WOW! WHAT A WEEKEND!
THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR EVERYTHING!

Almost a week has passed since the 100th Anniversary's extraordinary events, and I can still feel the excitement and the strong emotional connectedness that the celebration of Georgetown Basketball evoked in me. I had the great good fortune to serve as one of the Hoya Hoop Club's representatives on the Advisory Panel to Celebrate the Centennial of Hoya Hoops, chaired so ably by Patrick McArdle, C '72, Executive Director for Athletic Relations. Beginning last June, the panel met regularly and exchanged ideas about how to structure the celebration to insure that it was as inclusive as possible and to ensure that the celebration was done throughout the entire season. I would like to take the time to thank everyone involved in the planning and execution of the celebration for all that occurred last weekend - - from the players' only reception on Friday evening at the Westin to the trouncing of Marquette on Saturday afternoon, to the Gala at the Ritz Carlton, the single most remarkable Georgetown event that I have ever experienced, including the University's bicentennial celebration in 1989!

I first want to thank Coach John Thompson III for insisting that the weekend's events, and especially the Gala, be first-class. I also want to thank Coach for insisting that the Gala not involve the wearing of tuxedos! I also want to thank members of Coach's staff, and especially Mary Jane Cratty and Kedi Milajecki, for their extraordinary efforts to get all the details right. I don't even want to think about how many phone calls and contacts Mary Jane must have made over the past months to nail down the best hotel and event details. And Kedi did a fabulous job designing many of the mailings for the events and putting together a series of newsletters for former players in advance of the event with lists of where are they now and promoting the 100th Anniversary celebration.

Thanks must also go out to Athletic Director Bernard Muir and his staff, and in particular, Kyle Ragsdale, Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs, Kim Frank, Director of Marketing, Mex Carey, Sports Information Director, and, of course, Pat McArdle. Bernard, as always, provided overall leadership to the celebration. Kyle oversaw and handled much of the day-to-day planning, marketing, and negotiating involved in the events. Kim was engaged in the planning and implementation of the marketing plan, including the promotional giveaways, the 2007 We Are Georgetown T-shirts ("Kurt shirts"), and the 100th Anniversary Commemorative lines of clothing. Mex ensured that the events were well-publicized and that first-quality written products were produced in support of the celebration. As noted above, Pat chaired the overall Advisory Planning Committee. And, with countless trips to the University's archives, he was responsible for many of the montages and written materials on the players, coaches and teams whom we celebrated last weekend.

Allison Rubin, Hoyas Unlimited's Executive Director and Tim Hogan and Nate Brown, her Assistant Directors, also deserve commendation for their efforts. Allison demonstrated her quiet and effective leadership style throughout the entire process. Tim handled most of the early planning before Allison assumed her position as Executive Director in July and thereafter spearheaded Hoyas' communications efforts' through Hoop Club e-newsletters, Hoya Saxa, and the production of the Hoya Hoop Club blog. And Nate, who is new to Georgetown this fall, jumped in and organized the evening's silent auction, all while handling the rest of Hoyas Unlimited's countless events.

It was also a pleasure to work with Alumni Board of Governors' members Paul Maloy and Paul Besozzi and former Hoya players' Hugh Beins and Tom Coleman on the Planning Committee. The two Pauls provided their insiders' knowledge of all things Georgetown to the planning process. This experience was invaluable in getting certain things accomplished expeditiously. Hugh and Tom also provided the committee with the benefit of their experiences as former players and coaches and long-time active alumni.

I must also extend my thanks to my fellow Hoya Hoop Club Board Members, Al Bozzo, President, and Rich McHugh for all of their efforts on the Advisory Board. As always, Al provided his active, affirmative leadership to ensure that the interests of the Hoop Club were well-served throughout the planning process. And Rich continued his outstanding outreach efforts to former players, and especially those from the "Modern Era," to see to it that their interests were ably represented.

Finally, a special debt of gratitude goes out to Georgetown Hoya basketball historian extraordinaire John Reagan, creator of "hoyasaxa.com," for his research and writings on all things pertaining to Georgetown basketball. John is a peerless resource and a font of creative ideas. In fact, John is, in many ways, the originator of the idea that led to the celebration of the 100th Anniversary. For it was John who first brought to the attention of the Hoya Hoop Club the 50th Anniversary of McDonough Gymnasium during the 2001-02 and the idea to honor the first team to play in McDonough. That event took place in early 2002.

The success of the 50th Anniversary celebration of McDonough, in turn, led to subsequent Hoya Hoop Club celebrations to honor the 1979-80 Hoyas, the first team to win the Big East Championship, the 1942-43 team that went to the NCAA finals, defeating George Mikan's DePaul Blue Demons along the way, the 1969-70 team that went to the NIT where they held LSU All-American sensation Pistol Pete Maravich to under 20 points in a one-point losing effort and finally to last season's 99th year birthday celebration to which all former players were invited. It was my great privilege to serve as President of the Hoya Hoop Club during several of the above celebrations. And I will never forget the spirit of fellowship, camaraderie and connectedness engendered by these earlier celebrations, all of which led ultimately to last weekend!

The celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Georgetown basketball represented a wonderful partnership among the Men's Basketball Office, the Athletic Department, the Hoya Hoop Club and Georgetown Alumni leadership. The early planning, the ongoing communication, the sharing of ideas and the respectful cooperation of all parties produced last weekend's extraordinary events. I will be forever grateful to have been a part of the process.

And the celebration continues as the Hoya Hoop Club is sponsoring a special members-only, after-hours tour of the Lauinger Library exhibit, "Georgetown Men's Basketball 1906-1907 to 2006-2007: Ten Coaches, Ten Players, and Ten Decades of Hoops" on February 28, 2007, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the Fifth Floor of Lauinger Library. The idea for this exhibit also came from the Advisory Planning Committee and many thanks are extended to University Archivist Lynn Conway and again to Pat McArdle for their efforts in putting the exhibit together. On display from the Archives are scorebooks, programs, yearbook features, media guides, schedules, citations, photographs, news clippings, season tickets and Final Four memorabilia. The event is free, but space is limited for this reception, and RSVPs will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information or to RSVP, contact the Hoya Hoop Club at (202) 687-7159 or hoyasunlimited@georgetown.edu.

WE ARE GEORGETOWN!!

Michael E. Karam (F'72, L'76, L'82)
Proud Member of Generation Laughna
Immediate Past President, Hoya Hoop Club
Vice-President, Hoyas Unlimited