Vernon, we hardly knew ye. From GUHoyas.com:

Washington, D.C. - Georgetown University Men’s Basketball Head Coach John Thompson III announced today that sophomore forward Vernon Macklin (Portsmouth, Va./Hargrave Military Academy) is transferring to another (as yet unspecified) school.

“We appreciate the hard work he put in at Georgetown, both on and off the floor,” Thompson said. “We wish him the best in the future.”

What a run it’s been. From touted All-American recruit to athletic freshman project to struggling sophomore, and now this. I can’t say I blame Macklin (though Barker Davis over at the Times has a different perspective). Barring a summer miracle (cue: montage of Macklin practicing day and night, in the sweltering heat and pouring rain), Macklin would probably have taken a backseat to the Doctrine and Henry Sims (nickname ideas, anyone?) next year anyway.

Well, Vernon, it’s been real.

Patrick Ewing Sr. may have led the Hoyas to a national championship and dominated the NBA for 17 years. As of today, though, Patrick Ewing Jr. has surpassed his father in at least one area: YouTube stardom. Ewing Jr.’s ludicrous behind-the-back dunk in the 2008 NCAA Dunk Contest wasn’t enough to win the contest, but it has received over 1,200,000 hits in just over a day, making it today’s most viewed video on YouTube. It’d be nicer to see the entire Hoya squad down in San Antonio, but I guess Hoya fans will have to accept the video as a small consolation prize as they wait for Greg “the Doctrine” Monroe and Co. to arrive next year.

The Cinderella ad featuring JT III may have been tempting fate, but at least it doesn’t make me feel a little uncomfortable. That’s more than this Sheraton ad, specifically the Georgetown/Syracuse section (0:23-0:29), can say. I can’t imagine what the Sheraton executives were thinking when the approved this. Putting aside the bizarre nature of having someone you just met wipe away dressing from the side of your mouth, the Georgetown fan’s whole face was covered with dressing, so it’s not like there was any real purpose to the ‘Cuse fan’s tender action. Vaguely homoerotic, 100% disturbing, this ad never fails to give me the creeps when it comes on during timeouts in the NCAA tourney. Georgetown needs to do a better job of controlling how its image is used, specifically when it comes to ads like this one.

According to MSNBC, Davidson is paying for their students to go to the third round of the NCAA tournament in Detroit this weekend. This includes free transportation to the game, lodging, and tickets.

Would no one come to the game if they don’t do this? Georgetown student tickets are pretty hard to come by for the tournament unless you’re a season ticket holder. Yet still people find a way to get to the game which usually includes a cross-country road trip, sleeping on a questionable floor, and making nice with the scalpers. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

Maybe I’m just jealous, but I think there’s something special about student initiative to go out of your way, on your own budget, to support your team. No matter how upset those Davidson kids are going to be if they lose on Friday, at least it won’t be on their own dime.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Somewhat Frank

Fresh off a victory over Gonzaga led by 40 points from sophomore Stephen Curry, the Davidson Wildcats will face Georgetown tomorrow afternoon in Raleigh. Mike Stewart tells you how the Hoyas plan to shut down Curry and more, over on the main site.

Let’s hope, at least for John McCain’s sake, that being able to fill out a halfway-decent bracket isn’t a reliable indicator of presidential ability. According to an article from the Canadian Press, McCain has Kansas, Memphis, UNC and Connecticut in the Final Four, with UNC winning it all. For those who haven’t been keeping up with March Madness, the fourth-seeded Huskies were upset yesterday by a tenacious San Diego team, one of the two thirteen seeds to score a big upset yesterday. (Siena also knocked off a four seed in Vanderbilt.) Sorry, John.

Obama also made the safe (and boring, if you ask me) choice of UNC to win it all, with Kansas, UCLA, and Pittsburgh rounding out his Final Four. A fairly balanced slate—three one seeds and a four seed to spice things up. I think Obama’s onto something choosing Pitt, too. If the Fields-Young-Blair trio keeps playing like it has been in the past few games, I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama’s prediction of some Final Four Panther-action turns out to be right.

Lastly, we have Bill Clinton, who sees Georgetown making it to the Final Four but no further. Clinton also chose North Carolina, Memphis and UCLA for the Final Four. “My heart’s with Georgetown,” he said, according to the Canadian Press article, “but my head tells me it’s going to be Carolina or Memphis.” A fair number of Hoya fans seem to share Clinton’s attitude, at least from what I’ve seen. They want Georgetown to win, but don’t believe it’s going to happen.

I’m not going to argue with those fans—Tyler Hansborough is indisputably a beast, Memphis is a squad to be reckoned with, etc.—but I will say this. Watching some of Georgetown’s sub-par performances (Big East final, anyone?), your head might be telling you that the Hoyas can’t go all the way. But if there was a time when you need to abandon the logic of your right brain for the fanhood of your left brain, now would be that time.  And if the first round taught us anything (two 12-13 match-ups in the round of 32?  really?), it’s that the most obvious choices aren’t always the right ones.

Jon Wallace and Roy Hibbert each had 13 points as the Hoyas defeated the undersized UMBC Retrievers 66-47. Unlike the Duke-Belmont game, there was never any real possibility of an elusive 15-2 upset, but the Hoyas’ play was a bit sloppier than it should be for a team that wants to make a repeat trip to the Final Four. Hopefully they’ll bring their A-game on Sunday when they face off against 10 seed Davidson.

Photos by Nicole Bush, Staff Photographer

Today the Hoyas stepped up their defense not only on the court, but with their choice of footwear with fresh new kicks in the the first round of the NCAA tournament. The shoes’ intricate design is sure to stun the Hoya’s opponents, or at least make them look twice at the sheer fuglyness. I’m not sure why Georgetown chose to debut the shoes today (white jersey day, anyone?) and I’m also confused as to why they’re partly Carolina blue. However, in spite of the novel footwear, the Hoyas defeated the UMBC Retrievers by nearly twenty points. Maybe they’re onto something after all.

Photo by Nicole Bush, Staff Photographer