The WCAC final also featured Bishop O'Connell's boys basketball coach, Joe Wootten, tirelessly complaining to the referees. In addition to the fabulous play on the court, Wootten's antics were singularly impressive. While Wootten's indefatigable whining did not change of the outcome of the game, one hopes that someone in the SRO crowd at Bender made note of his performance and informed the Clinton campaign.
After sitting through SNL's shameless suck up to the disingenuous ramblings of campaign strategists who have failed miserably in order to watch two solid live performances by Jeff Tweedy (an Obama supporter), I am even more puzzled by why HRC continues to waste her time and the dignity of her public service by whining about the inequity of everything. As Maureen Dowd usefully muses this morning, how does this strategy help demonstrate how HRC will be ready on day one... is it Presidential to complain that you are being asked to answer questions first (and subsequently volunteer to answer open questions before your opponent has a chance to)? What kind of president would go before the UN and whine that the international press isn't looking hard enough into Ahmadinejad's relations with slum lords in Tehran?
What is more offensive is the cacophonous voices, outside of SNL's utter irrelevance, that have added their two cents to this bizarre tactic and, in the process, willingly sacrifice credibility. On Saturday morning, the New York Times ran an article by Jacques Steinberg that used HRC's campaign's absurd complaints as an excuse to take shots at Obama. Later in the day, the Associated Press got to distribute a piece entitled "Media Expert Decries Campaign Coverage" based on the "analysis" released by HRC partisan Walter Shorenstein (he's already maxed out on direct financial contributions to the primary campaign). Regardless of how much I read or listen to the melodic voice of Howard Wolfson, I don't understand the point or the basis for the whining.
On February 11, we went to the Comcast Center for the third time in three months. Even after witnessing the highly entertaining Illini game and the historic American University upset, the Obama rally at Comcast was the most enjoyable time I've had in the stadium. It wasn't getting caught up in the persona or delivery of a (Chicago Bears supporting) charismatic Senator from my home state that impacted me... it was the time spent waiting for the candidate, which presented the opportunity to meet people that were enthusiastic about becoming reengaged in the country's political process. While an inane piece in today's Washington Post focused on the pop star concert quality of Senator Obama's reception, few focused on the enthusiasm people in the stadium felt for something very droll: the choice of a nominee for President of the United States. And while Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson bitterly complain to anyone within earshot that the press isn't being fair, the mainstream press derides Obama's supporters -- particularly those who pack into arenas or stand outside filled arenas -- as naive ingenues held rapturously captive by the even more melodic sound of Obama's cadence. The thousands that seem to thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to see the Senator deliver the same canned speech, going to great lengths (at the University, the line out of Comcast seemed to stretch from the Center to Byrd Stadium) to do so, have had their motivations, and intelligence, questioned in ways that weren't even applied to Promise Keeper rallies. Should Obama's supporters, then, bury newspaper editors and cable news networks with letters complaining about the lack of similarly critical or dismissive pieces about Clinton's supporters? What exactly would or could be achieved?
An attempt at an objective review of the strategy employed by the HRC campaign seems to indicate that what really is at work here is the eternal principle of CYA: it is not anyone on the campaign's fault that the Clinton dynasty got prematurely derailed. Instead, the media's thinly veiled (by fabric woven with gossamer thread) hatred for HRC doomed the campaign from the very beginning (leaving aside the fact that the candidate was widely viewed as the frontrunner for the nomination up until voting started). Penn can continue to collect millions of dollars touting the great work he did adapting Matt Groening for Tony Blair's "last successful campaign" and Wolfson can go back to a private practice of blaming other people for the problems of his less well-publicized clients.
Actually, Wootten would be a poor addition for the HRC campaign team. After O'Connell lost the championship game despite the coach's pleading with the referees, I doubt that he told his kids that they would have won had it not been for the bumbling of the men in stripes. Instead, I would imagine that Wootten told his players that they played well and that they just ran into a buzzsaw, a formidable opponent that just played better over the course of the game. I would imagine that Wootten was gracious, advised his players to take pride in what they had achieved, and that he thanked them for their incredible effort. As such, he's probably got the wrong temperament for politics, which is too bad as the campaign probably needs all the volunteers it can get.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
We are...
After back to back road losses at Louisville and Syracuse in February, the Hoyas started to be derided as overrated and overexposed. Convincing wins over Providence, Cinci, and St. John's has done little to quell the growing criticism of the team by college hoops pundits. But, frankly, these shots have had, I believe, little impact on the enjoyment Georgetown's fans derive from following this squad. Through forty minutes of their last home game against the Johnnies, Gtown let St. John and Anthony Mason Jr. hang around before taking over to close out the game. In the interim, DaJuan Summers went through a ridiculous stretch that included a missed one-handed breakaway slam (an opportunity created by his flash into a passing lane for a steal), an immediate benching, a subsequent missed slam dunk (this time with two hands), and then, even more absurdly, a missed layup at point blank range that Hibbert followed up by putting in the basket. While 0 for 3 at the rim, the fans at the Verizon Center stayed fully behind Summers and the team (sans students, as, once again, many more Gtown students could not spare the time to attend the second to last home game of the season), and they repaid the faith -- Summers, while 0 for 3 at the rim was 5 for 8 from behind the three-point arc. Fast forward to today's game, against a tough Marquette team in Milwaukee, and Georgetown once again evidenced why DC has gotten behind this team. The Hoyas' sloppy passing led to a remarkable 20 turnovers, but as Clark Kellogg and Gus Johnson observed, it is hard to imagine a team less phased by a prolonged run of poor play. Against Marquette, this team overcame a horrible game by Jessie Sapp, poor offensive decision making by Summers, and an injury that seemed to reduce the effectiveness of a blossoming Austin Freeman. It was Patrick Ewing Jr.'s best game as a Hoya, proving that PE2 has the ability to change the course of game, building on what he did for the team last year in its impressive win over Pitt at home. Ewing's defense -- he effectively shut down James and made sure that the Golden Eagles did not get a shot off with the chance to win the game at the end of overtime -- passing, and rebounding sparked the impressive win.
Come tournament time, much will be said about controversial calls that helped Georgetown win games against Villanova, Marquette and West Virginia, but none of the calls at issue in those three games, to my mind, come close to what DeMarcus Nelson was allowed to get away with on Ben McCauley when Coach K was gifted his 800th win earlier in the day. Nevertheless, I hope this is the case. I hope that most of what Gtown has done this season is overlooked and that "fluke" wins and the road losses to Memphis, Pitt, Louisville and Syracuse are emphasized by folks commenting on the tourney. This team can lose focus and its guard play can be shaky (Wallace, who has been the rock of the backcourt, has faltered of late), but I can't imagine any team in the country that would want to match up against them in an elimination game.
To that end, the final regular season game against Louisville is huge. First, it provides the opportunity for Gtown to make up for a game they let get away from them in Louisville. Second, it would close out an amazing undefeated record at home. Third, it would continue the remarkable progression of JTIII's teams... from 16 and 11 in his initial 2004-2005 season, to 19 and 8 in 2005-2006, and 23 and 6 in 2006-2007. Should the Hoyas close out with a win, they'll finish 25 and 4 heading into the Big East tournament, capping an incredible season.
And the guard play looks like it will continue to improve even after the departures of Wallace as a graduating senior (how strange that comment is for someone who lives within walking distance of the Comcast Center -- indeed, the Hoyas have four graduating seniors who will play their last home games at the Verizon Center next Saturday ... Wallace, Hibbert, Ewing, and the ridiculously under appreciated Tyler Crawford) (I kid, as Gist, Osby, and McAlpin will all hopefully graduate from UMd this year). Much has been made of Georgetown's recruiting class for 2008-2009, featuring two highly touted 6' 10" interior players (Greg Monroe and Baltimore's Henry Sims) and another big forward, Chris Braswell. But that class also features a pretty good guard named Jason Clark that will join the backcourt with Freeman, Wright, Rivers, and Sapp. After Clark's heroics (in part) keyed a satisfying win over DeMatha, I went to watch him in person at Bender Arena as Bishop O'Connell took on Gonzaga in the WCAC finals last Monday. It made for one of the more enjoyable sporting events that I've witnessed in the past couple of years. The level of basketball played by these two teams was amazing -- Clark impressed, both in his offensive prowess and his fearless defense at the top of the key and inside the paint (he is very, very good) as did his teammate, sophomore guard Kendall Marshall... who has already committed to UNC (?). But both Clark and Marshall were overshadowed by a very disciplined Gonzaga team and a remarkable run by Harvard-bound senior (?) Max Kenyi, who at one point made twelve consecutive shots (of varying degrees of difficulty, the most shocking of which was a baseline dribble drive that resulted in an explosive hammer dunk) against O'Connell and effectively buried the upstarts. Kenyi's second-half performance (for the game he was 13 for 16 and scored 30 points) eclipsed a great game from Clark (who finished the game with 26 points and willed O'Connell back into the game).
Without doubt, the losses of Hibbert, PE2 and captains Wallace and Crawford will hurt the Hoyas in a conference that will, unbelievably, be even stronger next season. The question, however, is, how long will they hurt? Another soft non-conference schedule may give the Hoyas time to fully integrate their four very talented freshmen into the rotation and with the return of Sapp, Summers, Rivers, Macklin, Freeman, and Wright (hopefully healthy), Gtown may even be deeper than it was this year.
Come tournament time, much will be said about controversial calls that helped Georgetown win games against Villanova, Marquette and West Virginia, but none of the calls at issue in those three games, to my mind, come close to what DeMarcus Nelson was allowed to get away with on Ben McCauley when Coach K was gifted his 800th win earlier in the day. Nevertheless, I hope this is the case. I hope that most of what Gtown has done this season is overlooked and that "fluke" wins and the road losses to Memphis, Pitt, Louisville and Syracuse are emphasized by folks commenting on the tourney. This team can lose focus and its guard play can be shaky (Wallace, who has been the rock of the backcourt, has faltered of late), but I can't imagine any team in the country that would want to match up against them in an elimination game.
To that end, the final regular season game against Louisville is huge. First, it provides the opportunity for Gtown to make up for a game they let get away from them in Louisville. Second, it would close out an amazing undefeated record at home. Third, it would continue the remarkable progression of JTIII's teams... from 16 and 11 in his initial 2004-2005 season, to 19 and 8 in 2005-2006, and 23 and 6 in 2006-2007. Should the Hoyas close out with a win, they'll finish 25 and 4 heading into the Big East tournament, capping an incredible season.
And the guard play looks like it will continue to improve even after the departures of Wallace as a graduating senior (how strange that comment is for someone who lives within walking distance of the Comcast Center -- indeed, the Hoyas have four graduating seniors who will play their last home games at the Verizon Center next Saturday ... Wallace, Hibbert, Ewing, and the ridiculously under appreciated Tyler Crawford) (I kid, as Gist, Osby, and McAlpin will all hopefully graduate from UMd this year). Much has been made of Georgetown's recruiting class for 2008-2009, featuring two highly touted 6' 10" interior players (Greg Monroe and Baltimore's Henry Sims) and another big forward, Chris Braswell. But that class also features a pretty good guard named Jason Clark that will join the backcourt with Freeman, Wright, Rivers, and Sapp. After Clark's heroics (in part) keyed a satisfying win over DeMatha, I went to watch him in person at Bender Arena as Bishop O'Connell took on Gonzaga in the WCAC finals last Monday. It made for one of the more enjoyable sporting events that I've witnessed in the past couple of years. The level of basketball played by these two teams was amazing -- Clark impressed, both in his offensive prowess and his fearless defense at the top of the key and inside the paint (he is very, very good) as did his teammate, sophomore guard Kendall Marshall... who has already committed to UNC (?). But both Clark and Marshall were overshadowed by a very disciplined Gonzaga team and a remarkable run by Harvard-bound senior (?) Max Kenyi, who at one point made twelve consecutive shots (of varying degrees of difficulty, the most shocking of which was a baseline dribble drive that resulted in an explosive hammer dunk) against O'Connell and effectively buried the upstarts. Kenyi's second-half performance (for the game he was 13 for 16 and scored 30 points) eclipsed a great game from Clark (who finished the game with 26 points and willed O'Connell back into the game).
Without doubt, the losses of Hibbert, PE2 and captains Wallace and Crawford will hurt the Hoyas in a conference that will, unbelievably, be even stronger next season. The question, however, is, how long will they hurt? Another soft non-conference schedule may give the Hoyas time to fully integrate their four very talented freshmen into the rotation and with the return of Sapp, Summers, Rivers, Macklin, Freeman, and Wright (hopefully healthy), Gtown may even be deeper than it was this year.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Magic...
When we ventured across the Atlantic to check out the kick-off of the Addicks' Championship season, the team on the pitch did not inspire great confidence. Weaver and Thatcher looked competent, Moo2kil and Sam showed promise, Semedo began to build his following, and Ambrose, Bent, Reid, and Todorov presented a lackluster attacking match on a poor Iron side. We had come to see a slaughter and left shaken by, as the OS put it, "a reality check on what lies ahead." After the disastrous start, however, Charlton has appeared to have found its form and appears to have settled into a promotion push.
And so, later today, with hopes renewed, Charlton will line up against Scunthorpe once again with a second chance to live up to the expectations of its supporters. Weaver, Moo2kil, McCarthy, Magic, Ambrose, and Sam will all likely find themselves again in the starting XI (with, perhaps, Semedo rejoining them), but the prospects for the team's attacking game seem to have been improved with the complement of ZZ, Andy Gray, and Varney taking the place of Bent, Toddy, and the "hefty hobbit."
I have marvelled at Pards deft work during the transfer window. Selling Reid for 4 million quid is, well, magic. Bringing Andy Gray in for 1.5 million pounds: magic. Adding the cover of Halford and Cook on loan: magic. Adding the depth and promise of Paulo Monteiro: magic.
While many may mourn the loss of the captain, I fear that Reid may be able to martial only marginally more games for Sunderland than Danny Mills gave Derby. The Addicks squad that takes the pitch against the Iron today is, in my mind, far more balanced than the team that started this campaign. Magic.
And so, later today, with hopes renewed, Charlton will line up against Scunthorpe once again with a second chance to live up to the expectations of its supporters. Weaver, Moo2kil, McCarthy, Magic, Ambrose, and Sam will all likely find themselves again in the starting XI (with, perhaps, Semedo rejoining them), but the prospects for the team's attacking game seem to have been improved with the complement of ZZ, Andy Gray, and Varney taking the place of Bent, Toddy, and the "hefty hobbit."
I have marvelled at Pards deft work during the transfer window. Selling Reid for 4 million quid is, well, magic. Bringing Andy Gray in for 1.5 million pounds: magic. Adding the cover of Halford and Cook on loan: magic. Adding the depth and promise of Paulo Monteiro: magic.
While many may mourn the loss of the captain, I fear that Reid may be able to martial only marginally more games for Sunderland than Danny Mills gave Derby. The Addicks squad that takes the pitch against the Iron today is, in my mind, far more balanced than the team that started this campaign. Magic.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Decline
My affinity for Big East basketball began in Madison Square Garden. As a student at New York University, the only times I ever made it into MSG were for the horse show and St. John's games. Between 1998 and 2000, the games were electric. When Villanova travelled to New York, much of Philadelphia appeared to travel with them, and the stadium rocked to the partisan cheering. One Villanova-St. John's matchup was followed by a Fordham-George Washington match where we were invited down from our seats in the rafters to seats on the floor, but spent the second game too freaked out by the eerie silence to enjoy the better vantage point of the A-10 matchup.
Thus, I'm of a mixed mind about the Hoyas handing St. John's its worst Big East conference loss tonight. St. John's descent into the bowels of the Big East has been ignoble. Mike Jarvis' legacy has culminated in a team that looks as if it will struggle to keep pace with the horrid bulls of the University of South Florida.
Nevertheless, at the same time, Georgetown continues to impress. Vernon Macklin had a career game and promises to be an important part of the squad as the Hoyas roll through their tough Big East schedule. Ever since Macklin withered in the Memphis game after horribly missing free throws, we've paid special attention to his game and have only seen tantalizing flashes of his promise. It will be interesting to see if Macklin can build on this performance when Georgetown meets a Seton Hall team that has chalked off five straight conference wins (beating South Florida, Louisville, Providence, Cincinatti, and Rutgers).
Of other interest to me tonight are the widespread reports that Roy Keane has offered Charlton 4 million pounds for Andy Reid's services. With the notable exception of the New York Addick, most of what I have read from the Addick faithful seems aghast at the prospect of Reidy leaving. I, frankly, can't understand the sentiment. The captain certainly is a quality player, but he managed only 17 matches in a Charlton shirt in 2006-2007 and 23 this season before his latest injury that has sidelined him since December 15th. The prospect of turning Reid into 4 million quid seems to have far more utility to the team than the rather fleeting prospect that he'll be able to stay healthy in the squad's quest for automatic promotion. I doubt that anything will come of these reports, but should bags be packed, it'll not diminish the enthusiasm engendered in me by the result against the Potters.
Thus, I'm of a mixed mind about the Hoyas handing St. John's its worst Big East conference loss tonight. St. John's descent into the bowels of the Big East has been ignoble. Mike Jarvis' legacy has culminated in a team that looks as if it will struggle to keep pace with the horrid bulls of the University of South Florida.
Nevertheless, at the same time, Georgetown continues to impress. Vernon Macklin had a career game and promises to be an important part of the squad as the Hoyas roll through their tough Big East schedule. Ever since Macklin withered in the Memphis game after horribly missing free throws, we've paid special attention to his game and have only seen tantalizing flashes of his promise. It will be interesting to see if Macklin can build on this performance when Georgetown meets a Seton Hall team that has chalked off five straight conference wins (beating South Florida, Louisville, Providence, Cincinatti, and Rutgers).
Of other interest to me tonight are the widespread reports that Roy Keane has offered Charlton 4 million pounds for Andy Reid's services. With the notable exception of the New York Addick, most of what I have read from the Addick faithful seems aghast at the prospect of Reidy leaving. I, frankly, can't understand the sentiment. The captain certainly is a quality player, but he managed only 17 matches in a Charlton shirt in 2006-2007 and 23 this season before his latest injury that has sidelined him since December 15th. The prospect of turning Reid into 4 million quid seems to have far more utility to the team than the rather fleeting prospect that he'll be able to stay healthy in the squad's quest for automatic promotion. I doubt that anything will come of these reports, but should bags be packed, it'll not diminish the enthusiasm engendered in me by the result against the Potters.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
DCU
Goff has done a phenomenal job keeping DC United supporters informed about player developments with the team. Now I've got my new season tickets, got my new flag, and while I'm sad to see Nicholas Adderly and Bobby Boswell leave the team, I'm very eager for the CONCACAF Champions Cup to finds its way to RFK on March 18th. DC United today formally introduced two more new signings: GK Jose Carvallo of Lima's Universitario (I'll have an excuse to roll out the Cremas jersey this summer); and D Gonzalo Peralta of Argentina's Club Almirante Brown. Peralta and Carvallo join DCU's first designated player signing, Marcelo Gallardo, formerly of Paris-Saint Germain (I don't think I'll roll out the PSG gear however); D Gonzalo Martinez of Colombia's Milonarios; and F Franco Niell of Argentinos Junior.
After a great season last year, I'm thrilled that DCU's management has chosen to aggressively pursue new blood, even if others withhold plaudits for the time being.
After a great season last year, I'm thrilled that DCU's management has chosen to aggressively pursue new blood, even if others withhold plaudits for the time being.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
ZZ & Roy . . . Roy, Roy, Roy ... Roy, Roy, Roy
Great day for two athletes that I've come to very much enjoy watching: the incomparable Zheng Zhi and Roy Hibbert. ZZ netted two more goals for Charlton at the Valley against the Tangerines, bringing his season total to nine as an Addick (7 in the fizzy pop, one in the Carling Cup, and one in the FA Cup). ZZ's got many detractors in SE7, but I was thrilled when Charlton was able to pick him up regardless. At the one match I've been able to attend this season, I spent much of the second half of the match with Scunthorpe trying to decide whether to approach ZZ and thank him for signing up for another go around. I chickened out and contented myself with taking snaps instead:
I am even happier for Roy Hibbert. At the beginning of the second half in the Hoya's blowout of Fordham on New Year's eve, Roy launched a cheeky shot from behind the three point arc, thus connecting on the first and only tres of his collegiate career. Hibbert hit another shot from inside the three point line during the game, seemingly showing off range that he has not previously demonstrated for Georgetown.
Fast forward to Gtown's Big East home opener against UConn. Verizon Center is packed. Students are in the rafters. Consecutive three point shots by the freshman Austin Freeman and the junior Jessie Sapp close a six point lead that the Huskies posted late on the Hoyas. With 32 seconds left in the game, JTIII subbed in DaJuan Summers, who had been benched in favor of Ewing Jr. for most of the Hoya's comeback, and put the game in his hands. Whatever Summers' deficiencies on defense, he makes good decisions on offense and, after nothing opened up for anyone with the clock winding down and UConn's very good shot blockers ensconced below the basket (Thabeet had five blocks for the game), Summers put the ball in Hibbert's hands to shoot an open three at the top of the arc with no defender in sight. Pandemonium. As surprising as the shot was, it shouldn't have been. Roy has clearly been working on his outside shot. We got to the game twenty minutes later and I snapped off some photos of Hibbert, most of which were, like the one below, of Roy taking outside shots:
Hibbert even took a long range two point shot to start the game (that he missed). It will be interesting to see over the next few weeks whether this part of his game is further integrated into the Hoyas' offense, as his shots from the perimeter certainly look good.
I am even happier for Roy Hibbert. At the beginning of the second half in the Hoya's blowout of Fordham on New Year's eve, Roy launched a cheeky shot from behind the three point arc, thus connecting on the first and only tres of his collegiate career. Hibbert hit another shot from inside the three point line during the game, seemingly showing off range that he has not previously demonstrated for Georgetown.
Fast forward to Gtown's Big East home opener against UConn. Verizon Center is packed. Students are in the rafters. Consecutive three point shots by the freshman Austin Freeman and the junior Jessie Sapp close a six point lead that the Huskies posted late on the Hoyas. With 32 seconds left in the game, JTIII subbed in DaJuan Summers, who had been benched in favor of Ewing Jr. for most of the Hoya's comeback, and put the game in his hands. Whatever Summers' deficiencies on defense, he makes good decisions on offense and, after nothing opened up for anyone with the clock winding down and UConn's very good shot blockers ensconced below the basket (Thabeet had five blocks for the game), Summers put the ball in Hibbert's hands to shoot an open three at the top of the arc with no defender in sight. Pandemonium. As surprising as the shot was, it shouldn't have been. Roy has clearly been working on his outside shot. We got to the game twenty minutes later and I snapped off some photos of Hibbert, most of which were, like the one below, of Roy taking outside shots:
Hibbert even took a long range two point shot to start the game (that he missed). It will be interesting to see over the next few weeks whether this part of his game is further integrated into the Hoyas' offense, as his shots from the perimeter certainly look good.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Horrid
This year I've gone to all of Georgetown's home games, watched the Illini fall to the Terps at Comcast, and attended two other area college basketball games that I had no rooting interest in: American University visiting the University of Maryland on December 22nd and the Rick Majerus-led St. Louis Billikens traveling to Foggy Bottom last night. Both of the latter games marked historic feats. American's win over the Terps was the school's first victory over Maryland since 1926 - 1927. And it was not a fluke win for American -- Terps fans had so little faith in their squad that people began filing out of Comcast with 3:30 left and Maryland ten points down.
I assumed that the American-Maryland game was going to be the most bizarre college hoops match I witnessed this year. American after all had been drilled by the University of Maryland at Baltimore County (and started this month off by losing to Brown . . . although I did not think that they kept score at Brown sporting events) before handily beating the University of Maryland at College Park. Now, however, I think I need to make a little more time to take in the college game at area schools.
A colleague invited me to watch a George Washington game largely to try and understand what Rick Majerus was thinking when he came out of retirement to take the reins of the Billikens. Neither George Washington nor St. Louis seemed to be very good -- GW had already, like American, been fallen by the mighty UMBC Retrievers (the current home of Crystal Palace FC USA, leading me to become a Charlton supporter and Crystal Palace season ticket holder), while St. Louis had managed to beat a weakened Southern Illinois but got doubled up by Kent State.
Nevertheless, watching a team score seven points in a twenty minute half is, well, a thoroughly confusing experience. It would be nearly impossible to replicate how bad the basketball played in the first half of that game was. The refereeing of the game was horrid: players were routinely hammered after often openly traveling on their way to the basket, but the refs ate their whistles. The Billikens scored their first point, on a free throw, after 5 minutes and 45 seconds had elapsed. St. Louis closed out the first half by not scoring for 8 minutes and 30 seconds. There were two three minute stretches in that half where neither team scored: GW's Wilmore hit a three with 17:36 left and no one scored until St. Louis scored its first point with 14:16 on the clock; GW's Green hit a three with 7:55 to go in the half and the scoreboard didn't move again until Diggs scored with 4:03 in the half. The game was so bad that even though St. Louis had only scored seven points in the first half, they still had a reasonable chance to win. That is, of course, until the Billikens followed up their futility in the first half with an almost nine minute stretch where they failed to score anything in the second half.
Unfortunately, not many GW students saw the spectacle. The Smith Center was fairly empty for the historic occasion -- the lowest point total scored by a D1 team since the imposition of the shot clock. Steven Goff, my favorite DC sports reporter, was, however, amongst the few people with me at the game and his article for the Washington Post (registration required) accurately captures the atmosphere. Nevertheless, what goes unmentioned in Goff's piece is that the surreal night got even more absurd when one of the scores of St. Louis fans in the stands stood up around the 15 minute mark of the second half to berate the kids on the court, pleading that they "wake up" and begging that the Billikens "do something." His screaming seemed to unnerve some of the St. Louis players and was certainly unexpected, given how horrible the game had been going for a solid twenty-five minutes at that point. The preppie GW alums around us tried to shout down the fan, but eventually (correctly) decided that it was best to let him vent in peace.
Outside of the entertainment value of the two hours (which was virtually nil, despite the rarity of the event), I left the Smith Center with an even greater appreciation for what JTIII has done with Georgetown and look forward to a much more entertaining Hoyas-Huskies matchup this afternoon.
I assumed that the American-Maryland game was going to be the most bizarre college hoops match I witnessed this year. American after all had been drilled by the University of Maryland at Baltimore County (and started this month off by losing to Brown . . . although I did not think that they kept score at Brown sporting events) before handily beating the University of Maryland at College Park. Now, however, I think I need to make a little more time to take in the college game at area schools.
A colleague invited me to watch a George Washington game largely to try and understand what Rick Majerus was thinking when he came out of retirement to take the reins of the Billikens. Neither George Washington nor St. Louis seemed to be very good -- GW had already, like American, been fallen by the mighty UMBC Retrievers (the current home of Crystal Palace FC USA, leading me to become a Charlton supporter and Crystal Palace season ticket holder), while St. Louis had managed to beat a weakened Southern Illinois but got doubled up by Kent State.
Nevertheless, watching a team score seven points in a twenty minute half is, well, a thoroughly confusing experience. It would be nearly impossible to replicate how bad the basketball played in the first half of that game was. The refereeing of the game was horrid: players were routinely hammered after often openly traveling on their way to the basket, but the refs ate their whistles. The Billikens scored their first point, on a free throw, after 5 minutes and 45 seconds had elapsed. St. Louis closed out the first half by not scoring for 8 minutes and 30 seconds. There were two three minute stretches in that half where neither team scored: GW's Wilmore hit a three with 17:36 left and no one scored until St. Louis scored its first point with 14:16 on the clock; GW's Green hit a three with 7:55 to go in the half and the scoreboard didn't move again until Diggs scored with 4:03 in the half. The game was so bad that even though St. Louis had only scored seven points in the first half, they still had a reasonable chance to win. That is, of course, until the Billikens followed up their futility in the first half with an almost nine minute stretch where they failed to score anything in the second half.
Unfortunately, not many GW students saw the spectacle. The Smith Center was fairly empty for the historic occasion -- the lowest point total scored by a D1 team since the imposition of the shot clock. Steven Goff, my favorite DC sports reporter, was, however, amongst the few people with me at the game and his article for the Washington Post (registration required) accurately captures the atmosphere. Nevertheless, what goes unmentioned in Goff's piece is that the surreal night got even more absurd when one of the scores of St. Louis fans in the stands stood up around the 15 minute mark of the second half to berate the kids on the court, pleading that they "wake up" and begging that the Billikens "do something." His screaming seemed to unnerve some of the St. Louis players and was certainly unexpected, given how horrible the game had been going for a solid twenty-five minutes at that point. The preppie GW alums around us tried to shout down the fan, but eventually (correctly) decided that it was best to let him vent in peace.
Outside of the entertainment value of the two hours (which was virtually nil, despite the rarity of the event), I left the Smith Center with an even greater appreciation for what JTIII has done with Georgetown and look forward to a much more entertaining Hoyas-Huskies matchup this afternoon.
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