Doom & Gloom article on SHU & Rutgers in New BE

[Grandpa]

But certainly something which us Hoya fans need to keep in mind with the increase in competition next year. While I have a great deal of optimism regarding what JT3 and his staff can get done in the coming years (in terms of recruiting, player development, improving home court atmosphere, etc.), I must admit some trepidation regarding some of the same issues mentioned in this article that will affect the 2 NJ schools, as they are also things that the Georgetown program faces (although hopefully to a lesser extent).

www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyNjkmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY2NjQyNTImeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

[1803]

The home court atmosphere took a big step forward this season. My second to last game at MCI was the 2003 St. John's debacle where we blew a 16 point lead with less than 10 to go. There was not much of a crowd to begin with, and there was a resignation in the air that the team was just not that good.

I was back at MCI for the West Virginia game this season. There were over 14,000 people there, and they were into it. It was the best atmosphere I had seen at a Georgetown game since the days of AI at USAIR Arena. Winning makes people happy, and gets them to show up at the games. We are obviously not a huge state school, so the key to our attendance is getting the local DC basketball fans into the MCI Center. This season has been a huge leap forward.

I was talking to a friend the other night, and we were commisserating about our late season collapse. He made a good point which we should all remember. This season the Hoyas got back into the conversation, and that is no small feat after what this team has been the last few years. Now let's take care of UConn tonight and get back into the NCAA's where we belong!!!!!

[Grandpa]

Dan McQ - Apologies for the double-posting of this article link (please feel free to delete or merge into the Post-SHU game thread as you see fit).