George Washington Wants To Play Georgetown

by CasualHoya on May 16, 2011 4:46 PM EDT in Schedule

First it was Maryland AD Kevin Anderson clamoring for a piece of Hoyas action, and now, incoming George Washington AD Patrick Nero wants the Hoyas to face off against our friendly yet not as intelligent neighbor in Foggy Bottom.

According to the DC Sports Bog, GW would like Georgetown to get involved in the BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament so that DC could have its own version of the "Big 5"" in Philadelphia.

"Georgetown is a terrific university and a great basketball program," Nero said. "We would love for them to play us. We would love to play them. And hopefully we can convince them that they would get a lot out of playing GW. The BB&T certainly has a reputation as a great basketball tournament. We're committed to playing in it every year. I think it would be great for college basketball in this area if every local team committed to playing that tournament, but we can only control GW."

Frankly, I think he's right. The Maryland issue is one thing, but Georgetown-George Washington relations don't have a similar strained history and at minimum a local rivalry for DC supremacy would be beneficial to all fans of local college hoops. With relatively new Athletic Directors at all three schools and Gary Williams now enjoying boat drinks on a beach somewhere, hopefully Georgetown, Maryland, and GW can get together and make this a reality. Sprinkle in a drop of George Mason and a dollop of VCU, and all of a sudden you've got a local tournament that would rival any other.

Poll

Should there be a "Big Five" Tournament in DC?

Yes

200 votes

No

40 votes

240 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 24 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

There's no reason not to

If we’re cool with the Old Spice/Charleston Classic, we should be excited for a DMV 5 tournament. They would actually sell tickets to that.

by WarmupEwing on May 16, 2011 4:56 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

DMV 5

That’s a nice ring to it!

by Big Spoon on May 16, 2011 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Isn't there some weird rule prohibiting us...

since it is held at the Phone Booth?

by AnotherGtownJack on May 16, 2011 5:01 PM EDT reply actions

I don't think so

It’s not a true tournament. So there’s no restrictions on playing it every year.
It just wouldn’t count as a neutral game for us the way it would for all the other teams playing that day. Obvioulsy it’d count as a road game for whomever we played as well.

by hoyasincebirth on May 16, 2011 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Okay, so the games would count to our overall total

and would be part of the tournament exception…

by AnotherGtownJack on May 16, 2011 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Isn't that cute

All the little kids want a chance to try to beat Dad in 1 on 1.

by hoyasincebirth on May 16, 2011 5:14 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs

They see the decline in the program.

The sharks smell blood in the water…

by 30yrHoyafan on May 16, 2011 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions

For 1 yr only

so they better get it done ‘now’, but afterwards the Hoyas reign will begin!

by Big Spoon on May 16, 2011 11:17 PM EDT up reply actions

My only hesitation about playing in the BB&T

Is Feinstein. If he wasn’t in charge I’d love for us to play.

I wish we could say We’ll play in it every year if Fienstien resigns.

Obviously that’s crazy. But he’s totally going to play it as He won and broke Georgetown down and guilted us into playing in his tournament.

by hoyasincebirth on May 16, 2011 5:17 PM EDT reply actions

fo sho

Heard him on the radio when gary retired and managed to turn the conversation to his hatred of jt2 and Gtown. Screw the bb&t.

by iheartgregmonroe on May 16, 2011 7:39 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Why don't we just hold our own tournament?

Verizon is our home court after all. Call it the John Thompson Jr. Classic.

by AnotherGtownJack on May 16, 2011 9:59 PM EDT up reply actions

I used to be in favor of playing the local schools...

Now…not so much. It’s not killing anyone that we don’t play them.

by VictorPage'sLeftEye on May 16, 2011 5:17 PM EDT reply actions

We should do this but not as part of the BBT

I think you could solve for this pretty easily by rotating a Big 5 style tournament between Comcast Center, Patriot Center and Verizon. There are some issues such as the treatment our season ticket holders get at each location, percentage of the gate, etc. But the BBT should not be the promoter that pulls this together. Feinstein has his own agenda with that tournament and I think that creates too many conflicts to address what Georgetown would need out of this. To forego the revenue associated with 2 or 3 Verizon Center games is a big deal for Georgetown which is why I don’t think this should be part of the BBT. It would actually give local basketball fans what they want and stick it to Feinstein in one motion which would be pretty cool.

by GrittyCrusader on May 16, 2011 5:20 PM EDT reply actions

completely agree

Good talk.
Casual Hoya

by Hire Esherick on May 16, 2011 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions

This is where either...

(1) DC having a venue like the Palestra in Philly

(2) GU having an on-campus venue like the Pavilion at Nova…

…would really help matters.

by FLHoya on May 16, 2011 7:16 PM EDT up reply actions

I like this idea a lot

Rotate where the games are being played between the 3 venues, maybe make some a double header at Verizon or Comcast.

Every Month March.

by hoyaeagle on May 17, 2011 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions

I also love this bit from the article

“Because Georgetown could fill that place if they were included."

I like the idea that only by Georgetown playing will there be enough interest for the BB&T. It’s true that nobody is going now. But I find it funny that they need Georgetown so desperatelyto put buts in the seats.

by hoyasincebirth on May 16, 2011 5:23 PM EDT reply actions

I would love to play them, but

There were more extremely qualified OOC candidates this year than we anticipated. Therefore, we must place them on our waitlist. I would like to emphasize to GW that this is in no way a reflection of their ability.

by StPetersburgHoya on May 16, 2011 6:40 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 3 recs

Remember when their students marched to 37th and O ...

and demanded we play them?

Their student body has a massive inferiority complex. F those guys. I’d rather play Mason and UMCP.

by John Coctostan on May 16, 2011 6:43 PM EDT reply actions

What would attendance be for a Nov. 2011 GU-GW game at Verizon?

We’ll set the O/U at 12,106—the announced attendance for the Utah State game last December.

I say under for a weeknight, slightly over on a weekend if the timing was right.

by FLHoya on May 16, 2011 7:20 PM EDT reply actions

I think this would be fun

by who will sex dikembe tonight on May 16, 2011 7:28 PM EDT reply actions

You guys should play...

GW, Maryland, George Mason each year. Those three are better than what Nova plays in the Big 5 year in and year out.

I am epic win.

by Esteban d' Amur on May 16, 2011 10:31 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

There is another option

Home and home, McDonough to Smith Center

Even if I, a lowly YA season ticket holder, wouldn’t be able to get tickets for a McDonough game it would still be a lot of fun. And if we get start it up this season on the road, as a GW grad student I could get into the game for free!

by hoya ghost on May 17, 2011 9:36 AM EDT reply actions