June 20, 2007
My 25th Georgetown Reunion
My 25th Georgetown Reunion included events from May 31st to June 3rd 2007. We started on Thursday night with the Tombs Takeover, leading to a Friday night event in O'Donovan Hall, and our main event Saturday night at the House of Sweden across from Sequoia in Georgetown Harbor. We had a Reunion Mass as well as numerous other events. I was part of the events committee, but most of the credit goes to George Biagi our Class Reunion Chair, and Eileen Gaul Isdaner, our Events Chair. Both are big Hoya basketball fans. George was a former cheerleader for the Hoyas, and Eileen attended the GU-UNC game in the Meadowlands with my brother and me, which was both a highlight for the season and one of the great games in Georgetown history. Eileen and her husband Bart are both part of a great Hoya Legacy family. During Reunion weekend coach JT III spoke at a coach's breakfast in McDonough as well as in Gaston Hall about the 100th anniversary of GU basketball as well as about the current team. When I entered Gaston Hall I immediately saw Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace, and Tyler Crawford. I went over to say hello and shake hands with them. I told them that I was attending my 25th Reunion. Jonathan Wallace smiled and said "that will be us one day."
In many ways this has been a glorious reunion year for Georgetown Basketball. We started on October 14th with Midnight Madness. I traveled to Duke, to see a loss on the road. Still I was encouraged to see all of the GU fans in the JTIII shirts throughout Cameron Indoor Stadium. Even Dick Vitale commented on how many Hoya fans had invaded the stadium. I then remember traveling to Pittsburgh where we had another difficult loss on the road. Then the Hoyas went on a long winning streak. The win over Marquette in the 100th anniversary game set the stage for the weekend's events. The Friday night private event for the former players was incredible, only to be outdone by the Saturday evening Gala. The crowd of 800 or so was able to attend a very special evening. It was truly one of the great events I will ever attend in my lifetime. After the Gala, the Hoyas would continue their winning streak. I went to the Villanova game in Philadelphia, where Jeff Green's jumper left the Villanova fans stunned and silent. A loss to Syracuse on the road halted our winning streak, but the team recovered to win the BIG EAST Regular Season title. Next, winning the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time in many years was very satisfying. I got my wish of hearing the sounds of "Hoya Saxa" echoing down the stairwells of Madison Square Garden.
The NCAA tournament came the following week. I drove to Winston-Salem to see us defeat Belmont, and Boston College. Then I traveled to the Meadowlands to see a close victory over Vanderbilt, and the spectacular victory over the UNC Tar Heels. I had waited 25 years for that game. Next I traveled to Atlanta to attend my first Final Four. It was a difficult loss to Ohio State that Hoya fans are still getting over. Yet the excitement of getting there and accomplishing so many goals over the year can never be taken away. The sense of the Georgetown Community in Atlanta, and support for our team was incredible. We truly had the best fans at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Hoya Blue and the students were incredible as they had been all year.
One sad event during the year was the passing of the great former Boston Celtic Coach and President Red Auerbach. I was impressed to see that coach JT III had brought the entire team to the viewing. Red was a long time D.C. resident and frequent attendee at Georgetown games. He was also the Celtic coach as we all know for John Thompson, Jr. I will truly miss seeing him at our home games.
After the season, I attended the John Carroll awards in Fort Lauderdale, and then my own 25th Georgetown Reunion. I also attended a wonderful wedding for my good friends Payne Miller and Jenny Castronuovo the next weekend. Payne has been a good friend and fellow Hoya Hoop Club Board member the last few years. Both are great Hoya basketball fans that are moving to London for a few years. I am sure they will lead the Hoya viewing parties in London! What a year it has been! We had two players put there names in the draft. Roy Hibbert has decided to return for his senior year. Jeff Green has just made his final decision to remain in the draft. I believe that both student-athletes would have been successful either returning for their senior year, or remaining in the draft. Good luck to both--they are both Hoyas forever! We have four new recruits coming next year. Austin Freeman from DeMatha, and Chris Wright from St. John's high school are both two local high school players that everyone knows about. Both were two highly recruited guards that should fit in nicely with our team. We also have Omar Wattad, an outstanding player from Tennessee, and Nikita Mescheriakov another local product. I look forward now to seeing the recruits as usual in McDonough in a few weeks at the Kenner League. At the Kenner league I will get to see my fellow fans and Hoya Hoop Club members from all of the different generations. Then it will be the countdown to Midnight Madness where I look forward to seeing my Blog partner John Hawkes and the new 2007-08 Georgetown Men's and Women's Basketball teams. I cannot wait. I am having trouble sleeping tonight! I keep thinking about seeing Mike Lupica from the N.Y. Daily News at the Meadowlands for the North Carolina game and his article, "Hail to the Georgetown Generations."
We are Georgetown!
Thomas A. Wong (C'82)
Generation Ewing
