Is this rivalry going to survive?

[eagle54]

Just curious with the Orange base if you think the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry will survive with this once a year meeting.

Also, what is the sentiment about the school being in the ACC versus the Big East? I feel like the old BE schools and the new BE are both worse off from a basketball perspective. The BE before the ACC land grab was fun.

 

[kirbivore]

new Big East league is doing just fine

 

[Bayside44]

Georgetown fans show up once every other year when we visit. After the nostalgia dies off some more no. The students have Duke and UNC to root against.

 

[cuseattle]

So good my friends. JB should put this video on a loop for the guys.

 

[HoustonCuse]

So good my friends. JB should put this video on a loop for the guys.

Wow. I realize it is highlights and they scored < 60 points, but that is sobering. That was one of our worst teams this decade and it looks like a well oiled machine compared to what we've seen so far this year. It is all about the guards. Triche, Scoop, and Dion. Well plus Rick the Ruler who looks amazing compared to our current bigs. Hard to top that.

 

[Conrad13]

Wow. I realize it is highlights and they scored < 60 points, but that is sobering. That was one of our worst teams this decade and it looks like a well oiled machine compared to what we've seen so far this year. It is all about the guards. Triche, Scoop, and Dion. Well plus Rick the Ruler who looks amazing compared to our current bigs. Hard to top that.

The court awareness and the passing looked so good compared to what we've been watching this year.

 

[jncuse]

Just curious with the Orange base if you think the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry will survive with this once a year meeting.

Also, what is the sentiment about the school being in the ACC versus the Big East? I feel like the old BE schools and the new BE are both worse off from a basketball perspective. The BE before the ACC land grab was fun.

While I liked the Big East, I also grew up as much as an NCAA fan as a Syracuse fan. I know some fans were much more attached to Syracuse and the old Big East which will give them a valid different perspective.

So the opportunity to be in a conference with iconic programs like Duke, UNC and Louisville (who was not old Big East anyway) is a better basketball situation for me. More star power programs. Some of the mid tier of the ACC is a little meh, but there was a lot of that pre 2012 anyway, Depaul, South Florida, Rutgers, were terrible games. Providence and Seton Hall had been bad for most of the 10 years and were not that appealing matchups. While Marquette and Cincinnati were nice conference mates, are they really that much different than say Virginia and Miami.





While the basketball only schools may be a bit worse off, they did a great job at recruiting new members.

 

[Eric15]

That was one of our worst teams this decade

Not to nitpick, but that team was a 3 seed in the tourney. It would be at worst, one of our average teams this decade.

 

[jncuse]

Not to nitpick, but that team was a 3 seed in the tourney. It would be at worst, one of our average teams this decade.

It was arguably the worse team we had in the six year period between 2009 and 2014, which shows how good we had it in those six years. 2014 may have been a worse team but that 25-0 was damn entertaining.

 

[Eric15]

It was arguably the worse team we had in the six year period between 2009 and 2014, which shows how good we had it in those six years. 2014 may have been a worse team but that 25-0 was damn entertaining.

This decade, 2010 and 2012 were clearly the two best. Then 2011, 2013 and 2014 in the middle in some order. Then a huge gap, followed by the past three years teams.

 

[Townie72]

We may continue to play GU forever once a year.

It's a straight-out, transparent money-grab for both schools leveraging the nostalgia and the residual dislike of the other school by the fan base (to the extent that Georgetown actually has a fan base.)

But I think that after the nostalgia wears off and the reality sets in that the fans will recognize that these games are inherently disappointing. They are, after all, about nothing. That is, other than an interesting OOC game for both schools.

It was the Big East title race that gave these games meaning. And the personalities and the history that gave them "heat".

There is no longer a mutual title chase. And the benign JT III is a shadow of the malevolent, Darth Vader-like JT Jr.

The last time I was in Philadelphia with a friend, I made it a point to stop at Pat's Steak House to savor a real Philly Cheesesteak. I'm sure I built the thing up to my pal as a once in a lifetime event for him.

The cheesesteak "wit" wasn't nearly as good as I remembered. It was OK, but it wasn't as good as I remembered. That's what the SU vs. GU games will be. Potentially good, but not he same.

 

[asj410]

I'm echoing the same sentiments that were already expressed here, but my first thoughts watching those highlights from 2011 were how much better that team looked in that particular game in terms of ball movement, court awareness, and guard play. Makes it that much tougher to think about what we've been watching the last few seasons now.

 

[longislandcuse]

Also factor in the younger fans who don't even remember G'town as a rival. I'm 32 and view UConn as a bigger rival than Georgetown, and could care less about playing either ever again.

My Big East nostalgia lies in the Big East Tournament at MSG, not with any particular rivalry game.

 

[Townie72]

Also factor in the younger fans who don't even remember G'town as a rival. I'm 32 and view UConn as a bigger rival than Georgetown, and could care less about playing either ever again.

My Big East nostalgia lies in the Big East Tournament at MSG, not with any particular rivalry game.

For you and those of your age, that makes sense.

But!

To many of us that were highly-interested fans during the 1980's, GU has a special place in our lists of things we dislike. And it goes beyond the results of the games.

The Big East, according to the commentators and columnists of the time, was famous for physical play and occasional fights.

The problem with this is that it ignores 1.) That Georgetown was the team that brought this "thug-ball" physicality to the league and that 2.) Whenever there was a fight at a game, Georgetown was one of the participants.

The Press and the commentators --- very sensitive about criticizing Georgetown and John Thompson for obvious reasons --- never made that observation about the root cause of the violence because they didn't want to.

That's why Pearl is such a hero for punching Ewing. Somebody finally struck back.

Thompson made a career out of bringing thugs in and then running them off when they didn't contribute as expected on the court or their off-court hi-jinks were so absurd that they couldn't keep a lid on them (even with the help of a cowed and subservient Washington Post.) Even a cursory examination of GU program history would reveal 20 or so guys that match this strategy of JT Jr's.

JT Jr was cheered by the media when he walked off the court in a game because he was protesting the use of any academic standards for eligibility whatsoever. He wanted NONE.

Of course, he wanted NONE. Because it meant he could bring in as many Michael Graham's as necessary. But the Washington Post and Billy Packer said he was "brave". How is that "brave"? Self-interested, maybe. But "brave".

I admire JT Jr for his expertise and boldness. He played the race card better than anyone ever has. And we were among the schools that had to sit there and take it.

 

[SU94]

Also factor in the younger fans who don't even remember G'town as a rival. I'm 32 and view UConn as a bigger rival than Georgetown, and could care less about playing either ever again.

My Big East nostalgia lies in the Big East Tournament at MSG, not with any particular rivalry game.

That is a perfectly defensible stance and I respect that, but just know you are missing out.

For instance, I view CJ Fair's game-winning dunk over Otto Porter in the Semis at MSG, in our final Big East Tourney, as one of the top 3 iconic moments in the program's history. Remember, they had waxed us by 30+ just 10 days prior in DC, in what they believed was the final matchup. It was another "Manley is Closed" moment for them. Well, until CJ posterized Otto.

With that said, I still view Georgetown and UConn as our primary rivals, 1-A and 1-B, respectively.
They represent the same caliber of evil.

 

[CusefanATL]

So good my friends. JB should put this video on a loop for the guys.

I got into a shoving match with the GEICO caveman during 1 of the timeouts at this game. Sat kiddy corner to the GTOWN student section who were chanting things I can't put on the forum at me.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Everybody gave Scoop grief, but he was sooooo much better than any guard we currently have on the roster.

Just watching those highlights and seeing a Syracuse offense that could drive, could run a fast break and could get easy looks makes it so much harder to understand what has happened to this program since.

 

[SU94]

Everybody gave Scoop grief, but he was sooooo much better than any guard we currently have on the roster.

Just watching those highlights and seeing a Syracuse offense that could drive, could run a fast break and could get easy looks makes it so much harder to understand what has happened to this program since.

What has happened is that we don't have a point guard willing to push the break. Ennis was not a fast break guy, at least as a true frosh. Silent G was terrific for what he did the last two years, but he was really a small forward.

We have not had a top-flight, fast-break oriented PG since MCW. Makes he hanker for the days of Pearl, Sherm, Johnny.
Heck, gimme Michael Lloyd!

Frank Howard has some potential here, but he won't thrive until he begins finishing better (and going to his left at times).

 

[CuseCactus]

I've moved on. Great, great memories from the '80's and '90's. Now? A loss to them is like losing to Sienna. Or Canisius.

The new rivalries are with Duke, UVA and Carolina.

 

[OttoMets]

Everybody gave Scoop grief, but he was sooooo much better than any guard we currently have on the roster.

Just watching those highlights and seeing a Syracuse offense that could drive, could run a fast break and could get easy looks makes it so much harder to understand what has happened to this program since.

Look at that shot that Scoop made at 3:10 - for every guard we've had since then, it's an unmakeable 6-footer off glass. But each of Triche and Waiters and Jardine could make it better than 50% of the time, and they knew to look for it.

That, and the lack of transition ability, have killed us every season since. I've got hopes for the current guards (they look more like basketball players), but they don't seem to be there yet.

 

[andyw715]

I've moved on. Great, great memories from the '80's and '90's. Now? A loss to them is like losing to Sienna. Or Canisius.

The new rivalries are with Duke, UVA and Carolina.

To us, but not Duke or Carolina...maybe UVa

Although to many Duke fans, their Tobacco Road rivalry with Carolina is tainted, they still hate baby Blue but many view them like they did Maryland.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Looking at the TicketMaster map - the attendance will be good - but not your typical Cuse-Gtown rivalry. I'd guess 28 in building, 31 announced

 

[Col. Bleep]

Also factor in the younger fans who don't even remember G'town as a rival. I'm 32 and view UConn as a bigger rival than Georgetown, and could care less about playing either ever again.

My Big East nostalgia lies in the Big East Tournament at MSG, not with any particular rivalry game.

Well stated.

But a big part of rivalry is geography.
That's why the old BE was so great.
It was always a northeast neighborhood war (And for purposes of bolstering my position I include DC as the southern boundary of the modern northeast).

I LOOOOAAAATHE G-town.
Despise them with a passion.
Now led by the son of that big overstuffed phony of a coach.
If we beat them now and lose every other game it would still be a good season.
Those of you who weren't around can't imagine what an intense real rivalry it still is for many of us who were.

UConn? A lot of their fans are awful. Disliked Calhoun. Didn't care for his team. Big rival because of their success. But not nearly the same hatred.

Duke and UNC are great programs.
But we'll never have real rivalries with them beyond the way strong programs in the same conference are rivals.
They are each others arch-rivals.
Geography. ..now combined with history.

I find it a little embarrassing the way some people view Duke as a rival.
They're everyone's rival.
Everyone wants to beat them.
We're not really special...and you can't have a one-way rivalry.
And that's notwithstanding the fact that the first 2 ACC SU-Duke games were classics.

But SU-G-town?
THAT was special.

As the years move on...the G-town and UConn rivalries will fade.
Soon there won't be any actual SU students who experienced the expanded BE.
All they'll know will be the ACC.
History won't mean much - if anything.

Orange fans and college basketball will have lost a lot.

 

[eagle54]

My thoughts are Syracuse trying to get into rivalries with Duke and UNC is unnatural. They had a rivalry in CBB with Georgetown that could stand up to any. To think they'll be able to fit in with those NC rivalries just won't happen. I actually think Syracuse will suffer longer term from the lack of geographical footprint that they held when they were in a NE centric conference that always had a BE tournament in NYC. It's a lose-lose for both programs.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Just curious with the Orange base if you think the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry will survive with this once a year meeting.

Also, what is the sentiment about the school being in the ACC versus the Big East? I feel like the old BE schools and the new BE are both worse off from a basketball perspective. The BE before the ACC land grab was fun.

I think when they took a few years off after that last Big East season, I think that took the sting out of the rivalry. I haven't felt it since, and today's students barely remember. That's what loss of continuity will do. Even when we recently played Va Tech in football, it was "meh". I used to HATE those guys. They were the UConn of Big East football - a late comer who made their reputation thanks to the growth of the league.