Ted's Take

The Blogging Site of Ted Leonsis

Archive for December 19th, 2009

McDonough Arena

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

What goes around, goes around.

Have you ever been to McDonough Arena on campus at Georgetown University?

The men’s basketball team once played all of its games on campus. When I was a student, I would go to all of the games there. It was wild. It was so small; got so hot and steamy; and it was so much fun. It only seats 2,500 people but I swear they would make the noise of 20,000 students in Verizon Center of which I now own a minority position.

I used to tutor some of the basketball players my senior year on campus. I would get good seats in return. I once - and I have to get this off of my conscience - stole a St John’s player’s warm up jacket just to mess with his mindset. I think his name was Frank Allaire and we would parade the jersey around on campus in the following weeks.

I saw Bruce Springsteen play at McDonough Arena. We would play our intramural basketball games there, too. My team’s name was “The Cereal Killers.” I once dropped 32 points in a game. Don’t laugh, I could and still can shoot the rock.

There is a game on campus today as Georgetown plays Old Dominion. There is a major snow storm here in DC. Some students are stranded on campus. What a perfect set of circumstances. I am so nostalgic! Hoya Saxa.

Fly Like a Bird

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

Gosh, paragliding looks like a lot of fun.

This is a pure rush - a great sensation - ultimate and total freedom.

I commit to trying to do this one day. Wow. I love heights and this looks so great. I have done it off of the back of a speedboat but never untethered.

Watch this Sean White film called Never Ending Thermal. Total adrenaline rush. Wow. Enjoy.

Late Night D.C. Sports

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

I stayed up late last night. Went to bed at 1:00 am.

I watched the Caps game on Comcast SportsNet and I toggled back and forth to the Wizards game on CSN Plus. Both teams are out on West Coast road trips.

I though the Caps vs. Canucks game was a terrific game. We lost 3-2 but I thought we played well. It was like a playoff game. They scored on their power plays. We didn’t and that was that. There is nothing to overanalyze. The Canucks are a very good team. We are on the road. It was a close game. No one to blame. Win as a team; lose as a team. The refs played their role and we can’t complain. We just have to rise above it all and fight through it and win against very good teams on tough road trips. That was the kind of game I would have liked us see go to OT and get at least a point. I didn’t understand the 4 minute penalty on Tom Poti where the game was sealed by the Canucks but we have to stay out of the box at game’s end on the road.

We trudged on to Edmonton after the game where we play tonight. December is a tough month for us in terms of travel with two West Coast swings, 13 games and 8 on the road. At the end of December, we will have played 22 games on the road and 18 at home. It all evens up at some point so we can’t complain. Almost half the season will be over come end of the year. Wow. The season is flying by, isn’t it?

It was good to see the Wizards end a losing streak. It was fantastic to see Gilbert Arenas play with abandon and passion and get great results scoring 45 points. The Wizards play tonight in Phoenix, back to back.

Tough schedules on the road for both teams.