Are you familiar with the Colonial Athletic Association? At this point, you should be. Even The Sportswrap’s Bruce Rader stopped calling it the “Colonial Conference”! This year’s CAA basketball tournament is going to be good and I think we’ll have a couple of teams make it into the Big Dance! Full disclosure, I am a proud graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax.  I’m a  Hampton Roads native and I live back here now and Old Dominion University is one of the CAA teams.

GMU at ODU 1/11

So GMU-ODU games are always weird for me.

Locals see me in my green and gold and look confused.  Even Big Blue shakes his head when he sees me in my Mason gear, but never denies me a hug.

Big Blue & Nicole at the GMU @ ODU game

Also in the CAA, We have a local guy, Denzel Bowles, playing for James Madison University in Harrisonburg.

Denzel Bowles photo Courtesy: Photography/JMU Athletics Communications

He graduated from my alma mater, Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach. I had fun chatting with his mom at the CAA tournament last year.  William & Mary is another Virginia school in the conference.  They’ve certainly had their shining moments and we can’t forget Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Those fans are always, uh… full of energy! And since the CAA tournament is always held in Richmond, it makes for interesting times! I was at the ODU-VCU game in Richmond on February 12th and let’s just say, I was afraid to cheer against the Rams.

ODU at VCU 2/12/11

I took these pictures at Mason’s homecoming on February 5th, which just so happened to be a sold out game against ODU.

ODU at GMU

ODU whipped us in Norfolk in January, and let’s just say GMU returned the favor on its home court the day before the Super Bowl.

Afterward, this video clip started circulating which helps explain Mason’s basketball history and sportswriter, John Feinstein said in this article: “The CAA is a very good league this season, one that should merit three NCAA tournament bids. “

GMU and ODU are doing well at the top of the conference right now and I’m hopeful we’ll be watching them play well into the March Madness!  The RPI rankings are looking good!  And maybe, just maybe… Mason will make it back into the Final Four like we did in 2006!

Nicole with Doc Nix, Mason's band leader

Besides, who else has a band like  Doc Nix and the Green Machine??

Blog from Jenn Rojsuontikul and Amanda D’Attilio:

At about 3:15 a.m. our alarm went off and we got up to prepare for our train ride into D.C. from Manassass, Virginia. The Virginia Railway Express sold special tickets for today’s Inauguration, so we were guaranteed a seat. Still, we wanted to be sure. So we arrived at about 4:45 a.m. at the train station. Just after 5 a.m. the train pulled up and we got on.

We were told not to bring a lot with us for the sake of security. So we just packed some snacks and a blanket to sit on while on the Mall. Once we arrived we saw the mass of people moving toward the capitol. There were vendors selling all things Obama, hoping to profit a little from this historic event. We were really surprised there were no security checkpoints for those of us watching from the National Mall. But we hear random searches could be in place.

Huge TVs are set up for all of us to watch! We’ve tried to send some pictures but it seems that cell service is either weak or jammed. So we’ll send those pictures along after the event.

Aside from the crowds we’re also dealing with the cold. We both have dressed in warm layers: 2 pairs of Under Armor pants, a pair of jeans, two Under Armor shirts, a Northface, and a jacket! So we’re keeping nice and toasty.

As soon as things start going we’ll send along more updates!

- Jenn Rojsuontikul and Amanda D’Attilio
William & Mary and George Mason students