Summer Is Coming: Introducing The 2013 Casual Headbands Summer Series!

Ah, Memorial Day weekend. The traditional send-off for spring and beckoning of summer, the season in which many take vacations to casual locations all over the world. For most, these vacations are a well-deserved time to unwind, a time to party, and a time to make some really bad decisions. For us, these vacations present a chance to once again spread Casual gospel.

But first, a primer.

In 2010, when we decided on Casual Headbands as the global symbol for the icon known as Casual Hoya, the reason was threefold: 1) we needed some item that we could convince the kids to wear along with their beloved "We Are Georgetown" shirts that wouldn't mess up their hair, 2) we needed something that would be easy for both the founders and followers of the Casual way of life to give others in order to teach the fundamental tenets of Casual, and 3) we needed something cheap.

What followed after the Hoyas season ended that year at the hands of the burgeoning MAC power Ohio was the Casual Summer Headbands Series, a contest that temporarily distracted Hoyas fans from the misery of that NCAA Tournament loss, and brought out the best in Hoyas fans near and far who documented their travels with epic pictures of Casual Headbands across the globe. Below are a few samples:

Virgin islands

Shark Dive in South Africa

The Casual Summer Headbands Series was met with instant notoriety across the internets. In 2011, amidst intense media scrutiny and a torrential wave of manic popularity, we introduced the Casual Slap-Koozie, the ultimate beer koozie that also doubles as a most casual fashion accessory. Just as with the Headbands, the Casual Koozie demand was enormous, and after various events such as Casual Gamewatches and an Extravaganza at which they were distributed, Casualties around the world were now armed with not one but two items of glorious Casual Swag. However, despite high hopes for an epic summer of 2011 Casual Headbands Summer Series contest, the Georgetown Hoyas were ferociously attacked by the Chinese army during an exhibition game, setting off an international incident and forcing THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON into an unfamiliar yet also quite casual peacekeeping mission, a mission that prevented the 2011 contest from ever taking place and ushering in what will undoubtedly be looked back upon as a dark year in GLOBAL PHENOMENON history. Georgetown also lost to VCU in the 1st/2nd round that season, but WHATEVER.

Thanksgiving

Yosemite

Sax dude in Georgetown Band

Bar in New Orleans

In 2012, Georgetown was able to get through the vaunted Belmont Bears to reach the 2nd/3rd round of the NCAA Tournament and, most importantly, give THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON its first NCAA Tournament win. Sure, one could argue that the win was due to the coaching staff's excellent gameplan against the Bears, but perhaps it was due to the remarkable Headbands Series production that season, which provided us with, among many other submissions, the below:

Only the penitent Headband shall pass.

Casual Building Implosion!

The Olympics!

Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan!

The 33rd Annual National Sports Collectors Convention!

So here we are in 2013, on the heels of yet another early exit from the Dance that caused many Hoyas fans to begin to question their very existence. "Why does this always happen to us?", we wondered as the 15th seeded mutants from Dunk City crushed our hopes with alley-oop after alley-oop after alley-oop, punishing us for thinking that, after an UNDEFEATED February that this March would be any different from years past. And while this Headbands Series certainly cannot provide the answers you are looking for as to why you should continue to go on with your lives, it does provide something that we are all looking for as the dawn of a new season approaches as the pages of the calendar slowly turn: hope. And yes, I get it that hope is a dangerous thing and it drives a man insane.

This year, as an added wrinkle to the Headbands Series, I'd like to see if we can push the envelope a bit. I WANT CELEBRITIES!

No, the celebs don't have to be red carpet All-Stars like my man George Clooney or perhaps any of the ladies of the Real Housewives series on Bravo. A celeb can be anyone in your life that you think is worthy of celeb status. Perhaps the person who makes your coffee each morning or who rolls your glorious Chipotle burritos is your personal celebrity, perhaps your mailman is deserving of some casual acclaim, perhaps there is a former Hoya, NBA star and 'Heart of a Champion' Chris Wright who is willing to stop and pose for some Casual upside.

.

You dig? So once again I ask all of you to take your precious Swag with you on your vacations. Slip it into your pocket, slap it onto your arm, pack it into your suitcase, wear it on your head or toss it on a beer.

I command you to follow these three simple steps:

1) Take thine Swag and descend upon all corners of the Earth.

2) Document your travels (OR CELEBRITIES!) with casual pictures (cell phone pics work) of Casual Swag in front of a casual landmark or location (OR CELEBRITY!). If you happen to be someplace casual (OR WITH A DAMN CELEBRITY!) but don't have swag, write the word 'casual' on something and document it that way.

3) Send the documentation to us at casualhoya@gmail.com

In years past we have heralded a contest to select the ultimate winner of the Casual Headbands Summer Series, but since the great bloglord Hire Esherick has gotten too famous to take the time to create a casual bracket in which the ultimate champion will once again be selected by your vote, I have decided that any soul (21 and older, of course) that submits an entry will have one bottle of the below appear at his or her doorstep in the upcoming months.

The world is your oyster.

The summer is your time.

The Headband and/or Coozie and/or anything 'Casual' is your seed.

CasuALE is your prize.

Go Forth and Keep it Casual.