48 Hours until I move my residence from my birthplace city of Washington, D.C. to my second home New York City. I will continue to rack up the Guest Rewards miles on Amtrak. Thank Goodness for summer league basketball. I have to ask everyone at the Nike Pro City League to be patient with me, because it is hard for me not to refer to their league as the Kenner League! Anyway, I will see my Hoya Hoop Club communications group in a few hours in nicely air conditioned McDonough gymnasium. I did some shopping yesterday at the Georgetown bookstore making sure my new Manhattan apartment is properly decorated in Blue and Gray. Anyway, as I chat with my buddy Rich Chvotkin during games this weekend, we often talk about the great rivalries in the Big East and college basketball at large. There has been much publicity about the Georgetown--Syracuse rivalry over the last few years. However, with the arrival of Steve Lavin and the rise of St. John's (I still call them the Redmen sometimes because the Red Storm has no meaning for me), I will remind the HoyaNation of the great history of the Georgetown--St. John's rivalry. We have several athletic department staff who have come from St. John's like former AD Joe Lang. I will argue that the Georgetown--St. John's rivalry in the mid 1980's was the fiercest rivalry I have ever seen. When the players from John Duren, Craig Shelton, Gene Smith, Fred Brown, David Wingate, and Reggie Williams battled Billy Goodwin, Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, Billy Wennington, and Mark Jackson it was truly DC basketball vs. New York city basketball. A game between Georgetown and St. John's from 1983-1986 was really like going to a Heavyweight Championship Fight. It was like seeing Ali-Frazier!
Yes after a month in my new job at the University Eye Center in Manhattan, I am really enjoying being back at my other alma mater--The SUNY State College of Optometry!. August 1st is move-in day, Tuesday will be a busy work day including an evening meeting with the Georgetown Alumni Club of Metro New York. I am excited to decorate my apartment in the Blue and Gray. I will be living right in between the New York Public Library and Madison Square Garden. As I look at how beautiful Bryant Park is, I am thankful that its beautification is largely due to my mentor, and friend former GU & NY Public Library President Tim Healy, S.J.--A Man for Others! As I make my frequent walk from Penn Station & Madison Square Garden to Bryant Park I can hear the echoes in my head: Hoyas Win! Hoyas Win! & Hoya Saxa! Hoya Saxa filling the Avenues in the City!
Stay Cool Everyone!
Dr. Thomas A. Wong
Hoya Hoop Club Vice-President & Director of Communications
Proud Member of Generation Ewing
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