Mister Days and the Music City: Let the Game Watches Begin!
As the weeks have passed by, the 8th ranked Hoyas are now on their way to Nashville and their first road test of the season against the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Hoyas are looking to avenge a loss last year at MCI Center, where they let a game slip away late in the second half.
In this 100th anniversary season, the anticipation has really been building for me starting with Homecoming Weekend, November 3-5. I attended the Patrick Healey dinner on November 3 where my fellow classmate, Ron Blaylock (B'82), received the Samuel A. Halsey Jr. Award. Ron's firm was rated the number one minority investment firm in 2005. Furthermore, Ron was named one of the "75 most influential Blacks on Wall Street" by Black Entertainment Magazine. Ron was a member of the men's basketball team where he roomed with Hoya all-time greats Eric "Sleepy" Floyd and Patrick Ewing. It felt like the Final Four in New Orleans again with my other classmates in attendance, Eric Smith, Mike Hancock, and Ed Spriggs. Many other Hoya players were there, including Patrick Ewing, Ralph Dalton, John Duren, and Jaren Jackson. I was privileged to be seated with my fellow Hoya Hoop Club Board members, former Athletic Directors Joe Lang and Frank Rienzo, and the long-time voice of Georgetown Basketball Rich Chvotkin. The evening finished with a reference to the 100th anniversary of Georgetown Basketball, and an announcement that a new web site would be soon launched dedicated to the 100th anniversary season and the many events to come.
The next day I enjoyed the tailgate party and the football team's comeback win against Marist. Earlier in the day I witnessed Jonevan Hornsby from the class of 1999 winning the 5K race against a very prestigious field that included current Athletic Director Bernard Muir. Homecoming weekend started a week where I had some trouble sleeping. I have not looked forward to a home opener with this much anticipation since a young Allen Iverson came to play basketball at the Hilltop. I was a little worried about us looking past the University of Hartford, as well as the loss of three seniors: Ashanti Cook, Brandon Bowman, and Darryl Owens.
John and I arrived at the Verizon Center early at the 7th and G Street entrance to put in our orders for some 100th anniversary T-shirts and hats with the Hoya Hoop Club. John spent his time in the Acela Club taking snapshots of the student section from his new vantage point halfway up the Verizon Center rafters.
I was very happy and a little relieved to get a win against Hartford in a game where we shot poorly from the outside. I am feeling more at home at the Verizon Center with the great showing by Hoya Blue and the students. Everyone wearing the gray JT III shirts has really become a great tradition now in our 100th anniversary year.
I will be making several road trips with the Hoyas this year, but am not making the trip to Vanderbilt. It should be a big test for us against an always-well-coached team. Our freshmen have now played their first game and will soon have their first road game under their belts. I am looking forward to another first tomorrow: my first Game Watch party at Town Hall.
It's a great time to be a Young Alum--or really any Alum--who's a fan of the Georgetown Hoyas and likes to follow the team when they're playing on the road. One of the Hoop Club's biggest initiatives so far this year has been to get all of the Georgetown regional clubs involved with hosting Game Watch events during the year for their members across the country. We've made a great deal of progress already, especially for the Duke game on December 2 and the Marquette game on February 10. Mark your calendars for both!
In the meantime, the Hoyas hit the road for the first time this season, as they take on the Vanderbilt Commodores this Wednesday at 9:00pm eastern time.
Here's everything you need to know about how to follow the Hoyas this week:
GAMEWATCH LOCATIONS
D.C. METRO AREA: The Hoya Hoop Club is pleased to announce that we will be offering our Washington D.C. area Georgetown fans two official locations for Game Watch Parties:
Washington D.C.
Town Hall - 2218 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
(north of campus, roughly across the street from the Whole Foods market in Glover Park)
*Upstairs private bar area featuring multiple flat screen TVs.
Arlington, VA
Mister Days - 3100 Clarendon Blvd.
(Metro: take the Orange line to Clarendon; exit the station and walk south along North Highland Street)
*The HHC has reserved a private upstairs bar with projection and flat-screen TVs exclusively for Hoya fans.
*Enjoy $2.50 Sam Adams and Budweiser products before the game from 8-9pm, and food specials once the action gets underway from Nashville.
OUT OF TOWN
For every televised Hoyas game, be sure to check out the Hoop Club's "Upcoming Events/Game Watches" page here. We'll be updating the page all year with the time and location of every official Hoya Hoop Club Game Watch party.
If you are interested in holding your own official Hoop Club Game Watch party in your city, we'd love to have you on board! The hard-working folks on the Hoyas Unlimited staff have put together a "How-To" list for Game Watch hosts that you can find right here. Just send an email to Hoyas Unlimited at nb255@georgetown.edu and they'll be happy to hook you up with a Party Pack and a bunch of free publicity.
ON YOUR COUCH
If you've decided to hold your very own private "Unofficial Game Watch" for the game, here are a few links to help you with the TV listings:
*If you live in the Mid-Atlantic region, the Hoyas will be televised live on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). A list of MASN affiliates and channel numbers can be found here.
*As for other regional sports channels, the only network I've been able to confirm is definitely showing the Georgetown game is Fox Sports Florida. So if you're a Florida Hoya like my parents, you're in luck.
*If you can't find a local affiliate showing the Hoyas on Wednesday, fire up the old computer, bring a bag of chips and a drink into the study, and settle in as the "Voice of the Hoyas" Rich Chvotkin brings you the Georgetown radio play by play for the 997th time. Tune in to AM 1260 here.
THE GAME
One of the most challenging matchups the Hoyas face this Wednesday night in Nashville may be Memorial Gym itself. The Commodores home court opened in 1952, the same year as Georgetown's McDonough Gymnasium. While both venues purport to have deafening acoustics, Memorial Gym boasts a number of idiosyncrasies that play on the minds of opponents. Teams play on a raised court, sit on the baseline underneath each basket, and contend with an unusually-shaped backboard undercarriage. If you've never seen a picture of Vanderbilt's funky home court, you can check it out here.
Vanderbilt is coming off a 17-13 season in 2005-2006, which culminated in a first round NIT loss at Notre Dame. The Commodores were recently picked to finish fourth in the SEC East division, behind Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
FEEDBACK
We've been getting a great deal of feedback about the Hoop Club blog so far, both in person and through comments posted on the message boards at HoyaSaxa.com. We appreciate everyone's constructive criticism, suggestions, or ideas for new directions we can travel with the blog. Please keep them coming!
If you have any feedback for the Hoop Club or for the writers of this blog, feel free to shoot an email over to hoyasunlimited@georgetown.edu and let us know about it!
One area we're looking to explore is having out of town fans submit content in the form of pictures and recaps of their Game Watch events or away games. If you're a Nashville or Mid-South Hoya and you make it to Memorial Gym on Wednesday, feel free to drop us a line and let us know how it went!
24 YEARS AND COUNTING...
This weekend, it's our turn to play in a 54-year old gym!
While Vanderbilt boasts of having a winning percentage of nearly 80 percent at Memorial Gym, they can't touch Georgetown's impressive streak at McDonough. The last time the Hoyas lost at our on campus arena was January 20, 1982--the year Tom graduated from Georgetown and the year I was born!
The Hoyas put their 24-plus year win streak on the line against Old Dominion Sunday night at 6 pm. In addition to the 2,000 strong Sea of Gray that is the Georgetown student section, a limited number of season ticket holders will be receive tickets based on a first-come-first-served selection process. No more seats are available to order, but if you are one of the lucky ones who will get a spot in McDonough, you'll be getting an email this week confirming your order and directing you to will call on Sunday.
We look forward to seeing you at the Game Watch Parties in DC and Arlington Wednesday, and at McDonough on Sunday night (fingers crossed!)
WE ARE GEORGETOWN!!
Thomas A. Wong (C'82) and John Hawkes (F'04)
