Nov. 25, 2008

OSC DAY -1: NO ONE IN ORLANDO HAVE SWAGG…ER?...A? LIKE US

For those searching for a perfect encapsulation of Georgetown's basketball season thus far, look no further than a single word:

SWAGGER

Or is it SWAGGA?

Whichever way you spell it (shockingly, Microsoft's spell checker accepts both…Bill Gates must be a Jay-Z fan), seldom has a single word come to define the beginning of a new Hoyas campaign as has occurred this year ("St. Leo's" counts as 1.5 words):

The men's basketball team enters the Verizon Center court to the tune of the aforementioned H.O.V.A. and T.I.'s track "Swagga Like Us."

Third place in Hoya Blue's slogan contest for 2008-2009's "We Are Georgetown" shirts went to "No One in the Big East Have Swagga Like Us," a reference to the track sampled in the above single, M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" (if you're over the age of thirty, I should have told you to give up after "St. Leo's").

Now, for their third act of 2008, the Georgetown Hoyas will travel to Orlando, FL for the Old Spice Classic, sponsored by the deodorant company whose "Swagger" line of antiperspirants gave us Brian Urlacher's honor du-el and LL Cool J re-enacting my school dance experiences from Junior High.

The OSC represents something of a homecoming from me. As a native Floridian, I've visited Orlando more times than Mike Sweetney visited the free throw line (somewhere, Craig Esherick is laughing at that joke). Although the novelty of theme parks wore off for me once I lost my taste for waffles shaped like Mickey Mouse's ears, I still enjoy visiting Orlando and engaging in a favorite pastime of any Floridian-loudly reminding anyone who will listen that you aren't a tourist.

O-Town is truthfully one of my favorite cities in the United States, and one of the more fascinating. For instance, did you know that Orlando's major exports include citrus fruits, swing voters, and interchangeable boy bands?

In addition to Mickey and a few dozen bubble gum pop quintets, my sister calls Orlando her home, and my family and I will be making her apartment our home base for Thanksgiving weekend. WARNING: This includes my mother, whose in-person Hoya basketball experiences include Gerry McNamara's game-winning buzzer-beater at MCI Center in 2004 and South Florida's lone 2006 Big East victory against the Hoyas in Tampa. For Christmas this year, I'm getting her UConn season tickets.

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I won't be the only Hoop Club Blogger in Orlando this week: Mike Karam and Tom Wong will be also on site at the Milk House for all of the Hoyas' games and at the Hoya Hoop Club headquarters for all of the Hoya post-games.

Together, we and a guest blogger or two will be running a full-court press for the Hoop Club Blog during the Old Spice Classic. We'll be updating the blog several times a day with game previews, recaps, and observations from Hoop Club events around Orlando. We'll also be keeping a photo album of our travels (zero percent chance I'm wearing the mouse ears).

So where exactly will we be travelling? Here's your NOT A TOURIST!!! Guide to Hoya Thanksgiving:

The Old Spice Classic

This will be the third annual Old Spice Classic, a tournament quickly becoming one of the highlights of ESPN's "Feast Week" lineup. Last year's Old Spice Classic lived up to the name, with NC State defeating Villanova 69-68 in the Championship game after-get this!-a controversial foul called against the Wildcats with less than a second remaining.

The 2008 edition features by far the strongest field yet to battle it out at the Wide World of Sports. Be sure to keep up with the bracket here-and let me know if you actually decipher the thing.

The Shockers

Georgetown will play its first game on Thursday against the Wichita State Shockers of the Missouri Valley Conference. WSU is in rebuilding mode under second year coach Gregg Marshall, trying to recapture the success of Mark Turgeon's 2006 Sweet 16 squad who in their tournament run became the answer to the peculiar trivia question "Which team lost the first NCAA basketball game at the Verizon Center?" (George Mason defeated the Shockers 63-55 shortly after the arena was renamed).

The Pre and Post-Games

The Hoya Hoop Club will be holding two official events from their base at the Coronado Springs Resort:

Thanksgiving Dinner
Coronado Springs Resort
Thursday, November 27
6:00 pm

$50 per person ($20 for children 12 and under)
Beer, wine and soda provided with meal accommodations

Sunday Mass and Brunch
Coronado Springs Resort
Sunday, November 30
8:00 am

The Itinerary

I'll be back on Wednesday night from Orlando to kick off our on-site coverage, which will last until the final (controversial?) whistle of the OSC Championship on Sunday night.

All that stands in my way is 835 miles of highway between Arlington and Orlando, which I'll be tearing into with a Jay-Z heavy playlist after an early wakeup Wednesday morning.

Naturally, I'll make sure to apply my Old Spice Swagger before I leave.

See you in O-Town.

John Hawkes (SFS '04)

Proud Member of Generation Burton