Dog mourns fallen Navy SEAL http://tinyurl.com/3bqmung This i... on Twitpic

This is just tear wrenching and unspeakable...dog is a man's best friend...

Dog mourns fallen Navy SEAL http://tinyurl.com/3bqmung This i... on Twitpic

Hoyas' brawl with the Bayi Rockets in China turns a "negative" into a "positive"

The Hoyas have each other's back!

What Rocks!

Hey Young World

Slick Rick

I've finally calmed down Hoyanation and friends about this whole fiasco.  This was the first tweet that came in from Washington Post's Gene Wang in China when the melee took place:  

gene_wang Gene Wang 

Bedlam at Hoyas game vs Baiyi. Benches cleared. JTIII pulls team off court in 4th quarter. Fans hurled bottles at team.

18 Aug Favorite Undo Retweet Reply

The Hoyas vs. Bayi Rockets game started earlier than the previous game which started at 7 pm China time, 7 am our time here in the DC metro area.  So, I figured the game started about 6 pm China time.   I think the incident started between 7:30 to 8 am our time.  I was stunned when I read the first tweet, and I couldn't believe what had just happened.  Then another tweet came in:  

gene_wang Gene Wang 

Chairs were being thrown.  Players and coaches had to dodge water bottle hurled from stands. This is when I started getting angry. It was very distasteful what I was reading and feeling because there was nothing I could no way I could help.  I felt hurt, angry and helpless seeing what my team was going through, but I knew they would be able to defend themselves pretty much. Coach Thompson made a decision to leave.  The score was tied at 64.  From a fans account: 

The photos started coming in a few moments later, and I was "stunned again," saying to myself, "oh my God" what is happening with team over in China?"

Today I took my wife and kid to see the Georgetown/Bayi game. It ended up getting cancelled due to fight. Actually, if they'd finished, Bayi had almost no chance of winning. Of their 60 some points, half were from free throws, which is extremely negative. A number of times it was obvious the students didn't commit fouls. Bayi is a professional basketball ruffian/hooligan gang. Good luck to the Georgetown students (team), they played well."

"I'm so glad to have a coach such as Coach Thompson III that knows how to act and what to say in the heat of the battle to quiet the storm.  I don't know if another coach would of taken this approach with such calm and class.  Coach Thompson III was like a platoon leader leading his troops off of the court in such an very hostile enviornment, and I'm not talking about a Big East arena this is something different in another country." - Glidehoyas 

"Tonight, two great teams played a very competitive game that unfortunately ended after heated exchanges with both teams.  We sincerely regret that this situation occurred.  

We remain grateful for the opportunity our student-athletes are having to engage in a sport they love here in China, while strengthening their understanding of a nation we respect and admire at Georgetown University."

  

The fouls were 28-11 at the half with the Bayi Rockets shooting 70 free throws before the game was  officially over. 

“It was a game that the way it ended, the way play stopped, was not in any way shape or form how anyone anticipated or hoped that any game, any sport would end, which is unfortunate,” Thompson said Friday.  More important than the ending, which will be the focal point of many articles and a lot of discussion, I’d like the events that led up to that, meaning how our team responded to a tough situation, a tough difficult situation where calls weren’t going your way, where the play wasn’t how you wanted it to be.”

“Once you go through an adversarial situation, and once you go through the tensions of competition that escalated to confrontation, that process a lot of times can forge a stronger bond once it’s done,” Thompson said.  “As you get past the confrontation, the similarities that we have a lot of times can create a stronger bond on a go-forward basis.  That’s hopefully what will happen.”

I think Georgetown should be most remembered of how they handled the situation from the time they left the court and afterwards.  Ever since I found out the Hoyas were going to China I had been thinking and talking about the team being able to bond while in China because all the Hoyas have is themselves and for other good reasons. 

Although the "team bond" had been taken place before the trip to China, and unfortunately, after such an incident is has has gotten stronger for the young Hoyas, so I think taking something "positive" out of a "negative" will be prove to be a big factor when the Georgetown basketball season starts step by step all the way through "March Madness."  You think?  I do!  I'm sure it'll be a big celebration for the Hoyas when they return home.  Hopefully, I'll can be there along with Hoyanation to welcome our Hoyatroopers home.  I SALUTE!

Members of the Bayi Rockets and Georgetown Hoyas (Coach John Thompson, Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson) meet and exchange autographed basketball's from both team's after the altercation that took place in China

The Hoyas in Shanghai after leaving Bejing

After the storm comes the calm, unity, and fun

The are also my American Heroes

The Hoyas 

Hoya Saxa!

WE ARE GEORGETOWN!

Get Back Up

T.I. feat. Chris Brown

Glidehoyas

The Hoyas"team bonding" has begun

When I saw this video I almost cried but it was more of a cry of happiness for our Hoyas.  This video provided me with a quick insight of  how the young Hoyas are quickly "bonding."   A couple of weeks ago in a Kenner Summer League game, Jabril and Aaron had exchanged some words and were going mighty hard at one another, but to see "bonding" right before my eyes brought the tears to my eyes.  It's a good thing the tears didn't well up too much and drop down my face (smile).  Check out the video and see if you see what I see.  The little kid is the best.  I do think that this trip to China will be the "one" best thing to happen to our young Hoyas this season especially this summer.  

Hoyas from left to right Freshmen Jabril Trawick and redshirt freshmen Aaron Bowen and senior Henry Sims arriving in China

HOYAS IN CHINA!

HOYA SAXA!

WE ARE GEORGETOWN!

Glidehoyas

Jason Clark's Poster at the Verizon Center

Senior Jason Clark at Midnight Madness last season the little kid is Coach Hunter's son

Talked to Jason's mom on the phone and told me these exact words that I saw on Facebook about her son's poster on the wall of the Verizon Center in Washington, DC.  I really think everything just hit her.  You wonder where Jason gets his humbleness from well now you know, it comes from his mom.  Audrey Clark has been a great supporter of the Hoyas basketball team bringing the Hoya families and players together by coordinating team picnics.  I've witnessed a kind caring heart in a wonderful person. 

Audrey Clark

Today I went to the Verizon center to see Jason's poster. I was truely in awe and speechless at the sight all I could do was cry because I know the hard work and sacrifice that it took for him to get to this stage in his life. When i called and told him about it I got the same response as always "mom its no big deal". His humbleness about his accomplishments always amazes me. I cannot find the words to describe how overwhelmed I am at how truely blessed I feel to have a son like Jason!

Hoya senior Jason Clark's poster at the Verizon

If you've ever met her you'd better be ready for her great, genuine hugs.  The are terrific and welcoming.  She knows her mom Jason's grandmother continues to watch over her and her son.   This is a woman who gave me the nickname, "Mr. Georgetown!"  I guess she used to seeing me in Hoya gear everytime she sees me, so I guess it became automatic for her to call me this name.  Down below is Ms. Clark's comment about seeing her son on the wall of the Verizon Center in downtown DC.

SLAM ONLINE | » Candace Parker Will Return Better Than Ever

I thought about Moses "Vice Grip" Ayegba when I first started reading this article. It was almost like it was meant to be. Thank you SLAM Mag and CandaceParker. Big shout out to writer Ben York for writing this great article.

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SLAM ONLINE » Patrick Ewing: ‘I Still Consider Myself a Knick’

Shoutout to Casual Hoya for giving me a Casual Kenner League Award on Twitter

The Hashtag Award for Twitter Excellence:

THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON has been tearing it up on the twittertubes this offseason, but we can't even hold a candle to what our man GlideHoyas is doing.  Not only has Glide eclipsed the 22,000 tweets mark, he is single-handedly reinventing the twitter language, with hashtags and the ubiquitous @ sign being tossed in front of and in back of nearly everything.  If you ain't following the G-Man on twitter, you're blowing it.  Don't believe me?  Check out this marvel: 

GlideHoyas
@TeamTurnerBball http://twitpic.com/63hx01 - Wow!#KennerLeague #Champs @Hoya2Pacer Byron Mouton Isaiah Swan Darian Townes #Arkansas #Class

Thank you Casual Hoya!

Hoya Saxa!

Play to Win!

HOYAS!

Glidehoyas

Big Time Changes for the NCAA and college U's

Panel mulls simplifying NCAA rulebook

By Brian Bennett
ESPN.com
Archive

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tougher penalties for cheaters, higher academic standards that could keep some teams out postseason tournaments and a streamlined rule book are some of the radical changes that NCAA leaders hope to adopt after a two-day presidential retreat.

Some of those changes could start to become reality as soon as Thursday when the Division I board of directors convenes. The presidents say they're that serious about reining in some of the excesses and rule-breaking that are rampant in college sports.

"Things have reached a boiling point," Penn State president Graham Spanier. "Some of these things our coaches and our boosters might not like. But we need to do what I think you're going to see happen in the next year."

Forde: Breaking the NCAA's sound barrier

The NCAA has a dubious history of soaring oration followed by maddening stagnation. But the talk from the presidential summit gave reason for optimism, Pat Forde writes. Story

The proposals came out of a two-day retreat organized by NCAA president Mark Emmert that brought together more than 50 university presidents, plus a handful of conference commissioners, athletic directors and other leaders. Emmert said there was strong consensus to move forward quickly on a number of major changes, including:

• Stricter enforcement of major infractions. Emmert said he wants to see penalties for NCAA violations that not only provide a disincentive to cheat "but in fact a healthy fear of being caught."

The penalties the NCAA can use, such as bowl bans and barring coaches from working at other programs, won't change. But Emmert said those punishments will be handed down, schools will understand the range of sentencing possibilities and that NCAA enforcement and investigative staffs will be beefed up to go after rule-breakers.

Emmert also said the NCAA would focus on the schools and programs "that make the biggest impact on college athletics" while not spending nearly as much time prosecuting minor violations.

"Coaches and athletes and boosters should be afraid if they're going to go out and break any rules, because people have had enough of that," Spanier said. "The folks that are trying to disrupt the integrity of intercollegiate athletics in this country are going to have to be held more accountable."

• Higher academic standards both for incoming players and programs. The NCAA implemented the Academic Progress Rate in 2004 as a way to measure how teams were graduating and retaining their players. Teams that score below 925 on the APR four-year average are subject to penalties like loss of scholarships.

Emmert said the presidents agreed that it's time to increase the baseline score, most likely to 930. And teams that score below that level now could be held out of postseason tournaments. To put that in perspective, 12 teams in this year's NCAA basketball tournament scored below 930, while national champion Connecticut had a 930.

Judy Genshaft, chairwoman of the Division I board of directors, said her group could approve the new 930 cutoff as soon as Thursday. Emmert said any tournament bans would likely not take place for another year or two.

"We have to make the decisions now and let everyone know what's coming," he said. The presidents also proposed higher test scores and curriculum requirements for incoming freshmen and junior college transfers.

• Rewriting the NCAA rulebook. The current NCAA manual is a 434-page manuscript that has long been criticized for being too arcane. Even long-time coaches sometimes claim not to understand the rules they have broken.

The presidential group expressed strong support for what Emmert called "some serious editing." Their goal is to streamline the rules handbook and get rid of outdated rules that prevent coaches from communicating via text messaging and other technology. "We'd love to probably throw the rule book out and start all over again, but that's actually impractical," Emmert said.

Instead, the rules will focus more on major infractions like paying players and less on the minor ones like bumping into recruits at an all-star game. Emmert said the NCAA will also stop defining every violation as only either major or secondary and will come up with a multi-tiered system.

Emmert said changing the rule book would take "a monumental bit of work," but that he wants it in place by next April. No rule book, of course, can stop cheaters from finding a loophole.

"We didn't get here by accident," Duke athletic director Kevin White said. "We've all tried for years to gain a competitive advantage over one another. I don't know how we streamline it, but that's clearly an objective."

The integrity and academic discussions came a day after the presidents decided to move forward with proposals that would allow individual conferences to offer players full cost-of-attendance scholarships and multi-year grants if they so choose.

Major policy changes like these often take years to advance through the NCAA system or get stuck in committees. But the presidential group insisted this week that they're prepared to pass these rules from the top down, because they want to take back control of college sports.

"It's time for tough love," California-Riverside chancellor Tim White said. "Otherwise, the overall enterprise will not be able to be sustained. The American public deserves this."
Brian Bennett covers Big Ten and Notre Dame football for ESPN.com.
Follow Brian Bennett on Twitter: @ESPN_BigTen

Stiles Points - "So let it be written, so let it be done": Michael Graham: Georgetown's enforcer

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