SU - Gtown rivalry

[cuseinseattle]

We were on sanctions and they had a full scholarship allotment and still couldn't beat us at home last year with our worst offensive team in JB's history.

Heck the Pittsburgh games have had more recent buzz and they've been terrible the last 2 years.

I'd rank the following home games ahead of them:

Duke
Virginia
Louisville
Miami
Clemson
Virginia Tech

We drew more for Clemson last year than we did for Georgetown the previous season.

They are so good they are playing in a mid major tournament this winter because they stink so bad. They do nothing to help our profile.

I don't think the Clemson comparison is fair. That was the last home game of the year and senior night. We also need that win for a chance at the tournament. As Boeheim has said your rivals are going to be in conference. I would rank Duke, UVA ahead but I think the other teams are just in the same bag that GTown is. For me beating G-Town will never get old and no matter how bad they are I'm not going to get more excited for Miami or VTech unless they are in the top 10.

 

[cuseinseattle]

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being how the rivalry was in 1989, and 1 being "just another game" we are at a 6 or 7 right now. In other words, we should definitely still play this game.

I agree with that.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I don't think the Clemson comparison is fair. That was the last home game of the year and senior night. We also need that win for a chance at the tournament. As Boeheim has said your rivals are going to be in conference. I would rank Duke, UVA ahead but I think the other teams are just in the same bag that GTown is. For me beating G-Town will never get old and no matter how bad they are I'm not going to get more excited for Miami or VTech unless they are in the top 10.

I’m speaking straightly from a local perspective. It doesn’t move the needle with the fans here like it used to. I can’t speak from a Georgetown perspective because I don’t live in the greater DC area nor do I ever care to. The one advantage it has for recruiting. That’s the only argument.

My issue with Georgetown is they schedule 13 other no name states on their schedule and a win does nothing to help our resume. A loss kills us. It’s the same with UConn and St. John’s.

We played Niagara and Bonaventure when Dave Bing played here and they were a great program for years, but we got to big for them too. We didn’t keep scheduling them year after year. Times change. We will stop playing Georgetown eventually. Probably after JB retires.

 

[Bayside44]

I enjoy the game since it's home and such but they aren't rivals anymore. More like an event for us in market. Even this season was nothing vitriol wise compared to games not even 10 years ago.

 

[Oakland]

What you say might be true but you are missing the essence of the situation.

The problem with playing Gtown or Uconn is...we're almost in a lose/lose situation, unless one of them got their act together and fielded a top 25-50 team.

We beat them like we did last year...The wins don't really move the needle...we lose to them, like we did the year before AW and JG...it destroys our record/rpi etc.

Not that I want to play cupcakes all OOC but we did an excellent job finding those top 50 rpi teams who finished top in their small leagues. Those are the teams to play

 

[moqui]

georgetown, uconn, st. johns - they are all in the past. rear view mirror and fading fast, like it or not. as a program, we have to look to the future and build new rivalries within the conference. i'd target uva & louisville, since unc & duke will never think of anyone else as a true rival. louisville we already have history with. we can build something around uva as the two toughest defensive units in the acc. and we both wear orange. make the game/series for the annual "orange cup" or something.

 

[bozophobe]

It's going to feel increasingly anachronistic, though. It's like when you're in the Dome as the crowd gets settled in, and they're playing Back in Black, or a Bon Jovi song over the P.A. Who are they trying to pander to? I didn't listen to Bon Jovi then, and I don't now.

 

[reedny]

It's going to feel increasingly anachronistic, though. It's like when you're in the Dome as the crowd gets settled in, and they're playing Back in Black, or a Bon Jovi song over the P.A. Who are they trying to pander to? I didn't listen to Bon Jovi then, and I don't now.

I have to agree. While some traditions (and lessons of history) are important to remember, others we should let go of (Bon Jovi is one of them). So here's my offer: I'll move on from the Johnnies and the Hoyas if all the bars, restaurants and malls stop playing corny 70's and 80's rock. Sadly - I don't think it's going to happen. As long as people can stand to hear "radar love" - I think we will play Jorgetown and St. Johns.

 

[Eric15]

The idea that it's only middle-aged/older folks who care about the Georgetown rivalry doesn't seem accurate to me. The bars around the Verizon Center are full of 20 and 30-something Syracuse fans who are extremely enthusiastic about this matchup everytime the game is in DC.

 

[Eric15]

and we both wear orange. make the game/series for the annual "orange cup" or something.

Two teams both wear orange in the same game?

 

[Briancuse]

georgetown, uconn, st. johns - they are all in the past. rear view mirror and fading fast, like it or not. as a program, we have to look to the future and build new rivalries within the conference. i'd target uva & louisville, since unc & duke will never think of anyone else as a true rival. louisville we already have history with. we can build something around uva as the two toughest defensive units in the acc. and we both wear orange. make the game/series for the annual "orange cup" or something.

I have no problem playing gtown and uconn they need to get their you know what together. No reason to ever schedule st johns they mean nothing to us and we don't need msg we can always get games there.

 

[Cusefan0307]

The idea that it's only middle-aged/older folks who care about the Georgetown rivalry doesn't seem accurate to me. The bars around the Verizon Center are full of 20 and 30-something Syracuse fans who are extremely enthusiastic about this matchup everytime the game is in DC.

There’s a lot of Alums in the DC metro area. I’d be excited too if I only got to see my team play in person once a year.

 

[Townie72]

There’s a lot of Alums in the DC metro area. I’d be excited too if I only got to see my team play in person once a year.

Exactly. As you seem to suggest this interest isn't driven by any kind of current rivalry or even current importance of the games.

And someone in their 20's and 30's can't possible know much about the heat of the rivalry in the 80's.

These games bear scant resemblence to that era.The games are a money grab designed to cash in on older fans with nostalgia and younger fans who have been told they are a big deal.

 

[reedny]

The idea that it's only middle-aged/older folks who care about the Georgetown rivalry doesn't seem accurate to me. The bars around the Verizon Center are full of 20 and 30-something Syracuse fans who are extremely enthusiastic about this matchup everytime the game is in DC.

And trust me, the Jorgetown students (undergrad) are still rude brats, just like they've always been. Even some of the older fans are delusional .. last time I was in the Verizon (SU won), a drunk Jorgetown Mom started crying behind me. I was like, "what is wrong with you?"

 

[Eric15]

The games are a money grab designed to cash in

Every sporting event on Earth that charges admission and/or is televised is by definition a "money grab."

 

[Cusefan0307]

Just going to guess, but if you are a Syracuse fan near DC you probably think it’s still a big deal because we are literally the only name school Georgetown schedules OOC anymore so it’s the biggest ticket for their fans and still a huge deal to them. At the dome it’s basically become just another game. The main thing we are accomplishing by playing Georgetown and UConn is slowing their demise.

I’m with Moqui on this one. I think our rival ends up being someone like Virginia. The fire is already stoked from the elite 8 game two years ago and the huge comeback we had at the dome the year after.

 

[bozophobe]

I'm going to try out "David Wingate" on some youngin's tomorrow. But I'm not even going to bother with "Michael Jackson."

 

[Eric15]

Just going to guess, but if you are a Syracuse fan near DC you probably think it’s still a big deal because we are literally the only name school Georgetown schedules OOC anymore so it’s the biggest ticket for their fans and still a huge deal to them. At the dome it’s basically become just another game. The main thing we are accomplishing by playing Georgetown and UConn is slowing their demise.

I’m with Moqui on this one. I think our rival ends up being someone like Virginia. The fire is already stoked from the elite 8 game two years ago and the huge comeback we had at the dome the year after.

In the 2016-2017 season we played 19 home games, and Georgetown was our 4th largest crowd. And the game was played in December, when crowds are always smaller than February/March. Doesn't that mean our fans value it more than the average game?

 

[tbonezone]

i think there is some truth in a post above. older fans still see them as satan. younger fans don't care.

 

[Cusefan0307]

In the 2016-2017 season we played 19 home games, and Georgetown was our 4th largest crowd. And the game was played in December, when crowds are always smaller than February/March. Doesn't that mean our fans value it more than the average game?

It also was one of the few Saturday home games that season. I believe the only others were Pitt and Virginia. That helps. I still don’t think people would miss it if we we never played them again. I was upset we wouldn’t play them and UConn when we first moved conferences, but we play plenty of marquee games now I could really care less.

 

[reedny]

It also was one of the few Saturday home games that season. I believe the only others were Pitt and Virginia. That helps. I still don’t think people would miss it if we we never played them again. I was upset we wouldn’t play them and UConn when we first moved conferences, but we play plenty of marquee games now I could really care less.

I agree -- although the series with Jorgettown and YuCon may linger for a while. Having put both of them away last year ... we have one last score to settle (with St. Johns). That chucking demonstration they gave us in the garden a couple years ago didn't sit well and can't be left undone. Once we take care of them, we can concentrate on our OOC/ACC schedule.

 

[OrangeDW]

Just going to guess, but if you are a Syracuse fan near DC you probably think it’s still a big deal because we are literally the only name school Georgetown schedules OOC anymore so it’s the biggest ticket for their fans and still a huge deal to them. At the dome it’s basically become just another game. The main thing we are accomplishing by playing Georgetown and UConn is slowing their demise.

I’m with Moqui on this one. I think our rival ends up being someone like Virginia. The fire is already stoked from the elite 8 game two years ago and the huge comeback we had at the dome the year after.

As long as we are a good program, we will develop rivalries solely by playing big games against good teams.

But we may never have a rivalry that moves the needle nationally like the one with Georgetown did again.

We don’t have any geographical rivals. It took some pretty special circumstances for the Georgetown rivalry to get like it was. May have been lightning in a bottle.

It’s ok though. A lot of top programs nationally don’t have a rivalry that the rest of the nation gives a crap about, and the ones that do are basically all geographically based.

 

[bozophobe]

It also was one of the few Saturday home games that season. I believe the only others were Pitt and Virginia. That helps. I still don’t think people would miss it if we we never played them again. I was upset we wouldn’t play them and UConn when we first moved conferences, but we play plenty of marquee games now I could really care less.

Yep, and now it seems most of the pre-conference games are against elite or very good teams (despite bizarre national reputation for having weak schedule). In the Eighties, S.U. would play (except for mini-tournaments) its 9 or 10 cupcakes (Cornell, Colgate, Coppin State, etc. by a score of 105-53). And now we have teams like Ohio State, which some S.U. fans have a more recent beef with.

 

[Bayside44]

The idea that it's only middle-aged/older folks who care about the Georgetown rivalry doesn't seem accurate to me. The bars around the Verizon Center are full of 20 and 30-something Syracuse fans who are extremely enthusiastic about this matchup everytime the game is in DC.

They're day drinking with college friends in a great place. Honestly we could be playing anyone.

 

[Townie72]

Every sporting event on Earth that charges admission and/or is televised is by definition a "money grab."

As with everything there are gradations. Of course, they alll make some money, but this is a case where there seems to be one over-riding reason.

We play our Conference mates because they are in our Conference.

We play teams like Cornell and Colgate because they are local, there is some fan interest and this is part of the warm-up for the season. We don't expect to lose any of these games.

I think the primary reason we play GU is to cash in on nostalgia. It seems to be for the gullible whose calendars seem stuck in the 1980's.