Trip to Villanova-A Guest Blog

PRELUDE My opportunities for Hoya viewing are growing short. On March 3, I'll get on a plane that leaves around noon. Quite a few hours later, I'll be trying to find someone in the Narita airport who follows college basketball to find out whether our Hoyas put UConn out of their misery. I won't get back to the U.S. until the 16th, the second first full day of the NCAA tournament (last year, I was also traveling, was sick, and decided not to taxi out downtown London at 2AM to watch Georgetown play Florida - I did, however pay $2 at Heathrow the next morning to check the net and find out who had won, which would have been completely worth it had the Hoyas pulled it out). And since my usual St. John's trip was disrupted by the fact that it was a Thursday night game, it was time to go to Villanova. Full disclosure -- I loathe Villanova. I transferred in to Georgetown from Delaware. Delaware doesn't like Villanova. I have a friend from St. Joseph's, who doesn't like Villanova, either. Villanova is the Cheesecake Factory of Mid-Atlantic rivalries - while every single major university may have their own differences, they can basically agree on despising Villanova. One of the happiest moments of my time at Georgetown came my sophomore year, when Georgetown thumped Villanova by more than 30 in Iverson's last home game to go undefeated in Landover.

THERE So I found myself at Georgetown very early in the morning - some emailing with a very kind Hoya Blue member had resulted in me securing a seat on one of their buses (they were all out of tickets, so I had to click on Villanova's site, then go to the Wachovia Center's site, then search for the game - they really didn't want to make it easy). The bus ride (I was on the Gene Smith one) up was uneventful - the chosen soundtrack included a variety of low-intensity covers, all of which were done by someone who had apparently taken some cold medicine and was thus playing everything at about 2/3 speed. The CD also skipped on the bumpy ride, so the "Stairway to Heaven" of boy band songs, "I Want It That Way," took around fifteen minutes. This was fine, however, since most people weren't used to getting up that early and took advantage of the time to get a quick snooze. Someone sitting next to me from Chicago asked me what city we were passing - I was slightly incredulous before replying it was Baltimore. Georgetown's geographic diversity pays more dividends than hours-long "pop versus soda" dorm room debates. Eventually, it was time for a stop at the Delaware House (Motto: "Since you're paying through the nose to drive you our state, at least take some time out of your schedule to have a tax-free Cinnabon"). Some Girl Scouts, who all will have made their first million long before me, had set up shop right outside the structure and were making oodles of money. I opted for Nathan's fries - so good that I once specifically asked for them right before some surgery. Back on the bus. The CD eventually skipped its last, and Hoya Blue switched over to a much more up-tempo mix During a similar Hoyas Unlimited trip to New York City, "Hoosiers" was placed in the VCR - the same approach where people get so pumped up that they're ready to rush out of the bus screaming at the top of their lungs (though, given Hoya Blue's dedication this year, that seems to be a common occurrence). Listening to the Fort Minor I-95 Skipping Remix of "Remember the Name" is something I will always cherish.

ARRIVAL Finally, the Wachovia Center. It's actually part of a sports complex - there's the Comcast Spectrum, which is for concerts, Lincoln Financial Field, which is for the Eagles and their tortured fans (though, as a fan, it was my first time to see the Linc and I found the huge banners of Eagles to be pretty cool), Citizens Bank Park (for the Phillies), and the Wachovia Center (for the Flyers, Sixers, Phantoms, Kixx, and Mildcats - we'll get back to this later). When I was growing up, all we needed was the Vet and the Spectrum, and they didn't have names of banks attached to them, and we walked all the way there and back from Delaware because the bus cost a nickel, which was a lot of money in those days. Anyway. We file out. I get my ticket and head on the escalator, which may be challenging Metro escalators for absolute total height (you think I'm kidding, but they handed out reading material and oxygen masks at the bottom). When I got to the top, I started heading to my seat. I passed a variety of table soccer games - one for the Flyers, one for the Kixx (the professional indoor soccer team), and one for the Phantoms (the remarkably popular minor league hockey team that, unlike the Flyers, has actually won a title in the last thirty years. Not that I am bitter). There's no Villanova table basketball. There's also no Villanova signage outside of the arena. This really is Villanova's "home away from home." They play most of their home games in the DuPont Pavilion, a home arena so cozy that I couldn't get tickets for last year's game. Villanova plays in the Wachovia Center five or six times a year, and those games are always the biggest. You know, like Georgetown.

PREGAME Wow. That escalator ride wasn't for naught. I'm almost in Chester, PA. I feel like I'm a Hoya Superfan, and that the Hoyas are fourteen inches tall. Of course, it doesn't matter how tall they are. They are Georgetown, III's on our side, and we are all Georgetown. I get my seat, sit down, and take off my sweater to show the WAG shirt. Many of the early-arriving people are Hoya fans (the upper bowl is probably 55/45 Georgetown fans - Villanova sells their tickets well, and the lower bowl is 90/10 Villanova or worse). Hoya Blue made me an offer to head over to one of their sections and cheer like a lunatic, but I feel sort of strange doing so since I'm not a student anymore. They can cheer better without me. Most of the pregame involves me talking with a recruiter from Princeton in a wide-ranging basketball conversation (possibly my favorite conversation with a local - the second-best was getting "best available" tickets to a St. John's game last year and sitting next to a guy who pointed two rows ahead to show where Spike Lee sits for Knicks games). Very cool. While we're doing this, Jay Wright comes out on the telscreen to sell people on the team. Give him credit - he's selling his team. However, I like the fact that Georgetown's never done this. That's sort of the idea of "We Are Georgetown" - we love Patrick, we love Big John, but no one person represents the program. Well, that and that Jay Wright looks like Chris Noth. This makes it hard to take him seriously since you assume that, midway through the game, Carrie's going to run onto the court and throw a Cosmo in his face.

FIRST HALF Villanova's glee club sings a nice national anthem, then we get down to business. Villanova has a late-arriving crowd, but the lower bowl is pretty much full within five minutes of the opening tipoff, and lots of them are wearing "Nova Nation" dark blue shirts (except for those who, bless their heart, are wearing gray Nova shirts and thus look like Hoya fans. Well, let's skip most of the first half, or at least the first half of the first half. Georgetown misses a few shots, quite a few of which get blocked, and Villanova's playing like they're on fire in NBA Jam, making three after three. Roy gets lots of early (questionable, since I'm a Hoya fan) foul calls. Jeff falls down and grabs his leg. At this point, we're waiting for the ground to open up and swallow the team - that's basically the only way things can get worse. However, Georgetown regroups and makes a lot of little runs - no 17-0 game-buriers, but they end a Villanova run that put them up nine, and then chip away at it. And then comes... PHILADELPHIA THREEDOM. I was surprised that Georgetown didn't hold for the last shot, but they defend well - and with a quick Villanova shot and miss, Jessie's in the position to take a shot. And it goes in. And Georgetown, who is ranked in the top fifteen and is losing to unranked Villanova by two, has some pretty excited fans. As I'm thinking about the first half, I remember watching the St. John's game with a friend. As I was close to having a coronary as every single St. John's circus shot went in, my friend calmed me down - St. John's wasn't going to make them all. Villanova shot 3s very well in the first half - they probably can't do that well in the second. I'm also a big devotee of the 60-point theory that YB advanced two years ago. As long as Georgetown has 15 in the first ten minutes, thirty at the half, and 45 with ten minutes left, I'm happy. Georgetown had single digits in the first ten minutes, but they're at 27 at the half. They can do this. The Princeton assistant comes back - since nobody took the chair on my left, he sits down there for the second half. The first thing he says is "they're butchering my offense" - he wants one or two more passes by Georgetown each possession. On my right is a guy who took someone - his girlfriend, his wife? - to the game. She roots very heavily for Villanova. He, who looks like he was an Eagles fan in "Invincible", and who says that he's from South Jersey (interestingly, almost all Philly fans I've met come from either southeastern Pennsylvania, south Jersey, or Delaware), is pretty quiet and doesn't root hard for either team. At halftime, Villanova performs its own kiss of death - they honor their 1982 women's basketball team, which made the semifinals of the predecessor to the NCAA for women's athletics, the AIAW. Really, teams should learn never to dedicate a court or honor a team when they're playing Georgetown. Pick someone like .... Ooooh, Marquette. They really work well when you're celebrating an anniversary. Villanova's halftime contest features two older Nova fans getting three chances to chip a Velcro golf ball at a target. It is, without a doubt, a great way to kill time. Neither really comes close (the first skies the shot far overhead all three times). While we're on it, Villanova also runs a few other promotions. One is a seat upgrade sponsored by a restauarant called The Wild Onion, which narrowly edged out Oatmeal Cooked in a Sheep's Stomach in Dundee to win the Worst Restaurant Name Ever contest. Really, can you imagine telling your date "Honey, it's going to be a special night tonight. I've booked us a table for two at The Wild Onion"? The Wild Onion may or may not be a great place for dinner after the game - I never checked. Villanova also included a "Price is Right" comparison game sponsored by a grocery store, where all the prices were laughably off by a few dollars. The really depressing part was that some all-natural toothpaste was selling for around $5 or $6 and no one batted an eye. Once again, see the above comments about being old. To their credit, Villanova's fans came to this game. In addition to the aforementioned Nova Nation (which, impressively, simply didn't have the words "Red Sox" crossed out on the design), one person dressed up as a Raider fan, complete with skull makeup and giant fake spikes that made him look like a WWE wrestler. He won "Fan of the Game" (Villanova, as it is not based in Washington, is unfamiliar with critical democratic traditions like voting for the Fan of the Game - their dancing during the "Dance Cam" also leaves something to be desired). Anyway. Both teams are back. One more half of Big East basketball, between two NCAA tournament teams in a full major city arena. This is what it's all about.

TWENTY MINUTES Villanova scores the first few points of the second half, but neither team can make a real run. It's a seesaw battle - Georgetown finally grabs a 42-40 lead that they push to 44-40, but Villanova comes back to lead 55-51. The Princeton recruiter next to me makes the comment that Villanova's giving Georgetown a ten-footer - the 'Cats are assuming that Georgetown will either take a three or drive to the basket, but that a free mid-range jumper is available if the Hoyas want it. His various comments during the game as the offense and defense are run is like playing this game on XBox with "Ask the Coach" consistently being pressed. It really improves the game experience. He notably mentioned that Villanova had been having a lot more trouble with Hibbert in there. Hibbert comes in and Villanova gets shut down. The Sun King cuts it to a one-possession game, 55-53. I'll be honest - I'm checking the play-by-play. All of this is sort of a fog. But Villanova can't score on their next two possessions. That part I do remember. DaJuan gets fouled (I think it wasn't during a shot) and makes the first free throw, so it's now 55-54. He misses the second. Nova gets the rebound. 77 seconds left. Nova misses the shot. Green scores. 56-55. 22 seconds left. Villanova can hold for the last shot. Shane Clark doesn't hold for the last second, but launches a three. Brick (to the left, if I recall correctly). Georgetown rebound. Villanova takes a second or two to foul. Green got fouled. He looks like he wants to win this. Bad. Green makes the first. 57-55. He needs the second - any Nova shot is going to be a three. Green, much like the U.S. dollar, is money on the second shot. 58-55. I like our chances in overtime. The Princeton assistant heads out. Scottie Reynolds misses. AND THE YELL OF ALL THE YELLS, THE YELL THAT WINS THE DAY, IS THE ... Lots of Georgetown fans prepare to head down, and we're all loud and exuberant, but we're nice. Nobody tries to pick fights or mock Nova - we won a close game, and we want to get out quick. Lots of "Hoya! Saxa!" and "We Are! Georgetown!" chants, plus a fight song rendition. One Nova fan tells me he'll se us in New York. As I'm heading down the steps, I high five anyone who has a WAG shirt. I talk to the Tie Guy and tell him to keep up the tradition. Outside. My, it's warm and nice and sunny - it's always a nicer day after you've won. More high fiving with people. And, it's not an urban legend - one of the Nova students, while walking away, asks no one in particular "what's a Hoya anyway?". People still don't know. They will. I decide not to give her the Latin/Greek explanation. Back on the bus. Hoya Blue does a check, confirms that no one has been left in the wilds of Philadelphia, and then we head out. Well, we try. Say what you will about the Phone Booth, but traffic disperses quickly. We were stuck for at least thirty minutes (even better, our bus cut off a Villanova student bus - on the bright side, one of their fans kindly noted that Georgetown was number one). Eventually, we're finally out of Philly traffic and head back down 95 - enjoying some Latin music and old school funk on two different radio stations before the driver switches to 93.3, WMMR, which has some more modern stuff and which also, beautifully, sadly tells Nova fans that Nova just lost. Five minutes later, the station goes dead. We're assuming that Philadelphia is in prolonged sports mourning and the Nova loss broke their back (really, Philadelphia's best hope is now the Phillies, who have a grand total of one championship in their entire history. It's like throwing your bet for the Chevy Chase Check Card Challenge behind a short person behind someone with a beehive hairdo). Fine. In comes the same inspirational mix as earlier until a few people ask us to stop so they can sleep. In comes discussions on the greatness of watching Georgetown beat Ohio State in Dayton last year (and the travails of the bus ride back), the greatness of Vanderbilt beating Florida, and the difference between steroid use in the NFL and MLB. Eventually, we finally arrive at Georgetown and we all head our separate ways. The last game of the season I'll be able to see in person will be the Pitt game next week. Looking forward to it. Shortly after that, I'll be the guy running around internet cafes looking for scores and trying to catch the two minutes of college basketball highlights in between the 58 minutes of cricket, soccer, and rugby. Hoya Saxa.

Hayden Hurst
Guest Blogger