Hey Townie72...JTIII Comments On MD AD Kevin Anderson...

[PeteCalvin]

Just so there's no doubt about who is running Gtown, it's the old man with the towel and the chip on his shoulder. As has been pointed out, Gtown has all to lose and nothing to gain, which is why, even two coaches past JT2, this annual game has not happened. Gtown has no fan base locally, and Maryland-Gtown would turn Verizon into a Caps hockey game -- a sea of red. But it is always fun listening to the bitter old man spew into his AM microphone. Gtown will soon enough be Patriot League level and Cuse will have a nice rivalry with Maryland in all sports. See ya old man.

I know we all have a chip on our shoulder for GTown, but I don't see why JTIII is taking so much heat here. If I am reading all of the background correctly, Anderson had one meeting with GTown and then whispered nuggets to the press like they were close to renewing the series. There was no "meeting". It was an informal conversation, at best, and Anderson totally blew it out of proportion, probably on purpose because he wanted to see what the public response would be. If it was positive, he could use it as leverage against GTown.

I'm with GTown on this one, as much as I hate to say it. This is clearly a case of being strong-armed at this point. I'd tell UMD to go pound salt for another 20 years. UMD is becoming irrelevant on the bball front and is acting desperate. They need GTown more than GTown needs them, which is ironic since they are the ones with Div 1A football and the ACC dollars. Where'd all the $$$ go?

I have an idea. GTown should tell them that they will play them every year, but it will be a neutral site game at MSG.

 

[Timonen]

Are there really still non-conference rivalries between BCS conference caliber schools?

Maybe I am just jaded from watching our non-conference schedule over the last 15 or so years, but they seem to me to be few and far between.

Louisville vs. Kentucky
Georgia vs. Georgia Tech
Florida vs. Florida State
Notre Dame vs. Indiana
Syracuse vs. Colgate

Are there others?

top of mind...
xavier vs cincy
texas vs ta&m
clemson vs south carolina

 

[Townie72]

I know we all have a chip on our shoulder for GTown, but I don't see why JTIII is taking so much heat here. If I am reading all of the background correctly, Anderson had one meeting with GTown and then whispered nuggets to the press like they were close to renewing the series. There was no "meeting". It was an informal conversation, at best, and Anderson totally blew it out of proportion, probably on purpose because he wanted to see what the public response would be. If it was positive, he could use it as leverage against GTown.

I'm with GTown on this one, as much as I hate to say it. This is clearly a case of being strong-armed at this point. I'd tell UMD to go pound salt for another 20 years. UMD is becoming irrelevant on the bball front and is acting desperate. They need GTown more than GTown needs them, which is ironic since they are the ones with Div 1A football and the ACC dollars. Where'd all the $$$ go?

I have an idea. GTown should tell them that they will play them every year, but it will be a neutral site game at MSG.

No question that UMCP AD Anderson comes across as the dummy here. Refusing to schedule GU in Women's volleyball doesn't seem to be putting a lot of pressure on Georgetown basketball. Anderson comes across as an ineffective extortionist and an amateur. If UMCP wants to schedule GU in basketball the way to get that done is by getting Turgeon and JT III together to talk.

That being said, I was trying to shed some light on the reason why GU is not going to play UMCP regardless of how sweet a deal it appears to be financially. JT Jr was personally stung by the huge imbalance of fan support at the USAir Arena in 1993. Up until then, I guess his homies from Northeast DC and the Florida Avenue Grill had led him to believe that GU actually had some sort of fan base in DC. He found out that they didn't and neither Thompson is anxious to have that point publically made again at the Verizon Center.

Maryland had no interest in playing Georgetown until their recent financial problem. So its obvious they want this game as a way to boost revenue. Previously they had been insisting that GU owed them a game at Cole / Comcast because the 19993 game had been played at GU's supposed home court, the USAir Arena. They may be off that demand, because if I were Georgetown I would NOT want to play at the Comcast Center in fron of the Maryland crowd. They are flat nasty.

Maryland's financial woes are tied to 1.) Lower contributuions from the Terrapin booster club which funds a big chunk of their budget. They get no General Funds 2.) Reduced revenue from ticket sales in the revenue sports 3.) The debt associated with the expansion of Byrd Stadium. As good as the ACC money is, it won't save you from shortfalls in these other funding sources.

 

[im4cuse]

I don't think people are aware how attendance-challenged Gtown is: there first six home games were all well under 10,000, including a rousing 6,800 for IUPUI. Included here is an annual game vs. American (also DC school). In conference, they had fewer than 8,000 for Cincy and barely 11,000 for Marquette (keep in mind these are the inflated numbers, not actual bodies in seats, as anyone whose been to one of their games can tell you). Most schools would want a home payday against a cross-town rival. I think the Cincy-Xavier example is apt. They could have 19,000 for a game with MD every other year, but as I said, the stands would be full of red and they might get beat. No doubt MD has huge financial pressures and that's what's motivating the clumsy effort to force a game, but Gtown wants no part of MD as it would be embarrassing.

 

[PeteCalvin]

I don't think people are aware how attendance-challenged Gtown is: there first six home games were all well under 10,000, including a rousing 6,800 for IUPUI. Included here is an annual game vs. American (also DC school). In conference, they had fewer than 8,000 for Cincy and barely 11,000 for Marquette (keep in mind these are the inflated numbers, not actual bodies in seats, as anyone whose been to one of their games can tell you). Most schools would want a home payday against a cross-town rival. I think the Cincy-Xavier example is apt. They could have 19,000 for a game with MD every other year, but as I said, the stands would be full of red and they might get beat. No doubt MD has huge financial pressures and that's what's motivating the clumsy effort to force a game, but Gtown wants no part of MD as it would be embarrassing.

Sounds like GTown has their justification to stand pat. When presented with all the facts of this sad situation, my primary takeaway is this:

Georgetown WILL be playing Syracuse in a home-and-home non conference series for a long time after we make the ACC move. It would appear that our home game there is a good chunk of $$$ for them. Plus, it makes having to have a game with Maryland moot. This is good taunting material to use against our future opponents in College Park.