May 23, 2013

Washington Redskins Fans Are Ready For RGIII

April 27, 2012 by

An event like the NFL Draft takes thousands of man hours and people working hard to make sure everything runs smoothly, not to mention an entire production with live broadcast, media relations professionals and heightened security dealing with those crazed fans. The chance to see the beginning of someone’s professional career is the likely draw, hoping for the drama with trades and last-minute decisions made in tiny war rooms.  I finally got to see a spectacle like this from outside the unbiased media bubble. I got a chance to see good friends from the DMV media scene I would normally only see in passing at various games.

The Draft  brought people out of the woodwork, especially Washington Redskins fans. Fans wore old jerseys from the late ’80s and those signature  pig noses we see every Sunday at FedEx Field with the “superfan” Hogettes. It was irrelevant to ask fans throughout the week if they were excited about RGIII and the upcoming season, knowing that most of the answers were exactly what I was expecting: pure and utter excitement for the next chapter in the Washington Redskins franchise.

One fan said this was the highlight of the past decade, confident in Robert Griffin III. One thing about Washington fans, they are loyal, and hopefully this time, after working out a few kinks, (there are definitely still a few more to work out after this), there is hope on the horizon. It really took momentum though, Wednesday night.

After a few stellar events from earlier in the week, including an awesome EA Sports pre-draft party, several of us decided to stake out a bar in the city to watch the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Talk about a great night! Shout out to Molly Wee’s Pub & Restaurant between 8th Ave and 30th Street. Superior eats and the place was packed with D.C. sports fans.  I think this got the fans even more pumped up for the future in the district…Caps moving on, the Wizards finishing out the season on a high note, the Nationals and Orioles both in great positions in their leagues and now with the Redskins, it was a great feeling knowing what was coming on Thursday night.

For Redskins fans in the Washington, D.C. area, or anywhere really, a breath of life and a big sigh of relief happened when Robert Griffin III, quarterback out of Baylor University, was selected as the second overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. We all knew this was coming, and knew it for months, but as skeptical fans after being disappointed year after year with mediocre season performances, it wasn’t concrete until his name was officially called. Still, fans had already started the obsession months before this week, buying t-shirts and apparel, license plates, pictures and anything decked out in burgundy and gold that could be found, ready to make our new QB feel right at home.

RGIII seems as excited as fans. Griffin immediately took to Twitter.

As someone who came up to New York for the draft at the last minute (Thanks to the wonderful people at EA Sports!!), it was well worth the trip. A week of events, parties, brand exposure, marketing and advertising, it was an experience and rightfully so as a longtime Skins fan. The work starts now for RGIII and his teammates with inspiration and support from us to “Go catch his dream.” After seeing him interact with the media, the fans and how he presents himself overall, I’m confident we’ll be able to see some promising results in the fall.

via Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times

Filed Under: Skins/NFL Tagged With: , ,

Hoyas maul the Tigers; run win streak to eight games

December 23, 2011 by

by Pam Chvotkin, College Basketball Editor

The 16th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas built a 20-point second half lead, led by a game-high 18 points by Jason Clark, and held on to defeat the Memphis Tigers — for the second time in two months – 70-59 at Verizon Center.  It was Georgetown’s eighth straight win, improving their record to 10-1 this season.

The last time Memphis played a non-league rival twice in the same season was back in 2006. Their 880-mile trip to Washington, DC for Thursday evening’s holiday game was the Tigers’ third road trip over a span of sixteen days.  It was the 12th meeting between the two clubs – the last, of course, coming Nov. 23, when the Hoyas beat the Tigers at the Maui Invitational, winning in a 91-88 decision in overtime. To be honest, despite mistakes and too many turnovers by both teams,  the game seemed pretty evenly matched by the end of the first half.  But in the second, the Hoyas just gained too much heat and opened up a 20-point lead by the 12-minute mark.

Josh Pastner’s Memphis team, despite being 6-5, is a solid one, but they just haven’t been getting W’s. After the Hoyas turned it over four consecutive times, Memphis impressively scored on points off turnover every single time. Georgetown was still up by 10 at that point, and just gained too much of a lead for the Tigers to come back – though they made a valiant effort. I think the crowd helped for Georgetown, building their confidence. With an attendance of around 12,000, the energy was phenomenal. Free throws sealed the deal for the Hoyas win as they hit 21-of-30 (70 percent) for the game.

via Tri-City Herald

The closest margin in the second half was seven, after Jason Clark committed a turnover and the Tigers got a lay-up by Chris Crawford. So what happened? Questionable fouls, and early ones at that caused both coaches to get heated… and post-game discussions that lasted much longer than usual. Have to give Georgetown credit, though, plenty of reasons to cheer on the now 10-1 Hoyas and its seasoned vets and the new freshmen.

So what about Memphis? Most teams leave immediately after game time, but not Pastner and the Tigers. They spent until about 10:45 pm in the locker room blasting out their issues as a team, forcing Hoyas SID Mex Carey to tell Memphis to wrap up since the arena was closing. Will it help? We’ll see. Leadership and execution are key elements here.

So whats next? Memphis takes on Robert Morris and Charlotte before 2012, two teams they should easily beat. The Hoyas have a break for the Christmas holiday, then tip-off against No. 4 Louisville Wednesday before taking on Providence College at 2:00 pm New Years Eve at the Verizon Center to begin Big East conference play.

Filed Under: College Tagged With:

Expansion to the Biggest…East?

December 6, 2011 by

by Pam Chvotkin, College Basketball Editor


As you may have heard, big changes are coming to the Big East Conference this week. As of Tuesday, the conference takes an interesting twist. Already perceived by some as the “Big Least,” the conference was in limbo after the most recent realignment news that Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia were departing. All three are huge contributors to the Big East sports programs both in football and basketball and will exit at the end of 2014’s academic year.

So what now? Sources have confirmed that five new schools will join the conference in 2013, including Boise State, Central Florida, Houston, San Diego State (SDSU) and Southern Methodist University (SMU). Of note, Boise State and SDSU will be football-only, and the rest will join for every sport. Kudos to @McMurphyCBS who first broke the story, and should be credited for the news. However, these moves may not signal the end; the conference is still in pursuit of Navy and Air Force for football with other candidates as options if they do not end up joining. What’s left to determine is will there be conference name changes? Looking at the sum of the parts, the name “Big East” does not fit the new profile and should be something to consider as the conference moves forward. There isn’t any part of San Diego in relation to the rest of the league that qualifies as East, especially considering the 3,039.1-mile trip from Providence College in Rhode Island. Thank you, GoogleMaps.

This news comes days after standings in the BCS came out for football and bowl games, where Boise State and Houston failed to be recognized. It had to have been a motivating factor that drove these teams to leave their conferences and join the Big East and it’s automatic conference BCS bid. Boise State will be playing Arizona State in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl, Houston will be playing Penn State in the Ticket City Bowl, and SMU will play Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass Bowl.

I think this is a good idea to rebuild the conference as it can help foster old rivalries of teams still in the conference, but also initiate new tradition, making the regular season potentially more exciting. I am curious to see how this pans out. There are plenty of opportunities to capitalize upon, including exposure and TV deals, and better environments for recruiting purposes. It could be possible that this expansion could be similar to what is done in the Southeastern Conference, having a Western and Eastern division, at least for football. I could envision this happening and I would endorse the move as promising for the future of the conference.

One must wonder, though, how much of a toll expansion will be upon the players and coaching staff. League play would include more traveling time on the road, across multiple state borders and time zones. We see this regularly with the NHL and the NBA, however they are often able to group their long-distance road trips together to minimize the amount of back-and-forth travel.

The NCAA student-athletes have to contend with the fact that they are still young adults, the majority of them in the 18-to-22-year-old ranges. First and foremost is making sure they are in good physical health, and a close second is prioritizing enough time and effort to their academic pursuits. These pros and cons to conference realignment changes will definitely bear watching to see how the conference picture continues to change and evolve.

Filed Under: College Tagged With:

New Coaches, Freshmen Potential in the DMV

November 15, 2011 by

by Pam Chvotkin, College Basketball Editor

The college basketball season is well underway here in the district. Georgetown, Maryland, George Washington, George Mason and American are all one and two games into the regular season and it is still up in the air to try and predict the course of how the schedules are going to go. Plenty to work on with each of these teams, recognizing the fluidity of the seasoned seniors with the novice freshmen. Lets take a look at the notables:

 

Georgetown (2-0): Heavy influence from the new freshmen could make this team dangerous. Starting out under the radar might help the Hoyas as they advance to 2-0 on the season dominating with the leadership from Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson. Keep an eye out for Otto Porter and Greg Whittington to contribute quality minutes for the Hoyas Next up; the Hoyas participate in the Maui Invitational where they will face some tough competition, taking on several nationally-favored teams in its bracket.

vs. Savannah State: W, 83-54 F –Box Score: http://bit.ly/sWtpRA

vs. UNC-Greensboro: W, 86-45 F –Box Score: http://bit.ly/trC7u8

 

Maryland (1-0): Half-court offense with the Terps will need some work. With the loss of key players like Pe’Shon Howard and Alex Len, the Terps will need to continue to stay competitive on the frontcourt. With a new coaching style, Mark Turgeon will have to keep his team confident to match up with the dominant ACC teams like UNC and Duke.

vs. UNC-Wilmington: W, 71-62 F –Box Score: http://bit.ly/vCwFSF

 

George Washington (1-1): Struggling so far this season, rebounding seems to be a problem. Outscored on a 21-0 run at the end of the first half of the Cal game, the Colonials will need to gain some confidence to stave off major blowouts. With the potential to do fairly well in the Atlantic 10, the Colonials have some work to do with their starting five.

vs. UMES: W, 64-48 F –Box Score: http://bit.ly/u7a018

at California: L, 54-81 F –Box Score: http://bit.ly/rG7gk2

 

 

George Mason (1-1): New season, new coach, new rules… it will take some time for the Patriots to get used to Coach Hewitt’s unique system. With an inexperienced backcourt, they will need to push hard through the season to maximize the potential of their players.

vs. Rhode Island: W, 92-90 F-OT –Box Score: http://bit.ly/sdqjPC

vs. Florida Int’l.: L, 76-79 F-OT –Box Score: http://bit.ly/u11f9E

 

American (0-2): Keep an eye out for Troy Brewer and Charles Hinkle, making valiant efforts in their first two games of the season, ultimately losing to UMES recently in OT. Look to the Eagles attacking the perimeter and gaining some experience with rebounding and not allowing opponents to score big on points off turnovers.

at Richmond: L, 56-66 F –Box Score: http://bit.ly/t8ZDGj

at Md.-East. Shore: L, 62-64 F-OT –Box Score: http://bit.ly/tq8rAO

Filed Under: College Tagged With: , , , , , ,