March 27, 2009
Blue vs. Gray
Bring It On, part 2
My high school son, for the past two months, has been working on a research paper comparing three great battles of the Civil War (Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Cold Harbor), all of which occurred within 100 miles of Washington, DC. So when the Georgetown Hoyas lined up last night in McDonough Memorial Gymnasium to face the Richmond Spiders in the third round of the women's NIT, I couldn't help but think about the historical connection between the two cities represented by the teams on the court, the capital of the North versus the capital of the South. And in the game, just as in those three battles, the side with the stronger defense prevailed in a decisive victory.
With the win, the Hoyas move on to the round of eight to face Boston College at the Conte Forum in Boston next Sunday. Hoya, hoya saxa!
I slipped into the arena last night before the doors opened and found the Hoyas informally warming up and staying loose. Many of the hoop men's team were there, hanging out and chatting with their counterparts. The easy and relaxing environment felt like it did during one night of Madness last October when the men and women roundballers mixed it up in our first glimpse of the respective teams. When I posted an entry about that evening of basketball, I remarked about the day in the future when basketball in McDonough will once again sell out. It didn't happen last night, but the who's who in attendance were treated to a very entertaining game of b-ball. Those attendees included: Jim Walsh, SJ and more than a few Jesuits; Law Center VP Kevin Conry '76; veteran fans of McDonough womens' ball including Joe McGuinness '68, Paul Besozzi '69, and University VP Dan Porterfield '85; multiple former players, including our first WNBA draftee, Katie Smrcka-Duffy '01; lots of current Hoya parents and families; Hoop Club leaders Al Bozzo '85, Mike Karam '72, and Bill Licamele '68; athletic director Bernard Muir along with most of his staff and coaches; emeritus AD Frank Rienzo; several members of the Thompson family; and the men's hoop team as mentioned.It was a homecoming of sorts and the Hoyas couldn't have picked a better time to show their stuff. Now, battle-tested throughout the Big East season and on the threshold of their deepest run ever into post-season play, the Georgetown women are deserving of our esteem. We are proud of their success and delighted to see them wear the Blue AND Gray.
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March 16, 2009
Journey of a Lifetime
I took a journey this past weekend to Geneva, NY. I have fond memories of the town, from visiting relatives there as a boy, to returning there over Christmas break in college with my lacrosse teammate Nick Midey, who resided in the neighboring village of Seneca Falls. I remember visiting Hobart College on that particular journey and stopping in Bristol Gym to pay respects to head coach Jerry Schmidt, the first and only lacrosse player ever to land on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I remember returning again six months later to participate in the 31st annual North-South All-Star Game as a member of the winning South squad. I also remember going back several times to watch the Hoyas earn closely contested victories against the Statesmen. Fond memories indeed.
The reason I went back once more to Geneva last weekend was to serve as scorekeeper for the Georgetown - Hobart lacrosse game. There once was a time, a generation ago, when Georgetown did not belong on the same field as upstate lacrosse powerhouse Hobart. Fortunately, they never met on the field in those days. Now, the two schools compete in the same conference, the ECAC. However, a conference affiliation is not all that Georgetown and Hobart share: GU Law graduate Mark Gearan '90 is the current president of Hobart College; the site of the game, McCooey Field, is named for the family that has sent offspring to both schools, including Dick McCooey '52, founder and once proprietor of the Tombs and 1789 restaurant; and one-time Georgetown coach, Tom Oberdorfer, played his college lacrosse at Hobart. The most significant connection that has bound together Georgetown and Hobart over the past 20 years though is a man named David Urick.
I won't recite Coach Urick's accolades in this space. You can read them here and here. How well is he still remembered at the school that gave him his first coaching job? Within the first hour he arrived on campus with the Hoyas, a lineup of old friends greeted him, including the Hobart trainer, the assistant to the president, the athletic director, assistant coaches, and even a former referee.The Hoyas will leave the ECAC next year with the addition of men's lacrosse to Big East competition. Sadly, the Hobart rivalry may very well end.
Happily, the fond memories and connections between the schools will not.
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March 11, 2009
The Season of Job
Another Big East Tournament has ended for the Hoyas. I am about to board a train to head back to DC. We'll wait to hear from the NIT, but the post-mortems have already begun.
All right, we lost in New York. It follows a difficult season of multiple unexpected losses for our men's basketball team. We started the season so well, then . . . ?
Is there a moral to the story? No, throw out the instant analysis and daily judgments. I, for one, will not conclude from successive painful losses that our team is somehow bad and unworthy.
True wisdom to understand fully this season may be beyond us. One thing is clear though: the team has faced one challenge after another in a very trying season. Never did they lose their composure or integrity. And surely, it is a noble achievement to hold your head high under the glare of the spotlight and in the face of great adversity.One other thing is clear as well: through faith and perseverance, the Hoyas will be back.
For now, the season of Job is upon us.
Hoya, Hoya Saxa!
Hoya, Hoya Georgetown!
Hoya, Team! Team! Team!
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February 2, 2009
Raising Our Game
For most of the 139-year history of intercollegiate athletics at Georgetown, fund raising was an iffy proposition – sporadically undertaken and underwhelming at that. After 100 years of this on-again, off-again model, a group of alumni, students, parents, faculty and staff sought to change this paradigm in 1970 by establishing an annual appeal for Hoya sports -- through a booster organization called Hoyas Unlimited. I was a student-athlete at the time and I remember well the positive feelings that this external support engendered, despite its meager beginnings.Six years later, I had the opportunity to serve as president of Hoyas Unlimited. In spite of earnest attempts to raise the giving bar, the institutional and resource constraints placed upon our efforts were considerable, and frustrating. At the end of the decade, I led an exercise to reshape Hoyas Unlimited into the organizational model that exists today.
By the early 1980’s, fund raising began to rise steadily. At the time, I was fortunate to serve in the lead staff role with Hoyas Unlimited. Before this decade ended however, the need for more was urgent and the lack of major gift development in athletics was glaring. Again, a new model was called for. I soon found myself working closely with then athletic director, Frank Rienzo, to solicit major gifts for coaching and scholarships.Under this model, annual giving and major giving to athletics has continued to grow substantially for the past 20 years. Still, relative to our intercollegiate competition, we have been treading water at best. Still more is needed today.
For the past three and one-half years, I have written and posted to this space - entitled View From The Hilltop - on Georgetown’s official athletic website. VFTH is a blog; a link-filter; a sports column; part commentary, part journal, part photo album; a portal; it is colloquial analysis; and it is home-grown. My goal was to make this corner of the website fun and interesting, and in the process, build a community of greater interest.
One year ago last June, I posted a blog entry entitled “A Call to Arms.” It provided some context for the current state of resources available to Georgetown athletics. It also put forth a call to action to elevate the fund raising bar for Hoya sports and suggested that a new paradigm is needed to move forward.
With this post, I am happy to report that a new organizational model is underway. This parallel website, www.raiseourgame.com, is one valuable part of this revised effort to rally support for athletics. View From The Hilltop will henceforth reside in these pages with appropriate cross-links to www.guhoyas.com. Georgetown’s future athletic success is in our hands and will depend upon our ability today to “raise our game.”And I, for one, am happy to support it.
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December 31, 2008
2008 - Archive
12/31/2008 - That Was The Year That Was
11/21/2008 - GUrus of Sport
11/17/2008 - Rite of Autumn
11/11/2008 - Spanning the Globe
10/28/2008 - Meet the Hall of Famers
10/28/2008 - This Bud's For You
10/22/2008 - Bring It On!
10/17/2008 - Imagining the Possible
10/13/2008 - A Major Success
09/23/2008 - Ocior Euro
08/05/2008 - A Great Second Act
06/14/2008 - Tim Russert and Me
05/20/2008 - Shirley I'm Proud
05/13/2008 - One Big Gentle Man
05/07/2008 - A Good Start
04/15/2008 - It's In The Air
04/01/2008 - Still Smiling
03/27/2008 - Two Games
03/22/2008 - Why Bother?
03/18/2008 - Let's Go Dancing
02/20/2008 - Hail to the Hall
02/14/2008 - Don't Worry, Be Happy
02/08/2008 - Hopping on the Bus
01/23/2008 - Good Memories, By George
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December 31, 2007
2007 - Archive
12/29/2007 - Memphis Blues
12/13/2007 - Tests of Time
12/04/2007 - Turn On, Tune In
11/28/2007 - Hats Off to a Georgetown Gentleman
11/22/2007 - Close to Home
11/20/2007 - Leading By Serving
11/17/2007 - Once More, Roy, Roy, Roy!
11/14/2007 - Once More, Part 4
11/08/2007 - You've Got Mail
11/02/2007 - A Soulful Day
10/31/2007 - Once More, Part 3
10/25/2007 - Once More, Part 2
10/22/2007 - Hoya Rocks!
10/09/2007 - Once More, With Gusto
10/05/2007 - Sailing to Seattle
10/03/2007 - Home Again
09/26/2007 - Hot Gates
09/19/2007 - Meet the Hall of Famers
09/15/2007 - Straight For A Touchdown
09/11/2007 - Coming to a Town Near You
09/05/2007 - See How They Gain Ground
06/30/2007 - A Call to Arms
05/22/2007 - Hail O Georgetown!
04/17/2007 - Echoes of Community
03/26/2007 - Time To Give Way
03/07/2007 - Oh What A Night!
02/16/2007 - A Community for Life
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December 31, 2006
2006 - Archive
12/30/2006 - Meet the Hall of Famers
12/30/2006 - Forever Linked to Georgetown Gridiron Glory
12/25/2006 - All I Want for Christmas . . .
12/18/2006 - Leaping from past to present
12/02/2006 - December Do-ings
11/23/2006 - Grateful Memories
11/17/2006 - Realities: Past and Present
10/19/2006 - One Hundred and Counting
10/14/2002 - A Man Named Joyce
10/11/2006 - Pure Delight
09/26/2006 - Remis Velisque
09/15/2006 - Captains of their Ships
09/11/2006 - Still Standing
08/30/2006 - One Year Old
08/22/2006 - Let's Play Again
08/06/2006 - Slip Sliding Away
07/29/2006 - When It Rains
07/15/2006 - Ave Atque Vale
07/05/2006 - House of the Rising Sun
06/26/2006 - Big Easy Does It
06/08/2006 - Unconventional Success
05/27/2006 - YOU Can Help
05/19/2006 - Lie Down, Virginia, Lie Down
05/17/2006 - Anchors Aweigh
05/11/2006 - Thursday Musings
05/08/2006 - The X-Factor
05/04/2006 - Day at the Races
04/30/2006 - No Place Like Home?
04/19/2006 - Wednesday Musings
04/14/2006 - Back in the Saddle
03/31/2006 - Ground Under Repair
03/24/2006 - Days to Remember
03/23/2006 - On the Road Again
03/17/2006 - When Hoya Eyes Are Smiling
03/16/2006 - Thursday Morning Musings
03/08/2006 - Wednesday Morning Musings
03/06/2006 - Meet the Hall of Famers
02/27/2006 - Monday Musings
02/23/2006 - Thursday Musings
02/20/2006 - Hail to the Hoyas
02/17/2006 - Dreamin' Big
02/14/2006 - V-Day Musings
02/08/2006 - Hoya Forever
02/07/2006 - Tuesday Morning Musings
02/02/2006 - Musings of a Groundhog
01/24/2006 - Tuesday Morning Musings
01/18/2006 - Wednesday Morning Musings
01/13/2006 - Never Row?
01/9/2006 - Monday Morning Musings
01/06/2006 - Meet the Hall of Famers
01/03/2006 - Monday Morning Musings
01/01/2006 - Mid-Year Reflections
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December 31, 2005
2005 Archive
12/26/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
12/25/2005 - Both and One
12/21/2005 - Naughty or Nice
12/19/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
12/16/2005 - Muir Staff Changes
12/15/2005 - Big Men on Campus Redux
12/12/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
12/10/2005 - Meet the Hall of Famers
12/07/2005 - I'll Take the High Road
12/05/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
12/02/2005 - Virtual Beginning
11/28/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
11/25/2005 - Are you ready for some . . . Hoop ball?
11/24/2005 - Thanks for Giving
11/21/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
11/18/2005 - Tale of Two Hoyas
11/18/2005 - Big Men on Campus
11/14/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
11/11/2005 - 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month
11/09/2005 - The March to Madness Begins
11/07/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
11/05/2005 - Keeping Faith, General-ly Speaking
11/02/2005 - Sons of the Father
10/31/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
10/28/2005 - The Experiment That Worked
10/26/2005 - Get `em While They're Hot!
10/24/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
10/20/2005 - Coming Home?
10/19/2005 - Etes-vous pret?
10/17/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
10/17/2005 - Madness It Was
10/17/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
10/14/2005 - Take Your Pick
10/11/2005 - Monday Morning Musings Redux
10/10/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
10/07/2005 - Check Your Mailbox
10/06/2005 - Part Three: A Final Peek
10/04/2005 - Part Two: A Peek Inside McDonough
10/01/2005 - A Peek Inside McDonough: Part One
09/30/2005 - A Look Back; A Look Ahead
09/26/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
09/26/2005 - Remembrance of Greg Carroll
09/28/2005 - A Colleen Like No Other
09/22/2005 - Good News at Ellington
09/19/2005 - Monday Morning Musings
09/16/2005 - Tell Me O Muse of the Story
09/14/2005 - Hoya Field of Dreams
09/13/2005 - Rubbing Shoulder Pads
09/11/2005 - Memories of Bob
09/10/2005 - We Remember
09/08/2005 - Signs of the Times
09/06/2005 - Holy Cow: What a Classic, Part II
09/02/2005 - Here You Go: A Little Soccer TLR
08/31/2005 - Keeping Dry at Loyola NO
08/31/2005 - Who's Counting
08/30/2005 - Hoyas Launch Blog
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