Syracuse - Georgetown Rivalry: An Oral History

[PeteCalvin]

Not sure I ever saw this posted here, but maybe I was under a rock. From the Washington Post. A MUST SEE! As we officially transition from old to new, we are reminded of just how good the old times were. Enjoy!

 

[oldpinepoint]

Haha oral

 

[mountaincuse]

Haha oral

Only way Patrick Ewing could understand it

 

[tee1222]

Great one, nice find Pete.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Great one, nice find Pete.

I have my moments.

 

[PoppyHart]

Very, very sad.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Very, very sad.

It is. I did get a bit melancholy and nostalgic while watching it. I was in attendance at both the 1985 and 1990 games they highlighted. There will never be anything else like it.

 

[PoppyHart]

It is. I did get a bit melancholy and nostalgic while watching it. I was in attendance at both the 1985 and 1990 games they highlighted. There will never be anything else like it.

Coming from a family that has received two undergraduate degrees from Georgetown and one from Syracuse, I've seen how even the fiercest rivalries can help bring families together, at least for a couple of months a year. Moving forward, the banter will never be the same.

 

[Col. Bleep]

Very, very sad.

Absolutely pathetic that we're just abandoning the arch-rivalry.
Only Duke-Carolina is comparable.

We must find a way to play an annual game and keep hate alive!

 

[pfister1]

Man JT looks old sitting in that rocking chair...did they have to go to the nursing home to interview him?

 

[Cheriehoop]

What a contrast hearing JT reminiscing, laughing from that rocking chair and his stalking, looming, paranoid personna from his coaching days. I remember before a game in the early 80's when GT was holding practice in the Carrier dome - he stopped practice accusing that a person was spying on his practice from the back of a box . He pointed and demanded that SU remove the person and ranted on about SU spying. A security guard was dispatched upstairs to detain the "spy" or they would demand another practice facility. JT ,his team, and staff intently watched the security guard race to the spot where he said the spy cowered. The guard then held up a potted plant and offered to bring the plant down for closer inspection. JT resumed practice in his patterned but effective hoya paranoia way- no apology, explanation nor smile. At the time he was the ultimate Darth Vader of basketball back then. Fun and exciting times.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Absolutely pathetic that we're just abandoning the arch-rivalry.
Only Duke-Carolina is comparable.

We must find a way to play an annual game and keep hate alive!

It hasn't been like that in a long time.

These days the only reason your average college basketball fan knows this is a rivalry is because ESPN tells them it's supposed to be.

 

[Madbiker]

Appears GT doesn't want to play Cuse the same way they don't want to play Maryland. Bizarre. SU will still get recruits out of DC and Baltimore anyway.

 

[Orangemen]

It hasn't been like that in a long time.

These days the only reason your average college basketball fan knows this is a rivalry is because ESPN tells them it's supposed to be.

There's a lot of truth to what you said there.

Sure, it's an important rivalry, but it's a shell of what it once was. The rivalry was really Thompson and JB. Esherik basically murdered what once was. JT3 makes reminiscing about the rivalry a lot easier, but it's just not the same.

The bottom line is that they were a big rival because we were both good to great programs when it got started. Once they fell off the map, it was never the same. UConn stepped up as a program and effectively replaced them as our biggest rival.

I doubt we'll ever have a rivalry like GTown or UConn again- rivals who felt the same way about us that we felt about them. The 3 programs that will be our biggest game each year (Ville, UNC, and Duke) all have rivals who will always loom much larger than we do in their eyes. The games will be fun, and oftentimes very important, but they will always lack that extra edge that UConn and Gtown once had.

 

[PeteCalvin]

There's a lot of truth to what you said there.

Sure, it's an important rivalry, but it's a shell of what it once was. The rivalry was really Thompson and JB. Esherik basically murdered what once was. JT3 makes reminiscing about the rivalry a lot easier, but it's just not the same.

The bottom line is that they were a big rival because we were both good to great programs when it got started. Once they fell off the map, it was never the same. UConn stepped up as a program and effectively replaced them as our biggest rival.

I doubt we'll ever have a rivalry like GTown or UConn again- who felt the same way about us that we felt about them. The 3 programs that will be our biggest game each year (Ville, UNC, and Duke) all have who will always loom much larger than we do in their eyes. The games will be fun, and oftentimes very important, but they will always lack that extra edge that UConn and Gtown once had.

I think Louisville is going to be the next one. In fact, it's already started as far as I'm concerned. It has Pitino, it has heartbreaking losses on both sides, and players to hate (Kyle Kuric, Peyton Siva, Russ Smith, anyone?). It doesn't have nearly the same 'hate' factor as the GTown rivalry, but give it time. It's blue collar rust belt against wine and cheese derby folks after all.

I have a ton of respect for the Louisville program, and I threw in my lot in with their fans at the Georgia Dome...but it doesn't mean i have to like them. Oh, it will be the new healthy rivalry of the ACC.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I think Louisville is going to be the next one. In fact, it's already started as far as I'm concerned. It has Pitino, it has heartbreaking losses on both sides, and players to hate (Kyle Kuric, Peyton Siva, Russ Smith, anyone?). It doesn't have nearly the same 'hate' factor as the GTown rivalry, but give it time. It's blue collar rust belt against wine and cheese derby folks after all.

I have a ton of respect for the Louisville program, and I threw in my lot in with their fans at the Georgia Dome...but it doesn't mean i have to like them. Oh, it will be the new healthy rivalry of the ACC.

The problem is that Syracuse will never be Louisvilles chief rival.

 

[HoustonCuse]

It is funny seeing JTII as a human being. I remember that 1990 game and just the whole persona. He WAS Darth Vader. Plain and simple.