Jan. 28, 2010
Well, You Wanted a Gray Out…
This forecastdoesn't sound promising:
A combination of cold air dropping down from Canada and a storm system emerging from the southern branch of the jet stream is brewing potential winter weather mischief for the end of this week. The guidance is converging on the snow threat starting on Friday and potentially persisting deep into Saturday. Snow Friday morning would be light with intensities picking up later in the day and continuing through a part of Saturday based on current estimates.
Not that I'm concerned about Georgetown fans braving "winter weather mischief" to get to the Verizon Center for Saturday's game against Duke-the Hoya masses, unfazed by the largest December snowstorm in Washington D.C. history, made it across a bridge and up a giant hill to McDonough Arena for Old Dominion after all.
Nope, it's not the fans traveling by planes, trains, and automobiles to 7th and F that I'm concerned for.
It's the fans waiting out on 7th and F that I'm concerned for.
As every Hoya fan this side of Jeff Green's Mom knows, the last time Georgetown and Duke faced off in Washington, DC was on January 21, 2006, when the Hoyas held on for a 87-84 victory that many fans cite as the most important victory in the past generation, to say nothing of the JTIII era.
You can still find reminders of 1/21/06 around the Georgetown campus-a wall-sized mural of students filling the Verizon Center court adorns the staircase in McDonough Gym, a signed copy of the Washington Post sports section with the headline "HOYAS KO THE BIG 1" over a grinning Roy Hibbert hangs over a corner booth in the Tombs, and every student who hangs a newspaper foldout reading BEAT [XXXX] carries on the tradition of the hastily redecorated "(WE) BEAT DUKE" foldouts from that afternoon.
I'm well acquainted with each of these symbols: that staircase leads to the room where the Hoya Hoop Club holds Board meetings, I have an original copy of the 1/22/06 Washington Post (and I sit in that booth at The Tombs about 33% of my visits), and that foldout from "The Hoya" has been on my apartment wall for four years and a week.
My favorite symbol of that day though…well, maybe I should call it day and night…is a place I pass by every time I attend a Georgetown home game downtown.
This is the F Street Entrance to the Verizon Center. Nothing flashy, but it'll do as a doorway.
As a camp site? Why not.
I remember January 21, 2006 well, as I was awake for all 24 hours of it.
I was part of an intrepid group of about 15 Georgetown fans who hopped a GUTS bus and a red line in the middle of prime D.C. Friday night clubbing hours, carrying sleeping bags, extra sweaters, and at least one donated case of Red Bull energy drink, and pitched our tents on 7th and F Street exactly 15 and a half hours before the Hoyas and Blue Devils tipped off.
For the first 50 percent or so of January 21st, we kicked around a stray soccer ball, played cards, made a seemingly infinite number of CVS runs, chatted with what must have been half of the D.C. police force (sadly, the M in "MPD" stood for Maryland in many cases), and in general tried to stay warm and optimistic that the most satisfying victory of our lives was just…oh, eight hours or so away.
To keep time, we sang the Fight Song every hour, on the hour.
This is the F Street Entrance to the Verizon Center at 4:00am. Nothing flashy, but it'll do as a chorus stage.
Four years ago, I wrote about the campout for HoyaSaxa.com in an article titled "Team Moderate Temperature…and Other Stories from January 21, 2006"
The joke there is that the 2006 campout averted the fate of the February 2004 group of intrepid Hoya fans who self-identified as "Team Ice Cold" when their temperature hovered around freezing (the overnight low on the morning of 1/21/06 was in the mid 40s).
As of the moment I type this, the Weather Channel tells me the forecast for 4:00am on Saturday morning is:
25 degrees with a 30 percent chance of snow.
Bundle up.
Whether sliding on that extra fleece for the long wait on F Street, or checking airline reservations somewhere far away from Washington, DC, Hoya fans across the country are converging on Verizon Center this Saturday for the biggest event thus far in the 2010 season.
We'll be doing the same here on the Blog: our writers from San Francisco to Chicago to Arlington, VA (16 degree wind chill right now!) will be converging on this space over this coming weekend to bring you not only the sight and sounds from 7th and F, but also our personal memories of the Georgetown-Duke rivalry.
We look forward to sharing our experiences with you: both here on the Blog and inside the VC on Saturday.
Who knows, maybe I'll stop in if there's a Team Arctic Chill in the works…
…naaaaaaaaah, I prefer my bedroom to a doorway these days.
John Hawkes (SFS '04)
Proud Member of Generation Burton
