One thing about Geno Auriemma's post-game press conferences is that you are never quite sure what topic will lead to one of his wildly entertaining tangents.

Pat Eaton-Robb of the Associated Press asked a harmless question seeking Auriemma's opinion on the practice of having the crowd at UConn football and basketball games recite the Pledge of Allegiance right before the national anthem. His answer was a classic case of Geno being Geno.

"I am old enough to know when we said it in school," Auriemma said. "I think we said it right before we hid under our wooden desks in case a nuclear attack came. I always thought that was pretty cool that if the bomb is going to drop on St. Francis of Assisi grade school that I definitely want to be under a wooden desk. I know I had to say it when I became a citizen in Hartford in 1994 but after that, I am not sure the last time I had an opportunity or occasion to say it. What did I think of it? It kind of caught me by surprise. I didn't know we were doing it and I guess it is like anything else, you are going to have people who are going to complain about it and you are going to have people who love it.

"You know what I would rather see? I would rather see nobody sing the national anthem. This idea of somebody sings the national anthem, I think that is bogus. I think the band ought to play the national anthem and everybody in the audience should sing it. When I go to Europe and play with the U.S. national team, you can't hear anything other than every single voice in the building singing their country's national anthem. They don't have somebody sing it. Maybe you do have somebody come and sing it but that would be way more meaningful to me as an American to have everybody in the building sing the national anthem at the top of their lungs like they really truly believe in what it stands for. I think the Pledge of Allegiance sometimes becomes kind of rote, yeah let me just repeat what everybody is saying but do I really understand it. Then you have wackos who say 'we shouldn't bring God into this.' You have to say 'one nation under God' so Thomas Jefferson was a (jerk) for writing that so blame him, don't blame anybody else. It actually does go pretty well, one nation under God."

REIMER, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN WIN A BIG ONE
Although none of the UConn coaches were in attendance to watch Connecticut recruiting targets Taya Reimer and Stephanie Mavunga go head to head, it sounds like the two talented juniors put on quite a show on Wednesday night.

Reimer had 18 points and 12 rebounds as Hamilton Southeastern of Fishers, Ind. defeated Brownsburg (Ind.) 67-47 despite 26 points from Mavunga.