BOSTON – UConn head football coach Jim Mora was born and raised on the West Coast. He played college football at the University of Washington.
And yet, he’s a Red Sox fan. He’s spent a lifetime rooting for Boston’s baseball team. So playing inside Fenway Park – albeit for a football game – in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl, means a lot more to him than most.
“Tomorrow’s going to be really special,” Mora said during Friday’s pre-game press conference ahead of the 11 a.m. game with UNC. “To be able to take the field at Fenway and play a football game will be a memory we’ll never forget.
“I’ve always been a Red Sox fan, believe it or not,” Mora went on. “I’ve sat in the stands many times. I actually saw Carl Yastrzemski hit a home run when I was a kid. And, if you go behind the Green Monster, and see how it operates, those are just amazing memories.”
He wasn’t alone in reminiscing about the historic park.
UConn offensive lineman Valentin Senn, who grew up in Austria, where skiing and soccer rule, couldn’t believe the first time he was inside the park, and being in awe of the Green Monster. He admitted not knowing what baseball was until coming to this country.
“Coming here for the first time and seeing all the fans and the way Boston loves its baseball team, that was very special,” Senn said. “All the tradition, you can definitely feel it in this place.”
Senn said he had attended that first game at Fenway a few summers back, and it left quite an impression. He told a story about a family – a son, a father, and grandfather – who were seated in front of him. The son wound up with a home run ball. Senn was taken by the emotion of the family in that moment.
“They got teared up. I thought that was really neat to see,” Senn said. “All those generations who grew up watching that team, that was really, really special.”
Much like that snapshot, Mora is sure whatever happens in Saturday’s 11 a.m. game with North Carolina, the players will be left with indelible images and memories of playing at Fenway.
“I know when these guys go through their lives,” said Mora, “they’ll reflect back on these moments and it’s going to mean more to them as they get older.”
Mora said playing on the same field as Big Papi – even if it’s football – was going to be “pretty special.”
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