Dec. 21, 2007

Hey y'all. Nah, that just doesn't sound right coming from this native Bostonian, but here I am in warm (65 F) and partly cloudy Memphis, giving it a go as a guest blogger to memorialize the first match-up of Top 5 teams this season and the first-such regular season game to involve the Hoyas since the famous "Sweater Game" of 1985. It was a long way to come, made more challenging when my cab did not show up this morning and I had to trek through the slushy streets of the Hub of the Sports Universe to find someone to deliver me to my 6:10 am flight, but I made it with 10 minutes to spare and it already feels great to escape the snowy northeast, even if it does mean flying twice in three days immediately before Christmas.

It will certainly all be worth it to me if the Hoyas can pull off a win, but to hear the coaches and players talk, this game is no different than playing Radford or Middle Tennessee St. Right. We even get to hear Belichick-speak invading the lexicon of our thoughtful leader, JTIII, quoted in this morning's Washington Times as saying "This game... it is what it is." Congratulations Coach Hoodie, your meaningless nonanswer, already ubiquitous in New England (especially among partners at my law firm), has now spread nationwide. I know my travel companion and distinguished wordsmith Redheaded Hoya is thrilled by this development.

So the plan for today is to experience as much of Memphis as I can prior to the game and get a feel for whether this is really as big a deal to the locals as Coach Cal claims. I kinda hope it is- there is nothing better than silencing a hostile crowd, and it might take me back to my childhood days of following the Hoyas almost exclusively in enemy territory around New England. I await the arrival of my aforementioned partner in crime and we will search high and low in the rib joints and blues clubs to get the pulse of the Tiger fanbase, and do our best to bring it to you.

As for my own pregame feelings, I am a bit nervous about the level of competition coming off two weeks of exams and with no test nearly as stern as this one to use as a measuring stick, but you gotta start somewhere. I am excited for the freshman to get some exposure to big time basketball before the conference season starts. And I am confident that our man Roy (Roy! Roy! Roy!) will show big for the first time it has really been required of him.

WE ARE GEORGETOWN!
John Nagle (C'00 L'07)