April 2, 1984: Where Were You?

[EasyEd]

Apr 3, 2009 15:04:16 GMT -5 robbyt said:

I was 11 and watching on the black and white TV in the burbs of Maryland. What an unsusually great time to be a DC sports fan, Orioles won the world series 83, Skins the Super Bowl, then Hoyas the NCAAs all in a two year span.

I think UDC also won the NCAA championship in their category.

[C86]

Does anybody else remember the tree?

The Monday before the Final Four, a massive old tree fell on Healy Lawn. There was no reason for it. The weather wasn't windy or stormy. The old tree just fell.

Before dawn, some students (whose identity is known only to themselves) grabbed some white paint and drew an enormous "Ky" on the trunk. The fallen branches bore the names of Dickie Beal (Ky's point guard), Sam Bowie and Ben Turpin (Ky's "Twin Towers" center and power forward). (Keep in mind, Bowie was drafted BEFORE Michael Jordan that year-- which shows the reputation he enjoyed as a college player)

Groundskeeping got rid of most of the tree on Tuesday, but they had the presence of mind to leave the portion of the trunk with the big Ky. That stayed on Healy Lawn all week.

Early Saturday evening, the Hoyas beat Kentucky in the most dominant defensive performance I've ever seen. It was astonishing. Gene Smith simply ate Ky's guards alive. The Wildcats played the second half like they had been hit over the head with a canoe paddle.

When the Kentucky game ended, myself and my buddies ran out of Village B and up to Healy Circle, where a big crowd gathered. The remains of the tree witnessed the whole celebration.

An earlier poster mentioned the Pub that night. Somehow I got in that evening after the game. I never saw the Pub so crowded and joyful as it was that night.

Edit I: As HiFi helpfully points out, Turpin's last name was Melvin, not Ben. I regret the error.

[DanMcQ]

...in my apartment in Milwaukee watching the games with my classmate (and wife). I was in my third year of medical school and on one of the clinical rotations that trapped us in Milwaukee with no hope of escaping town.

I still have the 13" TV I watched the games on... and the betamax tapes I made of them.

[hifigator]

Apr 3, 2009 22:35:25 GMT -5 C86 said:

Does anybody else remember the tree?

The Monday before the Final Four, a massive old tree fell on Healy Lawn. There was no reason for it. The weather wasn't windy or stormy. The old tree just fell.

Before dawn, some students (whose identity is known only to themselves) grabbed some white paint and drew an enormous "Ky" on the trunk. The fallen branches bore the names of Dickie Beal (Ky's point guard), Sam Bowie and Ben Turpin (Ky's "Twin Towers" center and power forward). (Keep in mind, Bowie was drafted BEFORE Michael Jordan that year-- which shows the reputation he enjoyed as a college player)

Groundskeeping got rid of most of the tree on Tuesday, but they had the presence of mind to leave the portion of the trunk with the big Ky. That stayed on Healy Lawn all week.

Early Saturday evening, the Hoyas beat Kentucky in the most dominant defensive performance I've ever seen. It was astonishing. Gene Smith simply ate Ky's guards alive. The Wildcats played the second half like they had been hit over the head with a canoe paddle.

When the Kentucky game ended, myself and my buddies ran out of Village B and up to Healy Circle, where a big crowd gathered. The remains of the tree witnessed the whole celebration.

An earlier poster mentioned the Pub that night. Somehow I got in that evening after the game. I never saw the Pub so crowded and joyful as it was that night.

It wasn't "Ben" Turpin, it was Melvin Turpin. But I'm pretty sure that Bowie was gone already. Didn't he go out the same year as Jordan and Olajuwan?

In any case, I do have one great memory. Does anyone remember the arcade hockey game? Not Air Hockey, this was more like foos ball, and the two teams were the Americans and the Russians, following on the eupohoria that came with the historic '80 US Olympic Gold medal. Either way, we played that game all the time. Well as it worked out, we played Kentucky in Gainesville on a Wednesday night and for some reason, we only had a half day at school. So as was my routine on half days, I wouldn't go to work early, instead opting for a few hours at the arcade. After we had been there a while, we looked up and in walked the Kentucky basketball team. I don't remember the exact year, but I want to say it was '82. I do remember that Winston Bennett was a freshman. He had this really greasy hair and was bebopping along with his headphones. In any case, apparently they had one of those hockey games in their dorm and it was their game of choice. But when the rubber hit the road, me and my best friend beat those twin towers, Bowie and Turpin. I swear it seemed like they were looking straight down and here we were just a couple of 14 or 15 year old kids. They caught quite a bit of ribbing from their teammates after they lost to us. Thanks for the memory. I hadn't thought about that in quite a while.

[quesaxa]

This blog sums up my memories from 1984: raiseourgame.blogspot.com/

[DanMcQ]

Apr 4, 2009 11:25:41 GMT -5 hifigator said:

It wasn't "Ben" Turpin, it was Melvin Turpin.

Right.

Apr 4, 2009 11:25:41 GMT -5 hifigator said:

But I'm pretty sure that Bowie was gone already. Didn't he go out the same year as Jordan and Olajuwan?

Wrong.

Check the box score here:

www.hoyabasketball.com/features/chweek.htm

Bowie was the only Wildcat in double figures with 10 points.

Apr 4, 2009 11:25:41 GMT -5 hifigator said:

In any case, I do have one great memory.

Yawn. Delusions are fun, aren't they?

[DanMcQ]

www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/2009/04/04/jones_ncaa_preview/

Jones: Favourite Final Four moment

Georgetown fans will remember their Saturday win over Kentucky in 1984. The Hoyas took turns treating Kentucky's Jim Master like a pylon as they spread the floor in the days before the implementation of the shot clock and drove past him like he was wearing hip-waders lined with cement.

[EasyEd]

Apr 4, 2009 11:55:21 GMT -5 quesaxa said:

This blog sums up my memories from 1984: raiseourgame.blogspot.com/

Great story.

[hifigator]

Apr 4, 2009 12:01:55 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

Apr 4, 2009 11:25:41 GMT -5 hifigator said:

It wasn't "Ben" Turpin, it was Melvin Turpin.

Right.



Wrong.

Check the box score here:

www.hoyabasketball.com/features/chweek.htm

Bowie was the only Wildcat in double figures with 10 points.

Apr 4, 2009 11:25:41 GMT -5 hifigator said:

In any case, I do have one great memory.

Yawn. Delusions are fun, aren't they?

I'm almost positive that Bowie and Olajuwan were the 2 picks taken ahead of Jordan. And I thought that Jordan's NBA rookie card was in the 83-84 set. But obviously something doesn't fit if Bowie was still playing college ball in 84.


Something doesn't add up. Wasn't it 83 when Jordan hit that damn shot from the corner? Wasn't that his last college game?

On Edit: just checked back, and it was 82 not 83 that Jordan hit the shot. I just have no idea why I was rememberring it as his last shot in college. I still thought that his rookie card was in the 83-84 set though.

On Edit II: I didn't mean that I have a great memory as opposed to a poor memory. I meant that that memory was a great one.

[SFHoya99]

It's not that hard. They all came out in 1984.

[71hoya]

The Philadelphia Alumni Association hosted a game-watch at the Cynwyd Club outside of Philadelphia for both games. Big screen TVs were new and we were able to get one. Big crowd for the Kentucky game. Most incredible 2nd half I have ever seen. After the game I felt very confident because I believed Kentucky was much better than Houston. It's funny because until I just watched the Houston game, I never realized how close the Houston game really was. It seemed that we were always in control and with our great defense.
What a great season. Great overtime win against Syracuse at the Garden to win the Big East. Great party after the game also. Big win over St. Johns in the Garden early in the season. The first half was unbelievable. Of course they came back and got us later in the year. But after that loss, we were on a role. Nobody was going to beat us.

We had a great group of fans in Philly that got to watch a lot of games together. Great win and party at the Spectrum against stinking Nova. (They were one of our two loses at home this year)

[tinker89]

Watched at home with my dad, Georgetown alum and my all-time model of what Hoya fandom should be. I was a junior in high school, and we were living in Michigan. I remember my dad jumping up and down, yelling like a madman, making the dog bark uncontrollably. I remember squealing a lot. I remember my dad getting championship t-shirts for all us kids the next time he was in DC. I still have that shirt, and it is a major game day mojo item.

I know one day soon, that feeling will come back.

Hoya Saxa!

[C86]

HiFi. I think the Jordan shot you're thinking of is the one he hit against the Jazz to win his 6th NBA title. After that game he announced his retirement and Phil Jackson left. It should have been Jordan's last shot in his last game, but then he decided to make that disasterous return with the Wizards.


Also, FYI, people on Georgetown basketball message boards, as a group, tend to know quite a bit about Jordan's shot from the corner in the championship game, so trust us on this one. It was in 1982.

[hoyarooter]

Apr 4, 2009 11:55:21 GMT -5 quesaxa said:

This blog sums up my memories from 1984: raiseourgame.blogspot.com/

What an unusual and wonderful story.

And all I get from my daughter is "boo, Hoyas." But she's only 5 and the queen of contrariness.

[RDF]

Jordan's last college game was a loss to Indiana in '84 season. Just wish UNC would've made it to Final Four to get revenge-but didn't happen.

[hoyainspirit]

Glued to tv, so happy to be a Hoya fan. In many ways, that truly was a fun, happy, carefree time of life for me.

I enjoy the fact that this thread has prompted contributions from several members who are obviously loyal readers but who rarely post.

Apr 2, 2009 5:28:14 GMT -5 HoyaChris said:

The second half of that game was my favorite twenty minutes of Georgetown basketball ever as Kentucky could not score for more than ten minutes. Our defense was otherworldly.

Indeed, that was some great basketball. I had trouble believing what I was witnessing.

My friend, AvantGuardHoya, recently reminded me of the 41-9 first half shellacking we put on an excellent Chris Mullen, Mark Jackson led St. John's team in the Garden. Talk about defense! They couldn't get the ball past halfcourt.

From the History Project:
"Georgetown 72. St. John's 42
Madison Square Garden, New York
This was Patrick Ewing's first game in New York and the first Garden doubleheader in over a decade. The #9-ranked Redmen arrived as major favorites over the Hoyas and their unknown center. In the first half, the Hoyas score 41 of the first 50 points of the half--the Redmen were down 41-9 and used four of its five timeouts in the first half alone! The stunned New York crowd witnessed a 72-42 blowout of the Redmen, and Ewing's reputation began to reach national attention."

[hifigator]

Apr 4, 2009 22:15:26 GMT -5 C86 said:

HiFi. I think the Jordan shot you're thinking of is the one he hit against the Jazz to win his 6th NBA title. After that game he announced his retirement and Phil Jackson left. It should have been Jordan's last shot in his last game, but then he decided to make that disasterous return with the Wizards.


Also, FYI, people on Georgetown basketball message boards, as a group, tend to know quite a bit about Jordan's shot from the corner in the championship game, so trust us on this one. It was in 1982.

I certainly wasn't deying anything about the shot itself or who it was against. That part I remember all too well. No problems rememberring what happened in 84, a much better memory, or what happened in 85, an almost great memory. What was really casing the problem was the rookie card. As someone who used to collect sports cards, although more baseball and football than hoops, but still, I thought that the ultra-expensive Jordan card was the 83-84 Star card. But I checked, and it was actually the 84-85 Star card. It combined a very low production run with arguably the greatest player of all time, plus the NBA wasn't nearly as popular at the time as it is now. All of that together has made that card one of the most desirable of the modern era.

In any case, it was in fact Olajuwan and Bowie taken ahead of Jordan, but it was in the 84 draft and they were featured in the 84-85 set.

[Big Dog]

This is a really neat thread to read for those of us who were too young/not connected to the Hoyas back then.

By the way, ESPN Classic is replaying the game starting in about 60 seconds.

[guru]

Apr 6, 2009 10:59:25 GMT -5 hifigator said:

Apr 4, 2009 22:15:26 GMT -5 C86 said:

HiFi. I think the Jordan shot you're thinking of is the one he hit against the Jazz to win his 6th NBA title. After that game he announced his retirement and Phil Jackson left. It should have been Jordan's last shot in his last game, but then he decided to make that disasterous return with the Wizards.


Also, FYI, people on Georgetown basketball message boards, as a group, tend to know quite a bit about Jordan's shot from the corner in the championship game, so trust us on this one. It was in 1982.

I certainly wasn't deying anything about the shot itself or who it was against. That part I remember all too well. No problems rememberring what happened in 84, a much better memory, or what happened in 85, an almost great memory. What was really casing the problem was the rookie card. As someone who used to collect sports cards, although more baseball and football than hoops, but still, I thought that the ultra-expensive Jordan card was the 83-84 Star card. But I checked, and it was actually the 84-85 Star card. It combined a very low production run with arguably the greatest player of all time, plus the NBA wasn't nearly as popular at the time as it is now. All of that together has made that card one of the most desirable of the modern era.

In any case, it was in fact Olajuwan and Bowie taken ahead of Jordan, but it was in the 84 draft and they were featured in the 84-85 set.

hifi, this is a thread for hoya fans' memories of the only national title we've ever won. Can you have a little respect and not clutter it up with your memories of your freaking basketball card collection? If you must talk basketball cards, start up your own thread on the pro sports board. Who the Eff collects basketball cards anyway? What do you use them to balance wobbly tables and chairs or something?

[dreamhoya]

had "Thriller" come out yet? if so, out in the yard doing the moonwalk to impress some girl. I was heavy into football. I wish i had gotten into bball a tad sooner as i was heavy on gtown by '86...

chi
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