Dec. 13, 2007
On the Road Again!
I have lived my entire life either in the Washington, D.C. area or in New York City. I am definitely a city person, but have looked forward over the last month to making a trip to Birmingham, Alabama for the SEC/Big East Invitational to play the University of Alabama. I had never been to the state of Alabama, and my first thought was that it would be nice for senior guard Jonathan Wallace to play in his home state. As a lifetime college basketball fan, my first remembrance of Birmingham was that former coaching great Gene Bartow had coached at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) for almost two decades in the 70's and 80's, building a program that reached the Sweet 16 in 1981 and the Elite 8 in 1982. Coach Bartow had also coached Memphis to the Final 4 in 1973 and UCLA in 1976 which was the Bruins' first return to the Final 4 after the retirement of legendary coach John Wooden. My last remembrance of playing the University of Alabama was losing to the then #6 ranked Crimson Tide 94-73 a few weeks after losing to #1 Virginia in the 1982-83 season. Birmingham native and former NBA player Ennis Whatley was a star on that team.
On December 5th, I made a trip to BWI airport to take my first flight on Southwest Airlines. I was taking the trip with fellow Hoya Hoop Club VP, Joe Guarriello and his lovely wife. Upon landing in Birmingham, we took a hotel shuttle to the historic Redmont Hotel, the chosen headquarters for the Hoya Nation. It was a beautiful, small historic building. The staff was very friendly displaying Southern hospitality. After checking in we took a brief walk around the town, and made a visit to the Birmingham Museum of Art. After a brief rest, we went to the Hotel Redmont for a Hoop Club reception. It was comforting to see other fellow Hoya Hoop Club Board members Mike Karam, President Al Bozzo, Frank Lacey, as well as Mark Siskin and Bruce Simmons from Atlanta, Georgia.
The game itself was much closer than I and most fans had anticipated. Alabama had some very talented athletes who shot well from the three-point line, and brought great intensity to the game. However, in the last few minutes the Hoyas were able to pull ahead and win by ten points. It was wonderful seeing HHC members Joe McGuinness, and John Montgomery at the game. It made me feel like I was back home at Chadwick's in Friendship Heights. In the late game, the West Virginia Mountaineers destroyed the Auburn Tigers. West Virginia appears to be a very strong Big East opponent. The doubleheader made me take notice of how many talented athletes there are in Division I Men's Basketball, and how difficult it will be playing in the Big East conference this year. Our trip to the Final Four last year will mean that everyone will be ready to play us this year. The Birmingham news reported that 150-200 people from Jonathan Wallace's Harvest Alabama/Sparkman High School area had made the trip to the game. I look forward to our game in McDonough versus Radford, and then our trip to Memphis to see the #2 ranked Memphis Tigers play the Hoyas.
Here are some notes from the local Birmingham News:
http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports/1196932834200060.xml&coll=2&thispage=1
WE ARE GEORGETOWN!!
Dr. Thomas A. Wong (C'82)
Proud Member of Generation Ewing
