Jets’ Hardee driven by memory of mother
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Justin Hardee gently brushed the snow from his mother’s gravestone, enough so he could see the image of her face etched into the marble.
The New York Jets’ special teams ace needed to share his good news with Estella Perryman. Just like the old days.
“Mom, I did it,” Hardee told her. “I did it.”
Perryman, 55, died Dec. 12, 2013, in Cleveland after a long struggle with lung disease. Coinciding with the ninth anniversary of burying her, Hardee found out during a team meeting last week he was selected to his first Pro Bowl. And coincidentally, the Pro Bowl Games will be played in Paradise, Nevada, on Feb. 5 — Perryman’s birthday.
“I know she’d be proud,” said Hardee, who has an image of his mother tattooed over his heart. “She’d tell me to go do it again.”
After the Jets played last Thursday night, Hardee traveled home for the holiday weekend and spent a few quiet moments at his mother’s grave.
“See the smile on my face?” Hardee said. “I haven’t been able to see my mom on Christmas in years. And she’s not even here, but she’s still here.”
That’s evident in the 28-year-old’s insatiable desire to succeed, guided by the morals and work ethic instilled by his mother.
“Every time I walk out on that field, every day, I’m representing her all the time,” he said. “Every time.”
CINCINNATI — And this is how the UConn men’s basketball team’s perfect start to the season comes to an end.
Some questionable foul calls, sure, and a big discrepancy in free throw attempts.
But ultimately, a technical foul on coach Dan Hurley with 21⁄2 minutes to play that was truly crippling.
With 2:25 remaining and UConn trailing by two, Tristen Newton was called for a foul on Xavier’s Zach Freemantle. Freemantle hit the first foul shot, but Hurley continued voicing his disagreement with the officials and was hit with a technical.
Souley Boum hit both technical free throws, Freemantle returned to the line to hit his second, and suddenly Xavier’s lead was six.
The Musketeers held on for an 83-73 win that marked the secondranked Huskies’ first loss in 15 games this season.
UConn (14-1) trailed by its biggest margin of the season, 34-24, with 6:21 left in the first half. But the Huskies, faced with in-game adversity so rarely this season, rallied back and avoided their first halftime deficit of the season on a Naheim Alleyne 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 42-41 edge.
And when Andre Jackson, disrespected by Xavier’s defense with wide-open 3-pointers all night, stepped back and hit a trey, followed by a Sanogo bucket just over two minutes into the latter half, UConn was up seven and seemed to have the momentum to cruise to the finish line.
Xavier had other ideas.The Musketeers tied it at 58 on a Jack Nunge dunk, then went ahead on a Boum layup. UConn fell behind by
NO. 22 XAVIER
NO. 2 UCONN