The Casual Awards: Starting A New Winning Streak

by JGD on Jan 16, 2012 3:38 PM EST in Casual Awards

Yup, we're working our way back to glory. Your Georgetown Hoyas got a big W yesterday in New York City yesterday. Now the Hoyas are in Chicago, hopefully taking care of Depaul on Tuesday night and maybe enjoying a nice deep dish pie in the intermediate. But before we focus on our Midwest opponents, we would be foolish not to honor yesterday's performance. As always, here's some hardware for those most deserving.

The Chris Wright Heart of a Champion Award:
Jason Clark. 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists by our senior captain in a game we badly needed. Special shoutout to Clark because it is his birthday today, and we hope it is a good one. Honorable mention goes to Hollis Thompson, who dropped 20 points in the second half yesterday.

More Awards after The Jump:

LeBron James Way Bigger In Person Award:

Otto Porter. Dude is a good 6'9" in person, taller than Nate Lubick and barely shorter than Henry Sims. He also has a broad frame that will allow him to put on a lot of muscle very quickly. On top of that, he can handle the ball like a shooting guard. I came away from yesterday thinking that we will be lucky if we get four years of Otto in a Georgetown uniform. He is going to be an absolute superstar.

Boom Goes The Dynamite Award:

Madison Square Garden's announcer. There is no better place to watch a basketball game than MSG, the world's most famous arena. And in those moments before the tip, when your favorite team's starters are announced, the anticipation is palpable. Yesterday, just as the Hoyas were about to be announced, the familiar starting five were sitting on Georgetown's bench. Cut to the PA announcer, who started with "A 6'9" freshman from Hyattsville, MD, Mikael Hopkins!" Bad news was Hopkins wasn't actually starting, and Nate Lubick never got announced. Speaking of Lubick...

Cheer Up Bucko Award:

Nate Lubick. For one reason or another, Lubick seemed incredibly down on himself yesterday. After two games in which he seemed to be getting his mojo back, yesterday was not ThunderSnow's day. He played only 11 minutes, got crossed over to the point that I was fearful he broke his ankle, and got stuffed hard by a St. John's guy when he went up for a layup. St. John's wasn't a good matchup for him, but I wish he'd be a little bit easier on himself. He was plenty effective for parts of his limited minutes yesterday, and there will be plenty of games when we play more bruising teams that we're going to need Nate.

Born To Be A Leader Award:

Markel Starks. The kid was born to be a point guard and leader. Even though he didn't play as much as he is accustomed to, he was consistently coaching from the bench, in guys' ears, and the first off the bench to congratulate his teammates during timeouts. During yesterday's game, his infectious enthusiasm was reminiscent of Patrick Ewing Jr. Having Markel as the floor leader for the next three years is a very good thing.

Length, Length, Length Award:

Greg Whittington. He is like Stretch Armstrong out there. Having a 6'9" shooting guard at the top of a 2-3 zone is such a weapon. In addition, 6 crucial offensive rebounds is something we're going to continue to need as the season goes on.

Best Moment Of All Time Award:

Sofia Vergara and Salma Hayek were on the same stage at one point last night during the Golden Globes last night. /Head explodes.

Disproportionate Head-To-Body Award:

Greg Whittington. Jason Clark takes a ton of grief for his baby head, but Whittington will be the butt of those jokes after Clark graduates in May. His head belongs on someone half his size. I'm not sure he even needs above a 7" fitted baseball cap. Just a staggeringly small domepiece.

Find The Shooter Award:

Georgetown's offense. We all know the offense is a thing of beauty when it is firing on all cylinders. It is a thing of beauty to watch passes being whipped around the court, especially because the offense always seems to find open shooters. My one complaint is that it is not an offense that necessarily lends itself to finding the hot shooter, specifically Hollis Thompson. Hollis has shown an ability to score many points very quickly. He has also shown an improved midrange game and post game. What I am trying to say is Hollis can score from anywhere on the court, and it'd be very super to just continue to feed him the ball when he gets on one of those streaks.

Underrated Holiday Award:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day. What a nice Monday off from work! Georgetown and then the Sunday of NFL playoffs, knowing there is no work on Monday? Yes bartender, I will have another, thank you!

Overrated Food In Excess Award:

Buffalo wings. These tasty delights are quite casual in small doses, but after 20 or so, they become decidedly not casual. Let's just say Georgetown wasn't the only one that had a lot of runs yesterday.

Heart Attack Hoya Fans Of The Century Award:

My new pal Vince and his wife Leslie, a couple that I met at Tribeca Tap House on Saturday night. I am pretty sure this guy is the foremost historian of Georgetown basketball on this planet. On top of that, he told me he once got so worked up at a game in the '90s that he had an ACTUAL HEART ATTACK in Landover and had to get carted out of the stadium with his wife following the ambulance to a Prince George County hospital. That's just good hustle.

Sweet Spot For A Happy Hour Award:

Tribeca Tap House. The folks at our favorite NYC bar had a very casual set up for those who rode the THUNDERTRAIN. They gave us a private room downstairs with a big ol' TV to watch the two Saturday football games. Special shoutout to the member of the class of 2010 who spent most of his time at the tap house passed out with drool spilling out of his mouth. Also an excellent showing of hustle, grit, and determination after an aggressive train ride.

John Wooden and Bill Walton Special Relationship Award:

JT3 and Henry Sims. Wooden and Walton always battled while Walton was at school, testing Wooden in ways no other player did. I get the sense that Sims does the same to JT3, because I have never seen the coach as worked up as when Sims makes a mistake. Nearly every mistake Sims made on Sunday caused JT3 to stomp his feet to the point that he may have ruined the soles on his shoes. Regardless, JT3 knows how to motivate Sims because after he got pulled for a silly turnover with less than 10 minutes to go, JT3 sat him down and talked to him. When Sims returned, he started dominating and caused Moe Harkless to foul out of the game in the decisive run that put St. John's away.

Otto Porter Award For Filling The Box Score:

Otto Porter! 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist and 1 block for the fabulous freshman. This is now Porter's fourth game with double digit rebounds in 17 games this season. Mark my words, by the time Otto leaves the Hilltop, he will average a double double for a season. His rebounding skills are better than anyone else in JT3's time at Georgetown.

Jump On The Bandwagon Award:

The San Francisco 49ers. That win over the Saints was spectacular, made all the more dramatic with Vernon Davis sprinting towards Jim Harbaugh with tears streaming down his face for a bearhug with his coach. Throw in the Alex Smith redemption story and how can you not root for San Francisco? This award sounds like a Coldplay song.

Casual Vegas GameWatch Award:

The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. It is nearly impossible to watch these games in Vegas that start at 9am. It's ridiculous, really. With the only real option being to power through from the night before at Marquee, big ups to the casual guy at the sportsbook who was able to decipher my slurred attempt to explain what MASN is and threw on the Hoyas-Johnnies game on a screen just as big as the one showing the lame NFL action between the Texans and Ravens. The half dozen or so fans with a little bit more than just a rooting interest in the game were rewarded by Georgetown's impressive 20 point victory, a reward which lasted about 5 minutes after an ill-fated trip to the blackjack table on the way to the room. Vegas is the best.

Casual Game to Play in Vegas While Watching Georgetown - St. John's Game:

Pro or No. If you have been to Vegas and know the kind of crowd that hangs out at hotel lobby bars in the wee hours then you know what I'm talking about.

Best In Game Documentation Of All Time Award:

Undisputed Order of Best to Worst Seasons of The Wire Award:

4, 3, 1, 2, 5. Also, it was neat seeing a post-Wire Stringer beat McNulty to win that Golden Globe last night. Let's say we had a Best Actor Category for The Wire and the following are nominated for Best Actor: McNulty, Lester, Omar, Stringer, Marlo. Who wins? I wish I had more time to expand on this because I think we could come up with an entire Awards post worth of this stuff. Sheeeeeeet, maybe I will.

Best Office Decoration Award: