Hoya Five O

Ni Men Hao HoyaNation or should I say Aloha! I am now here in Maui, HI for the 2011-12 Maui Invitational--Go Hoyas! Hoya Fans from the 1980’s know the Legend of Jake Kurkijian and the Georgetown Hawaii Five-O routine. When coach JT Jr. wanted to lighten the atmosphere a little in the old Capital Centre, he asked Jake to do the Hawaii Five-O routine along with the cheerleaders and the pep band. Indeed it is all Dr. LicHoya can now speak about. When we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the 1984 GU Men’s NCAA Championship Team, coach JT Jr. marveled at the slimmer Jake. Many people believe that the theme song from the original Hawaii Five-O series starring Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett is one of the greatest TV theme songs ever. I also love the new modern version of Hawaii Five O with Alex O’Loughlin playing McGarrett’s son, Steve McGarrett (a former Navy Seal)--actually named after his grandfather making him Steve McGarrett III? At Georgetown we truly love Legacies! In 2007 when Georgetown made a run to the Final Four in Atlanta, I got a call from one of the producers of the David Letterman show who was looking to find a video of the Hawaii Five-O Georgetown routine. CBS Sports had deleted all the commercials and other non-game coverage in their libraries and thus could not find any footage. After much research I ran into the same problem. Even friends who had taped every Hoya game, did not have a copy. Jake suggested that I search for coverage of the Syracuse game at Capital Centre in 1985 when the routine was shown on television. Alas, any video coverage appears to be lost, unless some Hoya fan reading this article has a copy? I think Dr. LicHoya would do anything to find a copy!

I am presently on a flight from Oakland, CA to Maui to see Georgetown play in the Maui Classic. What an outstanding field! The Hoyas will face the Kansas JayHawks on Monday night. Kansas is another legendary college basketball program boasting alumni such as Dean Smith, Wilt Chamberlain, and Danny Manning. Hawaii has always been a dream trip for me, and to share it with my Georgetown family over the Thanksgiving Holiday will be very special. My road trip started on Friday of this week when I travelled from my home in New York City to San Francisco. I flew from JFK on Virgin America--the party airline and got a free Google Chrome Netbook with free WIFI to use during the flight. I had a wonderful two days in the CIty by the Bay staying at my favorite SF hotel, the Westin St. Francis where much of the movie the Maltese Falcon was filmed. The clock and the memorabilia around the hotel are all very impressive. Whenever, I am there I can almost feel the presence of the many former US Presidents, Mary Astor, and Humphrey Bogart who played Sam Spade. Two days brought back wonderful memories of one of the great Georgetown John Carroll weekends that I attended just six months ago. I had little time though, and went to some of my favorite SF restaurants: Sears Fine Foods, Tartine’s Bakery, Zachary’s Pizza, Koi Palace, and R&G Lounge. Every time that I go to R&G Lounge I enjoy my Salt N Pepper Dungeness Crab chatting with the day managers about Georgetown basketball. However, this past Friday night they were more interested in talking about their “Big Game,” the Stanford--CAL Berkeley football game. In fact it seemed like a Stanford/Silicon Valley/ Asian Society NIght at R&G Lounge. As SF Chinatown evolves there is a dramatic contrast between the old school Chinatown and restaurants like R&G which had put in some new fancy interactive video screens. As I chatted with the manager, and the owner who have become friends, the cheer: “NOT OUR RIVALS,” kept running in my head. Oh how I love this restaurant. I hope Anthony Bourdain is a Hoya fan! I wonder where Mr. Bourdain dines while in Maui? The other great Asian restaurant I visited was Koi Palace in Daly City dim sum there on Saturday afternoon. The dim sum is the freshest and best I have ever had anywhere in the world. I was running late though, and I needed to get back to my hotel before having dinner with my GU classmate Chris Huppert in Piedmont, CA. The traffic and the holiday shoppers made driving in downtown SF near Union Square a real adventure. With an order of har gao just arriving I pointed and instructed my waitress: “Da Bao.” I watched the Stanford-CAL game enjoying some Zachary’s Chicago-style pizza, and Tartine’s lemon tarts. It was a great game, but my mind was on the Maui Classic and Georgetown’s game with Kansas. I cannot wait to see our young Hoya freshman play against Kansas‘ massive front line--The Big East & Georgetown comes to the West!

On my flight to Maui, I was seated with an Asian family from SF with a bunch of nice kids that remind me of my niece and nephew, Hoya Kids Club members Sophia (Miss Disney) and Alex (All-Madden) Wong. They turned me on to my new addiction--dried wasabi seaweed! It is even healthy! It is amazing how good these kids are with the iPAD and IPOD games.

Stay tuned from my coverage (HHC Blog, Fadebook & Twitter) of the Maui Classic and the Hawaiian Islands! I look forward to meeting many new Georgetown fans and alumni in Maui! Please come and say Aloha!

Here is an update for GU fans in Maui:

Pre-Game Reception

Monday, November 21 at 5 p.m.

Umalu Bar at Hyatt Regency

Before Georgetown's opening game against #11 Kansas on Monday night, join your fellow Hoya fans for a pre-game reception at the Umalu Bar at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa (200 Nohea Kai Drive, Lahaina, HI 96761). The pre-game reception will begin at 5 p.m. The game tips-off at 7 p.m. The Hyatt is only 1.8 miles from the Lahaina Civic Center (1840 Honoapiilani Hwy, Lahaina, HI 96761).

Georgetown's games on Tuesday and Wednesday will be determined by the outcome of the team's previous games. For the Maui Invitational bracket, please visit http://www.mauiinvitational.com/sites/default/files/2011%20EA%20SPORTS%20Maui%20Invitational%20Bracket_0.pdf. More information will be sent out by e-mail about pre- and/or post-game receptions once times/opponents have been determined.

For updates follow the Hoya Hoop Club on Facebook and Twitter at:

www.facebook.com/HoyaHoopClub & @HoyaHoopClub.

Mahalo & Hoya Saxa!

We are Georgetown!

Dr. Thomas A. Wong

Hoya Hoop Club Vice-President--Communications

Proud Member of Generation Ewing