Word from the Prez

[SSHoya]

Last night I attended the President's Cocktail Reception at the Cosmos Club hosted by the Georgetown Club of Metro DC. During the Q&A, sandwiched between a question on the living wage issue, and a question about Christian/Muslim relations, I asked about whether there are plans for an on-campus arena and/or a renovated McDonough having attended the CSF NIT game at McDonough and remarking upon the great home court advantage. Don't know if this adds anything new inof, but here is Jack's response.

He said he had talked to JTIII that very day about this issue. Said there "was a plan, but it wasn't happening soon." He then described a 4 step process, and talked of finishing 1) the football and lax field, 2) completing the MSF with the weight rooms, offices, and stands, 3) pans to build a practice gym where the tennis courts are because McDonough cannot accomodate all the univerisity practice needs, and 4) Yates is now 26-years old, won't last forever, and needs work. After these four things are accomplished, then attention can turn to an on-campus arena. He referred to two $35 milllion projects (I assume he meant the completion of the MSF and the new practice gym) that need to be completed prior to turning attention to an on-campus arena. He cited Marquette as an example but said MCI is our home for now. He said an on-campus arena would be about 7000 seats.

Impression I got is that there is a long range plan, but don't hold your breath.

[TBird41]

What about a hunger strike? It worked for the living wagers... ;D

[SSHoya]

I never got a chance to follow up to ask what interested alums could do to speed the process along (other than the obvious -- give money).

[NCHoya]

Thanks for the update SS Hoya. I appreciate the inside information I cannot get being in NC.

[YB]

As I always said, money moves this thing. We need to raise some funds for this thing to push it along....

[GUHoya07]

Thanks for the info, very interesting. We need to get this moving along a bit faster though. I can hear the machines working on Harbin Field as I type this and I'm just dreaming about how incredible it would be if that was construction for a new arena.

[HoyaNCCT]

I am the treasurer of the DC Club so I'd like to thank SSHoya for making it out last night. I think it was a fun event.

That said, I too was discouraged by Dr. DeGioia's comments on the stadium. It seems to me this should happen sooner than later. Maybe we can make the university aware how important this is.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

One of the issues is that that from a success-on-the-court (and a recruiting) standpoint, the lack of adequate practice and training facilities for the men's (and also women's) basketball teams is seen as a larger problem "being stuck in" a state-of-the art arena, two miles from campus.

[SFHoya99]

TrueHoyaBlue said:

One of the issues is that that from a success-on-the-court (and a recruiting) standpoint, the lack of adequate practice and training facilities for the men's (and also women's) basketball teams is seen as a larger problem "being stuck in" a state-of-the art arena, two miles from campus.

I agree with THB. I believe that not many people agreed, but I think the most benefit from on campus sites would be a new film, weight and practice facility.

[YB]

I think the loud, reverbering student and alum support in a packed arena and the opportunity to play where you practice are the biggest benefits....

[TrueHoyaBlue]

And I would present the alternative view, that it doesn't matter as much if you play where you practice (particularly if you're not playing your "big games" in that facility) if you don't have quality practice facilities, or the ability to work on multiple courts (rather than being forced to fit men's practices, women's practices, and volleyball practices into the same cramped gym).

I'm not arguing that we shouldn't aim for an on-campus arena, but I would argue that saying the MCI Center is a bigger negative for recruits and team performance than a total lack of quality training/practice/locker room/practice facilities can be considered to be blinded by personal desires.

[DFW HOYA]

I wish Jack was a little more forthcoming, but I fully understand why in a pre-campaign mode he has to talk in generalities.

I'll only say this: the continuing degradation of facilities will drive Georgetown University off the Division I landscape as we know it. We can talk about "the future", but the future is coming whether we're ready or not.

[SFHoya99]

YB said:

I think the loud, reverbering student and alum support in a packed arena and the opportunity to play where you practice are the biggest benefits....

I think playing where you practice is overrated. I'd like to see some proof it helps.

A loud and packed arena is nice. But as an interim step, you'll get 90% of the recruiting benefits with MCI/new practice facility.

[RaleighHoya]

You can't give money to this project. It has not even been approved unless something has changed. You can give money to GU or Hoyas Unlimited, but there is no assurance that it would be put towards a on campus arena fund. It is a bad situation and I do not think for one mintue there is a serious plan.

[MCIGuy]

Just before Esh's second or third season as head coach TPTB also said they had plans but that it would not start happening until a few years when they had all the other "priorities" settled. Well, its been more than a few years since then and TPTB are once again saying the same thing, indictaing that the on campus arena will not go into the planning stages for another few years. Jump ahead to 2010...will they be giving people the same old song and dance? Are they holding off until the Hoyas are kicked out of the BE in order to have a reason to justify not remodeling McD?

Sorry, I don't believe in any of those people. I'm sure they were the same who kept promising to fix the hospital problems too. Its now up to Gtown alumni and current students to kick them in their collective butts to speed up the process.

[AustinHoya03]

It's frustrating that those who donate money solely to Athletics (even though I'm not one of them) who want an on-campus arena are essentially throwing money at projects many see as a lesser priority than an on campus arena. I mean, renovating Yates? Nice student gyms are a plus for students/prospective students, but a crazy on campus arena is a bigger one.

By the way seating capacity for the McGuire center at Marquette is only 6,000. DeGoia probably wasn't thinking about seating capacity when he made off-the-cuff comments at a dinner but I think there are better models. McGuire center does look pretty though...

www.acousticdimensions.com/profiles/marquette.htm

[tgo]

AustinHoya03 said:

Nice student gyms are a plus for students/prospective students, but a crazy on campus arena is a bigger one.htm

not true at all, i am the biggest supporter of an on campus arena but if yates needs to be remodled it is a far bigger priority for the university. An arena supports activities that fewer than 300 students activly participate in and fewer than 2000 students (usually far far fewer) passively participate in during a school year. I would assume that easily more than 5000 students use yates in a year. there is no contest there.

[FormerHoya]

I think that the McGuire center is only for practices and women's/exhibition games.

The men play the vast majority at the Bradley Center.

[YB]

tgo, I hate to say you are very likely wrong there. I'm a Yates member, and the amount of non-student Yates members easily outweighs students who go to Yates. Yates would shut down without non-students. Most students look at it as a fee rather than a membership that they use.

They'll regret that in 10 years when all those beers come back to haunt them, of course!

[tgo]

my estimates of yates usuage are unscientific but i also worked at yates and would conservatively estimate that at least 8 out 10 hoya students went to yates at least once in a year and at least 3 out of 10 went daily. I would have to think long and hard to think of any one I knew who did not visit yates. Even if all they did was go for two days after new years and then dropped their resolution to get in shape they received more benefits from yates than the majority of students will ever get from the hoops team.