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"It's Been A Summer" (Part 5)
Sports Entrepreneurs and the 365 Day Approach to Hoya Fandom

By John Hawkes

A few months ago, I got the chance to hear Georgetown Athletic Director Bernard Muir speak at a Hoya Hoop Club Board meeting. The statement that still sticks with me today is a variation on a theme Muir often brings up in his discussions of how he plans to advance the cause of Georgetown athletics.

Too often in the past, Muir told us, Georgetown had managed to get by doing "more with less" when it came to its Athletic Department and sports promotions. What he wanted was to finally put Georgetown in position to "do more with more". In the formulation Muir spoke of on this occasion, this meant significant increases in financial support, in particular funding and supporting scholarship aid, for every single varsity sports program.

The idea stuck with me not just because of its ambitious goal-raising the kind of money it takes to fully support every varsity sport at Georgetown is a monumental task-but additionally because of the underlying message. No less a figure than the Athletic Director of the University was making a statement in as clear terms as possible that he wanted a "year round" strategy of supporting athletics at Georgetown.

Whether he is able to muster the substantial financial resources needed to make his full vision a reality remains to be seen of course. But I contend that in at least one area, Georgetown already has more than sufficient resources to "do more with more".

Fan interest in Georgetown sports, especially among current undergraduate students, is at its highest levels in recent memory. Even if we leave aside the record student attendance numbers at the MCI Center this past season and the speedy sell-out of student season tickets within the first few weeks of the school year, there is a veritable bounty of interest around campus. Attendance records are falling at men's soccer games, student crowds at Harbin Field are the largest since the football team's move to the Patriot League, women's soccer has become a legitimate draw even on weekend afternoons, and previously unheard of promotional efforts are being made to promote sports such as women's volleyball, women's basketball, and men's and women's swimming.

The importance of this trend isn't just confined to attendance numbers. The knowledge of the student fan base has also grown immeasurably over the past few years. Students arrive at men's soccer games not only aware of players' jersey numbers, but also their preseason exhibition scores, the standings in the ECAC lacrosse league, and the latest incriminating information about opposing players. It's neat to have walked past the O'Donovan Dining Hall this past weekend and seen two handmade signs welcoming basketball recruit Anthony Randolph to campus on his official visit. But it's downright astounding that so many students knew who Anthony Randolph was, and peppered the signs' creator with questions about Randolph's game and his prospects while he taped them to the wall.

Whether it's breaking out the poster board and magic markers, scouring the internet for track and field results, or getting your mother to pawn off the sandwiches she made for a post-game team meal to help out a Hoya Blue event, the campus sports community is as active and knowledgeable as it has been in some time. What money and donations are to Bernard Muir quest to "do more with more," knowledge of recruits, results, and reading a cheer sheet are to the Georgetown fan's parallel mission.

So what can we all do as fans to help out in this mission?

First, if you're a student or a local, come to more games. At the time the first installment of this column was published, there were three weeks remaining until Midnight Madness and the official opening of basketball season. During those three weeks alone, some sixteen events are to be held in six different varsity sports on the Georgetown campus. Chances are Hoya Blue probably has a promotion planned for many of them.

Second, read up on all the new information and features on GUHoyas.com and HoyaSaxa.com whatever the season. If you're so inclined, contribute your own stories about your favorite team or athlete. Every new story published is a chance to attract a new fan to a new sport, and introduce someone to a whole new season of Georgetown fandom.

As I was writing the conclusion to this column, I was simultaneously having a conversation with a friend recalling a Hoya Blue promotion from last season. On the Friday night before Halloween, a few dozen students showed up at a women's volleyball game in McDonough Gym in full costumes. I was reminded of how fun that game was, even if I had to research GUHoyas.com to remember who Georgetown even played that night.

I remember thinking at the time…I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be standing in a student section surrounded by a cowboy, a mummy, the Pope, and a kid dressed as now-disgraced former American University President Benjamin Ladner.

Looking back now, there's even more from that night that seems astonishing today.

For instance, I never thought I'd see the day…

…when Hoya Blue went all out to promote a women's volleyball game.

…when several dozen GU students turned out at McDonough for a women's volleyball game.

…when several dozen GU students turned out for a women's volleyball game on a Friday night.

Incidentally, Peter Keszler was the cowboy at the volleyball game/costume party. It takes a dedicated fan to dress up in leather chaps for a women's volleyball game. Just like it takes a dedicated fan to independently plan and execute a barbecue/sandwich making for the largest student attended soccer game in years at Georgetown, or to painstakingly record and recap every result of the men's soccer team for fans across the country.

What's great now about this point in Georgetown sports history is that, thanks in part to sports entrepreneurs like Pete, Don Betowski, Ricky Schramm, Jade Higgins, Roosevelt Donat, and scores of other devoted volunteers across the campus and alumni community, everyone single Hoya fan has the opportunity to become a dedicated fan, no matter what the season.