgh this morning and rent a car to head to Cleveland. A few snafus ensued. But I changed clothes in the restroom at the Pittsburgh airport (important to note) and we arrived in time for UConn’s press conference - and lunch!

So, a national publication recently revealed that Iowa’s Caitlin Clark once dreamed of attending UConn and Huskies Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma never recruited her. Geno explained why on a conference call this week, saying that because he was committed to recruiting Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 player in the high school Class of 2020, he didn’t think it would be fair to Bueckers and/or Clark, who play the same position.

“It would have been silly for me to say, ‘Paige, hey, listen, we’re going to put you in the same backcourt and then I’m going to try really hard to recruit Caitlin Clark.’ I don’t do it that way,” he said. Of course, the two superstars face off against each other in the national semifinals Friday in Cleveland, accentuating the issue.

Meanwhile, we end our first (tired) day in Cleveland with the news that Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards were named Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association All-Americans, both deservedly so.

Now, on to some basketball!!

Your faithful tour guide (of practically the entire country lately),

Vickie