HARTFORD, Conn.
John R. Broderick grew up 20 minutes from Hartford in Bristol, Conn. ESPN, which now has its mammoth headquarters in Bristol, wasn’t even an idea then.
But Broderick says Hartford was a sports hotbed even before the self-professed World Wide Leader in Sports opened its doors.
He recalls making the drive to the Hartford Civic Center, now known as the XL Center, many times to see the Hartford Whalers, UConn basketball and even the Boston Celtics play some home games there.
Thursday night, Broderick returns to his home state as President of Old Dominion University, whose basketball team won the Conference USA tournament last week in Frisco, Texas, and takes on third-seeded Purdue in the XL Center at 9:50 p.