DanMcQ
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Posts: 30,591
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Post by DanMcQ on Jun 5, 2018 20:10:34 GMT -5
Georgetown's move into the Top 25 was a direct result of Tim Healy's vision for a University that was more than a home for the Catholic intelligentsia that Fordham sought, or a tight-knit Jesuit academy that made Holy Cross what it was. Healy's vision, and Jack DeGioia's delivery of that vision, is the driver for Georgetown's standing at a place in higher education held by no other Catholic university worldwide. As one fortunate to have landed on the Hilltop in 1977, I concur 100% with this. There is also no question that JTJr is woven into the fabric of the University's ascent to its current prominence, but Tim Healy is in large part responsible for that as well.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2018 22:24:08 GMT -5
Also, I think one issue our alumni base has always had is that Georgetown basketball is not a culture people grow up in, and there isn’t any process set up to educate students and younger alums. It’s important not to jump on people asking about our history in good faith because there isn’t anywhere else for them to have learned it, and not only did they not necessarily grow up in a Georgetown family, they weren’t alive during JT2’s heyday. The Hoyas celebrating their fifth year reunion this year were born after JT2’s last BET title. Most of this year’s rising seniors had not been born when Allen Iverson was at Georgetown. How are they supposed to know about JT2? The national media? Colleges don't maintain that culture you speak of, at least as much as one would think. Today's Duke students wouldn't know Art Heyman from Paul Heyman, and I get that. And the average Villanova fan under the age of 25 has no knowledge of Howard Porter or Chris Ford or Stuart Granger, much less Kerry Kittles or Scottie Reynolds, either. How do students graduating in the 20's (that's the 2020's) appreciate the past? Georgetown could start by introducing students to names beyond Ewing, Iverson, Mutombo, and Mourning. This upcoming season marks the 35th anniversary of the 1983-84 team, and to my memory they've never been introduced as a group at a game. It's well understood that John Thompson avoids public recognition like this (he even passed on his halftime induction to having his number retired at Providence). Would this not be the time to call back Fred and Gene, Bill, Ralph, Michael and David, Horace, Reggie, Michael G., Victor and Clifton to stand beside their teammate and now coach, to be duly honored while they're all still here, and frankly, to bury the hatchet and get Craig Esherick and Mike Riley back as well? The nature of the Georgetown bureaucracy suggests that getting this group together will be a stretch. OK, how about the 30th anniversary of the 1989 team? Charles, Jaren, Bobby, Johnathan, Anthony, Sam, Ronnie, Mark and Dwayne, Alonzo and Dikembe, and who knows, maybe Johnny Jones, John Turner or Milton Bell shows up? That's how today's students learn--by seeing it in person. And it's great for the alumni to be remembered. North Carolina has always understood the power of collective memory. Those jerseys at the Dean Dome are not only a nod to the past but an invitation to students to know why those names are there. It's also a not so subtle message to those players and recruits that walk through the tunnel-- you could be up there too. They're not just reserved for those who got an NBA contract, but those that achieved the highest honors for the school, and are recognized appropriately. Top row: only national players of the year. The rest: Limited to 1st or 2nd team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, Final Four MVP, or an Olympic gold medalist. It's more impressive than the national title banners. I guess I understand if you’re suggesting that aspiring to awards relating directly to your school are a more relevant achievement for players. I can’t remember how many jerseys are on the wall at McDonough, but I think Georgetown would have less (13 by my count) if it went the route of UNC (unless we want to hang Ewing’s jersey 7 times). Would also argue that from a fan perspective, there is certainly a “culture” around a school like UNC. Not only the alums but those in the region who wished they were alums and adopt the school as their own.
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Elvado
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,495
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Post by Elvado on Jun 6, 2018 5:02:38 GMT -5
Also, I think one issue our alumni base has always had is that Georgetown basketball is not a culture people grow up in, and there isn’t any process set up to educate students and younger alums. It’s important not to jump on people asking about our history in good faith because there isn’t anywhere else for them to have learned it, and not only did they not necessarily grow up in a Georgetown family, they weren’t alive during JT2’s heyday. The Hoyas celebrating their fifth year reunion this year were born after JT2’s last BET title. Most of this year’s rising seniors had not been born when Allen Iverson was at Georgetown. How are they supposed to know about JT2? The national media? Colleges don't maintain that culture you speak of, at least as much as one would think. Today's Duke students wouldn't know Art Heyman from Paul Heyman, and I get that. And the average Villanova fan under the age of 25 has no knowledge of Howard Porter or Chris Ford or Stuart Granger, much less Kerry Kittles or Scottie Reynolds, either. How do students graduating in the 20's (that's the 2020's) appreciate the past? Georgetown could start by introducing students to names beyond Ewing, Iverson, Mutombo, and Mourning. This upcoming season marks the 35th anniversary of the 1983-84 team, and to my memory they've never been introduced as a group at a game. It's well understood that John Thompson avoids public recognition like this (he even passed on his halftime induction to having his number retired at Providence). Would this not be the time to call back Fred and Gene, Bill, Ralph, Michael and David, Horace, Reggie, Michael G., Victor and Clifton to stand beside their teammate and now coach, to be duly honored while they're all still here, and frankly, to bury the hatchet and get Craig Esherick and Mike Riley back as well? The nature of the Georgetown bureaucracy suggests that getting this group together will be a stretch. OK, how about the 30th anniversary of the 1989 team? Charles, Jaren, Bobby, Johnathan, Anthony, Sam, Ronnie, Mark and Dwayne, Alonzo and Dikembe, and who knows, maybe Johnny Jones, John Turner or Milton Bell shows up? That's how today's students learn--by seeing it in person. And it's great for the alumni to be remembered. North Carolina has always understood the power of collective memory. Those jerseys at the Dean Dome are not only a nod to the past but an invitation to students to know why those names are there. It's also a not so subtle message to those players and recruits that walk through the tunnel-- you could be up there too. They're not just reserved for those who got an NBA contract, but those that achieved the highest honors for the school, and are recognized appropriately. Top row: only national players of the year. The rest: Limited to 1st or 2nd team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, Final Four MVP, or an Olympic gold medalist. It's more impressive than the national title banners. Well said. We are long overdue to recognize our title team at a game. While the 80’s are more than a generation ago, seeing a presentation of that team with the appropriate highlight package (preferably including the clip of ProvHoya and myself) would be fantastic for the old guard, instructive for the young crowd and might just be aspirational for the current team. Same goes for the 82, 85, 87, 89, 96 and 07 teams. We have a history we should embrace, not bury.
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SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
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Post by SSHoya on Jun 6, 2018 5:41:30 GMT -5
If you can get ahold of a copy, I highly recommend reading Big Man on Campus by Leonard Shapiro, which is a biography of John Thompson Jr that was published in 1991. It does a good job of showing what he overcame and what he was able to accomplish. www.amazon.com/Big-Man-Campus-Thompson-Georgetown/dp/0805011250Also, I think one issue our alumni base has always had is that Georgetown basketball is not a culture people grow up in, and there isn’t any process set up to educate students and younger alums. It’s important not to jump on people asking about our history in good faith because there isn’t anywhere else for them to have learned it, and not only did they not necessarily grow up in a Georgetown family, they weren’t alive during JT2’s heyday. The Hoyas celebrating their fifth year reunion this year were born after JT2’s last BET title. Most of this year’s rising seniors had not been born when Allen Iverson was at Georgetown. How are they supposed to know about JT2? The national media? And I am an age, when I saw JTII play in HS. Geez. My cousins and I came down from NY to see anther cousin (All NYC) play in the Knights of Columbus tournament at McD, where the best team was Carroll with JTII and Lefkowitz. Think you mean George Leftwich? Anyway, JTII's legacy runs deep in the DC area. Carroll, which featured a fairly balanced scoring attack during these two seasons, produced five All-Metro players in Walt Skinner, Ed “Monk” Malloy, George Leftwich, Tom Hoover, and John Thompson, Jr. www.dcsportsfan.com/posts/218303-the-legendary-1958-60-archbishop-carroll-basketball-program/Most significantly, however, the Lions’ racially-mixed team was on the front lines of racial integration in this area, ”We caught a lot of hell from people,” coach Bob Dwyer said years later at the team’s 40th anniversary reunion. Carroll’s Lions not only romped through the high school competition, they also beat the Maryland, George Washington and Georgetown freshmen teams often by wide margins. The 1958-59 season may have been their best. They beat a strong Cardozo team, 79-52, on March 7, 1959 at the old Uline Arena to win the city championship. They went on to defeat three strong out-of-town teams in the Knights of Columbus tournament at Georgetown’s McDonough Gymnasium, then swept through the Eastern States Catholic Invitation Tournament at Newport, RI to finish the season 31-0 against high schools and 33-2 overall with two wins and two losses against college freshmen teams. ghostsofdc.org/2013/03/07/hoover-thompson-leftwich-and-malloy/
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2ndRyan
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 329
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Post by 2ndRyan on Jun 6, 2018 9:11:45 GMT -5
While we're talking about honoring teams from the past, how about a nod towards the teams of the Seventies that started it all. Patrick Ewing arrived at the beginning of Thompson's tenth year. Merlin Wilson, Jon Smith, Derrick Jackson, Craig Shelton John Duren (long-time Hoya fans you can add a few more)- without that foundation the wonderful things that happened in the Eighties would not be possible.
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