Dec. 23, 2008
Happy Hoya Holidays: A Big East Feast
This past weekend I made my annual Christmas trip to New York City. Unfortunately, I had to miss one of the few Hoya games that I will miss this year against Mount St. Mary’s. When I got the text messages from all of my friends at Verizon Center, I was both happy that we got a victory and disappointed it was so close. As I walked through Times Square in the cold, snow, and sleet I saw the billboard flash the Syracuse win, and the UCONN comeback victory against Old Spice Champion Gonzaga. It is more important than ever that our Big East counterparts have quality wins against non-conference opponents. There are an impressive 7 Big East teams in the AP Top 25. It is always comforting to be in New York—the media capital of the Big East conference, where the Big East gets much more coverage than in Washington, D.C. where the media seems to love the ACC. The entire weekend, I was very concerned about our brutal Big East schedule starting with 2nd ranked UCONN on the road. On January 3rd we open at home against Pittsburgh—we need a big crowd of fans for this game. Indeed our Hoyas will be tested early, and have to really step up their level of play.
The highlight of my trip was the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall. I have not seen the show since the
year 2000. I was very impressed with how the show has become very high tech. Walking through the lobby I got a few high fives when people saw me in my Georgetown Hoya jacket and hat. I felt like I would have made Al Bozzo proud. We have come a long way in the last five years. As I walked up Fifth Avenue I marveled at how so many of the newsstands, and record/CD stores had disappeared. The highlight of my shopping trip was a trip to the big Apple Store across from the Plaza Hotel that is open 24/7. I spent a good amount of time with one salesman who convinced me to buy a Mac Book when I return to Maryland. We had a nice conversation about how he was going to get a graduate sports marketing degree from either NYU or Baruch College. He was a big Georgetown fan who was a boyhood friend of AI. He told me how he had just helped the admissions director from Columbia, and someone from Duke University who works with their basketball support group. We exchanged business cards as I was trying to convince him to join the Hoya Hoop Club!
As I entered Penn Station on my way back home, I was chilled to the bone from the cold but could feel the energy coming from Madison Square Garden. I can still hear the echoes of “Hoya Saxa” and look forward to my favorite trip of the year to the Big East Tournament—right in Macy’s window!
Please come to the FIU game tonight, December 23rd at Verizon Center if you are in D.C. We need to have some fans in the arena with the students on vacation. This is one of our last games without TV coverage. We are Georgetown!
Happy Hoya Holidays!
Dr. Thomas A. Wong
Proud Member of Generation Ewing
