As I’ve written before, I applaud any efforts that the GW Spirit and Athletics departments do to ramp up enthusiasm for Colonials basketball. And even though it seems to be a bit forced to me, I love the idea of Homecoming Weekend that is getting it’s first chance this year. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, GW has decided that this Saturday’s 6 PM game against the Charlotte 49ers should be part of the new tradition. Many of you will remember homecoming from the awkward dance in high school, or if you went to a college with a football program, you probably got it there. Without a football program, though, GW has never had a homecoming.
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The GWU Women’s Basketball team has been having a rough go of it this year. In their second season under head coach Mike Bozeman, they started with the youngest roster in all of D-I hoops with one junior, four sophomores, and six freshmen. Since then, they’ve lost several players (including junior Ivy Abiona) to injury, and have lately been playing games with a 2-lady bench. Considering the troubles, the 5-18 (2-10 A-10) record the ladies have put up looks positively stellar.
None of this should worry fans of the Colonials. When former head coach (and friend to all) Joe McKeowan left the team, he made sure Bozeman would stay on as head coach. Bozeman is a fantastic recruiter, a great motivator, and a fantastic coach. He’s had a rough go these past couple years, but he’s been starting pretty much from scratch. In 2 years, I’d expect this team to once again be challenging for top-10 national rankings.
But in the meantime, what about now? Well, on Saturday the ladies are playing in one of women’s basketball’s best new traditions: the Pink Zone game. The game supports the Kay Yow/WBCA cancer fund through fan support. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game, and players will don pink in some form as well. It’s a fantastic cause, and it should be an entertaining game. GW currently sits at 11th in the A-10, still in contention for the conference tournament (the top 12 teams advance). Their competition from the Bronx, the Fordham Rams, is sitting at 13th. Certainly, it’s not a powerhouse matchup, but the game supports a good cause, and there are few events that are as much fun as GW Women’s games. They were always my favorite, and the ladies really appreciate the support they get. So come out cheer on the Colonials, and help to save a pair that’s near and dear to the hearts of ladies everywhere!
Many of you probably received iTunes gift cards for Christmas, and I was just browsing around the store and found something I had to pass on. It really has no relation to FoBo, but I think it’s a phenomenal collection. The record label Naxos has come together with iTunes to make a downloadable album of 24 hours of classical music for $9.99. It really is kind of a greatest hits (Bradenburg Concerti, The Four Seasons, Messiah, etc) but not in the obnoxious way so many collections are prone to (“Here, have one movement of the Four Seasons!”). Instead, you get whole pieces, and some actually great recordings. Here’s a link to a webpage that will ask you to open iTunes to look in the store. You don’t have to, and you can browse on the page, but you need to open it to buy. If you want to see the albums that the selections are drawn from, take a look here.
I’ve got a ton of these pieces already, but I’ll be getting the set because I don’t have them all, and the deal is just astounding. If you’re looking to start a classical music collection, this is a great way to do it. For now, I’m off to enjoy some John Dowland, and then maybe some Messiah later on. (Sure, it’s cliche, but whatever.) Enjoy!
Conclusion of a series on The Battle of the Orange Line between GW and GMU in men’s basketball on December 2, 2009. We broke down the rivalry. Today: Hail to the buff and blue!
I think friend of the blog @dtearl summed it up best this morning on Twitter:”Wow. Something feels better about riding the orange line this morning, doesn’t it? #GWU”
Indeed it did Dave. Last night, after some good trash talking from the GMU Basketball Blog (glad you liked the banner picture!) GW came out playing some of their best basketball of the year. It certainly didn’t hurt that Mason was missing two of their starters, but that’s how these things work.The Colonials simply outdid the Patriots in every aspect of the game, and a 14-1 run to start the second half put the game out of reach.
So I am, of course, ecstatic that my favorite hoops team is now 5-1 and has a local victory to boot. But what makes me even happier is that this might actually become a rivalry. By all accounts, the crowd of 4,125 was raucous. And it wasn’t just the Colonial Army, apparently Mason fans made up ~35% of the crowd. Now, if I’m at the Smith Center, I hate opposing fans being there. But I kind of like it too. It makes for a fantastic atmosphere. So hopefully GW will return the favor and invade the Patriot Center next year. Regardless, let’s hope this turns out to be a regular thing. The Mason fans wanted to make fun of GW for taking this so seriously, but this can only be good for both schools. A real rivalry would sell tickets, garner media attention, and maybe bring us one step closer to getting GTown and UMD to grow the pair required to take a chance with we mid-majors. Can you imagine if the BB&T were a true local tournament (kind of like what it used to be, but local and with everyone) instead of the 3-game exhibition it is now? The Verizon Center would be insane.
So yeah, the win is great, but the chance at a rivalry is even better. I’ve got the utmost respect for Coach Larranaga and the Patriots for coming into the hostile Smith Center and working with a GW Athletic Department who is notoriously reticent to schedule anything fun for the fans. Here’s to hoping this goes beyond the 2-year commitment.
FINAL SCORE:
66
49
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